An Australian girl's soccer team has drawn criticism after winning every game of a four-week competition with a team roster that included five transgender players.
Flying Batts FC (football club) won the pre-season Beryl Ackroyd Cup in Sydney, during which they won every game they played over the course of the competition. During the grand final on Sunday, the team won 4-0, taking home a $1,000 prize, according to the Daily Mail.
During one of the tournament’s games, the team won by larger margins, including one game where they won 10-0 against the opposing team, and one transgender player scored six of those 10 goals.
The Daily Telegraph reported club officials in the North West Sydney League said parents have pulled their daughters out of games over concerns for their safety, with the officials adding that they believe the Flying Bats team should play in Mixed competitions.
"Our girls are here to play for fun and expect to play in the female competition. They did not sign up for a mixed competition," a senior club official told the outlet.
"There’s no transparency from Football NSW (New South Wales), the girls don’t know if they are going to be playing biological males or not," they said, adding that "Some of the parents were so concerned they would not let their daughters play … It was so disheartening for them to see the huge difference in ability – they’re killing it."
A spokesperson for Football NSW said the organization takes "pride in being at the forefront of developing inclusive policies for the sport in Australia and operates within the existing legal framework, including anti-discrimination legislation."
"Football NSW continues to align with Football Australia’s adoption of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s ‘Guidelines for the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in sport’, under which, community players are permitted to participate in Football on the basis of the gender with which they identify," the spokesperson added.
Flying Bats FC states on its website that it’s the "biggest LGBTQIA+ women’s and non-binary football club in the world."
Under its Gender & Sex Diversity Policy, the club states, "We know that the topic of trans women in sport has been used as a political football in recent years, which makes our support for this part of our community even more urgent and important."
"While we are primarily a women’s club, we recognise that gender is not binary, and not all people who are part of our club are, or identify as, cisgender women. Research shows that trans, gender diverse, non-binary, and intersex people face significant barriers when accessing and participating in sport, and that when they do participate, they frequently face discrimination and harassment."
The club also includes a "land acknowledgement statement," saying, "We acknowledge the traditional owners of the unceded lands on which we train and play, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay our respects to elders past, and emerging."
