Riley Simpson has been playing softball since they were nine years old. They fell in love with the sport after watching their older sister play.
In June, their softball team won the Edmonton city championship and Riley was hoping to play on higher-level teams as they grew and got better.
In Alberta, where Riley is from, most competitive softball teams are girls' teams. This has never been a problem for Riley, who recently turned 15 years old and is non-binary, thanks to inclusive sporting policies, a co-ed mentality in softball and pre-puberty androgyny.
But the provincial government has enacted a controversial new law excluding athletes assigned male at birth from women's sports teams — known as Bill 29, or the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act — which goes into effect on Sept. 1.
Athletes not assigned female at birth will have to leave any girls' sports team belonging to any school, collegiate or provincial amateur competition level or play in boys' or co-ed divisions.
Some say that unfairly targets young athletes in recreational leagues.
The legislation is already having repercussions on some young athletes in the province: on June 24, Riley played what could effectively be their last competitive softball game ever.
Alberta government releases details on a bill about transgender athletes
"We won the city championship that day, so that's a good memory. But I also remember sitting on the pitching plate after the game, feeling so sad," Riley wrote, replying to emailed questions from CBC News.
Riley's mother, Eldyka Simpson, was at the game in Edmonton and, over the phone, recounted how most of her child's teammates weren't up to date on the reality of the new law until the team was drinking a ginger ale toast and one
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