Transgender Row After Rocks Lane Padel Tournament
Player born male defeats two 14-year-old girls in doubles match
Bertie Jenner was refused permission to enter men's competition. Picture: Instagram
July 28, 2024
Questions are being asked about the policy of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) after controversy at a recent Padel tournament at Rocks Lane in Chiswick.
In the quarter final of a Grade One Women’s competition, which was open to all ages, a doubles pairing of two 14-old-girls was drawn against 39-year-old transgender player Bertie Jenner and her partner Elizabeth Rozin.
After the younger players took the first set, they were eventually defeated on a tie-break in the third.
This led to an angry reaction from Russell Quirk, the father of Rosie who was one of the defeated pair, who called Ms Jenner’s participation in the competition cheating.
Mr Quirk, who is a former Conservative councillor from Brentwood and occasional commentator on property and politics on Talk TV said, “When my daughter trains four of five times a week and is passionate about Padel and she wants to be good at it, when she is demoralised because she plays against someone who is unfairly competing against her because they are not a woman they are a man, biologically, what message does that send to her in terms of ‘what’s the point’? in the travelling and the money that we spend and the toil and the effort that gets put in.”
Ms Jenner, who was later knocked out in the semi-final of the competition, expressed sympathy with her opponents. The qualified Padel and tennis coach attempted to enter the men’s section of the tournament with her brother as her partner but was declined as she is registered with the LTA as a woman.
The LTA drew up its transgender policy in 2019 and it states that players should compete ‘in the gender they represent.’ Ms Jenner is legally recognised as a woman.
Her participation in a tournament over a year ago prompted called for a review of this policy which she supports and she has urged the LTA to accelerate the process.
She posted on Instagram last Sunday, “If there’s anger at me, I’m sorry you feel that way and I don’t want that to be the case. But the reality is the anger should be pointed at the Lawn Tennis Association. It is an archaic institution in how they do things. They take so long to change any policies or do anything.
“The whole point of this is about trying to get the LTA to actually make a decision, which they haven’t done for years on end now. If there’s anger and you want to complain, please complain through the right channels to the LTA.
“The reality is, I don’t care which side I play in. If I can play in the women’s, great, but I want everyone to be happy with that. If I can play in the men’s, fine, I can live with that and get on with that. But it’s about having clarity and having a decision.”
Many other sports including athletics, cycling, swimming and rugby union have recently clarified their policy recently to exclude transgender women from competing in female events. Rowing only allows transgender competitors who transitioned before puberty.
The LTA said, “Our policy review in this area is still ongoing. Until this is concluded all competitions are run under our existing policy.”
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