Noa-Lynn van Leuven is the first trans woman at the PDC: “Van der Voort asked me if I could participate”

Noa-Lynn van Leuven is the first Dutch trans woman on the darts circuit. The 26-year-old darts player once played for the Netherlands as a youth, completely lost her motivation, but returned to arrows last year after an 8-year break. And successfully, she immediately joined the Dutch women’s team. The start of a new happier life. Sportnieuws.nl told her about life as a trans woman in a very conservative darts world.

Through: Pim-Hubert

“During my 1st NDBtournament (Dutch Dart Bond) I reached the semi-finals straight away,” she said. “But then the harassment started right away. That people thought I shouldn’t participate. That was unfair.”

Van Leuven played so well domestically in her 1st year that she was invited to the European Darts Championship at the WDF. A unique. She was also the 1st trans woman on the PDC circuit this year, playing in the women’s series.

Nasty comments from “big” darts
A 26-year-old trans woman in a generally conservative darts world. This caused unpleasant reactions. “During the 2nd national tournament, someone ‘cried’ at the competition table almost all day because she thought it was not fair,” she says with emotion.

“I find those reactions really difficult sometimes. Then you kinda feel like… shit, so to speak. There’s always a few who think they have a right to make a shitty comment. That they think they’re fun, while they hurt. They’re also darts with a big name. That happens sometimes,” says Van Leuven.

‘Can I join?’
The battle for acceptance was therefore not without struggle. “After finally being a bit happier with myself, I decided 2 years ago to see if I could go back to my old hobby, darts. I contacted the darts association to see if I could join the women”, says Louvain. And what happened? The Dutch darts association did not yet have any regulations on paper for trans people.

“The darts association actually reacted very positively. I think they even called VU Medical Center to see if I had any benefits. It turned out that I didn’t. That took about 1.5 years, until it was really clear what the Late last year I heard I could add the women I wanted to have it on paper, to avoid whining.

Support from Van der Voort
Besides the great support of his family, Van Leuven, who travels all over Europe to play on the darts circuit, has good contacts with Vincent van der Voort. “I can be found quite often in his shop. I see Vincent there regularly. At the beginning, he also asked the PDC if I could just participate in the women’s series. I thought it was very cool and nice,” he says. -she. .

“Michael (van Gerwen) was once in the store. Then I also had quite a conversation. He already knew a lot about me thanks to Vincent. A very nice and respectful conversation. It really did me good .”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPeVac-o5U4Van Leuven at the PDC Women’s Series

Trans woman at World Cup darts
Van Leuven is not the first trans woman in the world of darts. The 50 year old man Victoria Monaghan from New Zealand has qualified for the WDF World Cup in Lakeside, which will be held in January 2023. In addition to the positive reactions, there have also been many unpleasant reactions on social media.

“It does something to you,” says Van Leuven. “It made me doubt myself, because I want to be in the spotlight that way? On the other hand, I’m secretly also kinda happy that she’s the 1st, that I don’t get the diaper complete if, for example, I place myself for the World Cup.”

Still, she wanted to come out with her story. “Like Victoria, maybe I can be an inspiration to others in a similar situation. I was very unhappy growing up and if you’re not happy then yeah…you just lose a lot of money. years of your life,” she said. emotionally. “Now I’m a lot happier and having a lot more fun. And darts is definitely part of that.”

Our orange ladies played a fantastic team event. Unfortunately England were too strong in the final. But the ladies can be proud of the silver medal 🥈 for Anca Zijlstra, Leera Rietbergen, Priscilla Steenbergen and Noa-Lynn van Leuven.#wdfeuropecup2022 pic.twitter.com/lYtMBozpGq

— NederlandseDartsBond (@NDBdarts) October 1, 2022

‘Give a hug’

Van Leuven won a silver medal in September with the Netherlands women’s team at the WDF European Cup in Spain. “When I joined the Dutch team, I myself took the step to a number of ladies and to talk about it and make it negotiable.” It worked. “There are just a lot of Dutch girls on the circuit that I can hug now. Where I don’t have to worry about them talking behind my back,” says Van Leuven.

Van Leuven has her sights set on qualifying Lakeside at the end of this year, where she hopes to qualify for the WDF World Cup. “So maybe I’ll still be the 1st trans woman at the Darts World Cup, if I have to play a game before Victoria,” she finished with a laugh.