For years now, there has been a growing debate around children, transgenderism, and where it fits in the education system. First, it started small with gender-neutral bathrooms or a transgender student wanting to be identified by the proper pronouns. But it soon transitioned into sports as biological males started to compete in female sports due to them identifying as female. Stories circulated about this historic moment, but at the same time, female athletes voiced concerns over the unfair advantage given to a female born male. Now, in Cherokee County, North Carolina, a volleyball match was canceled after a transgender athlete caused a female athlete severe head trauma.

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Last month, the Highlands High volleyball team played against the Hiwassee Dam volleyball team in what seemed to be a normal match. That was until a transgender team member spiked the ball, smashing it into the face of an opposing player. In the video, which can be watched here, the player instantly collapses to the ground after the ball strikes her. The staff quickly converged around the girl and eventually helped her off the court.

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The Education First Alliance wrote in a statement, “The Hiwassee Dam player, a biological girl, suffered severe head and neck injuries, resulting in long-term concussion symptoms, including vision problems. The girl has still not yet been cleared to play again by her primary care physician or a neurologist.”

Making its way up the Cherokee County Board of Education, the board decided 5-1 to cancel all games against Highland High after the coach admitted he had “never seen a hit like this before.”

Board member, Joe Wood, discussed the situation, claiming, “I’ll never put a child in a position to be seriously injured. I think the odds (of injury) in these non-contact sports aren’t high. But in particular, in this meeting, a coach of 40 years said they’d never seen a hit like this. That was really what sealed the decision, at least on my part.”

Another board member, Jeff Martin, added that the reason for the vote was due to the issue surrounding competitive advantage. Like many experts, the board concluded that the male possesses a competitive advantage over female athletes. “The competitive advantage issue certainly has to come up in any scenario with that type of transgender conversion, per se,” Martin said. “I can tell you that the board wasn’t searching out this kind of thing. It was brought to our attention based on safety concerns.”

A study compared the difference between male and female volleyball players and found “men’s and women’s volleyball games are completely differentiated by two outcome measures. The first one is the higher proportion of faulty serves performed by men, which is essentially attributable to the 19 cm difference in net height, while the second one derives from the fact that men outperform women at the execution of the attack.”