Colorado Volleyball Dispute: Two Players Say They Faced Benching Threat for Discussing Trans Athlete

A dispute over a transgender athlete on a Colorado high school volleyball team has taken a new turn. Two players at Dakota Ridge High School were threatened with benching after discussing a transgender athlete in their program, according to a parent complaint, which alleges the girls were ultimately allowed to play on condition they stop discussing the issue.

The school district that oversees the school, Jefferson County Schools, is currently under a Title IX investigation by the U.S. Department of Education. A team discipline episode has therefore become entangled with the district's wider policies, fairness in girls' sports and an ongoing legal fight over student privacy.

A screenshot of an email obtained by OutKick, from Dakota Ridge High School's head volleyball coach to a parent, says the parent's daughter would miss a match over reports of alleged bullying. The message states that over the past several days the program had received multiple reports alleging the daughter used language toward teammates that could be characterized as bullying. The screenshot does not identify the actual words that were used.

The coach's message says the volleyball program emphasizes character, respect and how players treat one another, describing the reported behavior as falling short of its standards. It offers to discuss the matter with the parent after the match.

Meanwhile, Tanna Donalson, whose daughter was cut from the program in August, wrote in an Oct. 6 email to the district that her daughter had reported two varsity players were told they would be benched after discussing the situation among friends. According to Donalson, four friends had been discussing privately what they had learned, and one reported the conversation to a teacher.

Donalson wrote that after the two players' parents met with the coach and the athletic director, the girls were permitted to play on condition they not discuss the issue again. She asked officials to determine what was said, the basis for the proposed benching, and whether participation was conditioned on refraining from discussion of or support for their complaint.

The email was seen by OutKick in a copy of a Title IX complaint Donalson submitted to the Education Department. The matter is therefore no longer only an internal school discipline question; it is now part of the record in a federal civil rights process.

Lindsay Datko, founder of the parent advocacy group Jeffco Kids First, also said she had reviewed emails concerning the threatened discipline. She told OutKick that the emails showed girls were threatened with benching because they were expressing their frustration in a very adolescent manner. Datko added, however, that the coach backed away from the threatened benching.

Jeffco Chief Legal Counsel Julie Tolleson acknowledged Donalson's report in an Oct. 6 email response, writing that the district's Title IX coordinator could include the matters in her review, though the district would not be able to discuss any disciplinary or other action involving any other student. A day earlier, Tolleson had instructed Donalson to report any retaliation or harassment related to her complaint, noting that district policy prohibits retaliation.

In response to OutKick, Jeffco defended its policies and cited student privacy restrictions. Its statement did not address the alleged condition on the players' participation or explain what remarks prompted the proposed discipline. The district said that, in accordance with Colorado state law including the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, it is committed to providing a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for all students, and that its policies ensure every student, regardless of gender identity or expression, has equal access to educational programs, facilities and district-sanctioned activities.

Donalson's own complaint centers on the roster decision that ended her daughter's junior-year school volleyball season. Her daughter, 17, had played in the program during her freshman and sophomore years. Her mother said coaches encouraged the setter to learn right-side hitting before ultimately cutting her. In an Aug. 13 email, the coach said the change was intended to give her daughter another opportunity to demonstrate her skills, that other athletes showed greater consistency in setting, defense, serving, decision-making and other areas, and that the roster decisions were a collective coaching evaluation.

The wider backdrop includes findings issued March 13 by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, which concluded the district violated Title IX through its policies on girls' athletics and access to female facilities and overnight accommodations. The office issued a notice of impending enforcement action on June 26. Jeffco disputes those findings. On July 28 the district sued Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the Education Department, arguing the federal demands conflict with Colorado law and threaten its funding. That lawsuit concerns the district's broader policies, rather than a determination about Donalson's daughter's roster decision.

Colorado voters will meanwhile consider Proposition 134 on Nov. 3. The measure would require school-based teams to be designated for biological males, biological females or mixed participation, with eligibility tied to those categories and an exception allowing females to join male teams when no equivalent female team is offered. Asked about the measure, Donalson said she is not against the trans community or any community. Attention now turns to the district's review, the federal investigation and the November vote — three processes that will shape who can play on school teams like Dakota Ridge's, and whether players can speak about those decisions.