Trans darts player vows to fight ban from women's events: 'I'm not finished with this game'
After calling out a new ruling restricting her from competing in women’s events, Noa-Lynn van Leuven issued a second statement in defiance of efforts to oust her from the sport.
Noa-Lynn van Leuven, a transgender darts player from the Netherlands, is vowing to fight back against a new ruling that bans her from competing in lucrative women’s events. On Thursday, van Leuven sounded the alarm after being notified the previous day that, effective immediately: "only biological females should be eligible to compete in women’s tournaments regulated by DRA [Darts Regulation Authority] Rules. " In her mind, the email — which the governing body sent ahead of its official policy announcement — essentially retired her from the sport.
"Apparently, I just got retired — not by choice, but because I’m no longer allowed to compete," Van Leuven said in an Instagram video of the ruling that applies to the events hosted by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). "The DRA just decided trans women are no longer allowed in women’s events, which basically means I’m out. " In its statement, the DRA said that it had landed on the new policy after issuing a review of its Trans and Gender Diverse Policy in 2025.
As part of the review, the body commissioned a report from “an academic developmental biologist who has published several papers on sex and categories in sport” and considered “extensive legal advice. ” And it had reached the conclusion that limiting women’s events to biological females was necessary to “achieve fair competition in darts. ” “I’ve worked so damn hard for years just to get here.
I showed up, I competed. I respected the sport every game, every single day. And now, with just one decision, I’m being told I don’t belong anymore,” van Leuven, who became the first transgender woman to play at the PDC World Darts Championship in 2024, continued in the Instagram post.