Male athlete allowed to play with girls in Wisconsin as players quit over safety concerns: 'Girls are leaving with welts and bruises,' parents say

Officials from the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association reportedly told parents and student athletes that a boy will be allowed to play against them in the upcoming school year, despite complaints regarding injuries and sharing locker rooms.

“They're just not used to the ball coming at them that hard,” said Ryan Gusick, one of the parents who said girls were quitting due to concerns of injury and safety.

Ben Krumholtz from WLUK in Green Bay said that "in summer practices and games, the parents say girls are leaving with welts and bruises they've never received before."

“A lot of these girls are specifically quitting this team because they're concerned for their safety,” Gusick added, while a concerned mother said that the male student has "the most power" out of any one playing.

The specific school and sport were not reported due to privacy concerns.

The WIAA policy states its goals are of course "equity, physical safety, and competitive equity."

"A student's member school will be the point of contact for determining the student's eligibility to participate in WIAA sponsored interscholastic athletics," the policy continues.

"A male-to-female transgender student must have one calendar year of medically documented testosterone suppression therapy to be eligible to participate on a female team.”

However, after a closed-door meeting with parents and students, the WIAA upheld its original policy and even reportedly told students that if they have issues with the decision they should seek counseling.

“We were hoping to hear a little bit more of both sides of the compass, but it was really one-sided: this is the WIAA, this is Title IX, if the girls have issues they can find counseling and life goes on,” Gusick said after the meeting.

As for concerns over locker rooms and the young girls having to change with the boy, the district is sticking with its policy.

In a statement to Fox 11, the district said it "works with the transgender students to determine what they would prefer. However, they have a legal right to use the locker room. If they choose to use the locker room they gender identify with, students who may have concerns the District will work with to provide supports.”

Several parents said their daughters won't be trying out due to their concerns. At the same time, two female community members, who did not say if they have children, spoke out in support of the boy who identifies as a girl: “We just wanted it to be out there that there are other students and athletes that are in support of her,” said Kathy Heath.

Local father Gusick added that the girls are "kind of fed up hearing that your safety is our top concern from all these people and they're really doing nothing about it."

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