Information for Trans and Gender Diverse Athletes

MONCAD welcomes everyone to join our club no matter their gender identity, and we have opportunities for everyone across both dance and cheer. Gender diverse individuals will be encouraged to participate fully in the sport and will be supported to register and compete with teams under the gender with which the athlete identifies. 

For female identifying athletes, this will be on an All Girl (AG) or Co-Ed team (as judged by coaches to be the team that best suits their skills), and for male identifying, non-binary and otherwise gender diverse athletes this will be on a Co-Ed team. All our dance teams (Pom, Jazz, Hip Hop and Lyrical) compete in Co-Ed divisions whether they feature male/non-binary athletes or not, and we offer both All Girl and Co-Ed cheer teams. 

At MONCAD, we support gender diverse athletes by: 

·      Offering both cheer and dance teams for all gender identities. 

·      Allowing athletes to select any style of competition uniform offered to their team (e.g. skirt or pants).

·      Recognising that our athletes are entitled to use whichever toilets, changerooms and other facilities which are most appropriate to their identified gender. 

·      Providing confidential channels of communication for athletes to discuss any concerns or questions they may have with regards to their participation and wellbeing in the club (see contact list below!). 

·      Taking responsibility for providing an inclusive environment for all athletes through our bullying, harassment and discrimination procedures. 

If you would like more information, please don’t hesitate to contact our Welfare Officer, for enquiries specific to our gender diversity policies, or our Committee for general enquiries about our club or teams.

[email protected] for general enquiries. This email is accessed by all members of our committee.

[email protected] for confidential enquiries or concerns, including about our gender diversity policies and for athlete welfare. This email can only be accessed by our President and Welfare Officer.

The ‘MONCAD Welfare’ profile on facebook can also be messaged with any queries, and can only be accessed by our Welfare Office. Please note that messages won’t be responded to instantly, please allow a day or two!

See also:

·     Monash Cheer and Dance Club (MONCAD) policy on discrimination based on gender identity (left)

·      Trans and Gender Diverse Athletes in Australian Cheerleading: policy from the Australian Cheer Sport Alliance (peak body of cheerleading in Australia)