Melissa Batie-Smoose, associate head coach of women's volleyball at San Jose State University (SJSU), is part of a federal lawsuit seeking to have a SJSU volleyball player declared ineligible and for SJSU's wins to be vacated. The reason? The plaintiffs, which include SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser and 10 other current or former Mountain West players, say SJSU has a male on the female volleyball team.
According to plaintiffs, not only is that a violation of their Title IX rights, but they also allege they were discouraged from speaking out about the issue.
Kim Russell, Ambassador for Independent Women's Forum (IWF), argues it is "fabulous" that Batie-Smoose is standing up for the safety and privacy of her players and for freedom of speech.
"Not many coaches have stood up in this fight against having males in women's sports and private spaces," Russell tells AFN. "And Coach Melissa Batie-Smoose has taken the reins and she was actually indefinitely suspended for bringing Title IX complaints to the school in trying to take care of and protect the girls on her team."
Russell knows a thing or two about taking a stand. The former women's lacrosse coach at Oberlin College was – in her words – "burned at the stake" for commenting about males participating in women's sports.
"All athletes and staff and coaches were told to have no contact with me, and many to this day who I do talk to were afraid and some still are afraid to reach out to me via text or phone call," says Russell. "That is where this country has come and what is insanity to me at this point."
If given the opportunity to do things differently, Russell vows she would still speak up. In her view, allowing a male onto a team does not just affect that team, but every opposing team and the conference as a whole.
"It affects stats in the entire nation in Division I volleyball – and it affects not just game stats, but yearly stats, season stats, career records at the school and at the national level," says Russell. "Also, [it puts] women at risk every time that male gets on the court, because there are biological reasons why we have men's sports and women's sports."
AFN reported last week that Batie-Smoose was suspended by SJSU just hours before a match for filing a Title IX complaint claiming the school's transgender-inclusion policy created a toxic environment for female athletes.
