Several members of the Hillsboro-Deering High School Girls Soccer team refused to play against the Kearsarge team Tuesday due to safety concerns over Kearsarge’s star athlete, biological male Maelle Jacques.
“This isn’t about transgenderism. This is about biology for us and the increased physical risk when playing a full contact sport against the opposing sex” said Heather Thyng, mother of a Hillsboro-Deering player.
At least five girls on the varsity squad skipped the game at Kearsarge Regional High School, according to Hillsboro-Deering parent Betsy Harrington. With 17 varsity players on the roster, Hillsboro-Deering was forced to use JV players in order to play the game.
“The Hillsboro girls can’t even get down the field without any of their best players. It’s one-sided,” Harrington told NHJournal.
Jacques played goal for most of the game, but was pulled off their field with 10 minutes left after having nothing to do.
“No one ever got near [Maelle,] so I guess they’ll never be in any danger if there’s enough girls to always have a weak team,” Harrington said. “If every game has a few girls refusing to play, we will never know the ability of the Kearsarge team. They have an advantage I hadn’t thought about. It’s that they get to always play a crippled team without all of their players.”
Thyng stood by her daughter’s decision since players like Jacques should not be competing against girls, she said.
“We believe, my daughter included, that refusing to compete is the best way to push back on this issue, and we are hoping parents will be more willing to put themselves out there knowing they don’t have to be the first or the only family within our community to do so,” Thyng said.
