Shortly after the University of Wyoming’s decision last month to forfeit a women’s volleyball game against San Jose State due to the presence of a reportedly transgender player , associate head coach Becky Baker expressed concerns that a closely-divided team’s preferences about whether to play were being usurped by outside political pressure, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY Sports through an open records request.
In an Oct. 2 e-mail to head coach Kaylee Prigge, who was away from the team on maternity leave, Baker attached a rundown of events that had occurred over the previous week as the controversy was exploding across the Mountain West Conference.
Four teams in the league — Boise State, Wyoming, Utah State, Nevada — have decided not to play San Jose State even though the player in question is eligible according to NCAA and conference rules and has been on the team for two seasons prior to this one without incident or controversy. USA TODAY Sports is not naming the player because neither she nor the school has commented on or confirmed her gender identity.