Porterville-Granite Hills forfeits girls soccer game over eligibility of Mira Monte transgender athlete
Nov. 18—A girls soccer game between Mira Monte and Porterville-Granite Hills came to an abrupt end at halftime Thursday night, after the Granite Hills coach raised questions about the eligibility of Mira Monte senior goalkeeper Jay Galeas.
Galeas supplied The Californian with an incident report written by referee Martin Velazquez after the game, which reads in part, "During half time at 6:45 p.m., the Granite Hills coach approached me with concerns regarding the goalkeeper of the visiting team. The coaches from Granite Hills and Mira Monte talked and Granite Hills coach stated that they were not wanting to play any further."
The "concerns" Granite Hills had, Galeas said, were about his gender identity.
Galeas, who has been going by Jay and using he/him pronouns since January, told The Californian he was heckled by the crowd with calls of "are you a guy" and "that's a guy" from the moment he started warming up for the game. Galeas said he called back to the crowd in kind.
After the referee gave Galeas a yellow card for arguing a call shortly before halftime, Galeas said the crowd started cheering to "get that guy off the field." During the halftime break, Granite Hills made the call to forfeit the game with Mira Monte leading 1-0.
"I (don't) think those coaches deserve to continue coaching if they're going to question (someone's) gender on the field," Galeas wrote in an Instagram message to The Californian. "It (shouldn't) matter to them especially as a coach and as an adult."
The CIF Central Section's Kelly Jones confirmed Friday that the incident report resembled what she saw in the organization's system. She added that the section has been in contact with both schools about the incident.
Porterville Unified School District spokesperson Jason Pommier supplied the following statement: "During last evening's girls soccer match between Mira Monte High and Granite Hills High, there was a question raised at halftime over the eligibility of a Mira Monte player. Granite Hills players determined they did not want to play the second half. After a conference with officials and coaches, Granite Hills elected to forfeit the game."
The statement adds that "Porterville Unified School District adheres to the same guidelines as presented by the California Interscholastic Federation in terms of sportsmanship as well as the overall safety for all student-athletes."
Velasquez and fellow referee Fernando Saavedra, who is listed as a witness on the incident report, did not respond to requests for comment Friday. Nor did the Kern High School District's public information or school support services offices. The Mira Monte and Granite Hills soccer coaches could not be reached for comment.
Galeas wrote that he's never had such a bad experience in his 11 years playing soccer, and that he's "not the type to open up or speak up, but what (happened) yesterday (shouldn't) happen to anyone, and the reason (I) did decide to speak up is to speak for everyone not just myself."
The KHSD states in its nondiscrimination policy that a student "shall be permitted" to join a team consistent with their gender identity, and the district can create special privacy accommodations for students, though the "district shall not require a student to utilize these options because the student is transgender or gender-nonconforming."
Galeas said getting looks or comments is nothing new, but that this experience was on another level.
"(I'm) not going to stop who (I) am or stop being who (I) am," he wrote.
This story has been updated to remove a line about the policies of the California State Athletic Commission, which do not apply to high school girls soccer.
Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.
