The trans player sparked a feud between the two teams that resulted in forfeits and sanctions against the Christian team
Harriette Mackenzie claims she is at a ‘major biological disadvantage’ playing against women
By Jackson Thompson Fox News – Published March 2, 2025 11:39am EST – Fox
My cmnt: Mackenzie obviously is the exception to the rule. She was born a biological male but started transitioning in kindergarten. She never went thru male puberty, looks like a woman, sounds like a woman and may just be a good athlete playing in a small-time league in Canada. We, in the movement to keep males out of female sports and spaces, oppose the nonsense of some guy failing at sports with boys suddenly declaring himself female and beating up on real girls.
A Canadian women’s college basketball conference championship game on Saturday night saw a transgender player score 21 points in victory and ultimately win tournament MVP.
Trans athlete Harriette Mackenzie led Vancouver Island University (VIU) to a 69-59 victory over Columbia Christian College (CBC) in the PACWEST Championship game. Mackenzie finished the game with 10 rebounds in addition to the athlete’s game-leading 21 points.
Mackenzie was then awarded conference tournament MVP in a ceremony after the game. It capped off a season in which the athlete punished competition on the court, leading the entire conference in scoring by a 62-point margin over the second-place scorer, and leveraged Canada’s anti-discrimination laws to bring punishment to CBC off the court.
Mackenzie’s tournament MVP honor and conference championship came after a season-long feud between the two teams, which the trans athlete was at the center of. Mackenzie was the conference’s player of the year in 2023.
The feud resulted in the suspension of CBC head coach Taylor Clagett, and CBC lost the rights to host the PACWEST championships, as Saturday’s game was supposed to be played on CBC’s own home court. Instead, because of sanctions placed on CBC over allegations made by Mackenzie, the game was played at Capilano University.
The feud started during an Oct. 25 game between the two teams, which VIU won 69-56 after Mackenzie scored a game-leading 19 points. Five days after that game on Oct. 30, the trans athlete posted an Instagram video alleging that Clagett “cornered one of our athletic staff and went on a tirade about how I shouldn’t be allowed to play.”
Mackenzie alleged she was also deliberately fouled to the ground by a CBC player.
“I got two-hand chucked to the ground by No. 13 without a play on the ball in sight, then head coach Clagett can be seen applauding in support,” the trans athlete said.
In response, Clagett posted her own statement on Instagram, claiming that Mackenzie’s statements were inaccurate.
“My intention has nothing to do with a specific athlete, but instead, the safety of female athletes in their sport,” Claggett wrote.
VIU then submitted a formal complaint to the PACWEST, prompting an investigation against VIU. When the two teams were scheduled to play each other again in two games on Jan. 10 and 11, VIU refused to play due to the alleged incident from their first meetings.
“Intimidation, harassment, and discrimination have no place in athletics,” VIU said in a statement to Fox News Digital in January regarding the decision not to play. “VIU stands in full support of our student-athletes and affirms the right of all athletes to compete in an environment that prioritizes their safety and well-being.”
VIU even requested that the two forfeits not count as losses on the team’s record, which was granted by the PACWEST.
CBC provided a statement to Fox News Digital that weekend stating, “accusations that CBC, its coaches, players, and fans are a safety threat are simply untrue and misinformed.”
CBC players then condemned Mackenzie in a letter sent to Fox News Digital.
CBC players blamed Mackenzie for “personal attacks,” “defamatory comments” and even “comments that incite violence,” against their coach.
“Videos and letters posted by members of the VIU women’s basketball team over the past three months have directly violated multiple rules stated in Article 17.2 of the manual. Various posts have included ‘personal attacks,’ ‘defamatory comments,’ ‘lack of respect towards the PACWEST,’ and led to ‘comments that incite to violence and/or hatred’ directed at our coach,” the letter read.
“Any and all allegations made by VIU players regarding our team and coach should have been directly communicated to PACWEST officials alone, they should not have been uploaded publicly to social media.”
The PACWEST then suspended Clagett in early February, and CBC lost its right to host the PACWEST championships after an investigation by the conference.
VIU went on to finish first in the conference with a 21-1 record and will now go into the national tournament as a conference champion. CBC will have to settle for a wildcard spot.
Since June 2017, all places within Canada must comply with the Canadian Human Rights Act, equal opportunity and/or anti-discrimination legislation prohibiting discrimination against gender identity or gender-identity expression. This law protects the inclusion of all trans athletes in women’s and girls’ sports.
President Donald Trump’s recent “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order in the U.S. states that any publicly funded institution that allows trans athletes to compete in girls’ or women’s sports will lose its federal funding. He has also repeatedly suggested that Canada join the U.S. as the 51st state.
Trans basketball star claims SHE is at ‘major disadvantage’ playing against biological women
By BEN NAGLE – The Daily Mail
Published: 10:21 EST, 12 January 2025 | Updated: 09:59 EST, 13 January 2025
A transgender college basketball player has made the bold claim that she is at a ‘major biological disadvantage’, despite her record-breaking success on the court.
Harriette Mackenzie, 21, leads Vancouver Island in points, rebounds and blocks this season, and previously broke five women’s basketball records at Mount Royal University, her previous school.
But despite this, Mackenzie – a biological male – claims she is at a major ‘competitive’ disadvantage when she plays against women on the court.
Explaining that she began transitioning in ‘kindergarten or first grade’, she said: ‘I’m playing at a major biological disadvantage.
‘I never went through male puberty, I only went through female puberty.’
She then added: ‘I believe all trans people should be included in sports.’
Trans basketball player addresses alleged abuse by opposing team
Harriette Mackenzie claims she is at a ‘major biological disadvantage’ playing against women
The 6ft 2ins forward hit the headlines in recent months amid claims she was subjected to both physical and verbal abuse by a recent opponent and its coach.
Mackenzie and her Vancouver Island University teammates were supposed to be playing twice against Columbia Bible College (CBC) in Abbotsford, B.C this weekend but have claimed they do not feel safe enough to do so.
The two schools played a pair of games on consecutive days back in October and trans player Mackenzie has accused CBC coach Taylor Claggett of applauding rough play on her.
In a video posted to Instagram on October 30, she also alleged that Claggett ‘corned’ a Vancouver Island staffer and insisted she shouldn’t be able to play women’s basketball during a ‘tirade’ after their first game.
Mackenzie – who stands at 6ft 2 – leads 11-1 Vancouver Island in points, rebounds and blocks
The following morning, Mackenzie also received a call from her upset coach who wanted to alert her to social media posts made by somebody close to Claggett.
The posts were fiercely critical of Mackenzie and said ‘keep women’s sports, women’s sports’, ‘complete joke’ and ‘make it make sense’.
Mackenzie, who began her transition in kindergarten having never undergone a male puberty, also accused CBC of ‘trying to injure me’ during the second game between the two schools.
In her Instagram post, she cited one clip of her being thrown to the floor by a CBC player and a second that appeared to show Claggett applauding the action on the sideline.
Mackenzie began her transition in kindergarten having never undergone a male puberty
A CBC statement at the time said Claggett was ‘speaking out for the safety of her players like any good coach would do.’
Claggett also posted on Instagram that the allegations were ‘simply untrue to who I am and what I believe as a person, a coach and a leader.’
‘We stand in support of Taylor Claggett, and all our coaches, in expressing their legitimate concerns for the safety of our student-athletes,’ the school’s statement added.
All 13 players on the Vancouver Island University squad have signed a letter to the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST), the conference in which both teams compete, insisting they do not feel safe to play CBC.
Lord Buckbeak: "Will you come into my parlor?," said the Spider to the Fly. 
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