Alex Trelinski
A FOOTBALL team consisting totally of transgender men is playing its first season in a lower regional Spanish league in Catalunya.
It’s the first all-trans squad to be awarded federated status in Europe and though they lost their first match 19-0 last month, the symbolism is more important than the result.
The team, named Fenix FC after the mythical bird symbolising rebirth, competes in a fifth-tier league in Catalunya after being incorporated into the Sant Feliu de Llobregat club near Barcelona.
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Hugo Martinez, 24, said he faced abuse when he began transitioning with gender-affirming hormone therapy and was forced to leave the women’s football that he had played for.
“I was a boy playing in the girls’ team, but without a changed ID, so I wasn’t yet allowed to play with boys,” he said.
Martinez added that other players, coaches and parents often made insults and threats at him.
He decided to go online and appeal for other trans men seeking to play soccer in a safe environment, which resulted in the setting of Fenix FC.
Fenix skipper Luke Ibanez, 19, said he was worried about playing for a side with non-trans men due to fears of violence or not fitting in.
“Fenix is a team of trans boys created entirely by trans boys, but I think it’s more than that – a family, a safe space where you can be free and express yourself however you want and how you really feel,” he said.
The Catalan FA told Reuters that its men’s leagues have been mixed for the past two seasons, meaning players of any gender can participate regardless of their official identity.
Players may also choose to use a name that’s different from their legal one, it added.
