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Minnesota's high school softball season will be under a national spotlight for the second year in a row, and a hotter one than in 2025.
As the U.S. Department of Justice has launched a Title IX lawsuit against the state's education agencies for letting biological male trans athletes play in girls' sports, Champlin Park High School is set to be a political target.
The high school rosters a trans pitcher on its softball team, who emerged as a dominant force en route to a state championship last year.
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Transgender pitcher Marissa Rothenberger. (Amber Harding)
Now, that pitcher is playing for Champlin Park again this year while President Donald Trump's administration tries to crack down.
The Anoka-Hennepin School District, which oversees Champlin Park, is standing by the athlete amid the renewed national scrutiny.
"The Champlin Park Softball team will compete in compliance with Minnesota State High School League rules and applicable Minnesota law this upcoming season. All participating student-athletes will meet the criteria for eligibility which aim to elevate standards of sportsmanship and encourage the growth of responsible citizenship for all involved. Because the school district is named in an active lawsuit involving last season, the District is limited in what additional information can be shared on this matter," the district said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
A girls' softball player, who is anonymously part of a lawsuit with Alliance Defending Freedom that challenges the state laws on trans athletes, shared her thoughts on the distracting political dynamic of this season with Fox News Digital.
"I just want a fair and competitive season. My hope for this season is that the focus stays on the game, while also making sure girls’ sports remain a place where female athletes have equal opportunities to compete and succeed," she said.
Meanwhile, another anonymous plaintiff in that lawsuit shared gratitude for the DOJ's intervention.
"Thank you, President Trump! I’m so grateful for the support towards girls in sports in Minnesota," she said.
The lawsuit was originally struck down by a federal judge, but ADF has filed an appeal in appellate court and is awaiting a decision there.
CHAMPLIN PARK WINS MINNESOTA SOFTBALL STATE TITLE BEHIND TRANS PITCHER'S COMPLETE GAME SHUTOUT
Former Minnesota high school and current NCAA softball player Kendall Kotzmacher lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to Champlin Park last season, in what was her final high school game.
But Kozmacher's younger sister, who lost with her in that game, is still set to play this season, and could be on a collision course with the trans pitcher again.
"My little sister, she played with me last year. She's still playing, so it's really hard," Kotzmacher said. "I'm lucky enough that it's not allowed at the NCAA level. But there's all of these girls that I do not want them to ever have to go through the situations that I did, and I do not want my sister to have to deal with what I had to do and what she had to deal with last year again."
Minnesota has faced its own internal conflict over the issue dating back to early 2025, when Democratic lawmakers in the state legislature struck down a bill that would have prevented biological males from competing in girls' sports.
State Republicans renewed that effort in recent weeks amid the DOJ crackdown, but were once again unsuccessful due to Democrat control, as they failed to push a bill forward on the House Floor Tuesday.
"Protecting girls is not hate," said state representative Krista Knudsen. "When biological males enter girls’ sports, girls lose. They lose medals, they lose roster spots, they lose college scholarships and they lose their safety."
Democrat state representative Kelly Moller dismissed concerns over the issue.
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"My colleagues across the aisle say that you are bringing this to protect women and girls and that couldn’t be further from the truth. The real threat to women and girls is sexual assault and gender-based violence," Moller said.
Meanwhile, 326 school board members in 125 school districts in the state signed a letter pleading with the state's leadership to comply with Trump's mandate to protect girls' sports.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson's reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.
