{"id":150461,"date":"2025-08-16T12:20:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T12:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/150461\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T12:20:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T12:20:10","slug":"california-riverside-poly-high-school-forfeits-girls-volleyball-match-against-jurupa-valley-with-transgender-ab-hernandez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/150461\/","title":{"rendered":"California Riverside Poly High School forfeits girls volleyball match against Jurupa Valley with transgender AB Hernandez"},"content":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0California high school\u00a0girls\u2019 volleyball team forfeited a match against a team that is believed to include a biological male trans athlete<\/a> Friday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Riverside Poly High School in Riverside County, California<\/a>, announced its forfeit against Jurupa Valley High School in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRiverside Poly High School\u2019s\u00a0girls volleyball team\u00a0will not take the court for tonight\u2019s scheduled game against Jurupa Valley High School,\u201d the statement said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis match will be recorded as a forfeit in non-league standings. We understand this is disappointing for our athletes, families and supporters, and we appreciate the community\u2019s understanding. We remain committed to providing a safe, positive environment for all student-athletes throughout the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

No reason for the forfeit was provided in the statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Multiple parents of Riverside Poly players told Fox News Digital that the forfeit was intended to be a protest for fairness and safety in girls\u2019 sports, as trans athlete AB Hernandez competes for Jurupa Valley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision was not about hatred or anything negative. Trans people still have rights but not a right to play sports against the opposite sex,\u201d said Fred Brayton, the father of a Riverside Poly player.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jurupa Valley\u2019s AB Hernandez celebrates a point with teammates during a match in 2024. AP<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not about AB. It is about women need[ing] to play against other women. It is about boys participating in girls sports.\u00a0The small minority of the community that thinks we are discriminating have it wrong. You can be trans all day long but you can\u2019t be a boy and play girl sports. You can still go about being trans but probably need to focus on that and not playing sports against the opposite sex.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brayton added that the decision not to play was made by the Riverside Poly players.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An anonymous mother of a player on Riverside Poly\u2019s junior varsity team said her daughter was offered the chance to move up to varsity to play against Jurupa Valley. But the mother said she would not let her daughter compete against Hernandez.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo reasons: for her safety, number one\u2026 and two, men shouldn\u2019t be in women\u2019s sports,\u201d the mother said of why she wouldn\u2019t let her daughter play. \u201cI\u2019m not willing to risk her safety because [Hernandez] wants to play on a girls\u2019 team\u2026 so this is a pretty good message, I think it\u2019s pretty bold of these girls and their parents to have to care and be willing to forfeit the game to make that statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

AB Hernandez poses with a medal after winning the girls\u2019 long jump during the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet in Moorpark, Calif. on May 24, 2025. AP<\/p>\n

Riverside Poly High School in Riverside County, California. Google Maps<\/p>\n

Amanda Vickers, a member of the\u00a0Riverside Unified School District\u00a0board, told Fox News Digital she believes the forfeit was in response a trans athlete on Jurupa Valley\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cA decision was made that the students didn\u2019t want to [play],\u201d Vickers said. \u201cI did get a message yesterday that there [were] parents [of players] that were wearing \u2018Save Girls Sports\u2019 shirts. So they were kind of prepared for a protest today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vickers added she believes the forfeit was significant for the sake of the safety of the female athletes, referencing former high school volleyball player Payton McNabb, who suffered permanent brain damage when she was struck in the head with a spike from a trans athlete in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat this is about is there is a difference between biological girls and biological boys. And, tonight, the girls of Riverside Polly High School, they\u2019re not going to end up like Payton McNabb,\u201d Vickers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jurupa Unified School District provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing the forfeit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were notified that Riverside Poly High School canceled today\u2019s scheduled girls volleyball match with Jurupa Valley High School. They did not disclose the reason. We have no additional comment at this time,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

