Trans Volleyball Player Edges Out Female Competitors for Coveted Division I Women's Scholarship: Report
A 17-year-old boy who claims to be a girl could become the first male athlete to receive a women’s scholarship in NCAA Division I sports, according to Reduxx.
The outlet reported Wednesday that California resident Tate Drageset made a verbal commitment to play women’s volleyball at the University of Washington in June. If he signs the offer, he will claim one of 12 scholarships available for women on the team.
Drageset, who plays for the Actyve Volleyball Club in Santa Monica, California, already has helped several girls volleyball teams to championships, according to Reduxx.
He was named the MVP at the Girls Junior National Championships and won the California Interscholastic Federation’s Division 5 Player of 2022-23.
Tate Drageset
🏐: Outside
⬅️: Actyve
➡️: University of Washington pic.twitter.com/VOnVvBojir— Class of 2025 Volleyball Commits (@classof2025vb) June 27, 2023
According to the report, the transgender outside hitter’s statistics far outpace those of the girls he faces.
“When compared to same-height female athletes within his volleyball club, Drageset’s standing reach, vertical jump, and other key physical metrics are all more favorable,” said the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, a nonpartisan organization that works to protect women’s sports.
Women’s scholarships are for women only‼️
The @NCAA‘s devotion to discrimination against female athletes is a disgrace. Join us at the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championships
🗓️ Dec 14 & 17📍Tampa, FL https://t.co/jghMGXcWF8— ICONS (@icons_women) December 13, 2023
The schools and teams have carefully hidden the fact that Drageset is a boy, according to Reduxx. However, it said, upset parents have been talking about the obvious biological differences between the taller, faster and harder-hitting teen and the girls he has faced and played with.
Some have told Reduxx that they have been intimidated into remaining quiet for fear that they will be branded as hateful and their daughters will be punished by the schools.
“Everyone is scared of how their child will be treated if they speak up. It’s already so competitive to get on a good club team,” one parent said. “The stealing of positions and opportunities has been infuriating and so sad when you see how it affects the girls. There is no concern for their mental health or safety after being replaced.”
Drageset’s mother has a history of outspoken advocacy for transgendering small children.
Reduxx noted that Stacey Drageset helped the Los Angeles Times craft a story published in 2016 to highlight her son’s “transition.”
The story did not name Tate, but it called the child “T” throughout and also said he was heavily into volleyball. The child in the article also lived in the same area that Tate and his mother did at the time.
The mother told the Times she knew her son was transgender because he liked girls’ clothing when he was barely old enough to talk.
Stacey Drageset also allowed a film to be shot in 2016 featuring her son’s transition, according to Reduxx. The report said the film took pains to hide Tate’s face, but in one scene the child in the film holds a volleyball with the name “Tate” on it.
Along with all that, Stacey Drageset also published a book in 2015 pushing gender identity on small children. And it seems that she has been helping her child “transition” since he was at least 10 or 11 years old.
Reduxx noted that the volleyball net is set seven inches higher for boys volleyball than it is for girls volleyball. There is a good reason for this: Male players are, on average, six inches taller than female players, and they are also far more powerful on spikes and serves.
So it should not be surprising that Drageset’s stats are far better than those of any girl his age in the game. The 6-foot teenager has a clear physical advantage.
Many parents of the girls he faces are also worried about the safety of their daughters.
Their fears are justified.
Just this year, a California girl was seriously injured when a boy claiming to be a girl spiked a volleyball into her face, causing a concussion and leaving her with blurred vision.
In another case, a girl in North Carolina suffered head and neck injuries from a ball hit by a transgender opponent. It was so brutal that the school refused to play any team with a trans player.
And only a little over a month ago, a girl had her teeth knocked out when a boy delivered a vicious shot to her face during a field hockey game in Massachusetts.
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