Wyoming

Wyoming volleyball coach worried about political pressure to forfeit vs. San Jose State

Published

2 weeks ago

November 9, 2024

Wyoming volleyball coach worried about political pressure to forfeit vs. San Jose State

Shortly after the University of Wyoming’s decision last month to forfeit a women’s volleyball game against San Jose State due to the presence of a reportedly transgender player, associate head coach Becky Baker expressed concerns that a closely-divided team’s preferences about whether to play were being usurped by outside political pressure, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY Sports through an open records request.

In an Oct. 2 e-mail to head coach Kaylee Prigge, who was away from the team on maternity leave, Baker attached a rundown of events that had occurred over the previous week as the controversy was exploding across the Mountain West Conference.

Four teams in the league — Boise State, Wyoming, Utah State, Nevada — have decided not to play San Jose State even though the player in question is eligible according to NCAA and conference rules and has been on the team for two seasons prior to this one without incident or controversy. USA TODAY Sports is not naming the player because neither she nor the school has commented on or confirmed her gender identity.

San Jose State is now second in the league at 11-4. Wyoming is 6-9 and could very well fail to qualify for the six-team conference tournament at the end of this month due to the two losses it forfeited against the Spartans. Wyoming is currently in seventh place, 2 ½ games behind sixth place.

Though the document Baker sent to Prigge is heavily redacted, it outlines a meeting that took place on Sept. 30 — five days before the first game was scheduled — with the team and athletics director Tom Burman, deputy athletics director Matt Whisenant and senior women’s administrator Taylor Stuemky.

At the meeting, according to Baker, Burman “shared his personal opinions and acknowledged how hard of a spot the girls are in” before asking them to write “yes” or “no” on a piece of paper without their names attached.

According to the document, Whisenant told Baker that the vote was 9-9 with one player abstaining and that he then informed her the team would not play the game.

“I asked him and Taylor very specifically to make this about the people up top and the political pressures essentially taking the decision away from us,” Baker wrote. “He wanted to mention that more people said ‘no’ than last week which is influencing their decision and if our team knows/thinks that is why we canceled I don’t think I’ll ever get them back from a cultural standpoint.”

Baker wrote that the next day, the team had another meeting where Whisenant explained why they were forfeiting. A player, whose name was redacted, “asked him straight up if our vote is what did it and he said that their vote was valued but that in the end it went above us,” Baker wrote.

Baker went on to write that the practice that day was “out of sorts” and that she expected the decision would cause dissension because of how it unfolded.

“I imagine several girls are going to find me because they are pissed,” Baker wrote. “(Player’s name redacted) also then posted on their Instagram stories which is whatever cause I can’t control that, but felt pretty inconsiderate to their teammates who I know are upset.”

Baker also wrote that Burman, the athletics director, “came in and is distraught about how this is going to impact the team and confirmed it would have been taken out of his hands regardless, but I think he is getting hit with how hard this is going to effect us.”

In a Sept. 27 e-mail responding to a person whose name was redacted after Boise State became the first Mountain West team to forfeit, Burman appears conflicted on the matter, writing that he doesn’t believe it is appropriate to have a transgender player while admitting she is eligible to compete.

“I do think it’s important to note, we have played against this athlete for the past two seasons and our student-athletes felt safe in the previous matches,” Burman wrote. “She is not the best or most dominant hitter on the Spartans team. Having said that it doesn’t make it ok. We have made our position known to the MWC and San Jose State that we think this is inappropriate, but she does meet all the NCAA standards for competition and is eligible.

“If we did choose to not compete, we would have to forfeit both matches and our student-athletes are not in favor of forfeiting two matches. We will continue to chat with our team and if some choose not to play, we will absolutely support that decision.”

This story has been updated to include new information and headlines

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Wyoming

Wyoming governor pledges to appeal after judge blocks pro-life laws

Published

5 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

Wyoming governor pledges to appeal after judge blocks pro-life laws

By Kate Quiñones

CNA Staff, Nov 21, 2024 / 06:00 am

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

Wyoming judge blocks state pro-life laws

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon plans to appeal to the state Supreme Court after a county judge blocked two pro-life laws in Wyoming. The judge blocked the Life Is a Human Right Act, which protected unborn children except in cases when the mother’s life was at risk or in cases of rape or incest, as well as a law prohibiting chemical abortions via abortion pills, a law signed by Gordon in March 2023.

Gordon said on Tuesday that the ruling was “frustrating” and that he instructed his attorney general to prepare to appeal the decision to the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens ruled on Monday that the two laws violated the state constitution by restricting medical decisions. Owen has blocked Wyoming abortion laws three times since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Now that the ruling has been struck down, abortion is legal up until fetal viability in Wyoming.

