Trans woman selected for Womens football squad

[HermioneKipper]

TW - a male - selected for England Universities Sport Women's Squad. Depriving a woman of a spot.

mobile.twitter.com/HastingsUFCW/status/1509175209118638093

Womens sport is being destroyed before our eyes. I am so angry but I don’t know what I can do.

It’s utterly depressing

The more it happens the more women will push back. Clearly that person is male, and males have natural advantages in football.

And who wouldn't be delighted to be facing a man sized goalie?

Someone has asked the very logical question on twitter about insurance. Considering that insurance companies will use any excuse to not pay. Bet they wont be fucking gaslit into believing this man is a woman,

I knew at a cursory glance that was no woman.

The unfairness is staggering and they expect us to lie down and take it.

I have a daughter that loves football. I would raise hell if she had to play against this person.

FFS I thought football had largely kept its head(exception of the Iranian team etc)
Particularly galling after how inspiring the last women's world cup was and how it raised a lot more interest in women's sports in general.

I too think the more this happens the more it is doomed to fail.

We're watching the beginning of a failed experiment and historians will look back and think WTAF about this time period.

Oh and clearly a mediocre male at that, seeing as the discrepancy between male and female pay in football is astronomical.

Cheat.

The rest of the squad should refuse to play. I would not, and could not be part of this.

@Swayingpalmtrees

The rest of the squad should refuse to play. I would not, and could not be part of this.

Do you realise what you are asking of athletes who have dedicated their lives to here?

As much as it would be great if this team made a stand, there are plenty of talented players that could replace them, who would learn to say twaw very quickly for self survival. I'm sure a few are already handmaidens. Look at Kent cricket.

And of course they could all be replaced with tw. Not great for the optics though.

If the rest of the team refused to play it would send the message loud and clear that this is not, and will never be acceptable.

The athletes dedicating their lives to sport need not bother anymore, because the squad will be full of men in a years time, and there will no place for anyone!! And what exactly is there to stop them? They are stronger players and can do whatever they like seemingly.

You have to look at the bigger picture.

Make a stand, that is all that is left - because this is not going to stop anytime soon mylittle

Female athletes shouldn’t have to make this choice though @Swayingpalmtrees

They’d be putting their careers/chances of sponsorship on the line. And as we all very well know they’d likely receive reams for abuse simply for standing up for fairness.

I myself can’t speak about this publicly as I’d likely be sacked. How can we expect these young women to do this?

The authorities shouldn’t be letting this travesty happen.

I don’t know about this person specifically but the unfairness also extends to the teams they will play.

Maybe they’ll refuse. Or perhaps see if they can get a male to play in theirs. Then what.. more joining to you the advantage.

Not sure why it’s allowed.

But again, you are assuming all the women on the team think it's unfair.

We know in Kent cricket Maxine's the ex males team member team mates are happy for Maxine to play with them against biological female opponents .

Are the cricketers happy though? Or daren't they speak out for fear of reprisals?

I bet the woman who’s place Maxine has taken isn’t happy about it

This person has already been playing as GK for Hastings United women's FC all season. So it's not just this England Universities place it's the place in that league team as well.

Kent captain said.
“Personally I’m proud to call her my teammate and my friend. So please attempt don’t speak for me or my ovaries.”

So the most powerful person in Kent's women's team supports the inclusion of a male in the team. Ponder on the dynamics and power implications there.

And no, I don't suppose the ones that missed out or the teams that face them are happy, buy their voices aren't heard.

The fact we are all silenced is the problem.

The squad should be able to state their concerns clearly and be heard. We have got to such an extreme situation, that fairness is now a total irrelevance. It is clearly not remotely a fair playing field, given the inherent biological differences. At some point, we are going to have to summon the courage - and stand up for what is right - there is no other way and if not now, when?

I wonder if a goalie was deliberate as a first point of infiltration? Less opportunity to be running and tackling alongside women showing up the major differences. Less chance of injuring a woman directly. A bit like twice the age Hubbard being selected for the Olympics.

Sorry that was referencing Maxine Blyhtin and Kent cricket, not football.

What if you turned up to compete against a team and there were obviously males included

What can you do?

I think it’s very tough on the competition even if the captain (or whoever) wants the male there.

The goalie.... ffs. My daughter plays U19 football and we often say how much harder it is for girls in the goal as they cover so much less of the goal.

As for insurance... the reality is that players sign up to play at their own risk. I would love someone to point out what insurance would cover this, where it would be invoked and given that many clubs put inclusion and bullying policies above female needs, females are likely to be silenced long before they get to be heard on an insurance question. I would love someone to give concrete evidence otherwise as if its true, it could be a powerful tool.

I would also love to see how many opportunities there are for men to play football at University compares to the number of opportunities available to women.

This will put women off participating in sport.

It is not easy for anyone to speak up against this. We saw what happened to JKR and she is untouchable. Many female writers have been silenced in publishing, wrong thought has lost academics their funding, groups have been blocked from meeting. Club policies have been written to state that players can play as their chosen gender and the bullying policy will be envoked if anyone disagrees. It is up to those who can speak without fear for their positions to speak up against this unfairness.

I think the problem is a lot of young women naively go along with this progressiveness and may even get an initial thrill out of the advantage and the wins it brings to their team.

In time though other teams will recruit males to even out the disadvantage and in the future more and more girls and women will be squeezed out.

There is no other direction for this to go other than the eventual erasure of female opportunities, participation and female sport.

I struggle to understand why so many of the female cheerleaders don't see this or care about it.

and may even get a thrill out of the advantage and wins it brings to their team

I think this is exactly right. A male body in goal in a women‘s game gives the team a huge advantage. This will appeal to both players and coaches.
Given that this is the goal keeper we are talking about few, if any, of the women on the team would have been competing for this spot so win/win for them. Also the likelihood of contact injuries with a goalkeeper is lower (though not negligible) so dangers can be talked down.

But rubbish for the women‘s teams they are playing though.