NCAA softball player alleges person threatened to come to her school and kill her over women's sports activism
Kendall Kotzmacher, a 20‑year‑old catcher and infielder for Colorado Christian University, has become a focal point in the national debate over transgender participation in women’s sports. The sophomore, who transferred from Western Michigan University earlier this summer, says the intensity of the criticism she has faced has escalated as her public profile has grown.
In early August she told OutKick that a stranger warned she would “come to the school and kill me,” a threat that she described as “a little scary.” She added that she had reported the threat to university officials and had documented a series of other hostile messages she received over the summer, though no arrests have been made. “I’ve been getting a lot of people telling me to go kill myself or that I don’t deserve to be alive or that I should die, a bunch of stuff like that, which has been really difficult to hear,” she said.
The danger is heightened because strangers can identify where she attends college, she explained. “I think people knowing where I go to school has been a little bit scary just because I never know if someone’s going to show up or what’s going to go on,” she said. Kotzmacher’s concern extends to her teammates, many of whom have publicly voiced support. A user who replied to her teammates’ comments on social media, looked up their names and statistics, has made her worry that they could become targets. “I think I want to protect them as much as possible,” she said. “So trying to make sure that they’re not getting any of the backlash and that it’s kind of just on me has been a focus of mine.” When she offered in the team’s group chat to remove their names from her social media, the teammates responded, “absolutely not. Like, we’re in this together. We’re going to be supportive of you,” she recalled, adding that their solidarity has been “so refreshing to hear because I didn’t really get that last year.”
Kotzmacher’s activism began after a 2025 Minnesota Class AAAA state semifinal in which White Bear Lake High School fell 3–2 to Champlin Park, a team that included a transgender pitcher and ultimately won the championship. She had helped her high school reach the semifinal with a seventh‑inning, two‑run home run in a 3–1 quarterfinal victory over Farmington. The experience spurred her to speak out, and she has since balanced softball, a full course load, and advocacy work that has taken her to Washington, D.C.
In September she attended a Capitol Hill news conference held after a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on fairness, opportunity and safety for female athletes. The hearing featured three witnesses — ICONS co‑founder Kim Jones, former professional soccer player Carly Smolak and attorney William Bock III — while Democratic senators chose not to call any witnesses. Senators Dick Durbin and Amy Klobuchar were present for part of the session before leaving, with Durbin arguing that lawmakers should address broader issues affecting children and female athletes and expressing concern about invasive examinations used to enforce sports restrictions. Kotzmacher criticized the limited Democratic participation, saying, “Even if they don’t agree with it, just sit in and listen. Like, listen to these real stories from these real girls that this happened to.”
Beyond the classroom and the field, Kotzmacher has become a recipient of the Courage Wins Champion honor from XX‑XY Athletics, a program that recognizes female athletes who take consequential stands for fairness, opportunity or safety and provides financial support and leadership training. The October 2 announcement highlighted her willingness to endure personal sacrifice. “I’ve lost a lot of friends. A lot of people won’t speak to me anymore,” she said. “It’s just good to be noticed.”
She also plans to vote for Republican Senate nominee Michele Tafoya, who has made restrictions on transgender participation in women’s sports a central part of her campaign. “I mean, I’ve talked to Michelle a lot. She’s been super supportive of everything. We’re pretty close,” Kotzmacher said.
Reflecting on the summer’s challenges, she acknowledged reaching “my limit,” but said the prospect of younger girls facing similar hostility keeps her speaking out. “I think the biggest thing is that I haven’t lost my voice yet,” she said. “It’s really easy to get scared back into the cave and to be scared into not speaking anymore.” She added, “I think in this day and age, using your voice and your platform is going to be the biggest thing for change.”