Vermont school basketball coach discusses team being banned for forfeiting game against trans player

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Host Lawrence Jones was joined by Mid-Vermont Christian School basketball coach Chris Goodwin and his attorney Ryan Tucker to address the ban on the school's girls' team from all tournaments on the February 26 episode of 'Fox & Friends'.

The ban was put in place by the Vermont Principals’ Association back in February 2023, when the team forfeited a game against an opposing team with a transgender player.

However, Goodwin said that the team was notified of the transgender player earlier, but did not face her until the playoffs.

Coach calls the inclusion of trans players 'irresponsible'

Emphasizing the danger of a biological male playing against an aa-girls team, Goodwin said, "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."

"It's a different game," he claimed, adding that it would be "irresponsible" and "asking for an injury" to a smaller female player.

The decision to forfeit was well-thought-out, the coach shared. He said, "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."

"And at that point, the state of Vermont governing body kicked us out of all athletic competitions in the state," the coach added.

Response by the Vermont Principals' Association

In November 2023, the VPA released a statement backing their decision to impose the ban against the team from all future tournaments.

"Mid-Vermont Christian School has every right to teach its beliefs to its own students," it said.

"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 statement read.

The lawsuit against the VPA was filed by the school and families over the prohibition, arguing the decision is discriminatory in nature against the school's religious beliefs surrounding gender and human sexuality.