Gender-diverse Kiwi player removed from Victorian netball league

RNZ News

29-05-2025

Gender-diverse Kiwi netballer Manawa Aranui has hit out at a competing club in Victoria after being removed from a league after complaints and 'safety concerns'.
Photo:
RNZ / Instagram
A gender-diverse Kiwi netballer has labelled an opposition club in Australia "hypocrites" after being removed from a second senior women's netball league.
Originally from Hamilton but now living in Melbourne, Manawa Aranui's removal came after club complaints and "safety concerns".
Aranui hit out on social media after they and another gender-diverse player were deemed ineligible to play in the Riddells District Football Netball League (RDFNL) for the rest of the season due to their "superior stamina and physique".
In a statement, the league said opposition clubs had threatened to boycott matches involving Aranui.
According to Aranui's social media post, complaints made against them to the league came from the same club that had tried to recruit them.
"The same club now publicly speaking out against me, bashing me, and attacking the trans/non-binary community in the media, is the very club whose head coach approached me to join you," they wrote.
"Would this still be a conversation if I'd accepted the offer and played for you? Or is it only a problem now because we're on opposing teams?"
Aranui denied claims they were "dangerous" and had "run full-speed into players and (knocked) them over", stating they had never been "warned, penalised, or reprimanded".
The opposing club has been approached for comment.
Teams in the RDFNL threatened to boycott matches in which the players competed because they felt "physically and mentally threatened on court".
An RDFNL spokesperson said the league would continue to adopt Netball Victoria's gender and anti-discrimination policies, but said it had no choice but to look at what neighbouring leagues were doing.
"We are also working very closely with some other leagues on a sub-section under the Netball Victoria Policy that gives our league the opportunity to be flexible," the spokesperson said.
Netball Victoria's governing body's guidance to clubs confirms that players can be excluded from competitions when their "strength, stamina or physique of players is relevant".
Photo:
SANKA VIDANAGAMA
The spokesperson said Netball Victoria had this month appointed an "external investigator" to look at the participation of the players.
"The RDFNL are yet to receive further information on the external investigator and have had no communication from said person," the spokesperson said.
Netball Victoria's gender diversity policy states that players are allowed to play "in accordance with their gender identity, irrespective of their legal sex classification".
However, the governing body's guidance to clubs also confirms that players can be excluded from competitions when their "strength, stamina or physique of players is relevant".
It was the second time Aranui had been deemed ineligible to play in a competition this year.
The ABC said it understood Aranui was also excluded from the Ballarat Football Netball League (BFNL) in April to "protect the safety of all players".
A statement from the league said it had deemed the player ineligible, and that they had previously played "with an all-male netball team and now identifies as gender diverse".
The league said it sought legal advice that it could lawfully exclude the player from a sporting competition where "strength, stamina or physique of competitors is relevant".
"We have tremendous empathy for the player involved and absolutely respect and support their personal choices and respect their right to privacy," the BFNL spokesperson said.
"As a league we have significant responsibilities to protect the safety of all our 3600 players who participate in the competition, and we take these responsibilities extremely seriously."
In 2024, World Netball banned transgender players from international competition with immediate effect under a new participation and inclusion policy.
In a statement, Netball Victoria said it continued to support netballers of all backgrounds, including gender-diverse players.
"Netball Victoria is not undertaking a broad review of safety related to transgender players but is undertaking a review of concerns raised at one affiliate competition," a spokesperson said.
"When concerns about safety in any form are raised, Netball Victoria will and does undertake a review in the interests of the welfare of participants."
Sporting administrator Peta Guy said each case needed to be judged on its specifics, especially in contact-heavy sports.
"You have to be practical in these things, because you have to look at it from the specifics of the game," Guy said.
"If you've got something where people have high impact, you know AFL, rugby or something like that, then you know size and strength really does matter.
"The overriding principle is that no association wants to drive potential players away and at the same time, they've got to be completely aware of how decisions that they make impact their members, the players."
Guy said when rules were set, there would be exceptions.
"I think you've got to look at the fundamental principles, the health and wellbeing of the players and fairness," she said.
"You address it quietly in the background, without making a big deal about it, without making a rule."
Guy said there had been rules implemented on gender policy in England.
"It's now having adverse consequences, particularly in an era where you have non-binary people," she said.
"If you have a rule that then excludes them, then you're not doing your sport the best favour."