“I don’t know anyone who would transition to just be better in the sport.”
While the world focuses on her as the first transgender darts player to play against men in the PDC World Darts Championship, for Noa-Lynn van Leuven her story is simply about finding joy in playing the game she loves.
Her accomplishment comes off the back of a hugely successful two years on the Women’s Series where she has won four events, most recently the Women’s Series 21 in Leicester, and appeared in the Grand Slam of Darts.
But this success has brought an unhealthy dose of controversy, including being booed at the Grand Slam of Darts in November, and inflated attention from the press.
For the 28-year-old, this media coverage misrepresents the full truth of her experience of transitioning, which dates back over 10 years and has nothing to do with her competitive darts career.
“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,” Van Leuven said.
“But some of them have been a bit ****. And that’s annoying. Because a lot of newspapers, they don’t reach out to me to talk to me.
“They’re like ‘Noa-Lynn transitioned in 2022’. I did not. I transitioned about nine, 10 years ago.
“They make it look like, okay, 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.”
Ultimately, Van Leuven insists she is in the sport to “beat the best” no matter what gender and cannot understand the claim that anyone, let alone she, would “transition to just be better in the sport”.
Growing up in the Netherlands, Van Leuven spent time down at the local pub watching her parents play darts on a regular basis, with Dutchmen Raymond van Barneveld and later Michael van Gerwen inspiring her family.
It was at the age of 12 that Van Leuven started to take darts seriously and entered tournaments in her home country.
Although it was in these tournaments that she discovered her natural talent for darts, the mental focus required to excel at the game took its toll.
“I wasn’t happy with myself and I think darts being a mental game, you’ve got to be happy and be yourself,” she said.
This led Van Leuven on her own journey of discovery and ultimately to the decision to transition, with darts taking a backseat at this time.
It was only when she was happy in herself that she found it possible to return to darts, recently falling back in love with the game, which is something news coverage of her career all too often ignores.
“A lot of media is also making clickbait out of it,” she added.
“Whenever I do something, or maybe I fart at a tournament, people are going to be like, ‘Yes, we’ve got a new article about Noa-Lynn, and it’s going to make her look really bad.’
“Just let me play darts. I just want to play darts.
“Ten years ago, I didn’t play darts anymore. I lost fun in it.
“When I was actually happy again, I was actually like, OK, I guess I’m missing something in life.
“And that’s the moment where I was like, OK, maybe I am missing darts. I think it was 2020, 2021, something like that.”
The support of her darting heroes: ‘It feels much warmer’ heading into the Worlds
Recently, Van Leuven was booed as she took to the stage in Wolverhampton for the Grand Slam.
However, she has found ways to cope with the noise.
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Michael van Gerwen hits a 124 checkout against Noa-Lynn Van Leuven in the Grand Slam of Darts.
“I just look at one person in the crowd, or maybe a few who are familiar to me,” Van Leuven said.
“And the other people, I might just look around, but I’m not looking at anyone. So, it’s just me, the board, and my darts.”
Following her group-stage exit at the Grand Slam, Van Leuven now heads to the Worlds with a deeper understanding of the highs and lows that come with playing on the big stage.
But with the biggest stage of all still to come, she admits she is nervous about the experience of a solo walk-on and the bearpit atmosphere of Alexandra Palace.
“It makes me a bit nervous, but like I said, I just want to play darts. I want to go out on the stage, bring my A-game, and hopefully beat the best players there are,” Van Leuven said.
“I want to be the best, I want to beat the best, and I want to become a really good darts player. And with playing women, you’re not going to get that far.”
While navigating the spotlight in recent months, Van Leuven has had public support from the likes of reigning world champion Luke Humphries and her childhood hero Van Gerwen.
Noa-Lynn van Leuven got to play her childhood hero Michael van Gerwen at the Grand Slam of Darts
Addressing the negativity she has faced, Humphries insisted people should just “let her get on with it”, while MVG advised her to ignore crowd reactions and focus on the game.
For Van Leuven, the support of the world’s best players was a huge boost that she appreciated as the media frenzy grew around her.
“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,” she added.
“It feels much warmer. It’s a good experience.”
The Women’s Series and the unstoppable Beau Greaves
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Beau Greaves dismantled Cameron Menzies 5-1 to secure her first win at this year’s Grand Slam of Darts.
Van Leuven’s journey up until this point was catalysed by her joining the Women’s Series back in 2022, which has been dominated by the ever-impressive Beau Greaves.
Greaves, though, opted against competing at Ally Pally in order to claim a third consecutive WDF Women’s World Championship title at Lakeside.
Van Leuven waxed lyrical about the 20-year-old, who she says is “beating anyone” and helping to create opportunities for women’s darts.
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Beau Greaves successfully retains the Women’s World Matchplay title with a 6-3 victory over Fallon Sherrock.
“I remember when I first played my first Women’s Series event I was travelling there all by myself. But it was really nice walking into that venue and to just play darts. Everyone is there just to play darts,” she said.
“And that’s really great. Everyone just wants to improve their game. It’s good to see those opportunities growing.
“She’s (Greaves) an amazing player. She’s been beating anyone.
“I remember playing one game against her and I did almost nothing wrong. But I missed two darts at the double. And that was enough.
“But I also remember the first time where I actually beat her. She’s an amazing player and I think she will go really far with darts.”
Her biggest message: I just want to play darts
So, what does Van Leuven have in mind for the future?
Improvement, more darts, and having fun.
Van Leuven remains hopeful that she will achieve enough success at Qualifying School (Q-School) to earn herself a PDC Tour Card and take part on the professional circuit in 2025.
However, she still sees the prospect of instead being involved with the Challenge Tour, the PDC’s second-tier circuit, as an opportunity to improve.
“I think Q-School in January. Hopefully I’ll grab myself a Tour card and I’ll be able to play those top players all year round,” Van Leuven added.
“Otherwise, it will be a Challenge Tour and trying to get better and better at darts.
“When you turn up to these tournaments it’s just great because all everyone wants to do is play darts.
“Especially when I started playing on the Challenge Tour everyone was just like, I want to play darts.
“Then I went to the Pro Tour a few times and everyone in there was like, I’m just here to play darts. I want to play my game and that’s it.”
While the wider public may view her story through the lens of controversy, that could not be further from Van Leuven’s own thoughts, with the game and her love for it being the pillar on which she rests her story on.
“I just want to play darts and have fun.”
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