Mother Of Transgender George Washington Women’s Basketball Player Accuses School Of Silencing Her Son And Limiting Playing Time

Rolanda Delamartinez, the mother of George Washington women’s basketball player Kye Allums, tells the Washington Post that her child has not been allowed to play despite being cleared by a team doctor, and that the school has attempted to silence Allums’ opportunities to speak publically about being the first openly transgendered player. George Washington Athletic Director Jack Kvancz denies both allegations, insisting that the school’s first priority is to protect the health and eligibility of its student athletes. Rolanda Delamartinez said in a phone interview that Allums - who missed all but eight games this season because of two concussions - has been prevented from playing, even though she says he no longer has any symptoms from the concussions. She said Allums was told he would have to run for two hours straight to be cleared. "I know professional athletes," Delamartinez said. "None of them had ever heard of anything like that." Jack Kvancz said he was not aware of any two-hour running requirement, but that Allums had not been able to complete satisfactorily a 20-minute run. "If he couldn't get done the 20 minutes of running he had to do, it was going to take him another [several weeks] to get back in shape, why not pack it in [for the season]? And then try to get the young man ready to play when he was healthy," Kvancz said. "Our concern is the health and well-being of the student." Delamartinez claims a team doctor cleared her son to play two weeks ago. After Allums told his mother he had been cleared to play, Delamartinez made plans to fly to Washington to be at the game. Later, she received a text from her son saying the decision had been reversed by the trainer. "To my knowledge, no team doctor has ever cleared him," counters Kvancz. "The only thing I had ever heard was the doctor did not want to clear him, and that the concussions are a very, very big thing. I never even thought of saying that person is not going to play because that person has a different belief than I do. That's crazy." A junior guard, Allums went public with his gender identification in November. He started GW's season opener then came off the bench in the next two games, suffering his first concussion against Coppin State in the third game of the season. He missed the next three games before returning against George Mason. He played the next three games, missed a game at American, and then suffered another concussion against Miami. He hasn't played since. In the eight games he played, Allums averaged 6.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 16.9 minutes per game. Delamartinez said her son wants to help other transgender athletes but school officials have refused to allow him to tell his story to reporters, saying that school officials told her and Allums not to speak to any reporters because the school had arranged to give an exclusive to Oprah Winfrey. However, a university spokesperson, Candace Smith, disputes Delamartinez’s claims, saying "Kye has conducted promotional activities, including numerous media interviews since November. GW has offered Kye guidance and support on multiple fronts. At no time was the university involved in any discussion about compensation for any interview requests."