My son started playing hockey when we was 5. There were an essentially equal number of girls and boys across the teams in our league with many hundreds of players across all the teams in all of the associations in the league. As they got older the number of girls started to drop off. Through U13 and into U15 the boys went through puberty and on average got bigger, stronger, faster, and more aggressive. In U15 we were down to 3 girls on our team. Going in to U18 we will have one. Some of the girls lost interest in hockey. Some left because they couldn’t compete at the same level as the boys. Our best girls went on to play girl’s hockey where they would have a more even playing field playing against other girls.
No, I don’t, “throw a shitfit” when I see a male athlete playing against female athletes (and frankly, labeling anyone who doesn’t agree with you as, “throwing a shitfit” completely devalues your position) but I do understand why those female athletes who choose to play female sports because they want a more even playing field and to play against other female athletes might see it as unfair to be forced to compete against a male athlete.
I absolutely believe in social equality for everyone but identifying as a woman socially and being female are two very different things.
(I’m happy to discuss this but if you start hissing and spitting about my being a TERF or a transphobe I will ignore you and block you and never give you or your opinions another thought.)