Vermont school banned from competition after forfeiting game against trans player
Mid-Vermont Christian School coach Chris Goodwin and attorney Ryan Tucker discuss the religious reasons for withdrawing from the game and the resulting punishment from the state of Vermont governing body.
The coach of a Vermont basketball team that forfeited a game against a transgender player broke his silence after the state banned the team from competing in future tournaments.
Chris Goodwin, who coaches at Mid-Vermont Christian School, said the team was notified of the transgender player on the other team, but it wasn't until the playoffs last year that the team ended up facing them on the court.
Goodwin joined "Fox & Friends" Monday alongside his attorney Ryan Tucker to discuss why they took legal action over the state's decision to bar them from upcoming competitions. He emphasized the danger of a biological male playing against high school girls.
"I've got four daughters. I've coached them all at one point in their careers playing high school basketball. I've also filled in for the boy's coach when he can't make a practice, and I run those practices, and boys just play at a different speed, a different force… than the girls play," Goodwin told Lawrence Jones during the exclusive interview.
"It's a different game," he continued, adding that it would be "irresponsible" and "asking for an injury" to a smaller female player.
The girls' basketball team forfeited the game against the team with the transgender player back in February 2023, which prompted the Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA) to ban the team from future tournaments.
The girls basketball team at Mid-Vermont Christian school forfeited a game against a team in Feb. 2023 with a transgender player over injury concerns.
Officials worried at the time about the safety repercussions stemming from a biological male competing against the female players.
"Mid-Vermont Christian School has every right to teach its beliefs to its own students. It cannot, however, impose those beliefs on students from other public and private schools; deny students from other schools the opportunity to play; or hurt students from other schools because of who those students are," the VPA said in a statement to CNN in November.
The school filed suit alongside families over the prohibition, arguing the decision is discriminatory in nature against the school's religious beliefs surrounding gender and human sexuality.
"After discussions with the administration and our players and parents, we decided that instead of going against our religious beliefs that… there are differences between male and female, we are created differently, we decided to forfeit that game and withdraw from the tournament," Goodwin said.
"And at that point, the state of Vermont governing body kicked us out of all athletic competitions in the state."
Tucker, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, expressed his confidence that the school will prevail in court as they await their next hearing date.
"The state is basically attempting to purge individuals like Chris and other family members in the state, from public discourse, from the ability… to speak out… on issues of significant, public concern," Tucker said, accusing the state of failing to consider "the biological reality" and the health and safety risks to female athletes.
"We're very confident that we're going to prevail," he concluded.
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