By Dan Zaksheske

Copyright outkick

Parents of Michigan high school volleyball players say they were blindsided when their daughters faced Skyline High School last week. The Ann Arbor-area school fielded a biological male athlete, without, they believe, informing families in advance. Two Monroe High School parents, who spoke to OutKick on the condition of anonymity for fear their daughters could face backlash, said they only learned after the match that Skyline had a transgender athlete competing on its varsity girls’ team. “I was kind of blindsided,” one parent told OutKick. “I have nothing against trans people, I want to make that clear… but when it comes to competing in sports, a male athlete should not be competing against female athletes.” Skyline, which handily defeated Monroe in the Sept. 9 meeting, has come under scrutiny for having a transgender athlete on its girls team without, it appears, following the rules of Michigan’s High School Athletic Association. Those rules require a waiver for any transgender athlete to compete on a girls’ team, but the MHSAA told OutKick no such waivers were granted this fall. Both parents told OutKick the Monroe administration never disclosed the presence of a male athlete, either before or after the match. “Why are we the last to know?” one parent asked. “And why have we not gotten any kind of statement… just something to make the parents feel comfortable?” OutKick’s Joe Kinsey, who attended the game, observed Skyline athletic director Delsie Sissoko in attendance and speaking with her Monroe counterpart, Chet Hesson. Parents said it struck them as unusual for an AD to travel to a routine regular-season match. “The Skyline AD came to watch the game, which normally ADs don’t do,” one parent said. “She was there to make sure there was no heckling or harassing.” Monroe AD Claims Ignorance on Transgender Opponent Monroe’s athletic director said federal privacy law (FERPA) prevented him from disclosing details about individual students. “Prior to the match on Tuesday, I was informed that a news outlet may attend the match, as a courtesy from the visiting team in case media presence might cause a distraction. I did not receive any disclosure from the visiting team about the gender identity of any individual athlete or athletes,” Hesson wrote in an email to OutKick. Parents questioned why Hesson did not alert them once told that media attention might surround the game. “I would respect that transparency, even if I didn’t agree with the policy,” one parent said. Hesson reached out again to add additional context to his comments. “I did speak with the AD, she shared that there was a news outlet that was concerned about trans-athletes in sport,” Hesson said in an email received after this story was published. Skyline High School Ignoring MHSAA Rules “Our AD didn’t give the parents a heads-up, like, ‘Hey, listen, you may hear about this, and here’s what we’re doing for precautions, and here we’re going to take measures where nobody feels uncomfortable,'” the parent said. “I would be OK with that. I’m not OK with the process, but I would respect that he would reach out to people and say, ‘Here’s what we are doing, please be respectful and be kind.'” The main issue with a transgender player competing on the Skyline volleyball team is that Michigan is not a state that bans transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports – even though it violates President Donald Trump’s Executive Order, “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports.” However, schools are required to request a waiver from the MHSAA and it must be approved each season. The MHSAA previously told OutKick that it did not approve a single waiver this fall. “I don’t feel male athletes have a right to play with female athletes. That being said, I follow the rules. If MHSAA says this is allowed with this certain requirement, then I accept that. I don’t like it, but I will accept it,” one of the parents said. Both parents made it clear that they had no issues with transgender people, in general, but didn’t feel comfortable having their daughters compete against a male athlete or potentially share a locker room with them. While they chose to speak anonymously, one parent explained his decision to speak up. “We all hate it… but we don’t do anything about it to make a change for our kids’ future. And if we’re not helping impact our kids’ future to help them excel, we’re not doing our job as parents. Period.” (Updates story with additional comment from Monroe’s AD.)