FORT COLLINS — You know what Inclusive Excellence Day at Moby Arena didn’t include? Droves of armed police. Protests outside or inside the facility.
The Rams swept San Joe State, 3-0. No offensive signs. No hollering. There was, by media count, one armed security officer standing outside the visiting locker room.
A trans player took the court for the visiting Spartans and it felt like any other Mountain West volleyball match.
Which, of course, it wasn’t.
“Yeah, I mean, I walked up to (CSU coach) Emily (Kohan), and I was like, ‘Should I say thank you for playing us tonight?’ And I seriously meant that,” said Spartans volleyball coach Todd Kress, whose team has become a political wedge issue recently as four schools have canceled either past or future matches with the program.
“Because, of course, we’re disappointed that we’re losing opportunities to play. But it’s not just us that are losing opportunities to play. It’s the people choosing not to play us, and that’s very unfortunate when it comes to these young women who have earned the right to step on the court and play.
“And so I just think that we’re in a position where it appears that government and politics have kind of intertwined itself with college sports. And the one thing that I love about college sports, it’s always been a safe haven for me. That’s one area that government I don’t think should be involved. And so it seems, or at least it appears, that some of those decisions are being made at levels to where they’re denying their student-athletes to play, and denying our student-athletes to play.”
Stick to sports, Southern Utah.
You, too, Utah State.
And you, Boise State.
And Wyoming.
The Spartans were supposed to visit Laramie on Saturday as the second part of a Front Range swing. Only Wyoming announced Tuesday that it canceled the match and will forfeit instead.
When asked for comment, Wyoming athletics sent The Denver Post the same statement the university released on Oct. 1, which read: “After a lengthy discussion, the University of Wyoming will not play its scheduled conference match against San José State University in the UniWyo Sports Complex on Saturday, Oct. 5. Per Mountain West Conference policy, the Conference will record the match as a forfeit and a loss for Wyoming.”
Here’s what’s curious: The Cowgirls played against the Spartans, and an SJSU player identified this past spring by the website Reduxx.com as trans, twice last season. And twice in 2022. No forfeits.
What’s changed? The Cowboy State Daily reported on a letter penned by Wyoming Republican State Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, and circulated to other lawmakers, that said in part that, “the (State) Legislature has been very clear that the University of Wyoming, being a publicly funded land grant institution, should not participate in the extremist agenda of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) or propagate the lie that biological sex can be changed … We all know it cannot.”
Boo to Wyoming for kowtowing to the polls in a presidential election year.
Bravo to CSU for playing. For putting the pursuit of a conference championship, and a title for their players, over cheap political points.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if none of us had to get involved with politics?” Coach Kohan said when I asked about the timing. “I don’t have a strong desire to be a politician in the future. But I do have a strong desire to raise critical thinkers in my program. And for them to understand their own selves and what’s important to them, and be able to make really conscious and mature decisions out of that. And to always make those decisions out of kindness, right?
“And, again, there’s a lot of different opinions all around the country about this. But, again, I’m really proud with our team leading with kindness and continuing to discover their own selves and what’s important to them.”
Colorado State setter Emery Herman (4) sets during the Colorado State Rams volleyball match against the San Jose State Spartans in Moby Arena at Colorado State University in Fort Collins on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. The Rams defeated the Spartans 3-0. (Photo by Alex McIntyre/Special to The Denver Post)
Critical thinkers, leading with kindness.
Mind you, it’s easy to walk away on principle when your team’s record makes it more palatable. Utah State, which canceled its Oct. 23 visit to San Jose State, went into Friday morning 0-3 in the Mountain West, 3-10 overall. Boise State, which forfeited its Sept. 28 trip to the South Bay? 0-2, 8-5 overall. Wyoming was 1-2 in the league, 9-4 overall.
“One of our core values with CSU volleyball is unity,” graduate middle blocker Naeemah Weathers said Thursday after her Rams improved to 3-0 in the league, 7-6 overall.
“So we are super excited to be able to come out and put that on the stage, and be able to come out on top of conference. That was one of the things that we talked about pregame, was making a statement, and showing that we are the best team in conference.”
That the Spartans visited for CSU’s Inclusive Excellence game was more kismet than design. The date was scheduled before the season, and well before the recent cancellations, several Rams officials told me Thursday.
The crowd was small but intimate — 2,838 officially, which passed the eye test. San Jose State’s players received polite cheers, with a soft smattering of boos. Nothing unusual for a road team in a conference tilt, though. And nothing as emotive as, say, a rivalry matchup against the Cowgirls. Or CU.
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SJSU, meanwhile, was playing its first match since Sept. 24. The rust showed, as the hosts raced out to an 18-9 lead in the first set and, other than trailing 7-2 early in the second, never really looked back.
Last week, Spartans senior setter and co-captain Brooke Slusser joined a class-action lawsuit that accuses the NCAA of violating Title IX by allowing trans athletes to compete against women in women’s sports and use women’s locker rooms. Several websites reported a SJSU volleyball player as being born male. The Post does not publish the names of such individuals without their consent.
Kress admitted that unity, that Rams core value, has been a tougher road for his Spartans.
“I would prefer to not talk about the locker room,” Slusser said Thursday night when asked about any division.
And the cancellations?
“Obviously, it’s not ideal,” co-captain Brooke Bryant added. “It (stinks), at the end of the day. But I think just coming in the gym every day — not saying we’re expecting it to happen, (but) we kind of are. And when we do get the opportunity to put the jersey on, we just play for each other, like I said. And we get in and we get better every day. That’s all we can do because you never know with that kind of stuff.”
Colorado State outside hitter Kennedy Stanford (17) dives for a dig during the Colorado State Rams volleyball match against the San Jose State Spartans in Moby Arena at Colorado State University in Fort Collins on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. The Rams defeated the Spartans 3-0. (Photo by Alex McIntyre/Special to The Denver Post)
The only statement CSU outside hitter Kennedy Stanford wanted to make was at the top of the standings.
“It’s a weird thing, where it doesn’t matter what we did in this situation — anything is considered us taking a stance on it,” Stanford said. “And that’s a kind of weird thing whenever, for everyone here, we’re here to play volleyball and win championships as a team.
“And so it’s just a weird situation where no matter what you do, you’re taking a stance. And really for us, it was just, whatever we’re going to do, we’re going to do it together. And we’re going to focus on what our big goals were as a team going into this year.”
The last two conference unbeatens left in the Mountain West met on a clear, crisp October night in FoCo. There’s only one unbeaten left. Read deeper, that’s your agenda. Not theirs.
“Decisive win in three,” CSU president Amy Parsons told me on her way out of the building. “What more could you want?”
“Any comment on the decision to play?” I asked.
“No, I won’t comment on that,” she replied. “We’re just celebrating tonight.”
Leading with kindness. What a concept.