Western Michigan freshman softball player Kendall Kotzmacher is in the process of filing her taxes for the first time. She does so knowing her federal and state taxes, as a Minnesota resident, will go toward litigation over her home state's refusal to keep males out of girls' sports.
Kotzmacher had to compete against a biological male transgender pitcher in the Minnesota state playoffs in her final high school season in 2025. She had to watch the trans athlete dominate her team and end her season. Now, as the state continues to let that pitcher compete against girls, she may have to watch her younger sister compete against that athlete again this season.
Kotzmacher, who earned income as a part-time youth softball coach and through NIL deals, including one with the activist sportswear brand XX-XY Athletics, will have to stomach some of that money financing the legal battle to "save girls' sports."
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"I feel like I can justify spending that money more, knowing that it's going to these young girls that should not have to do with something like that, you know, it's going for these girls that I've worked their whole lives and can't do anything about," Kotzmacher told Fox News Digital.
"It's definitely really frustrating, you know, and an ideal world, this never happens, and this money doesn't need to go to a lawsuit, such as the one that's going on right now. And this all could be easily pushed to the side if the state complied, and if Governor [Tim] Walz could just get some common sense. And fight for women and take our side for once when we've all been pushed to this side."
The DOJ announced it is suing education agencies in Minnesota on Monday for its continued refusal to comply with President Donald Trump's mandate to keep biological male trans athletes out of girls' high school sports in the state. The DOJ alleged that the state’s Department of Education (MDE) and the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) are in violation of Title IX.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a preemptive lawsuit last year, saying the state’s human rights act supersedes President Donald Trump’s executive orders. The lawsuit said at the time that the state was already in compliance with Title IX. A ruling is pending on the federal government’s motion to dismiss the case.
Much of the conflict between the state and the administration centered around the participation of the transgender pitcher, Marissa Rothenberger, for Champlin Park, who led the school to a state title. The athlete is set to compete again this season for Champlin Park.
"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."
During a Minnesota state tournament semifinal last spring, Rothenberger held Kotzmacher's White Bear Lake team to just two runs on seven hits. Rothenberger also hit a double to lead-off the final inning, and set up a pinch-runner to win the game for Champlin Park.
Kotzmacher previously told Fox News Digital that once that game ended, she fell into the arms of her little sister and began to sob.
"I honestly just wanted to leave right away. I didn't want to do anything else," Kotzmacher said. "I couldn't even process what just happened.
"How do you acknowledge that you lost to a biological male? How do you process those events that happened? And that was something that entire night, I still couldn't do it… we lost to a biological male in a female state tournament."
Now, as she tries to excel in her college career, Kotzmacher said she is also invested in the high school season in Minnesota as an activist.
"I hope that people are truly truly working on getting this finished before high school season ends because the last thing that should happen is for this to be a repeat of last year," she said. "And I truly believe that Champlin park's championship title should be stripped away and there's no reason that on the high school league records or documents, Champlain park's name should be anywhere near the winning season and that they had."
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