Reduxx has learned that a feminine male has been participating in elite women’s collegiate sports in California after his biological sex was reportedly withheld from his teammates and his opponents. Blaire Fleming, born Brayden, is currently playing women’s Division I volleyball for San Jose State University in the reputable Mountain West Conference.
Speaking to Reduxx, the mother of an opposing player revealed that her suspicions were first raised during the 2022-2023 season.
“I first watched my daughter play Blaire via live stream and then in person for a second match,” the mother, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “My daughter mentioned to me before the second match that there were rumors about Blaire being a male.”
Upon attending the match, she immediately noticed that Fleming appeared to be male, both in the way he looked and his mannerisms on the court.
“He jumped higher and hit harder than any woman on the court. There was no other female athlete on the court that day that could compare with Blaire’s athleticism. He also had very narrow hips. I took notice of how he was dressed with a longer shirt in the front as well.”
During the match, the anonymous parent noted that her daughter was suffering far more physical injuries and strains than she ever had before in her volleyball career, and was constantly icing and rubbing her arms after blocking shots from Fleming. She says her daughter’s teammates were also struggling, with the defenders being unable to react quickly to his high-intensity strikes.
“He was basically unstoppable at times. He was jumping so high that I was concerned our blockers could not defend against such a fast moving hit,” she says.
On average, the difference between upper body strength in the sexes is 52%, with men having 10% larger hands on average and being 7% taller. These factors have contributed to a volleyball net height difference of over 7 inches between male and female games. According to his San Jose Spartans profile, Fleming stands at 6’1.
“Coincidentally, those two games, my daughter’s stats were not as good as most other games. Her stats were dramatically different because she was trying to compete against a male who my daughter said would stare her down after plays and was extremely arrogant.”
The mother also revealed that despite widespread speculations that Fleming was male, officials from San Jose State let it slip to her daughter’s team that even they were unaware of his biological sex. She adds that the policies must change to ensure fairness for female athletes.
“I watched those San Jose State female athletes sit on the sidelines while a male took away their chance to play. These women only have 4 years to compete and they are losing those years to a male. Not only that, but the chance of injury is greatly increased for women when they play against a male with very clear physical strength advantages. It’s just dangerous above all else.”
Prior to transferring to San Jose, Fleming was participating in women’s volleyball in South Carolina for Coastal Carolina University. He appears to have fled to California just before the Save Women’s Sports Bill became law in the state, which would have prohibited him from continuing to play on female teams.
Fleming had also played on the girls varsity volleyball team at John Champe High School in Virginia, where he was raised. During this time, Fleming set the school record for most kills in a match, and single season record of 266 kills.
While the exact age Fleming was transitioned is unknown, early photos posted to his aunt’s Facebook show he was raised as a boy, and only began presenting in feminine clothing in 2016 when he would have been approximately 14 years old. His family members have been careful not to publicly identify him as transgender, but his grandmother referred to him as her “grandson” in an early photo.
Fleming is currently participating in Division I volleyball, which is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Division I (DI) volleyball teams can offer a maximum of 12 full-ride scholarships, meaning athletes will have all expenses related to their college experience paid for.
While it is currently unknown if Fleming has received a women’s DI scholarship, the NCAA has recently become the subject of a lawsuit by over one dozen female athletes for allowing males to compete against them in women’s categories.
The lawsuit, the first federal action of its kind, seeks to force the NCAA to change its policies to clearly define, rendering any biological males ineligible to compete against female athletes. It demands the NCAA revoke all awards given to trans athletes in women’s competitions and “reassign” them to their female contenders. It also asks for “damages for pain and suffering, mental and emotional distress, suffering and anxiety, expense costs and other damages due to defendants’ wrongful conduct.”
Exclusive funding support for the lawsuit is being provided by the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS), which has been calling attention to the presence and impact of male athletes in women’s categories.
Speaking to Reduxx on Blaire Fleming, ICONS’s Marshi Smith condemned the NCAA for failing to guarantee transparency or protection to female athletes who are forced to compete against men.
“The NCAA is defrauding female athletes by withholding information about a teammate or opponent’s true sex,” Smith says. “Women are not given the chance to decide whether they want to face heightened safety risks on the court or share women’s locker rooms with men. The NCAA’s reward system encourages deceit, leading to financial and academic advantages for males at the expense of girls and young women in sports. This harmful practice must be stopped immediately.”
Fleming is not the first trans-identified male athlete to conceal his biological sex for the purposes of participating in women’s collegiate sports.
As previously reported by Reduxx, a volleyball player from California was briefly set to become the first known male recipient of a women’s NCAA Division I athletic scholarship after successfully hiding his biological sex from his teammates.
Tate Drageset, 17, verbally committed to the University of Washington, but following the expose revealing his was a biological male, it was learned that the University rescinded the offer.