Bishop Brady High School’s varsity soccer team failed to put out an XI against a rival school with a transgender goalkeeper amid allegations of a boycott.

Not enough varsity soccer players from the school in Concord, New Hampshire, showed up for the scheduled game against Kearsarge Regional High School in North Sutton on Friday to be played. Kearsarge’s goalkeeper, 16, identifies as a trans woman.

Multiple reports claim that Bishop Brady boycotted the game due to Kearsarge’s goalkeeper being a biological male. Mirror U.S. Sports contacted Bishop Brady to verify these reports, with the school claiming the game didn’t go ahead of “multiple reasons”.

“The Bishop Brady High School Girls soccer team did not have enough players to play their Friday night game against Kearsarge Regional High school for multiple reasons,” said David Thibault, Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Diocese of Manchester.

“Every person is made in God’s image with a body and soul, male and female. Therefore, every person’s dignity, and every student athlete’s dignity, must be upheld. This includes student athletes from every school, public, private, or Catholic.

“We aim to participate with the best of sportsmanship and fairness based on our faith as Catholic Christians. Any student who discerns to opt out of playing for their own reasons are supported and never penalized.”

The topic of trans athletes in New Hampshire schools has dominated the headlines in recent months. In July, Republican Governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, signed a bill to ban transgender athletes in grades 5-12 from teams that align with their gender identity.

Sununu claimed the bill “ensures fairness and safety in women’s sports by maintaining integrity and competitive balance in athletic competitions”. The controversial legislation was named the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act”.

Then, in September, two transgender girls successfully challenged the act. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Landya McCafferty, a federal judge, found that students “demonstrated a likelihood of irreparable harm” in the absence of a preliminary injunction against the act.

McCafferty said that won of the transgender girls who challenged the act “had been participating in girls’ sports” at her school, while the other transgender girl “had participated in tennis and tried out for her middle school softball team”.

McCafferty added: “There is no indication in the record that plaintiffs’ participation in school sports has caused the state or anyone else the slightest modicum of harm.”