High school girls allege track meet officials forced them to take off 'Protect Girls Sports' shirts

California girls' track and field athletes Lily Ingalliner, Julia Teven, Reese Hogan and Olivia Viola allege CIF officials forced them to take off their shirts that read 'Protect Girls Sports' during a meet that featured a transgender competitor.

EXCLUSIVE: California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) track and field officials have been accused of forcefully telling teen track meet athletes to remove their shirts that read "Protect Girls Sports" at a postseason event. The CIF has acknowledged to Fox News Digital that the incidents did occur.

The CIF Southern Section Division 3 Prelims at Yorba Linda High School on Saturday erupted into a political rally over the issue of trans inclusion in girls' sports with multiple competitors and attendees wearing the shirts, hoisting picket signs and speaking out at a press conference. 

The protests came in response to a biologically male trans athlete who competed in the girls' high jump, long jump and triple jump for Jurupa Valley High School. 

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California girls' track and field athletes protest trans inclusion in girls' sports at a postseason meet at Yorba Linda High School on Saturday, May 10, 2025 (Courtesy of Sophia Lorey)

Multiple female competitors have told Fox News Digital that officials at the meet allegedly approached them and told them to remove the shirts, and did not give the girls the liberty to go and take them off elsewhere. The girls allege the officials made them take off the shirts immediately, under the officials' supervision, and didn't give them any additional time or opportunities to do it elsewhere.

"They didn't let us go and do anything unless we removed the shirt," 15-year-old Brea Olinda High School