Hernandez\u2019s mother, Nereyda Hernandez, released a statement on social media after the news of the forfeit broke. She appeared to reference current California state law, which has enabled trans athletes to compete in girls\u2019 sports dating back to 2014.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we follow California law and school policies, especially those that protect the rights of ALL students, we are more than just rule-followers. We are respectful, inclusive, and principled citizens. Even when others choose to be a negative influence, we stand for fairness, dignity, and equality,\u201d Nereyda wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not always easy, but doing the right thing matters, especially when it supports those who are often marginalized or misunderstood. By choosing respect and inclusion, we help build a school and a society where everyone feels safe, valued, and seen. No matter what challenges come our way, we will continue to respect one another, and each other\u2019s families with compassion and understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Multiple parents of Riverside Poly players told Fox News Digital that the forfeit was intended to be a protest for fairness and safety in girls\u2019 sports, as trans athlete AB Hernandez competes for Jurupa Valley.\u00a0 KCRA<\/p>\n

Activists protest AB Hernandez\u2019s inclusion in the high school girl\u2019s track and field preliminary meet in Yorba Linda on May 10, 2025. Image of Sports\/Newscom via ZUMA<\/p>\n

Riverside became a hotbed of controversy involving trans athletes in girls sports last year during Hernandez\u2019s highly-publicized season and after a lawsuit was filed by two girls at Martin Luther King High School that alleged a trans athlete took one of the girls\u2019 varsity spots on the cross-country team.<\/p>\n

The students at the school then began wearing the \u201cSave Girls Sports\u201d T-shirts every week in response after school administrators allegedly compared the shirts to swastikas, according to the lawsuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hernandez was the focus of a national media firestorm in May during the athlete\u2019s run to a California girls track and field championship.<\/a><\/p>\n

Riverside became a hotbed of controversy involving trans athletes in girls sports last year during Hernandez\u2019s highly-publicized season AP<\/p>\n

Female spectators wear \u201cProtect Girls Sports\u201d shirts during the CIF Southern Section D3 Track and Field meet at Nathan Shapell Memorial Stadium in Yorba Linda, Calif. on May 10, 2025. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The postseason meets that Hernandez competed in were met with protests by female athletes and their families who often wore the \u201cSave Girls Sports\u201d shirts.<\/p>\n

Hernandez\u2019s run seemingly drew a response from President Donald Trump, who posted a Truth Social message the week leading up to the state final advising the state not to allow a trans athlete to compete. Trump did not reference Hernandez directly in the post. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Hernandez won the state championship in the girls high jump and triple jump<\/a> at a meet that saw an LGBTQ protester arrested for allegedly assaulting a conservative activist and a plane flying overhead with a banner that said \u201cNo boys in girls\u2019 sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In response to Trump\u2019s warning, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF)<\/a> amended its policies in the days prior to the event to ensure that any female athlete who finished behind a trans athlete at the championship would be bumped up one spot.<\/p>\n

This resulted in Hernandez sharing the first-place spots on the medal podium in high jump and triple jump, and the second-place podium spot in long jump at the state meet in.<\/p>\n

Then in July, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the California\u00a0Department of Education\u00a0(CDE) and CIF for its policies that have allowed biological males to compete in girls sports across the state despite Trump signing an executive order in February to prohibit it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hernandez was honored by state Sen. Sabrina Cervantes at the Jurupa City Council Aug. 7. Cervantes was present to give Hernandez two certificates on behalf of the California state senate and delivered a speech recognizing the athlete\u2019s championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A\u00a0bipartisan survey<\/a>\u00a0by the Public Policy Institute of California found a majority of California residents oppose biological male trans athletes competing in women\u2019s sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Riverside became a hotbed of controversy involving trans athletes in girls sports last year during Hernandez\u2019s highly-publicized season AP<\/p>\n

That figure included more than 70% of\u00a0the state\u2019s school parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost Californians support requiring transgender athletes to compete on teams matching the sex they were assigned at birth,\u201d the poll stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSolid majorities of adults (65%) and likely voters (64%) support requiring that transgender athletes compete on teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth, not the gender they identify with. An overwhelming majority of public school parents (71%) support such a requirement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A\u00a0California high school\u00a0girls\u2019 volleyball team forfeited a match against a team that is believed to include a biological…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[276,3102,62,19746,26397,67,132,68,88415],"class_list":{"0":"post-150461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-high-school-sports","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-transgender","12":"tag-transgender-athletes","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-volleyball"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}