Kendall Kotzmacher, an NCAA softball player set to play for Colorado Christian University, returned to her home state of Minnesota on Sunday, August 3rd, 2026, to attend a rally supporting Sophie Cunningham outside the Target Center in Minneapolis.

Kotzmacher made the trip just over a year after her final high school softball game ended in a championship loss to a transgender pitcher, who also contributed offensively by hitting a double to help win the game. She stood alongside activists including Riley Gaines, Michelle Tafoya, and Jennifer Sey at the third rally in support of Cunningham within one week.

Counterprotesters had appeared at the previous two rallies, but Sunday’s event saw a heightened level of agitation. Kotzmacher alleges that a counterprotester wielding a megaphone told her she "should've been aborted." She described the individual as "just yelling everything about how awful people we are."

Kotzmacher also shared that she has received numerous hostile messages online, including hate texts and death threats, after speaking publicly about competing against a transgender athlete. She remarked, "So at this point, I’m kind of used to it, but it was definitely weird for them to be able to hear it and be like, ‘Oh, people are actually like this. Someone has enough to say this out loud to a person.’"

She added, "They have nothing to go against what we’re trying to say, and so they just go back to calling us names."

The controversy surrounding transgender athletes in women’s sports has been a focal point of recent debates, including a feud ignited last June between Simone Biles and Riley Gaines after Gaines posted about the championship game in which Kotzmacher competed.

Kara Dansky, a colleague of Kotzmacher, emphasized the importance of being heard, stating, "if we can be heard, we will win." Kotzmacher affirmed this sentiment, saying, "And this conversation proves that’s true."

Sources