Written by Amelia Barnes
Brodie McCleish was destined to be a star netballer. Both his father Guy and uncle Gavin played the sport growing up and were selected in various state teams throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
A lack of funding stopped Guy from ever playing in the Australian Mens & Mixed Netball Association (AMMNA) National Championships, so his first time at the annual competition was in 2022 when watching his son Brodie run out on court as vice captain of the Victorian 17 & Under Boys team.
It was a bittersweet moment for Guy, who admits being “a bit jealous” of his son getting to represent his state, but he’s thrilled to see today’s male netballers receiving more opportunities to play the sport they love.
The difference in Brodie and Guy’s junior netball experiences is a testament to how the men’s netball pathway has improved in recent decades.
Guy started playing mixed netball when he was six years old but was forced to give up the sport at his local association once he turned 13. “I was no longer allowed to play, so I had to choose another sport … I went and played basketball until the age of 15 when I went to play against the men with my brother,” said Guy. “Through that, I came into the state netball program.”
In contrast, when Brodie took up netball himself many years later, there were associations where he could continue playing past the traditional 13-year-old age cut off. He joined competitions at Caroline Springs and Wyndham and attended training sessions with the Inspire Netball Group.
Brodie took his netball to the next level in 2022 when he started playing in the Premier Men’s division of MLeague – Victoria’s premier men’s and mixed netball competition – as a 15-year-old.
He started playing for City Heat in 2022, where he relished the chance to learn from experienced teammates including Australian Open Men’s defender Alastair Punshon, and win the 2022/2023 season.
“It’s good playing against bigger bodies and getting more experienced,” said Brodie of MLeague. “It makes you think more as a player on how to adjust your own game, and you’ve got the older Victorian boys guiding you along the way.”
Brodie was first selected in the Victorian state 17 & Under Boys team in 2020, and after two cancelled events due to COVID, he made his AMMNA Nationals debut in 2022. The team was highly successful at the event, finishing as the 17 & Under Boys premiers and the only undefeated side across all divisions that year.
Brodie’s talents have once again been on display this week at the 2023 AMMNA Nationals in Perth, elevated to the men’s 23 & Under side mid-tournament due to injuries and putting out strong performances throughout a successful campaign so far.
The 23s are sitting second on the ladder with 8 wins from 10 pool matches, and the 17s have continued their dominant form from 2022, remaining undefeated heading into the final two days of competition.
In addition to representing Victoria, Brodie is a member of the Under 17s Australian squad. He was part of the team who travelled to Christchurch to compete internationally against New Zealand in August 2022.
Times have changed in men’s netball, but there’s still a long way to go. AMMNA Nationals is still a volunteer-run event, with many players hosting fundraising events to attend the week-long tournament.
Guy says it’s promising to see the Australian men's players receiving more airtime on Fox Netball, playing televised curtain raiser games for the Diamonds, and becoming Suncorp Super Netball training partners.
In the coming years, he hopes sponsorship opportunities will be afforded to the elite men's teams, and more boys will be made aware of the men’s netball pathway.
‘“There's no future if you don’t know about it, and that's probably the sad part, because there is a future now,” Guy said.
In the meantime, you’ll find Guy on the sidelines of Brodie’s games supporting and advocating for his son and all men’s netballers.
“Seeing the growth is exciting … but for men’s netball, it’s a slow process,” said Guy. “It's a brick wall we've got to run through and it's going to take time, but we’ll keep fighting.”
Keep up to date with Brodie McCleish and Victoria’s men’s, mixed and boys teams in the final rounds of the 2023 AMMNA National Championships ending Saturday April 15. View the full fixture and results and livestream select games on Cluch.
