Noa-Lynn van Leuven made history last month becoming the first transgender darts player to play in a televised PDC tournament against men.
Following an early exit at Q-School and failure to earn a PDC Tour Card this week, van Leuven has now announced via Instagram that she will be taking a break from darts due to ‘mental health’.
A statement read:
“Q-School 2025 is over, and unfortunately, I didn’t play my best game.
“The truth is, my mind hasn’t really been in the right place for a while. I’ve been struggling with my mental health for months, and every time a tournament comes up, I’ve tried to push it aside. But this time, it caught up with me.
“Trying to focus on darts while dealing with old traumas that were triggered last year just doesn’t work, and I’ve realized it’s time to shift my focus.
“It’s time to prioritize my mental health and work on actually getting better.
This isn’t the end of my journey, just a step back to move forward. Thanks to everyone who’s supported me along the way – I appreciate it more than I can put into words.”
At the 2025 World Darts Championship, Noa-Lynn van Leuven became the first transgender darts player to compete in a televised PDC tournament against men, but suffered a first round exit with a 3-1 loss to fellow Dutch player Kevin Doets.
This would end a year filled with controversial moments for the transgender darts player…
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Noa-Lynn van Leuven 2024 Controversy
Early in 2024, Noa-Lynn van Leuven would hit headlines and mainstream media for her participation in women only events at both the PDC and WDF federations.
The catalyst was long-time women’s player Deta Hedman withdrawing from competitions when drawn against van Leuven.
Hedman has been both vocal and public in her criticism of trans players in women’s darts. She has made lengthy social media posts on the subject, withdrawn from tournaments and taken interviews on the subject.
See more – Deta Hedman continues her campaign AGAINST trans players in women’s darts
With so much negative publicity and backlash, van Leuven has spoken on her struggles coping with the pressure at numerous points throughout the year but will still compete in as many competitions as possible.
After the recent announcement, van Leuven would finish the post with a range of mental health focused hashtags (shown below) and no indication of when she could return to the game…
#MentalHealthMatters #DartsJourney #StepBackToMoveForward #SelfCareFirst #MentalHealthAwareness #HealingJourney #FocusOnYourself #AthleteMentalHealth #GrowthNotPerfection #strongereveryday
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