The authors are in favour of a radical change to what they describe as "the outdated structure of the gender division currently used in elite sport".

Associate Professor Anderson and Dr Taryn Knox from the Dunedin Bioethics Centre, together with Otago physiologist Professor Alison Heather, investigate the ethics and science to do with the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision in research published in the latest issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics.

The recent IOC guidelines allow trans-women to compete in the women's division if (amongst other things) their testosterone is held below 10nmol/L.

Heather says this is significantly higher than that of cis-women.

"Science demonstrates that high adult levels of testosterone, as well as permanent testosterone effects on male physiology during in utero and early development, provides a performance advantage in sport and that much of this male physiology is not mitigated by the transition to a transwoman," she says.

However, not all researchers have interpreted the existing studies in the same way, or agree that trans women have unfair advantages.

Human Rights researcher Jack Byrne said studies about testosterone were red herrings because the majority of trans women reduced their testosterone to very low levels.

The Otago team propose possible solutions. Some options value inclusion more than fairness and vice versa.

They include:

• Excluding trans-women from competing in the women's division
• Creating a third division for transwomen and intersex women
• Calculating a handicap for transwomen based on their testosterone levels - similar to that used in golf

Their preferred option is an extension of this with a proposed algorithm that could account for a range of parameters.

Source

• eurekalert.org
• rnz.co.nz
• Image: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Mosiah MacDonald had expected to be at the national basketball championships in Wellington this week.

Instead his Manawatu basketball teammates are playing without him.

The 15-year-old says his team dropped him because he would attend only one of the two Sunday training sessions, due to his religious beliefs.

Now he's training alone at a Foxton school.

The MacDonalds are Mormons who believe that Sunday should be a holy day. Hence it says it's a day reserved for Sabbath practices.

The family will do other activities on Sundays after worship. They'll even miss the odd service.

But the prospect of a full two months of basketball without church was too much for Mosiah.

Consequently he knows he needs to resolve the conflict between church and sport if he wants to develop his basketball dreams.

He's been playing basketball since he was 2. He says Steven Adams is one of his heroes.

MacDonald is a potential member of the 25-strong squad national under-16s basketball team.

His dropping from the Wellington tournament may affect his chances.

Beginning of problems

In May the Manawatu's basketball team coach changed practice times from later on Sunday afternoons to mid-morning and early afternoons.

MacDonald would have attended the afternoon sessions but not the mornings until a couple of weeks before the tournament.

Because he wouldn't attend all sessions, he says the coach dropped him.

Rather than lose a place, MacDonald tried unsuccessfully to join the Hawkes Bay squad.

Manawatu basketball chairwoman Tess Petley says she's surprised the MacDonalds and the coach hadn't found a compromise.

"The decision was not based on the fact he was Mormon. I feel a bit sad if that's what they are thinking," she says.

Petley says she and the coach agree that Mosiah is an amazing kid, and they want him to play.

She says she'll try to work out a way that MacDonald can regain his place.

Sources:

• Stuff

The document addresses a number of matters, including highly competitive children's sports, putting political and economic pressures on athletes to win "at all costs", playing sport on Sundays and unsportsmanlike or violent behaviour.

The document, which speaks out about sports-related corruption, over-commercialisation, manipulation and abuse, says organisations and institutions sponsoring sports programmes need expert-guided child protection policies.

E-sports - video game competitions and tournaments that award large cash prizes and draw huge numbers of spectators - are also mentioned.

Bishops, parishes and lay Catholics are called on to help "humanise" sports.

The timing of sports is mentioned in the context of Mass attendance.

The document says playing sports on Sundays is alright, as a means of bringing families and communities together in joy and celebration.

However, it notes these events should not be used as an excuse to miss Mass.

The document was released by the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life.

Pope Francis, who is a football supporter, says sport is "a very rich source of values and virtues that help us to become better people.

"We need to deepen the close connection that exists between sport and life, which can enlighten one another," he says.

Specific concerns the document raises include:

• Parental responsibility to show children they are loved for who they are, not for their successes, appearance or physical abilities
• Sports that inevitably cause serious harm to the human body cannot be ethically justified
• People are not machines
• Parents, coaches and communities must avoid objectifying players, particularly with expectations that they receive medals, scholarships, wealth or break records
• Dignity and freedom that must be protected in sports is protection against abuse
• The Church should develop and promote an "apostolate for sports" showing its commitment to the integral well-being and development of the human person in sports and to directly initiate sports-related activities at the local level.

Source

• Catholic Herald
• Catholic News Service
• Image: Concord Monitor