The volleyball match was scheduled, the nets were up, but the game was called off before it began. In a decision that has reverberated through their California community, officials from Riverside Poly High School chose to forfeit a girls’ volleyball game rather than play against a team that included a transgender athlete, AB Hernandez. This move, explicitly linked by parents to AB’s participation, has thrust a teenager into the center of a heated national debate, reducing her love for sport to a political battleground. For AB’s mother, Nereyda, the forfeit was a painful public rejection of her daughter’s right to simply be a kid.
Speaking out at a tense school board meeting, Nereyda Hernandez challenged the officials directly. She rejected the argument that the forfeit was about safety or fairness, labeling it instead as an act of exclusion driven by ideology. “My daughter is not the problem,” she asserted. “The problem is external groups using fear and religion to pit parents against each other.” Her testimony highlighted the personal cost of policy debates, emphasizing that the target is not an abstract issue, but a high school student who has already faced organized harassment at sporting events, including being jeered by adults.
For AB, the experience has been a harsh lesson in how difference is treated. She has consistently expressed a desire to be seen as a normal student, telling reporters she is just trying to go to school and play the sports she loves. The consistent opposition—from heckling crowds to protest t-shirts at her games—creates an environment that contradicts the very values of sportsmanship and community that school athletics are meant to teach. The decision to forfeit, made by adults, also sends a complex message to all students about how to handle difference and disagreement.
The situation is further complicated by its politicization. National figures have seized upon the incident, using it to advance broader legislative agendas, which in turn increases the pressure and scrutiny on the Hernandez family. AB’s mother argues this political noise only makes daily life harder for her daughter, distracting from the core issue of a child’s access to enrichment and team activities. The family’s stance is unwavering: AB deserves the same opportunities for growth, challenge, and friendship that sports provide to every other student.
Ultimately, this story transcends a single volleyball game. It is a case study in how schools navigate inclusion, the role of adults in shaping student experiences, and the impact of national debates on individual lives. As AB and her family continue their fight, they are advocating for a simple yet profound principle: that school should be a place where every child can participate, learn, and feel they belong, both in the classroom and on the court.
