This isn't the first time Valley Christian Academy in Santa Maria has faced backlash for a decision like this. Back in 2021, they settled a lawsuit after forfeiting a Title IX game for the exact same reason.
From Breitbart:
Valley Christian Academy in Santa Maria, California, forfeited its Sept. 30 game against Coast Union in Cambria, California. This is not the first time Valley Christian has forfeited games for this reason. In fact, it’s the fourth year in a row they’ve elected to forfeit a game because the opposing team had a female player, and it’s the second time they’ve forfeited against Coast Union.
Valley Christian settled a suit brought against them in 2021 by a female football player from Cuyama Valley High School in California. The suit was settled in August for $20,000. However, the position of Valley Christian and their Superintendent Joel Mikkelson, who is also the Pastor at First Baptist Church, is that TitleIX doesn’t apply in this particular situation because football is a contact sport.
“Title IX is very clear that contact sports are exempt from Title IX,” Mikkelson told the Los Angeles Times. “That’s the language — contact sports are exempt from Title IX. It is an unfortunate tragedy that that is not understood by most people.”
The specific language in Title IX pertaining to contact sports says, in part:
(a) General. No person shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, be treated differently from another person or otherwise be discriminated against in any interscholastic, intercollegiate, club or intramural athletics offered by a recipient, and no recipient shall provide any such athletics separately on such basis.
(b) Separate teams. Notwithstanding the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, a recipient may operate or sponsor separate teams for members of each sex where selection for such teams is based upon competitive skill or the activity involved is a contact sport. However, where a recipient operates or sponsors a team in a particular sport for members of one sex but operates or sponsors no such team for members of the other sex, and athletic opportunities for members of that sex have previously been limited, members of the excluded sex must be allowed to try-out for the team offered unless the sport involved is a contact sport. For the purposes of this part, contact sports include boxing, wrestling, rugby, ice hockey, football, basketball and other sports the purpose or major activity of which involves bodily contact.
The lawsuit against Valley Christian accused the school of denying the female player her “athletic opportunities” by clinging to “antiquated, misogynistic ideals.”
“This action arises out of the abhorrent, intentional, and gross discrimination against plaintiff, a female student-athlete enrolled at Cuyama Valley High School (Cuyama Valley), by defendants’ antiquated, misogynistic ideals and policies through which defendants sought to minimize plaintiff’s athletic ability and deprive her of athletic opportunities strictly due to her gender.”
It honestly wouldn't surprise me if yet another lawsuit were brought against the team for this latest decision.
Which is just ridiculous, honestly. Why on earth can't a team simply choose who they wish to compete against?
Why does a decision like this warrant a lawsuit?
