Australian netball officials on Tuesday defended their decision to ban a schoolboy from an elite tournament after he launched legal action claiming discrimination.
Danny Loats, 12, was excluded from a recent top-level tournament after a lack of male interest forced the mixed round to be cancelled.
He was the only boy to be selected for the regional squad, but the tournament's organisers invoked a special "girls only" exemption to anti-discrimination rules to block him from participating.
Loats and his netball-mad family have taken the case to Victoria's Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
"I want to play netball with my friends and they want to play with me," Loats said in a statement about his case.
"They rely on me and I'm the goal shooter and we make a good team."
Netball is one of few sports in the world dominated by women and is widely played in Commonwealth countries, with Australia claiming the world title at the weekend.
Loats' father, Greg Loats, accused the state league of being "mean-spirited", arguing it was a case of double standards as girls were now allowed to play a variety of male-dominated sports.
Netball Victoria said 97 percent of its members were female and it was up to regional associations to exempt boys at their discretion.
"Netball is the number one female participation sport in Australia and its uniqueness is that it is perhaps the only sport in the world that is female-dominated," the body said.
"This needs to be fostered and protected, while still encouraging a broad base of participation and inclusion through appropriate programmes."
The exemption in the 12 and 13 year old divisions was granted in 2008 as part of efforts to encourage young women and girls to play sport.
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