Riley Gaines Delivers ‘Medals Of Courage’ To Utah State Volleyball Players For Forfeiting Against SJSU

Last week, Utah State volleyball became the fourth school to cancel its scheduled match against San Jose State due to the presence of transgender player Blaire Fleming. 

The first school to refuse to play a match against San Jose State was Southern Utah, but that was a non-conference match that simply went down as a cancelation. 

Since then, three Mountain West schools canceled their matches against SJSU, all resulting in forfeit losses. 

Utah State joined Boise State and Wyoming as conference opponents who decided to take a stand to protect women’s sports from biological males. 

Riley Gaines, host of the OutKick podcast “Gaines for Girls” and one of the most influential pro-woman voices in the country, visited the team this week to deliver custom-made “Medals of Courage” to the players for their decision. 

“I was able to spend some time with some of the Utah State women’s volleyball team that chose to forfeit their match against SJSU due to a man being permitted to play,” Gaines posted on X.

“This type of leadership takes immense courage. BRAVO.” 

Kaylie Ray, a redshirt junior on the USU volleyball team, expressed her gratitude to Gaines for visiting the team and showing her support. 

“Riley is an icon in this movement and to have her support is so surreal,” Ray told OutKick via text message. 

OutKick’s Riley Gaines visited the Utah State volleyball team and gave them “Medals of Courage” for refusing to compete against San Jose State and transgender player Blaire Fleming.

(Riley Gaines)

“She has just instilled us with this confidence that we are doing the right thing and has gifted us the courage to keep standing up for the things we believe in. It’s never wrong to do the right thing. Riley has helped ensure that our voices are heard, and we just have so much gratitude for her!” 

Freshman Kaylie Kofe echoed her teammate’s sentiments. 

“With [Riley Gaines] being such an influential woman, I look up to her so much. She’s made such a difference in this world, something I strive to do,” Kofe wrote to OutKick. 

“Hearing her say how proud she was of us and instilling confidence in our decision to stand up for what is right really gave me comfort. There’s a lot of hate going around, but after talking to Riley, I can’t help but be proud of myself and my team for contributing and helping make a difference in this world.” 

Utah State next takes the court at home on Thursday night for a Mountain West clash against New Mexico.