admin
California’s school sports are back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. At the CIF Southern Section finals this weekend, Jurupa Valley’s AB Hernandez — a biological male competing as a girl — swept the long jump, triple jump and tied in the high jump. Instead of a clear winner, meet officials used a CIF pilot rule to hand out duplicate first-place honors and stage shared podium photos. The result looked less like a sports ceremony and more like a grown-up try at political theater.
What happened at the CIF Southern Section finals
At the Moorpark meet, Hernandez posted dominant jump marks and won two events outright, with a tie in the third. Under the CIF pilot program, when a transgender athlete medaled, officials allowed the top finishing biological female to be recognized as a co‑champion. That produced scenes of two athletes standing side‑by‑side on the top podium step and duplicate gold medals being offered. Those images went viral and reignited the fight over fairness in girls’ sports.
Why this matters — fairness, safety, and Title IX
Let’s call it what it is: girls worked hard to get to those finals. Then a biological male showed up, outjumped them, and the rulebook was bent to make everyone feel okay. That is not fairness. Title IX was meant to protect girls’ opportunities in school sports. When a sport lets a biological male into a girls’ event and then hands a duplicate trophy to the top female, it doesn’t solve anything. It paper‑over a problem and steals a moment from the girl who earned it.
The CIF pilot program is a dodge — not a solution
CIF says the pilot is about participation and inclusion. Fine. But inclusion shouldn’t erase competition. The pilot essentially creates a consolation crown: a co‑champion so nobody has to look uncomfortable. It’s a political workaround, not a rules fix. And while officials smooth things over with shared photos, parents, coaches and athletes are left with the hard truth — some girls are being denied a level playing field in real, measurable ways.
What should be done next
First, CIF should stop pretending duplicate medals fix the problem and go back to rules that protect girls’ sports. Second, state and federal officials need to sort out the legal mess so Title IX does what it was meant to do. And finally, parents and voters should remember this when the next school board or election rolls around. If we care about girls’ sports, we can have inclusion without cheating the competitors who actually belong on that top step.
