What can male netball learn from female football’s fast growth?

In years past, we believed ‘footy is for boys, netball for girls’, but as female football continues to grow in the Goulburn Valley, will we soon see the emergence of a male netball league, too?

While male netball has taken off in metropolitan areas, particularly with the social-mixed leagues, that popularity hasn’t quite reached the greater Shepparton area, why?

The Goulburn Valley has a rich history of netball and sports in general.

So, is male netball being ignored by district netball leagues and associations?

The answer is no.

Shepparton Netball Association recently held a meeting with clubs to discuss the possibility of forming a mixed or men’s competition in the area, but the plan has been put on hold due to a lack of interest from participants.

Leaders in other netball leagues across the Goulburn Valley have also expressed their desire to see the male side of the sport grow, but not enough male netballers, both young and old, are stepping forward.

Does this mean that male netball in the Goulburn Valley is at a dead end?

It shouldn’t.

The interest building in metropolitan areas shows that there is potential for the sport to grow and, while there aren’t massive numbers in terms of junior male participation in the Goulburn Valley, there is enough to suggest that should a league be built, the players will come.

So we find ourselves at, hopefully for your (the reader’s) sake, the last rhetorical question: what needs to be done to build male netball successfully in the Goulburn Valley?

Captain of the Australian netball team (the Kelpies) and Tongala-born Dylan Nexhip knows what it was like to grow up enthralled with netball before quickly ageing out and having to find a new sport to play.

“I played as a 10, 11 and 12-year-old for Kyabram association on Saturday mornings,’’ Nexhip said.

“That was really it because I had to stop (ageing out).

“I think when I started, there were a couple of other boys that played at my club, but we all kind of had to stop at that same age.”

The inability to play didn’t end Nexhip’s relationship with netball as the Kelpies captain went on to follow the sport and once again play netball in adulthood.

Nexhip is now the face of Australian male netball and coaches his own team, North Shore United, in the NSW Netball Premier League.

During a conversation on what can be done to grow male netball in the Goulburn Valley, Nexhip explained an idea to create somewhat of a Freaky Friday-esque league where women’s football and men’s netball are intertwined.

“I think there is always scope to do something new and people are always looking to do new things,” he said.

“We have obviously seen the evolution of women’s football and they have their own competition, which is really expanding in the Goulburn Valley at the moment, so even marrying up a boys netball league to run alongside that could work.

“Then you have people that play dual sports that don’t have to pick a sport, that kind of thing, so they have the option to play football on a Saturday and netball on a Sunday in a mixed comp or an all boys comp depending on numbers and the depth.

“There is definitely scope for it.”

AFL Goulburn Murray regional manager Shaun Connell believes that the reversed league concept is intriguing and could be considered, as long as there was sustainable demand and didn’t interfere with existing leagues.

“It certainly would be something that, provided that it was seen to a good fit for the community space, it would be worth having a look at,” Connell said.

“Netball has the opportunity to really have a look at the social aspects of the sport, so maybe something that is less committed.

“That is where us as a sport and particularly here in Goulburn Murray are looking to take our next phase of footy, having a version of the game that is more accessible such as social AFL 9s, in both the male and female space.

“I think there is a place for sports to be more accessible and flexible, at least having that (social) option for people to engage in. So that’s where our success piece will be driven now and into the future.”

Connell has been a part of developing the Northern Country Women’s League as the competition recently celebrated its 10th year of its Youth Girls League by naming a Team of the Decade.

At the same time the honorary team was announced, it was also released that a further three teams would be added to the senior women’s league (taking the number of teams up to eight) to demonstrate further the AFL Goulburn Murray’s success with the competition.

When asked what advice he would give to a fledgling male netball league to help grow the sport among its non-traditional demographic, Connell was clear in his belief that potential organisers must find out what the prospective participants’ demands for male netball would be.

“Our success has been driven by the understanding of the need,” he said.

“The body of work that was undertaken in this region (forming the women’s football league) was about making sure that our development of the AFL game wasn’t in competition necessarily to the football-netball relationship.

“Because that is clearly quite strong across the community, having a look at alternative scheduling that didn’t compete with the Saturday netball was really critical to getting the clubs buy-in to women’s footy.”

Only time will tell whether male netball has a future in the Goulburn Valley, but Kelpies captain Nexhip believes that young athletes, regardless of gender, shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to play a sport they’re interested in.

“We are at that period of time where every sport should be accessible for males and females,” Nexhip said.

“Sports shouldn’t be based on gender; I think if people are willing to play sport and be part of a team sport, then opportunities for that should be created, not told that they can’t play a sport that they choose to play.”