Women’s basketball players from Columbia Bible College (CBC) in British Columbia, Canada, have signed a letter in response to an opponent refusing to play games against CBC due to alleged abuse against a transgender player.
Vancouver Island University (VIU) announced this on Thursday won’t play its two games against CBC this weekend following an incident during the last meeting between the two teams in October, in which it was alleged that a CBC coach treated the trans athlete in a manner that violated the Coaches Code of Ethics. VIU has asked its conference, the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST), not to penalize its team for not playing its games due to the nature of the situation.
VIU’s transgender player, Harriette Mackenzie, has made public statements alleging that CBC coaches and players behaved in an offensive manner.
The CBC players’ letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, condemns the VIU team for “personal attacks,” “defamatory comments” and even “comments inciting violence” against their coach.
“Videos and letters posted by members of the VIU women’s basketball team over the past three months are in direct violation of multiple rules stated in section 17.2 of the manual. Several messages contained “personal attacks,” “defamatory comments,” “disrespect toward the PACWEST,” and led to “comments inciting violence and/or hatred directed toward our coach,” the letter said.
“All allegations made by VIU players about our team and our coach should have been communicated directly to PACWEST officials, they should not have been publicly uploaded to social media.”
The letter even called the VIU players’ statements “misinformation.”
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“The attack on Coach Claggett’s character and the character of our team over the past three months is based on misinformation and one side of a complicated scenario,” it read.
Mackenzie posted a video on the athlete’s Instagram page on Oct. 30, alleging that Columbia Bible head coach Taylor Clagett “cornered one of our athletics staff and delivered a tirade about how I shouldn’t be playing.”
Mackenzie said she was also deliberately pushed to the ground by a Columbia Bible player.
“I was thrown to the ground with two hands by No. 13 with no ball in sight, after which head coach Clagett can be seen clapping in support,” the trans athlete said.
Mackenzie helped lead the Mariners to the 2022-2023 Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national championship. This season, the athlete is second in the PACWEST in scoring with 16.1 points per game and third in rebounds with 9.4 per game as VIU is 11-1 in the conference. Mackenzie is also second in the conference in shooting percentage at 49.7%.
“I believe that all trans people should be included in sports. But it especially infuriates me because I play – and am forced to play – at a major biological disadvantage,” Mackenzie said in the video. “I’ve never experienced male puberty. I’ve only experienced female puberty. And I don’t have ovaries, I don’t have testicles, so there’s no way I can produce testosterone.”
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The letters from the CBC players also allege that the VIU team violated standard procedure for canceling games, and that PACWEST failed to hold VIU to proper standards.
“In the past, if a team refused to participate and travel to a scheduled match, they were awarded 0 points in the standings. By postponing the matches this weekend, PACWEST has contradicted standard procedure. No clear reason has been given to us team to justify this deviation from normal procedures,” the letter said.
In addition, Article 13, Section 9.1.1 states that if a team is unable to make a scheduled meet, the coach or athletic director must contact the opposing athletic director to “indicate the reason for their inability to fulfill their scheduled obligation.” ‘. As far as we know, this requirement has not been met.”
The CBC players, who have remained silent until now, believe they can no longer do that.
“Until now, we have remained silent. We have shown respect for PacWest and VIU in recent months by avoiding social media and voicing our concerns through official channels. The VIU women’s basketball team has not shared this same respect toward PacWest or CBC and has primarily communicated via social media,” the letter said.
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“Their behavior has been rewarded in the way their refusal to play this weekend has been handled. We are writing this letter to ensure that our voices are heard in this conversation, and that the respect we have shown throughout this process is not mistaken for passivity. “
As of June 2017, all places in Canada explicitly prohibit discrimination against gender identity or expression of gender identity within the Canadian Human Rights Act, equal opportunity and/or anti-discrimination legislation. This law protects the participation of all trans athletes in women’s and girls’ sports.
In the US, newly elected President Trump has promised to ban trans athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. Trump has also repeatedly suggested that Canada would join the US, possibly as the 51st state.
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