Noa-Lynn van Leeuwen: Transgender darts player announces ‘retirement’ from sport due to mental health | Dart news

Noa-Lynn van Leeuwen, the first transgender darts player to play against men in a televised PDC tournament, has announced her retirement from the sport for mental health reasons.

The 28-year-old made history last month by becoming the first transgender player to compete at the World Darts Championship, losing in the first round to fellow Dutchman Kevin Dotts.

Van Leeuwen returned to action this week at Q-School, where players compete for PDC Tour cards, but suffered another early setback.

She then took to Instagram to reveal that she is taking a break from the sport.

“Q-School 2025 is over, and unfortunately I didn’t play my best game. The truth is, my mind wasn’t in the right place for a while. I’ve been struggling with my mental health for months and tried to push it aside every time a competition came, but this time it caught me,” Van Leeuwen posted.

“Trying to focus on darts while dealing with old injuries from last year was not working and I realized it was time to change my focus. It was time to prioritize my mental health and work towards getting better.”

“This is not the end of my journey, it’s a step back to move forward. Thank you to everyone who helped me along the way – more than I can express in words.”

Focusing on the importance of positive mental health, Van Leeuwen added several hashtags to his post: #mentalhealthissues #darstrip

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