Hannah Mouncey (born 21 October 1989) is an Australian national squad handball player who also plays Australian rules football. Mouncey represented Australia in men's handball before transitioning. She has been the subject of controversy over her eligibility to participate in women's competitions. Mouncey debuted with the Australia women's national handball team at the 2018 Asian Women's Handball Championship and competed again at the 2022 Asian Women’s Championships held in Incheon and Seoul, South Korea.
In Handball, Mouncey is a three-time Australian national champion, having won national club titles with Melbourne Handball Club in 2018 and Canberra Handball Club in 2021, and winning the Australian National Championship with the Victorian State Team in 2018. She is also a two-time Oceania Champion, having won the event with Australia in 2012 and 2014. Mouncey is the only athlete in the world to have represented their country both pre– and post–gender transition at senior level in any sport.
Men's handball
Mouncey commenced her handball career after moving to Canberra in 2009, playing handball for the Canberra Handball Club in the Australian Capital Territory. She is a past president of Handball ACT.
Mouncey played 22 games with the Australian men's national handball team, debuting in the 2012 Oceania Handball Championship against New Zealand. Mouncey continued to represent Australia at the 2013 World Men's Handball Championship, where she top scored for Australia with four goals against the eventual 2013 World Champions, Spain, and despite her youth and relative inexperience was an integral of the Australian side, starting most games and playing a central role in defence.
Mouncey also represented Australia at the 2014 Oceania Championships in Auckland, the 2015 Emerging Nations tournament held in Kosovo, as well as the 2015 Asian qualifying tournament preceding the 2016 Summer Olympics. During this time she took on a more defensive role for the team, particularly at the 2015 Olympic qualifying tournament.
Mouncey was known for playing through injury during her time with the Australian men’s team. She competed at the World Championships with a broken wrist suffered before the tournament, a torn meniscus and posterior cruciate ligament at the Emerging Nations tournament in Kosovo, and fractured an eye socket in Australia’s second match at the 2015 Olympic Qualifying Tournament against Iraq. Mouncey never missed a game due to injury.
Transition
Mouncey decided to transition while in Qatar to compete in a 2016 Summer Olympics qualifying tournament, and began hormone therapy in November 2015. She provided news of her decision to her mother while still in Qatar, prior to informing other friends and family, and publicly identified as a woman in May 2016.
Women's handball
International Olympic Committee's guidelines are for 12 months of hormone therapy before a trans woman can compete in women's competition, but Mouncey's testosterone levels were well below the required levels of 10 nmol/L by July 2016. Mouncey hoped to play in women's competition in October 2016, and to be selected in Australia women's national handball team. Her request to play for the ACT representative team in October 2016 was refused by the Australian Handball Federation, citing insurance concerns because she was still three weeks short of the IOC guideline of 12 months of hormone therapy.
On 27 May 2018, Mouncey scored three goals for Melbourne Handball Club in their win over University of Queensland Handball Club for the 2018 Oceanian Open Club Championship.
In April 2018, Mouncey began training with the Australia women's national handball team in anticipation of the International Handball Federation clearing her to play in the 2018 Asian Women's Handball Championship in Kumamoto, Japan. Mouncey scored four goals in her first international game with the Australia women's team, a 24–32 loss to Kazakhstan on 30 November 2018. Mouncey played all six games and scored 23 goals as the Australians finished fifth, qualifying for the 2019 World Women's Handball Championship. She was not selected to play at World Championships. Mouncey stated that this was due to some of the team being uncomfortable sharing the showers and change room with her, but this was denied by Handball Australia.
For the Australian Open Club Championships in beach handball, Mouncey strengthened the women's national team of American Samoa, which competed in the tournament as a club team, and took second place with them.