EXCLUSIVE: Trump Invites Volleyball Player Seriously Hurt By Trans Opponent To Be Special Guest At Address To Congress

19-year-old Payton McNabb, who has spoken out about being left with a traumatic brain injury after a transgender-identifying man spiked a volleyball into her head, will be a special guest of President Donald Trump’s at his first joint address in front of Congress, the Daily Caller has learned.

McNabb has testified about how, when she was 17 years old, her high school girls volleyball team faced off against another team with a biological male on the roster. During the match, the biological male spiked a ball into McNabb’s head, leaving her unconscious for 30 seconds, she has shared. The incident severely injured McNabb who said she was left with a brain bleed, a traumatic brain injury, partial paralysis and loss of peripheral vision on her right side. The president plans to shout out McNabb on Tuesday during his speech while touting his recent executive order that prohibits biological men from women’s sports, a White House official told the Caller.

“I’m so incredibly thankful for the chance to be a part of such a historic event, and to have my story contribute to a larger conversation, and really just highlight how big this issue really is,” McNabb told the Caller about the opportunity to attend the joint address on Tuesday.

✉️ @paytonmcnabb_ has a message for the Senate regarding today’s vote on @SenTuberville‘s Protection of Women & Girls in Sports Act:https://t.co/J0IgjqtqOw pic.twitter.com/11LyevIcmd

— Independent Women’s Forum (@IWF) March 3, 2025

Just weeks into his second administration, Trump signed an executive order prohibiting biological men from competing in women’s sports across the country. Additionally, the executive order also addresses visa policies and the International Olympic Committee, a White House official previously told reporters. The official explained that under the order the administration is going to do all it can using its authority to protect women’s sports when events take place on U.S. soil.

“All the emotions kind of set in right when it was happening. And I remember, I just started crying because I just couldn’t believe it. I was just so thankful that we finally had an administration that was willing to do that and to stand up for women, because it feels like we’ve been talking about this for years now, and no one was listening,” McNabb told the Caller.

Trump’s executive order was in direct response to actions the Biden administration took to amend Title IX. During Biden’s time as president, his Department of Education proposed a policy that would require public schools to take into account “fairness in competition” and the prevention of “sports-related injury” when developing policies for the creation of sports teams. It also moved to prohibit federally funded schools from adopting a “one-size-fits-all-policy” that would bar students from joining sports teams by their gender identity. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Trump Admin Urges NCAA To Strip Women’s Titles From Lia Thomas, Other Trans Athletes)

Watch the clip of Payton McNabb getting spiked in the face by a male competing with the women. Then watch her testimony she gave today for the first time publicly. I was honored to stand alongside her in NC to continue the fight to protect women’s sports. pic.twitter.com/mvJmwprkaX

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) April 20, 2023

The spike McNabb suffered during a high school volleyball game in 2022 by a transgender man had everlasting effects on her life. Because of her injuries, she had to give up her dream of playing college softball, she told the New York Post in an interview. McNabb told the outlet that she still is suffering the effects of the hit, including crippling headaches and anxiety, as well as continuing cognitive issues such as memory loss and retention problems. As of April 2023, McNabb was still healing from partial paralysis and impaired vision, she said in public remarks. McNabb told the Caller that doctors don’t know if she will ever fully recover from her injuries.

While she continues her studies in college, McNabb told the Caller that she is working with the Independent Women’s Forum on getting legislation passed at the state level banning biological men from women’s sports to help support the executive order.

“We’re trying to get those passed in each state so it’s more permanent. Of course, we’re super thankful for the executive order, and it was really a huge step in the right direction. But we want it to be permanent, so that the next, if there’s a new administration in the next four years, they can’t just throw it away. So we don’t have to do this all over again,” McNabb told the Caller.

Disclosure: Reagan Reese is an Independent Women’s Forum visiting fellow.