SJSU has not had the best season so far, for obvious reasons. However, even the glimmer of hope shattered when they were ousted by Colorado State over four sets in the Mountain West Tournament finals. While they will not be proceeding to the NCAA championships, this may or may not be the final college volleyball match played by Blaire Fleming, the alleged trans athlete.

There are a few rules that can come into play here. With respect to transgender athletes in general, both USA volleyball and FIVB seem to have trans-inclusive participation guidelines. Let’s have a look at them and their applicability in general.

Can the SJSU athlete Fleming still have a college volleyball career?

As per the USA Volleyball gender competition guidelines for the 2024-25 season, state that “transgender athletes must request permission to participate by submitting a request to the Chair of the Gender Commission (GC).” However, there are a few key aspects they have to keep in mind. The athletes who wish to compete as members of the opposite gender than that assigned at birth should notify USAV at least six weeks prior to the competition. Also, they have to provide sufficient documentation to permit the GC to determine that the athlete has taken the necessary steps to transition to their adopted gender.

The documents that the transgender athletes have to submit include a statement declaring their wish, a statement from their treating physician and medical records as indicated, and lab reports of testosterone level for athletes who have ages more than 13. And it’s only after 30 days of getting all the documentation that the GC will complete the review. There are also certain testing requirements that they need to comply with.  Moreover, after approval to compete as a member of their adopted gender, documentation must be re-submitted and approved prior to the start of each season.

The only condition here is the applicability. These processes won’t apply in competitions where the IOC’s transgender policies are in play or any international competition involving the USA national teams. This may include USA volleyball national team events, competitions under the FIVB, the IOC, the International Paralympic Committee, or the World Para Volley.

Next up, the FIVB has a similar rule. It allows for a player to change the categorization of their gender one time if they can demonstrate ‘to the comfortable satisfaction of the Gender Eligibility Committee that no competitive advantage is derived from such change based on the totality of the circumstances.” And to analyze the same, the FIVB can consider any physiological (height, weight, BMI, etc.), medical, sporting, or any other considerations submitted by the player or requested by the Gender Eligibility Committee. But the applicability is only for the FIVB, World, and Official competitions organized by the FIVB and its confederations.

Well, these are simply stated rules that any trans athlete can look into, but only so long as they fit into the criteria. Also for now, the latest development is that SJSU has faced a heartbreak in the Mountain West Tournament finals. Here’s a recap of how they missed out on the victory chance.

SJSU’s lost bid to the conference title

After back-to-back controversies, SJSU had a chance to shine in the Mountain West Conference Championship finals on Saturday. However, when the second-seeded team faced the top-seeded Colorado, they lost in 4 sets. 27-25, 25-20, 23-25, and 25-16. With this win, Colorado was able to bag the automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA tournament, whereas SJSU was out of the race.

And the best players of the match who won the same for CSU were Malaya Jones, the Mountain West player of the year who spearheaded the win. She had 26 kills, 9 digs, and 3 blocks under her record that night. On another note, Emery Herman also played fantastically, with 50 assists and 16 digs.

On the other hand, for SJSU, Blaire Fleming led the game with 17 kills. However, it was also evident that she let go of nine errors and did not hit well in the first two sets, leading them to an early slowdown. Do you think a turnaround in the match was possible had SJSU taken an early lead? Let us know below!