Jayden not on his own

Australian and Victorian Men’s Netball team captain Dan Ryan has offered his support to Kangaroo Flat netball player Jayden Cowling.Mr Ryan, who came across Jayden’s story in yesterday’s Bendigo Advertiser, said he had experienced the difficulties of being a male netball player in a country town.“It was really tough,” Mr Ryan said. “I played with the girls up until age 12 in Geelong, so I’m a country boy as well.”“I know exactly what it’s like for Jayden, because he’s in a difficult age bracket, 13, 14, 15, because he’s almost too young to play with the men and too old to play with the juniors.Unlike Jayden, Mr Ryan was lucky enough to play at an association that catered for young male netballers.“I was fortunate enough that the Corio Netball Association I played in formed a mixed netball competition so I could continue to play as a teenager,” he said.“It was three boys, one in each third, but other than that there were no other restrictions.“It catered for those boys who were in the middle teen age group who wanted to play competitive netball.”Mr Ryan, who is now a commentator on Channel Ten’s ANZ Championship Netball, added that although there was competition available in Geelong, he still had to travel to Melbourne to pursue his netball dream.“I was lucky because my mum and dad made that sacrifice to drive me back and forth from Melbourne on the weekends and sometimes during the week, but that’s not an option for everyone,” he said.“From what I’ve seen, there are probably more male netballers coming out of the country than there are from the city, but they have to make the commitment.“For me, I moved to Melbourne when I was 19 for uni and also for my netball. I was playing a few games a week and needed to be in the city.”Mr Ryan said the advice he would offer Cowling would be take every chance he could to keep playing the game.“The best thing Jayden can do is to just do what he can to stay involved until he is old enough to make the trip to Melbourne,” he said.