KIPP Academy Lynn Collegiate in Massachusetts earned a mention in the New Hampshire Senate during a debate over boys playing girls sports in high school.
New Hampshire state Senator Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) cited the school on the floor of the chamber while arguing for the bill, SB 375, which would prevent males from playing girls’ sports, including those who identify as transgender. The New Hampshire Senate passed the bill 14-10 on Friday April 5, along party lines. Every Republican voted for it; every Democrat voted against it.
The New Hampshire House of Representatives on March 21 already passed a version of the bill (HB 1205), 189-182, as NewBostonPost previously reported, meaning that it would likely become law if Governor Chris Sununu, a Republican, supports it.
The major difference between the two bills is that the Senate version would also bar males from girls’ locker rooms in public schools. For a bill to reach the governor’s desk, the House and Senate must agree on the same final version of the bill and vote for it.
During the New Hampshire Senate debate late last week, Bradley mentioned an incident that occurred this past February 8 during a high school basketball game between KIPP Academy and Collegiate Charter School of Lowell.
A male player on KIPP who is over six feet tall and has facial hair injured three opposing players during the run of play, according to witnesses. Collegiate Charter School of Lowell only had eight healthy players as of the start of the game, and the team’s coach was concerned about the health of his remaining players entering the postseason state tournament, so he forfeited the game.
Bradley told his Senate colleagues that if the elected body wants to stand up for females, it shouldn’t allow that to happen in New Hampshire.
“You know it was interesting there was a story this morning,” Bradley said. “I’ll just read the headline in today’s New Hampshire Journal: ‘Bearded Massachusetts Trans High School Athlete Injures Multiple Girls.’ I could read it again, but I don’t think it’s necessary, but, unfortunately, one of the girls who got injured ragdolled. Everyone know what ragdolled is? They were going up for a rebound and just got shook and hurt. Then two other girls got hurt. And the team with the three hurt individuals had to forfeit the game. There are real safety issues here too. That’s just the most recent one.”
“Now, folks like me have been accused many times of denying the science,” he added. “That we should follow the science. High school’s a long time ago for me, but I remember biology was a science and is a science and denying science is where we’re at today and by denying science, we’re discriminating against our daughters and our granddaughters, we’re undermining fairness and opportunity. Whether it’s a position on a team, whether it’s an opportunity for playing time, whether it’s opportunities for records and scholarships, we should be standing up for our daughters.”
(NewBostonPost alum Evan Lips wrote the New Hampshire Journal story Bradley cited.)
A press spokesman for the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell sent NewBostonPost a statement in February supporting the school’s decision to forfeit the game.
Here is what it said:
On February 8th, the coach of the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell Girls’ Basketball Team decided to end a game at halftime after watching a third player injured in the game with KIPP Academy. The bench was already depleted going into the game with the 12-player roster having four players unable to play. When the coach saw three more girls go down in the first half leaving him with five players, he made the call to end the game early. The upcoming Charter School playoffs were looming, and he needed a healthy and robust bench in four days. Once the third was injured, the remaining five expressed concern to him about continuing to play. The players feared getting injured and not being able to compete in the playoffs.
In an effort to maintain safety for his team, he decided to forfeit. The Charter School supports this decision and reiterates its values of both inclusivity and safety for all students. We take the standards set by the MIAA and our Board of Trustees seriously and strive to uphold them on and off the court. We also follow the guidance from the MIAA and state laws regarding equity and access for all student-athletes.
InsideLowell posted a clip of the male player, who wears number 32 for KIPP Academy but is not identified by name in the video, injuring a girl during the game. It is the instance Bradley referred to when he said the male player “ragdolled” an opposing player.
It is below:
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