England netball new gender eligibility policy

[sellotapeblues]

It seems England’s netball have finally fallen in line to with common sense and fairness in their new eligibility and participation policy.

From their email:
“Under this new policy, moving forward England Netball will recognise three distinct gender participation categories:
Female netball
Male netball
Mixed netball

The female category will be exclusively for players born female, irrespective of their gender identity, whilst mixed netball will serve as the sport’s inclusive category, allowing players to compete under the gender with which they identify.”

Mixed netball has always been around, I played it when I was younger. It was a sharp lesson in the strength and height of men.

I’m glad the sport I love and the sport more women play than any other has finally done this.

https://help.centre.englandnetball.co.uk/wiki/spaces/EKC/pages/370802697/Gender+Eligibility+and+Participation+Policy+and+Documents

That's excellent news! I have been tweeting England Cricket to ask when they are going to do likewise.

I've just read the email, seems very sensible to me. Interesting that in the faq's they say it's nothing to do with the Supreme court ruling.

The Football Association announced a hour ago they are banning males from female teams. I think a lot of sports will be releasing the same policies soon, so they can hide behind the FA.

Hurrah!

The dominos are falling.

lol, noting to do with the SC ruling. I’m too cheerful about this to be annoyed by the outright lie

So happy to see these changes. Heard the update on Sky Sports and immediately popped on here to see if a thread was active.

This 💯 (and not before time)

another one to celebrate

Ok, so it technically allows a fully male (or fully female) team in mixed competition, but everyone going there were aware they are playing against some males, so at least the safety aspect is fine.

Fairness is still a bit questionable, but it looks as a good compromise.

That's a good point. For mixed teams who are playing competitively, this may result in teams where the "women's" places are routinely all taken by transwomen. Thus males have two options to choose from (men's and mixed) leaving women with one option. This seems a real problem, especially if this also applies at the elite level?

Still a good step forward though.

Mixed netball has rules about the distribution of male players across the zones of the court. And yes, everyone knows what’s going on before they step on court. Mixed netball has been a thing for at least the last 20 years because that when I first played it. It’s a very different tactical game. And I certainly enjoyed the challenge when I was younger. But it was always a choice.

I really hope I’m right about this but the female places on the mixed teams are surely only available to those born female, as in the sex split category. So trans women would fill the male spaces. Otherwise it makes no sense.

This is from their FAQ. I'm not clued up enough to understand the implications if this.

Eta - I think this means that all male teams will be acceptable in mixed netball, as long as some of them say they are women 🙄

How is player gender verified for Mixed Netball?

EN Gender Eligibility & Participation Policy which applies to all EN Recognised & Authorised Activity including EMMNA, recognises a player's right to self-identify.
There is no formal verification process, and teams participate with the understanding that Mixed Netball is an inclusive version of the sport.

Rules and Gameplay

In Mixed netball does it matter what the gender identity is of the player I am marking?

No, there is no requirement for players to match up based on gender. Defending and marking follow the Rules of Netball.

What are the designated playing positions in Mixed Netball?

For clarity, a player whose Affirmed Gender* is not female may occupy one (1) of the following positions in each third:
Goal Third: Goal Shooter (GS) or Goal Attack (GA);
Centre Third: Wing Attack (WA), Centre (C), or Wing Defence (WD); and
Defensive Third: Goal Defence (GD) or Goal Keeper (GK).
*Affirmed Gender = the gender that a person identifies as or has transitioned/is transitioning to as opposed to that which was assigned at birth

Wonderful!

Well, I interpret that in the most depressing way for mixed netball - it can be all men.

There is no formal verification process, and teams participate with the understanding that Mixed Netball is an inclusive version of the sport.

This has really pissed me off actually. What they mean is that players have to accept that mixed netball is a trans inclusive version of the sport, which inevitably means it is less inclusive to actual women.

So fine, make this the acceptable compromise if you want, but don't pretend that it is universally inclusive. And own the fact that this means that men get two chances to win prizes and women get one.

I agree I'm afraid.

That's great. It seems mad to have to clarify it in such a way.
I was just thinking about sport where women and men could legitimately play against eachother without there being an unfair advantage.
I don't think netball would be one of them.
I came up with snooker. But then I remember I once asked a large very successful snooker club in London if they had a female snooker coach. They said they did not. Across the whole of London.
I also read somewhere recently that if women compete against men in chess they have an unfair disadvantage and their game suffers, but if they don't know the sex of the opponent it evens out more.

Mixed netball and the sneaky, disingenuous’ inclusivity’ that always seems to disadvantage women aside overall I’m still happy that we have clarity that netball is a single sex sport from the very youngest players to the elite competition. And that at least when I or any of the other millions of women who play netball join a team and a league we know who we will be playing against. And if they are better than us it isn’t because they were cheating.

Yes indeed - at least now if you encounter mixed teams consisting entirely of biological males, there can be an open discussion about the impact of substituting transwomen for actual women - instead of the "nothing to see here" denial that we were previously stuck with.

I play netball, although in casual leagues, nothing official. We have both female and mixed in my area. The mixed netball has a handful of men with majority women. I tried playing a few times but even with just one or two men on the opposing team, it completely shifted the balance on the game. The difference in speed and power was marked and I did not think it was safe at all. I didn't go back. It just wasn't enjoyable.
Now I play female only and unsurprisingly, the female-only groups have to be ten/twenty times the size of the smaller mixed one. No one likes playing with the men. The power imbalance from just one man bulldozing his way though the court takes the fun out of it.

I wouldn’t go near a mixed game now I’m old and a bit slow. It’s a different game altogether and the only way to even it up is if the women on court have court craft: know the rules better and sheer experience of angles and smartness. Plus bravery for the flying elbows.

Well I think my username will be redundant soon if this carries on. Excellent. Not so much on the mixed one but at least women can just choose not to play it and leave it as effectively a second men's category.

This whole issue with the mixed teams being based on gender not sex is pissing me off the more I think about it.

Mixed teams exist because some women actively enjoy the experience of playing in mixed teams. If they didn't, then the category wouldn't have been created.

This policy means that some women who would like to play for mixed team will not be able to because their protected female place has been taken by a biological male. It also means that the experience of the women who do play will be negatively affected by there being an imbalance caused by too many males on the court, a situation which the original rules where specifically designed to prevent.

Males who identify as transgender should be welcome on mixed teams but they should not be able to take one of the female places.

Netball England is clearly positioning this as a compromise but it is not a compromise that women should have to make.