Three male players are competing in girls’ volleyball at USA Volleyball-governed events despite a 2025 policy that restricts biological males from participating in the female category. As at least one of the boys has allegedly attempted to conceal his biological sex by altering his legal documents, women’s sports advocates are now calling on USA Volleyball to implement sex testing to enforce protections of the female category.
In January of 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14201, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” directing federal agencies to interpret Title IX protections on the basis of biological sex. The order states that federally funded educational institutions that permit trans-identified males to compete in female sports categories could risk loss of federal funding.
While the executive order primarily applied to schools and educational institutions receiving federal funds, its impact has extended beyond scholastic athletics. In the months following the order, several national governing bodies at the guidance of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee overseeing Olympic and youth sports pipelines, revised or clarified participation policies for female competition categories..
One of those governing bodies was USA Volleyball (USAV), which oversees sanctioned junior club competition through regional associations across the United States. USAV subsequently adopted eligibility standards for female divisions based on biological sex, and announced the changes in July of 2025.
But despite USAV’s announcement, Reduxx has been made aware of multiple male athletes who allegedly continued competing on girls’ teams in USAV-sanctioned events. At least two are “stealth,” meaning they have attempted to present themselves as being born female and may not have disclosed their biological sex with their teammates or athletic officials.
One of them is known to be “Bri” Deiley of Centaurus High School in Lafayette, Colorado. Although Deiley has attempted to conceal his biological sex, he was identified through an amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court by several transgender advocacy organizations in opposition to state restrictions on male participation in women’s sports. The brief included personal testimonies from trans-identified male athletes who claim to have been impacted by laws restricting their access to women’s sport competitions.
In the filing, Deiley was referred to under the pseudonym “Melissa,” and an anonymized photograph depicting him playing volleyball was included. However, the image was able to be cross-referenced with the original version, which had previously been posted on social media by his high school.
Deiley’s mother is quoted in the brief, and describes him as deliberately “stealth,” meaning they have worked to conceal his biological sex from the female players on his team. She also states that Deiley began puberty blockers at a young age and argues that he does not possess a biological athletic advantage as a result.
The brief also notes that Deiley hopes to participate in NCAA Division I or II volleyball following his graduation. Such participation would conflict with existing federal law prohibiting males from competing in women’s sports.
Deiley is currently participating in girls track and field at his High School, and recently took a first place win in Women’s Varsity High Jump at the B-Town Bash on April 3, and also received a medal at the prestigious Colorado State Championships just last week. But his involvement on the Goldfish 18U Volleyball Team at USA Volleyball-governed events under the Rocky Mountain Region Volleyball Association appears to be in violation of USA Volleyball’s efforts to comply with Executive Order 14201.
Another male athlete participating in USA Volleyball-governed events is Logan O’Brien, who, like Deiley, appears to have chosen to conceal his biological sex from his teammates and is alleged to be using an altered birth certificate to claim he was born female.
O’Brien plays on the Sportime Gold 15 team, which is affiliated with the Garden Empire Volleyball Association region of USAV. Coaches are reportedly aware that he is biologically male, but have not prevented him from participating in matches governed by USAV.
Also participating on a team within the Garden Empire Volleyball Association is Sawyer Chiappano. However, unlike Deiley and O’Brien, Chiappano makes no effort to conceal his transgender status and openly represents himself as a “GenderCool Champion.”
GenderCool represents itself as a “youth-led movement helping replace misinformed opinions about transgender youth.”
Chiappano plays on the New York Elite 14 Gray team, which has won several volleyball tournaments this year and is considered a stand-out volleyball team in its region.
Reduxx reached out to USA Volleyball for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication. This article may be updated in the event a response is received.
Speaking to Reduxx, a spokesperson for the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) expressed concerns that USA Volleyball’s purported efforts to protect the women’s category was not being respected.
“Federal law, including Title IX and the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, requires governing bodies and schools to maintain sex-separated sports teams for girls. Families spend thousands of dollars annually for their daughters to participate, and the least USA Volleyball can do is enforce basic eligibility rules to ensure boys do not compete on girls’ teams,” the spokesperson said.
“USA Volleyball’s current stance, which places the burden of identifying and assessing players’ sex on athletes and their families, represents a dereliction of duty. Blatantly violating both the law and the intent of its own policies, while harming young female athletes, is unconscionable,” she continued.
The spokesperson also expressed concern over what she described as the increasing prevalence of males attempting to participate in female athletics without disclosing their sex.
“Sex is not private information, and deception is never a right. Boys and their families cannot be allowed to conceal their sex in order to gain access to girls’ sports and locker rooms,” she said, adding that because birth certificates can be altered in some states, identification documents alone may no longer be sufficient to guarantee female-only spaces in sports.
“All governing bodies in the United States should implement sex screening via cheek swab as part of registration eligibility requirements for girls’ and women’s sports. As the International Olympic Committee has recognized, it is the least invasive and most accurate method, and it can be used whenever eligibility is in question.”
Deiley, O’Brien, and Chiappano are just the latest male athletes to be exposed for participating on female volleyball teams despite growing public backlash.
Earlier this year, three women from Santa Rosa Junior College’s volleyball team filed a federal Title IX complaint demanding the removal of a male player from their women’s squad. Sophomore Madison Shaw and freshmen Gracie Shaw and Brielle Galli allege that they were penalized for protesting the inclusion of Ximena Gomez on their team.
Separately, in January of this year, the Department of Education found that San Jose State University had engaged in sex discrimination by allowing a trans-identified male player to participate on the Spartans women’s volleyball team. The Department threatened imminent punitive action agains the University if it did not comply with Executive Order 14201 and guarantee female athletes access to single-sex sports.
San Jose State University refused the Department’s demands in March, and announced it was planning retaliatory legal action.
Reduxx is your source of pro-woman, pro-child safeguarding news and commentary. We’re 100% independent! Support our mission by making a donation.
