Trump’s Patriot Games chose a New Hampshire girl to represent Maine after anti-trans audition video

When officials organizing President Donald Trump’s Patriot Games — a high school athletic competition created for Freedom 250’s Trump-aligned celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary — chose athletes to represent each state, they selected a girl for Maine whose video submission touted her school’s refusal to play a team with a transgender athlete. Stranger still, she doesn’t attend high school in Maine.

Local media reported that Maine’s female participant in the games was Rebekah Roberts, who identified herself in an audition tape posted online as a resident of Cornish, New Hampshire. It’s unclear how she ended up representing Maine in the competition, which is being held in Geneva, Ohio, and features high school athletes from across the country.

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Freedom 250 has organized its own slate of events marking the anniversary alongside America250, the bipartisan initiative overseen by the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which Congress established in 2016 to plan the national commemoration. The Patriot Games run from Sunday through Tuesday, with Trump scheduled to attend Tuesday night’s finale.

In her audition video, Roberts focuses on an experience during her freshman year that pitted her school against a Vermont athletic league.

“My freshman year, my school was removed from our state league because it chose to stand by American morals that people once died for,” she said.

“Losing the opportunity to compete for two years was difficult, especially being my first high school year as I was figuring high school out. As the athlete, I missed the chance to experience the competition, teamwork, and memories that came with being part of that league. However, that experience taught me important lessons about standing firm in your values, even when there are challenges that come with it.”

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Roberts never makes clear who died to keep transgender athletes out of girls’ sports or why that position is part of “American morals.” She goes on to say her team won a regional championship out of state while she was captain.

Maine Newsroom reports that she appears to be referencing Mid Vermont Christian School, which in 2023 forfeited a Division IV girls’ basketball playoff game rather than play against a team with a transgender athlete on its roster. The school is in Vermont — another state where Roberts does not live. The private school later sued Vermont’s state government and the Vermont Principals Association to have its membership restored, as reported by VtDigger and the Vermont Journalism Trust.

Roberts’ participation is not the only part of the Patriot Games’ selection process drawing scrutiny. CNN reported that a large share of participants attend Christian schools and that several live in states other than those they are representing in the games.

A review of several audition videos by the network found that many participants cited their Christian faith and political values, with one saying he founded a club affiliated with Turning Point USA, the political group founded by slain anti-trans activist Charlie Kirk.

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The competition itself divides participants by sex. Freedom 250 has promoted the Patriot Games as bringing together young athletes ages 14 to 17 for challenges testing strength, endurance, agility and teamwork. The organization says the male and female champions will each receive a $125,000 scholarship.

The Patriot Games are among a series of large-scale events Freedom 250 has organized around the semiquincentennial, including its Great American State Fair and July 4 celebration in Washington. Both events were panned for low attendance and disorganization by critics.

The group describes the games as a showcase for “outstanding young Americans” and the values that have shaped the country over nearly 250 years.