The head coach of a small Vermont Christian school spoke out about the punishment his girl’s basketball team, and indeed entire school as a whole, were meted out after he and the team agreed to refuse to play an opponent with a biological male. Chris Goodwin said it was an over-the-top punishment meant to set an example on behalf of both pandering to the woke mob as well as a true belief that boys can be girls/
For context, nearly three years ago the coach realized that if the playoff brackets worked out a certain way, then they would be pitted against another team featuring a biological male playing for the girls’ team. Citing unfairness and dangerous physical risks, everyone agreed they would forfeit if that moment ever arrived.
“Yeah, we found out three years ago, when we qualified for playoffs, that we were going to be seated against a team with a male athlete on that team. I found that out halfway through the season, and it just happened at the end of the year that we saw that’s how the playoffs lined up,” Goodwin said in an interview with Fox News-owned Outkick.
“So after talking with the administration, after talking with the parents, and finally, after having hard conversations with the players, we decided that, instead of going against our faith and our religious beliefs and knowing also that it’s an unfair situation, also a potentially dangerous situation. We weren’t going to put our girls in that situation. So we decided to withdraw from the tournament,” he added.
“And once we did that, kind of it all, all heck broke loose, and we were about 48 hours later, once we made the statement that we were withdrawing and the reasons why we were withdrawing, they removed us from all athletic competition in the state, and like you said, on top of that, spelling bees, math fairs, everything that goes along with scholastic competition,” he elaborated. Watch that portion of the interview below:
In the aftermath of that decision, the various associations in charge of scholastic events immediately went into overdrive. Goodwin said the punishment for forfeiting a single game – something that happens with regularity over a host of issues – went far beyond just the one basketball tournament and beyond even just the basketball team.
“They removed us from all athletic competition in the state,” Goodwin said in a separate part of the interview. “And…on top of that, spelling bees, math fairs, everything that goes along with scholastic competition.” As a result of the attack on his Christian school, in order to remain competitive the team had to travel out of state for events as trivial as math fairs and spelling bees, for example.
When asked if the state of Vermont or any official was willing to work with him on a punishment or compromise, Goodwin said all of that was non-existent. The state only intended to make an example out of his Christian school and their stance against transgender participation in athletics. “It was pretty much they’re just doing it,” Goodwin said. “They sent us the letter. They communicated with us saying that we were out and unless we changed our minds, that we’re going to stay out.”
Featured image: Screen shot from embedded video