About this Report
Sports plays an important role in Europe and in the upbringing of children. Next to having known health benefits, sports are an important social activity through which people create community and social networks. while also contributing to the European economy by generating jobs. Yet, despite these positive aspects of sports, many young people have an ambivalent relationship to sports. Sports can be a space of empowerment, friendships, and professional opportunities, but they often also generate experiences of exclusion, discomfort, pressure to perform and failure.
The way sports are organised can have an important impact on whether children live sports in an empowering and enriching manner or whether sport becomes a sphere of anxiety and stress. This report sheds light on a specific aspect of sports governance that impacts the attitudes towards a certain group of children and youth, namely the rules that govern the participation of trans and intersex children and youth. It thus aims to contribute to knowledge on the structures of sports governance that influence the level of physical activity among trans and intersex youth and children.
The participation of trans and intersex persons has recently gained public attention due to some popular elite athletes. For example, the participation of trans persons in the 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Tokyo has steered public debate. Similarly, the case of Mokgadi Caster Semenya who challenged her exclusion from specific women’s athletic events based on her testosterone level has made headlines all around the world.
Unfortunately, the increased attention to the participation of intersex and trans persons is creating face many obstacles and formal restrictions in their participation in sports. This is true for adults and children, but the latter group has received less attention in the debate on the participation of intersex and trans persons in a European context. Therefore, this report specifically examines the rules regarding the participation of trans and intersex children and youth in sports.
