Female players are blowing the whistle in the state of hockey on a transgender policy that’s left them with serious safety concerns.
Kelley Grotting has been a lifelong player. She’s now leading a petition to urge the Women’s Hockey Association of Minnesota (WHAM) to change its controversial transgender policy allowing biological men to skate on women’s teams.
“I started competitively playing at age eight. We were one of the first girls’ teams with the Armstrong Cooper Association … we had the first Armstrong Youth Hockey Program for girls. I played through high school. I was a multi-level athlete at Armstrong and I played four years at the University of St. Thomas … Then I found a women’s team with WHAM, the Women’s Hockey Association of Minnesota,” Grotting said.
She’s been playing on the team for almost 15 years. She joined Liz Collin on her podcast to speak out after she wrote a letter to WHAM.
“This year, one game we showed up to the rink and we noticed that there were very tall players on the ice. You can tell we have all played hockey for decades. This was not a player that was a female. We did some digging and we just used the internet to realize that there were transgender players on the opposing team. It was confusing and disheartening. In between periods, we kind of came together and we’re like, what is going on? You know, we just left our husband, kids, you know, a messy kitchen to come here and play hockey and now it feels unsafe. It’s not fun. So what are we going to do?” Grotting said.
Grotting’s letter explains how her concerns are not about politics, but safety.
“I am not a transphobe. To each his or her own, but pretending it’s OK for men to play in a women’s league insults women’s sports and creates safety issues (are we including ethical issues or are we not there yet) for all women who love to play the game,” the letter states.
“Just last week, in one of our most recent games, one of our players collided with a trans player in the middle of the ice. And it took a long time for my teammate to get up … when she finally caught her breath, she got on the ice or on the bench and she said, ‘I don’t know if I can come back next year.’ And that was absolutely what broke the camel’s back. We have to say something,” Grotting said.
“Someone needs to do something and I am not afraid. I’m going to do this because what is the alternative? It’s our team disbanding and women that have played this game since they were less than 10 years old. We don’t have a team, OK? It’s the whole thing of you are going to lose women hockey players,” she added.
Alpha News reached out to WHAM but did not receive a response. The director of women’s hockey did reply to Grotting.
“It was a very diplomatic response. She basically said, ‘Wow, you have a lot of feelings, but thanks. There’s nothing we can do because we go off of USA Hockey’s rules and regulations. See you at the rink,'” Grotting said of the reply.
Recently in England, a transgender ban in women’s hockey was implemented. Here in the states, President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning males from participating in female sports. Yet, in Minnesota, even the Minnesota State High School League came forward to say it will continue to allow males in girls’ sports.
“I think a lot of people have no idea what was going on. Again, this was new to us this year. The more I’ve started talking about it with people outside of the hockey community, they’re like, ‘Well, I guess I was indifferent, but this is wrong. This isn’t OK,’” Grotting said.
“My big thing right now is to keep the conversation going and let people know this is what we’re facing. If you have a daughter in high school, if you have a daughter playing college hockey … we make a joke that everyone ends up in WHAM. So everyone ends up in the same place, but if they know what’s going on, are they going to skate or are they going to end their hockey career? Because again, the playing field is no longer even or safe.”
Liz Collin
Liz Collin has been a truth-teller for 20 years as a multi-Emmy-Award-winning reporter and anchor. Liz is a Worthington, Minnesota native who lives in the suburbs with her husband, son and loyal lab.
