Boys’ sports and girls’ sports are a thing of the past.
There’s been a revolution around women’s football, with hundreds of females pulling on guernseys and footy boots, and now, more men are putting on bibs and running around netball courts across the country.
One of these men is Will Jamison, the twin brother of Carlton full-back Michael and Victoria's co-captain.
He started playing netball socially and it didn’t take long for the goal defender to fall in love with the sport – now he’s part of the chorus urging other males to “play first, judge later”!
“I got involved playing socially with friends when I moved to Melbourne initially, then I met a few guys that were involved at a higher level, so that’s how it all started,” Jamison said.
From March 27 to April 2, 35 all-men’s state teams will converge on the Knox Basketball Centre to compete in the 2016 national championships, with Jamison’s Victorian side hoping to make the final for a second year in a row.
“We lost the final last year, so hoping to go one better this year – Queensland will be pretty strong though,” Jamison said.
Michael, who played in Carlton’s season opener on Thursday night against Richmond, couldn’t be prouder of his younger brother.
“It’s always a great accomplishment to represent your country or your state. Will has done both in the past, so it’s a terrific effort,” Jamison said.
“He always usually has a dig at me that I only represent a suburb and he represents the state, so he thinks he has got me covered.”
Jamison, who’s entering his tenth season at the Blues, believes he also could have been an elite netballer, had he stuck with it.
“I did play netball at school and some social mixed games, and I was much better than Will, so he’s probably lucky that I took a different path,” Jamison said with a wry grin.
Good luck, Will!
