A Christian school in Vermont was awarded more than $566,000 (£419,519) in damages and legal fees on Tuesday, after it was banned from all sports and academic competitions for two years.
The Mid Vermont Christian School has been represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) after its girls' basketball team refused to compete against a trans athlete in 2023, which resulted in a complete ban from all competitions.
The settlement has come after a year-long dispute that resulted in the school's sports teams, and academic teams like spelling bee, science fairs and mathletes had to travel out of state to compete with other schools.
During an interview, the school explained that their Christian faith was of more importance than a sports game - although it was a hard call.
Chis Goodwin, the basketball coach at the school told Fox News Digital: “We were all agreement that the right decision was to not compromise our beliefs and to withdraw, but the conversation with the players was the hardest."
He added: "Because you play a 20-game season, and you put in the work and the expectation is that you enter the postseason tournament with a shot to see how you're going to do and to see how far you can get. So, there were some teary eyes, and some sad faces, but in the end, they all really did understand that it was the right thing to do."
Following the incident in 2023, the entire school of 111 students were affected, as The Vermont Principals’ Association implemented a complete ban.
Goodwin revealed how this was a challenging time for the school, saying teams that he coached had the potential to win state championship but never had the chance.
"The travel is probably triple," he added. "You’re getting back at 10 o’clock at night… kids trying to do homework. I don't want to say it was a nightmare, but it was difficult."
ADF Senior Counsel Dave Cortman told the news site: "It’s been surprising how much the state has dug in their heels," he said. "The arguments they’ve made… even saying your beliefs are wrong...
"Their message was, 'in order for you to follow your religious beliefs, boys are boys, girls are girls, that would actually violate their non-discrimination policies. ' So the irony of it was, they were discriminating against religious schools."
The appeals court ruled in September 2025 that Mid Vermont Christian must be allowed to participate in state athletics, after two years of banishment had passed. The court then returned the case to district court for further proceedings.
ADF’s Cortman concluded that: “The school is on the right side of history and will be for following his faith in its beliefs, for doing what's right... sometimes there's a price to pay. But it's always the right thing to do. You're always on the right side of history when you stand up for truth."