Who is Noa-Lynn van Leuven? The transgender darts star who has support from MVG shuts down the myths about her

Noa-Lynn van Leuven will make history by becoming the first transgender player to appear at the PDC World Darts Championship on Tuesday.

The Dutch native competes at the Alexandra Palace having qualified through the Women’s Order of Merit. Born on September 27, 1996, Van Leuven is also a chef at her local restaurant in Heemskerk, a town just outside of Amsterdam. Her passion for the game started by spending time at the local pub watching her parents play. Aged 12, Van Leuven entered tournaments in her home country. However, during the period of transition which began 'about nine or ten years ago' she dropped away from the sport for a spell having lost enjoyment for the game.

The 28-year-old regained enthusiasm for darts and made her PDC Women’s Series debut in 2022, yet opposition to Van Leuven’s participation in those events was strong. In March, Dutch colleagues Anca Zijlstra and Aileen de Graaf stepped out of their national team because they did not want to play alongside a trans woman. Two months later, British star Deta Hedman forfeited a quarter-final match against Van Leuven at the Denmark Open.

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She has spoken about both situations and said: “We all remember when my Dutch team-mates pulled out. I got so many hate messages on my socials. Deta Hedman and I were never really close. I respect her opinions, I respect anyone’s opinions. Mine are different to hers.”

Van Leuven struggled in the game during the early years and told Sky: “I was really unhappy with myself, so my darts game wasn’t that good. When you’re not feeling great then nothing in life will be really, really good. I quit darts and then I became a happier version of myself but then I really wanted to start playing darts again. I tried to enjoy life as much as possible. I transitioned before going through a lot of meetings with a psychologist.”

Van Leuven has taken stick with online abuse bringinging about stress and making her not want to leave her home. She explained: “I think it’s tough for transgender people to play sports, especially when people know that you’re trans because you have a big advantage until you prove it’s not.

“I don’t know anyone who would transition to just be better in the sport. With everything I do, there’s always people that want to make an article about it. And some are positive, and that’s really nice. Some of them have been annoying. They’re like: Noa-Lynn transitioned in 2022. I did not. I transitioned about nine or ten years ago.

“They make it look like: Noa-Lynn transitioned in 2021, a year before she started appearing on the women’s tournament. That’s not true. They’re almost making it look like: OK, she wasn’t good enough with the men and now she’s just going to do this.”

Van Leuven was booed onto the stage at the Grand Slam last month and lost all three group games, but received backing from top stars such as compatriot Michael van Gerwen. She said: “When I saw the interview with Luke Humphries or MVG I was like, that’s actually pretty nice of them. They don’t have to do that, but they did and I really appreciate that. It feels much warmer. It’s a good experience. I just want to play darts and have fun.”

Van Leuven begins her bid at the Ally Pally on Tuesday against Kevin Doets and Record Sport will be there to offer full coverage of the historic event.

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