St Mary’s College becomes first boys netball team to compete at Laura Geitz Cup

St Mary’s College created a special piece of history at the recent Laura Geitz Cup. Here’s their achievement and their message for the those looking to break down perceptions of netball.

The St Mary's College Laura Geitz Cup netball team (Back, from left) Hayden Beckett, Alex Goddard, Cooper Geiger, Brock Markey, Max Anderson, Caiden Bridger, Madeleine Rayner (coach). (Front, from left) Lucas Norton, Nick Jewell, Alex Maddison, Aidan Burke. Photo: Contributed

NETBALL: The outdated stereotype of netball being just a girls sport is officially dead in Toowoomba.

Recent efforts from the Darling Downs Netball to launch the Stampede led the charge, and now St Mary’s College has created Laura Geitz Cup history.

The school was the first boys team to enter the prestigious competition, creating an important piece of history in the process.

“I’ve played netball for a couple of years now and one of the ladies from Downlands approached me and said I should get St Mary’s to enter the Laura Geitz Cup,” captain Hayden Beckett said.

“I went to our head of sport and asked if it was possible. I I started getting a few boys who were interested, and once we got the final confirmation we could sign up.”

The Year 9 student said that while the results didn’t fall their way, he hopes this paves the way for more boys to give the sport a go.

“We did lose every game but by the end everyone at other schools were supporting us because we were going out there and giving it a go,” Beckett said.

“It makes me excited for the competitions to come. Next year we might not be the only school, there might be others to enter boys teams.

“In that case would be great because it would mean more boys playing so that we could eventually have our own boys comp.”

The side was coached by teacher Madeleine Rayner, an opportunity she jumped at the chance to be a part of.

“A little while ago I found out that Hayden is a netball player, I’ve seen him at social netball before,” Rayner said.

“We had discussed the idea that if a competition is coming around that he should approach the sports co-ordinator about entering a team.

“When I heard he had done that, I rushed down and said I would love to be a coach.”

Rayner said the boys gave a good account of themselves in all facets of the event.

“Having more gender equality across different sports is of the upmost importance and it’s very exciting to be a part of that with netball,” she said.

“I think across school and across society generally, there’s very specific roles that people expect girls or boys to play and hopefully we’re just slowly working towards a time when there’ll be less of that.

“They definitely came up against tough competition and people that had been playing netball for a lot longer than them.

“I’m very proud that everything we heard about the boys contribution, how they played and the sportsmanship they had was of the highest standard, and by doing that they made such a good impression.”