A Dutch football team has disregarded age and biological sex to allow a 31-year-old male to pretend he is a 15-year-old girl. He has been training with the underage girls as well as using their change rooms.

Marjolein Schepers (31), said going into the girls change room was “the best gift I could get.”

Marjolein says playing football has always been a passion from an early age, but finding a team of young girls that welcomes 31-year-old transgender men has been a struggle, especially due to problems Marjolein has adhering to rules set by the Royal Football Association (KNVB), according to Dutch news outlet VRPO. 

“Last spring, I had the best time of my life,” she said. After a difficult time at the club in her hometown of Westerbork, she found a connection with a girls’ team in Lisse, which was 200 kilometers away. The fact that she was in the car for up to five hours to train for an hour and a half was no problem. “I was finally accepted by my teammates. I joined in.”

For the first time, she did not have to change in a separate room while playing for the team in Lisse, but was welcome in the women’s dressing room, which she described as “the best gift I could get.”

Due to pain in his hips, most likely from taking female hormones, he has not played for several months. He is also upset the KNVB has forbidden him to play with girls younger than 20.

“I’m 31 years old, but I don’t feel that way. I’m full of hormones, and I feel like a 15-year-old girl,” said Marjolein. “The KNVB is afraid that I am too strong to play with and against young girls. That is not the case, and you cannot judge that from a chair in Zeist.’ 

Marjolein has responded by inviting the football association in a letter to come and have a look at a training session, writing, “You will see that the happiest girl in the world is playing a nice game of football with her team.”

Kirralie Smith, Binary spokeswoman, said his attitude sounds like a joke, but he is serious.

“This reads like a Monty Python script. There is no competition that can fairly pit a 31-year-old against 15-year-olds,” she said.

“It is inappropriate, unfair and totally ridiculous. Allowing an adult male into female children’s bathrooms is dangerous.

“He is not a girl and his personal fantasies should never be prioritised over girls’ fairness and safety.”