A California high school volleyball match that never happened has set off a wave of heated debate, school board clashes, and national headlines. The game between Jurupa Valley High School and Riverside Poly was scheduled for August 15 but was abruptly canceled.
Riverside Poly issued a statement calling the decision “disappointing” while stressing its commitment to a safe and positive environment for athletes.
he statement did not cite a reason, but parents later confirmed the forfeit was tied to the presence of transgender athlete AB Hernandez on Jurupa Valley’s roster.
Board member Amanda Vickers told Fox Digital that the team’s choice came from concerns over safety.
“Tonight, the girls of Riverside Poly High School, they’re not going to end up like Payton McNabb,” she said, referring to a North Carolina player injured in a match against a trans athlete in 2022.
The incident triggered a tense Riverside Unified School District board meeting days later, where parents voiced both support and outrage over the decision. In the middle of it all, AB Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda, took the microphone to defend her daughter.
“You are a board member. You have an oath to protect, to support all children, not just the ones that fit your ideas, your beliefs,” she told attendees. “My daughter is not the problem.”
Nereyda argued that hostility was not coming from within the district but from outside groups using fear to divide parents. “This has nothing to do with fairness in sports and everything to do with erasing transgender children,” she said.
For Hernandez, the ordeal is not new. Earlier this year she was heckled by adults during a track meet at Yorba Linda High School, an incident she says she endured by keeping her focus on her own performance.
“I’m still a child, you’re an adult, and for you to act like a child shows how you are as a person,” she said at the time.
Now the school sports field has become a political battleground. California law permits transgender students to compete in line with their gender identity, but federal officials are challenging that policy.
Former President Donald Trump has warned that schools refusing to comply with his administration’s transgender policies “will not be funded.”
As lawsuits play out and more teams consider forfeits, the teenager at the center of the storm says she just wants to play. Her mother, meanwhile, insists the debate should never have been about whether her daughter belongs, but about ensuring that every child in the district is safe, supported, and respected.
Featured Image Credit: (CNN,KCRA)
