Male Darts Player Preaches About 'Inclusion' After Being Banned From Women's Events

On Monday, the World Darts Federation (WDF) finally did what should have been done a long time ago: voted to protect the women's category by ruling that only biological females can compete.

Predictably, the decision ruffled feathers — particularly those of trans-identifying darts player Noa-Lynn van Leuven, who took to Instagram Wednesday to lament the policy change.

"This decision does affect me personally — though, thankfully, not too severely at this point in time. But still, it hurts," van Leuven wrote. "Once again, it’s a loss for the trans community in sports. And that breaks my heart. As a trans person in the darts world, I know how vital inclusion is — not just on paper, but in practice."

Van Leuven added, "It’s disheartening to see yet another policy framed around 'fairness' that ultimately results in exclusion, without truly considering the people behind the labels."

But the decision to allow only women in women's events is not framed around fairness. It is fairness.

Van Leuven, a biological male, has dominated the women's darts scene since 2022, winning six titles on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) Women’s Series, capturing three WDF Europe Cup gold medals, two silver and one bronze. To illustrate how truly absurd this is, back in March 2024, van Leuven won both a men's and women's pro event in the same week — raking in thousands of dollars in prize money for both titles.

That was the last straw for two of van Leuven's Dutch teammates, Aileen de Graaf and Anca Zijlstra, who felt strongly enough to quit the Dutch Women’s Team. 

MORE: Two Female Darts Players Quit Dutch Team After Male Wins Men's And Women's Pro Events In Same Week

Zijlstra expressed her anguish in a statement on her Facebook page: "With pain in my heart… The moment I am ashamed to play for the Dutch Team, because a biological man plays for the women’s team, it is time to go. I have tried to accept this but I cannot condone this. I believe that in sports there should be an equal and fair playing field."

Zijlstra also announced she would resign from the Nederlandse Darts Bond (NBD), the governing body for the sport in the Netherlands, for its role in allowing males to self-identify into women’s categories.

"I have always considered it an honor to represent our country, and I will always be open to returning to the National Team. I hope with all my heart and for all women in sports that people come to their senses. This decision was not easy and was very difficult. 1991 is the first time that I proudly put on the shirt for the Netherlands."

Noa-Lynn van Leuven will no longer be allowed to compete in women's WDF events.

(Photo by Steven Paston/PA Images via Getty Images)

The WDF made the right call. Women should have their own spaces to compete and succeed in all sports, and that includes darts.

Van Leuven closed his Instagram post by saying, "We remain visible. We keep going."

That's fine — keep going. Because nobody is actually excluding van Leuven from playing darts. The 28-year-old is completely free to compete in men's and open WDF events.