Tuesday evening in a sports hall in Essen. The women’s team from TSC Eintracht Dortmund is a guest at the test game against the ETUF. Luc Vosseberg is in the middle of the field in the middle of it, distributed in the middle of the field, goes into the duels.
Luc is 20 years old, has short brown hair and is in a transition because Luc was born as Lea. This is nothing special for him and his team. “It is also out of the question whether I belong there somehow, I am simply part of this team and I am also treated in the same way. I can always rely on the support of my teammates or my trainers.”
Pass office decides on the right to play
The German Hockey Bund adjusted its rules in 2021. If there is not “male” or “female” in the official civil status entry, the passport option decides whether the game authorization is granted for the male or female age group. This happens in consultation with the clubs and usually the player’s wish is met. So female people can play in the male area if they feel belonging and vice versa.
Nevertheless, there are of course questions when Luc plays. “And then there is rarely the cases that people react with incomprehension. Because of: yes you are a man or still want to be a man, why don’t you play with the men. Then I always try to explain it, sometimes it works and sometimes people don’t understand it yet. ”
Luc: “Sport should be a place where everyone feels welcome”
In a Europe -wide study on the Outsports platform, it was found in 2019 that discrimination on the field or in the changing room in particular causes queer people to not have access to sport. In hockey, on the other hand, the tone is less rough than, for example, on the soccer field, explains Luc. His uncle brought him to hockey as a child. The change in the game regulations ensured that Luc and other transp or intersexual people can continue to play hockey. “I think the sport should be a place where everyone feels welcome, all people feel belonging and everyone can simply exercise because it is so important and simply nobody is excluded. Even if the rules may not be for everyone Fit and others might want it to be different, at least you have the feeling that you are seen and that it is not hushed up, that there are trans-people who also do sports. ”
This is not a matter of course in other sports. In football, the DFB has set up a contact point for sexual and gender diversity and adopted the regulation from the 2022 hockey almost precisely. Since then, there have also been a few trans or intersex players in popular sports. The DFB states that in the sense of inclusion, for example, one also wants to work for a gender -neutral stadium experience. Other sports associations called at the German Hockey Bund to exchange ideas. In contrast, there are no regulations for inter- or trans sex people in handball and basketball.
Is the fairness of sport endangered?
Carl Stichweh played in the female area before his gender conversion. He is now active in the men’s team at HC Heidelberg. At that time he was commissioned by the German Hockey Bund to implement the opening for queer people in hockey. Originally especially for children’s and youth sports.
An important question was whether the regular introduction endangered the fairness of sport. “We just said that ok we are a team sport. We have eleven people in the field and you have to honestly say: It’s about a very small number of people, for whom this regulation is very important. That means we can People also have a freely decided manner.
The hockey community was generally very openly dealt with the topic and was therefore all the more shocked when the English hockey association recently banned the playing in the women’s area. Such bans worldwide can be observed primarily in the individual sports.
Usually there is also discussions in Germany again
Carl Stichweh also observes a debate in German hockey. “Since the rule is also applied at the Bundesliga level, it is currently being discussed a bit. Simply with regard to doping rules and Co. But there were no problems when implementing the rule, so I would have noticed.”
The discussions are a possible reason why the board of directors in the German Hockey Bund did not want to submit a statement on the subject on request. It seems possible that those responsible will take a closer look at the regulations for trans- and intersex people in the near future.