NCAA softball player Kendall Kotzmacher and high school volleyball player Briley Lechner have voiced their experiences about competing against transgender athletes. During a public hearing, they raised concerns about competitive fairness, locker room privacy, and the effects of current policies on girls’ and women’s sports.
Kotzmacher shared an emotional experience from her senior year at the Minnesota state tournament. Her team, considered underdogs, reached the semifinals, only to be defeated by a team that included a male athlete in a girls’ championship. The loss left her devastated and confused, questioning how officials could allow such a situation.
“We were forced to compete against a male,” Kotzmacher expressed.
The realization that administrators and policymakers were not safeguarding female athletes’ rights was shocking to Kotzmacher. She felt that they abandoned girls like her, leaving them to cope with the impact on their own.
Every aspect of girls’ sports, from roster spots to championship opportunities, was affected when male athletes competed in girls’ tournaments, affecting the future of many young athletes.
After her team’s loss, Kotzmacher chose not to remain silent. This led her to Washington, D.C., where she spoke at a press conference after a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, discussing the issues of opportunity, fairness, and safety for female athletes.
Playing Division I softball at Western Michigan University, Kotzmacher felt pressure to keep her views private. Being encouraged to silence her experiences left her isolated. The focus seemed skewed towards protecting the feelings of male athletes over the opportunities for girls.
In an academic setting, Kotzmacher faced further challenges. A sociology paper on sex and gender resulted in a zero. Her professor insisted that she remove bias, but the experience highlighted the expectation to conform to ideas she disagreed with.
Finding support at Colorado Christian University, Kotzmacher now feels encouraged and unashamed to share the truth about her past experiences. As a college sophomore, she reflects on her younger self and the girls who will follow in her footsteps. Her message is clear: If adults fail to protect girls, those girls must find the courage to protect each other.
Kotzmacher continues to stand firm, advocating for female athletes to maintain their rightful space in sports, ensuring girls today and in the future do not lose their voice or their place.