In an historic move, an entire women’s swim team stood together and said enough is enough. The Roanoke College women’s swim team stood together at a press conference and demanded the NCAA step up and support collegiate women’s sports.

It is unique that the entire team came together to address the press. The team spoke about a transgender woman who joined the swim team this year after competing as a man last year. The college women demanded that the NCAA shut down the growing influx of trans women in women’s sports.

Some of the young women’s parents were there to support them.

“I never expected to be blindsided by a teammate from the men’s team who now wanted to compete against me and my fellow swimmers and shatter our records,” Roanoke swimmer Bailey Gallagher, 21, said, noting she was initially supportive of the trans swimmer’s transition.

The event was called “NCAA – Save Women’s Sports!”

The women spoke about being blindsided by the addition of a trans athlete to the team. Even supporters of the student’s decision to transition spoke out against the student joining the team.

“I never expected to be blindsided by a teammate from the men’s team who now wanted to compete against me and my fellow swimmers and shatter our records,” Roanoke swimmer Bailey Gallagher, 21, said, noting she was initially supportive of the trans swimmer’s transition.

The trans swimmer was left unidentified. He quit the college swim team recently. It is reported that he didn’t want the scrutiny and spotlight from a press conference, so he didn’t attend the event.

The captains of the college’s sophomore, junior, and senior swim squads said this issue has torn the team apart. The Division III team members feel abandoned by the school, their coach, and the NCAA. They have been made to feel guilty for not wanting to have a man on their team, yet their intent has not been to be mean girls. It is to stand up for their right to compete in women’s sports as it is supposed to be – women competing against women.

Team captains Bailey Gallagher, 21, and Kate Pearson, 19, both knew the swimmer before his transition.

“We felt helpless,” Pearson said at the news conference about the emotions she and her fellow swimmers felt after learning a trans woman would be joining the team. “Every time we tried to speak up about our feelings we were either shoved aside or expected to deal with all of our concerns ourselves. We felt completely ignored by our school — a place that is supposed to be our home away from home.”

“Our feelings, the team’s feelings and comfort were blatantly ignored and only one athlete was prioritized. I felt unheard and unseen. Our comfort was undervalued and discarded. We tried numerous times to ask the school for support. But each and every time we were told to deal with it ourselves … ” Pearson added. “It was about prioritizing one person over everyone else on the team.”

Kara Dansky, president of the US chapter of Women’s Declaration International, said it was an historic day. “There has not been a day to my knowledge where an entire women’s team has said no to men competing in women’s sports and has spread the message like this.”

College officials said the student requested permission to join the women’s team. They had not dealt with the issue before this request so they put in place a process to make decisions and follow NCAA policies.

What is a mystery to me is why more teams don’t speak out in a united front. The trans agenda has become so normalized that those who reject it are bullied into submission, or silence. Bold leadership has to rise up and say no. Thank goodness Roanoke College women found the courage to do so. Maybe other teams will feel strong enough to do the same if they face a similar situation. This madness has to stop or women’s sports will no longer exist.

Why aren’t more parents speaking up and supporting their daughters? A commitment to excelling as an athlete takes a commitment from the entire family. Parents put in the time and financial resources to help their daughter pursue her dream. They start when the child is very young and the sacrifices continue throughout the student’s school years.

Who better than Riley Gaines to join the women Thursday?

“Allowing males to compete on a women’s team is and always will be unfair, and the burden should not be placed on female athletes to convince their schools to accept this scientific reality,” Gaines said Thursday. “But that’s where it is being placed. And we as women, we’re being silenced. Our universities and institutions are gaslighting and emotionally blackmailing us to make us the likely oppressors.”

Gaines also stated that the next generation of girls “deserves to see themselves as champions,” and praised the school’s team for speaking out.

Riley deserves all the credit for coming forward and inspiring other women to do the same.