12 Things To Know As Trans Volleyball Star Blaire Fleming’s Career Comes to an End
By: Michael Neal
December 4, 2024
San Jose State University’s transgender volleyball player Blaire Fleming is believed to be finished competing at a collegiate level. Fleming’s recruitment to SJSU sparked widespread criticism, with lawsuits alleging improper practices and lack of knowledge surrounding Fleming’s biological sex by officials.
In this photo gallery, we look deeper into the controversy.
At 6-foot-1, Fleming stood out in high school volleyball, leading John Champe High School to a historic season in 2019 and setting multiple school records. Fleming began college volleyball at Coastal Carolina in 2020. After transferring, Fleming joined San Jose State under controversial circumstances. Fleming’s inclusion at SJSU has sparked lawsuits, Title IX complaints, and debates over transgender athletes in sports. California law permits such participation since 2013. Five teams forfeited seven matches during SJSU’s season, citing concerns over fairness. Former players Alyssa Sugai and Elle Patterson joined lawsuits, citing emotional harm and lost opportunities caused by Fleming’s inclusion on the women’s team. One court document read, “As a result of her [Sugai] frustration and feelings of inadequacy, because she was not able to make the starting line-up through effort and sacrifice and because her diminished playing time behind Fleming prevented her from receiving offers through the transfer portal, Sugai faced depression during and after the transfer portal period and ultimately determined that she had no realistic choice other than to give up playing collegiate volleyball after the 2022 season.” The document added, “Losing to Fleming caused Sugai to doubt her ability to play volleyball at a high level, even though she had rigorously trained and competed since childhood. It also caused her to doubt her self-worth and caused her to feel ‘defeated.’” The documents also stated, “Ultimately, Patterson informed Associate Head Coach Batie-Smoose and Head Coach Todd Kress that she was financially unable to pay for full out-of-state tuition, room and board at SJSU again in 2024 and therefore would be unable to return to the SJSU Team without a scholarship.” The court docs added, “Nevertheless, Todd Kress remained firm in his position that Patterson would not receive a scholarship to play on the SJSU Team in 2024, and that Fleming would receive a full scholarship to play on the SJSU Team.” SJSU junior volleyball star Brooke Slusser also filed lawsuits against the NCAA and Mountain West Conference over Fleming’s presence on the women’s volleyball team. Slusser alleged she had unknowingly shared rooms with Fleming, a biological male, and claimed Fleming conspired with a Colorado State player to spike her in the face during a match. Despite the controversy, Slusser has played alongside Fleming all season. Reflecting on her experience, Slusser expressed relief at ending her college volleyball career, noting it changed her perspective on trust, future relationships, and college sports. Slusser said, “This season has been so traumatizing that I don’t even have a proudest moment.” When addressing Fleming’s physical dominance, Slusser said, “I think it definitely gives us a major advantage, because when Blaire is playing well, if he hits the ball it’s mostly just a kill every time.” Slusser said, “It’s made me change my perspective on a lot of things. I think if I have kids in the future that are going into college sports I’m going to be very wary of who I send them to and who I allow them to go and play for… and seeing how my parents were so angry after putting that trust into the staff that they sent me here to San Jose, and then all of it happening, I would just say that it’s going to change the way I view things as a parent for my kids.”
