Sydney (Australia), April 18. The Australian basketball federation announced Tuesday that it has rejected the application of transgender athlete Lexi Rodgers to register in a women’s semi-professional league after analyzing a series of factors.
“A panel of experts convened by Basketball Australia has determined that transgender athlete Lexi Rodgers is not eligible to play basketball” in the Kilsyth Cobras team, from the southern conference of the NBL1 tournament, the entity said in a statement.
The federation, which claims to evaluate applications from transgender players “on a case-by-case basis,” noted that it took various factors into account in making its decision, including fairness and the competitive nature of the sport.
“While this particular application was not approved according to the elite competition criteria, Basketball Australia encourages and promotes inclusion at the community level,” the governing body said, acknowledging the complex “balance between inclusion, equity and competitive nature of sport.
The player and her team have already been informed about the decision.
“Lexi is understandably disappointed with the result,” said Suzy Batkovic, director of Basketball Australia and a member of the panel that studied the case, in the statement, and thanked the athlete “for her cooperation, understanding and patience throughout this process.”
The player, for her part, thanked the “overwhelming” support and backing of followers, club, players and coaches on the social network Instagram.
“Basketball is one of the great loves of my life. On the basketball court is where I feel safe, free and where I feel like I belong. As an athlete, this passion motivates me to play to the best of my ability against the toughest competitors in the highest levels (…) I strongly believe that I have a place as an athlete in women’s basketball,” Lexi stressed.
The player points out that “she is saddened” by the rejection and the potential message it sends to other trans athletes, and asks the federation not to miss “future opportunities to demonstrate its values” of inclusion and acceptance.
“This is not the end of my journey as an athlete (…) I hope one day to play elite women’s basketball and I will continue to work to make the sport that I love a place for everyone,” he says.
The federation, for its part, points out that it is working to create a framework for these cases, where it will take into account Lexi’s comments and advice “based on her experiences.”
“As we continue to develop our own framework for elite and sub-elite competitions, we understand the need to have a clear process and ongoing education within all layers of the sport so that we can better support players, coaches, clubs , associations and the public,” says Batkovic. EFE
from-nc/raa/msp
2023-04-18 02:47:55
#Australian #Womens #Basketball #League #rejects #trans #players #request
