Female basketball players condemned the rival team with a trans player for ‘personal attacks’, ‘incitement to violence’
Women’s basketball players at Columbia Bible College (CBC) in British Columbia, Canada, have signed a letter responding to an opposing team refusing to play games against CBC over alleged abuse transgender player.
Vancouver Island University (VIU) made the announcement on Thursday won’t play its two games against CBC this weekend following an incident in the last meeting between the two teams in October, in which a CBC coach was alleged to have treated a trans athlete in a manner that violated the Coaches Code of Ethics. VIU asked its conference, the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST), not to penalize its team for not playing games due to the nature of the situation.
Transgender VIU player Harriette Mackenzie has made public statements alleging that CBC coaches and players behaved in an offensive manner.
A letter from CBC players, obtained by Fox News Digital, condemns the VIU team for “personal attacks,” “defamatory comments” and even “comments that incite violence” against their coach.
“Videos and letters posted by members of the VIU women’s basketball team over the past three months directly violated multiple rules outlined in Article 17.2 of the handbook. The various posts included ‘personal attacks’, ‘defamatory comments’, ‘disrespect for PACWEST’ and led to to ‘comments that incite violence and/or hatred’ directed at our coach,” the letter reads.
“All claims made by VIU players regarding our team and coach should have been communicated directly to PACWEST officials only, not publicly posted on social media.”
The letter even called the VIU players’ statements “disinformation.”
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“The attack on Coach Claggett’s character and the character of our team over the last three months was based on misinformation and one side of a complicated scenario,” it said.
Mackenzie announced video recording on the athlete’s Instagram page on Oct. 30, alleging that Columbia Bible head coach Taylor Clagett “cornered one of our athletic staff and went on a tirade about how I shouldn’t be allowed to play.”
Mackenzie said a Columbia Bible player also intentionally fouled her on the ground.
“Number 13 threw me to the ground with both hands with no play in sight and then head coach Clagett can be seen clapping in support,” said the trans athlete.
Mackenzie helped lead the Mariners to the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national championship in 2022-23. This season, the athlete is second in the PACWEST in scoring with 16.1 points per game and third in rebounding with 9.4 per game, while VIU is 11-1 in the conference. Mackenzie is also second in the conference in shooting percentage at 49.7%.
“I believe all trans people should be included in sports. But it makes me especially angry because I play — and am forced to play — at a biological disadvantage,” Mackenzie said in the video. “I never went through male puberty. I only went through female puberty. And I don’t have ovaries, I don’t have testicles, so I have no way to make testosterone.”
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The players’ letters to CBC also allege that the VIU team violated standard procedure for canceling games and that PACWEST did not hold VIU to the proper standards.
“In the past when a team has refused to participate and travel to a scheduled game, they have received 0 classification points. By postponing this weekend’s games, PACWEST was in violation of standard operating procedure. Our team was not given a clear rationale to justify this deviation from normal procedures “, says the letter.
“Additionally, Article 13 Section 9.1.1 states that if a team is unable to play a scheduled game, the coach or athletic director should contact the opposing athletic director to ‘indicate the reason for their inability to fulfill their scheduled obligations.’ To our knowledge, this request has not been met.”
The CBC players, who have remained silent until now, believe they can no longer do so.
“Up until this point, we have been silent. We have shown respect for PacWest and VIU over the past few months by staying off social media and expressing our concerns through official channels. The VIU women’s basketball team did not share the same respect for PacWest or CBC and communicated primarily on social networks,” the letter reads.
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“Their behavior has been rewarded by 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 specifically prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression within the Canadian Human Rights Act, equal opportunity legislation and/or anti-discrimination legislation. This law protects the inclusion of all trans athletes in sports for women and girls.
In the US, President-elect Trump has promised to ban trans athletes from competing in women’s and women’s sports. Trump has also repeatedly suggested that Canada join the US, potentially as the 51st state.
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