British women’s fishing team forces out male team member

A women’s fishing team in the UK has forced a policy change that forces out a male member of the team and requires men to compete separately from now on.

Angling Trust, England’s fishing authority, will require Mr. Birtwhistle Hodges to leave England’s all-female women’s team and compete in the “open” category after half the team refused to compete.

Birtwhistle Hodges, who years ago changed his first name to Becky Lee and declared himself a woman, is an ex-rugby player who former teammates describe as having “hands like shovels.” He joined the Team England Shore Ladies fishing team in 2018, where he has outperformed the women on the team. In a competition earlier this year held in rough weather he was the only one to catch a fish.

Though for years there were objections to Birtwhistle Hodges competing as a woman, Angling Trust only approved the policy change last week. The decision came after three of the six team members — including the team’s captain, Heather — quit the team in protest earlier this year. Despite the fact that Birtwhistle Hodges’ male strength would have helped the team against competing countries, Heather says it would not be a fair game.

“I have no grudge personally,” she told the Daily Mail. “This is an advantage to our team, but we find it totally unfair to other nations. Transgender competitors are ruining our sport, and the Angling Trust will not listen to our views, so this is why myself and the team decided to pull out.”

Heather described how men like Birtwhistle Hodges have an advantage in fishing with superior upper body strength which enables them to use more powerful equipment, cast longer distances, wade through mud and rocks, and have the stamina to do so for several hours.

Angling Trust previously addressed complaints about Birtwhistle Hodges’ participation by saying that as long as there is no safety issue, “inclusion” is paramount.

“As the national governing body for angling, the question we are required to address by Sport England is whether the sport of angling is gender impacted to an extent where fairness overrides inclusion or safety,” Angling Trust CEO Jamie Cook said.

“The view of the Angling Trust board is that as a non-contact sport, the safety concern is not deemed significant within the sport of angling.”

But following the loss of half of England’s team, Cook recently gave a different statement:

Growing female participation is a core focus for the organisation and an area in which we have seen great success in recent years. Ensuring the integrity of the female category across all disciplines of angling will remove potential barriers and ensure clear pathways for participation growth to lead to domestic and international success.

Having discussed this matter with other sports governing bodies who are building new universal (open) categories we are well advanced in this respect, and we are confident that our revised policy offers opportunities for all to compete fairly and safely in one of England’s largest participation sports.

The news comes after a women’s soccer team recently took a similar stand, suggesting that a growing number of women are losing tolerance for gender ideology.

Mexborough Athletic, a soccer team in the Sheffield and Hallamshire Women and Girls League, has been refusing to play against Rossington Main Ladies as long as they retain a man on their team.

Mr. Needham, who declared himself female and changed his first name to Francesca, was accepted as a player on the Rossington Main Ladies soccer team. Weeks ago, a shot from Needham seriously injured one of Mexborough’s players and broke her knee.

Since then Mexborough Athletic’s members have refused to play against Needham, and two matches have since been canceled due to the boycott.

“She's quite a big strong player,” said the team’s manager. “People have refused to play because they are worried about the safety of the players. “My players were backing out of challenges as psychologically it's quite a big thing, when you are playing against a biological man it's quite scary. They were terrified.”

Needham has decided to “step down from playing” soccer “for the sake of [his] team,” reported the Daily Mail. He is, however, threatening to sue both the Sheffield and Hallamshire Women and Girls League and the Football Association (FA).