The plaintiffs included Wyoming abortion clinic Wellspring Health Access, two obstetricians, two other women, and the Wyoming abortion advocacy group Chelsea’s Fund. Following the ruling, Chelsea’s Fund stated on Tuesday that it “will do everything in our power to uphold this ruling in the Wyoming Supreme Court.”

Montana judge blocks licensing law for abortion clinic

A Montana District Court temporarily paused the state’s recent health department licensing regulations for abortion clinics amid pending litigation. House Bill 937 required licensure and regulation of abortion clinics and included rules for sanitation standards, emergency equipment, and hotlines for women who are coerced into an abortion or are victims of sex trafficking.

Two abortion providers, All Families Healthcare in Kalispell and Blue Mountain Clinic in Missoula, and an abortionist sued over the regulations, saying they would have to close if they were implemented. Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Chris Abbot ruled in their favor, saying that H.B. 937 was a shift in “the status quo” that abortion providers “are not generally considered health care facilities subject to a licensure requirement.” Montana voters approved Initiative 128 on Election Day, enshrining a right to abortion in the constitution and allowing abortion after fetal viability.

Virginia bishops condemn fast-tracked right to abortion proposal

Two Virginia bishops recently opposed a proposed amendment granting a right to abortion, which was fast-tracked by the state House Privileges and Elections Committee. Bishops Michael Burbidge of Arlington and Barry Knestout of Richmond in a Nov. 13 statement called the proposed right to abortion “a fundamental tragedy.” Virginia law currently allows abortion up to 26 weeks and six days and allows abortion after that in certain cases. Burbidge and Knestout encouraged Virginia to “work instead for policies that affirm the life and dignity of every mother and every child.”

The bishops also opposed a fast-tracked proposal to remove the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman from the state constitution. The bishops noted that they “affirm the dignity of every person” and “affirm too that marriage is exclusively the union of one man and one woman.” Following the election, the bishops encouraged “deep engagement in decisions” that are at “the heart of who we are.”

Kate Quiñones

Kate Quiñones is a staff writer for Catholic News Agency and a fellow of the College Fix. She has been published by the Wall Street Journal, the Denver Catholic Register, and CatholicVote, and she graduated from Hillsdale College. She lives in Colorado with her husband.

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Wyoming

Wind advisory includes Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties

Published

13 hours ago

November 20, 2024

Press Room

Wind advisory includes Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties

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Wyoming

What Wyoming coach said about Boise State, Ashton Jeanty

Published

21 hours ago

November 20, 2024

Press Room

What Wyoming coach said about Boise State, Ashton Jeanty

Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel had high praise for No. 12 Boise State during his weekly press conference.

“This is probably the best Mountain West team that I’ve seen in the five years I’ve been in this conference,” Sawvel said of the Broncos (9-1, 6-0), who travel Wyoming (2-8, 2-4) this Saturday.

“It’s a big challenge when you’re playing a team that’s on track to play in the playoff. They’re very well-rounded. They’ve got experience on defense, and they’re productive and opportunistic on that side of the ball. And then obviously Ashton Jeanty, who is kind of ridiculous. … We’re obviously going to have to play our best game we’ve played all year defensively to hang in with them.”

The Cowboys are coming off a 24-10 road loss to Colorado State.

Here are the highlights from Sawvel’s press conference.

On Boise State’s offense

“There’s a large model of what they do that is what we want to become. When you look at the blueprint in a sense, nobody is going to have Ashton Jeanty, I get that … but there’s a lot of things foundationally to what they do that is like ‘OK, this is what we want to look like.’”

On Boise State’s balance

“(Ashton Jeanty), great player there. But to be honest with you — he’s amazing and he deserves the credit that he gets, Heisman consideration and those types of things — but the quarterback, Maddux Madsen, really makes them go. Because … you can load the box on everybody run-game wise, but his accuracy and what (offensive coordinator) Dirk Koetter does with him offensively creates a balance for them that makes them that much harder to defend.”

On maintaining eye discipline, spying Madsen

“You’ve got to do your job and you’ve got to have your eyes in the right spot. That’s something that’s foundational to anything defensively. But if you start looking around too much in the run, (Madsen) is a very good quarterback. They’ve got good skill that opens things up. Just his movement, his ability to move. He’s a hard guy to sack. He’s got 19 touchdowns and three interceptions, so there’s an accuracy there that’s important, too.”

On ‘getting up’ to play Ashton Jeanty

“Well, let’s be careful a little bit about that. There’s a guy from San Diego State that chirped a lot about Ashton Jeanty, and that didn’t work out very good. So look, anytime there are good players on the field, I think players want to play good when there are other good players on the field.”

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