The hostile male takeover of women’s sports

No sport, it seems, is safe from trans ideology. Darts has become the latest to be rocked by a trans-related controversy. At the weekend, biological male Noa-Lynn van Leuven became the first transgender player to book a spot in the PDC World Darts Championships, which will take place later this year. In doing so, van Leuven will take one of just two places that are reserved at the championships for women.

The 28-year-old Dutch player, who only began transitioning in 2021, won against current ladies’ champion Beau Greaves. It’s not really surprising that van Leuven was able to secure the win. Sex differences might matter much less in darts than, say, boxing or athletics. But any athlete or sportsperson who has gone through male puberty still has a significant advantage when it comes to strength, power and arm length.

Many female darts players are, understandably, upset and outraged at the prospect of having to face off against van Leuven. English darts player Deta Hedman has twice refused to play trans opponents – one of them being van Leuven himself. Back in May this year, Hedman pulled out of a match against van Leuven, saying that she ‘wouldn’t play a man in a ladies’ event’. Outrageously, in response to these controversies, the World Darts Federation has threatened disciplinary action against any player who backs out of a match. It is punishing women for standing up for fairness.

The concerns of these women also seem to be of little concern to van Leuven. To put it mildly. Speaking to Dutch outlet NU this week, he lashed out at the ‘conservative, toxic bitches’ who have criticised him for competing in women’s events.

He also seems to be under the impression that the fact that he is a man has nothing to do with his sporting success. ‘I throw well now because I feel more comfortable’, he told NU. ‘It’s a matter of putting money and hours into it. Not many women do that, but I do.’ So those dreadful ‘bitches’ who don’t want to compete against him are lazy, as well as toxic and conservative, it seems.

Elsewhere in the world of sport, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced last week that trans players will be banned from professional and semi-professional cricket games in England. On the face of it, this is good news. Prior to this, the ECB had some of the laxest rules of any sport. Anyone who ‘identified as’ female was allowed to play in the women’s category, subject to the board’s approval.

But, bafflingly, recreational cricket teams are exempt from these new rules. This is despite the fact that, as Oliver Brown has pointed out in the Telegraph, the lower levels of the game is where sex differences are arguably most stark.

It is also in these club-level games that many children and teens compete. Last year, parents of 12-year-old girls were horrified to discover that a middle-aged, trans-identified man was being allowed to compete against girls in the same league. The dangers of having a grown man lob hard leather balls at young girls should be obvious to anyone with half a brain. Not to mention that these girls might, in some cases, be expected to share the same changing rooms or toilets as males who think they are female.

Cricket and darts may be two very different sports, but the views of both the ECB and the World Darts Federation are essentially the same – that men’s feelings count for more than preserving women’s sports and safety. The hostile male takeover of women’s sports has got to stop.

Lauren Smith is a staff writer at spiked.