Geraldton local Allen Griechen the lone regional selection in first all-boys State netball team

A Geraldton player was the only regional selection in the State’s first-ever 12-and-under all-boys netball team to compete in the 2023 championships. This year was the first time the School Sport Australia Netball Championships included an all-boys division, with it previously only supporting a mixed format. In the squad of 12 boys that represented the State, only one was from the country and that was Geraldton local Allen Griechen. Currently competing in local competition for Kazuals, Griechen has been paving the way for boys who want to play netball, with the lack of all-boys competitions in Geraldton. Playing in the inaugural State team was a big accomplishment for the 12-year-old, who enjoyed the competition. “I like being part of the team with all the boys in it. . . it was good to see that it happened, and I got to join in and play along with it,” he said. Griechen progressed through the sub juniors ranks of the Geraldton Netball Association, playing for Walkaway before moving to Bluff Point due to lack of numbers in his age group. He has also represented the GNA at the Fuel Up and Go Association Championships earlier this year. During the 2023 championships held in Perth from September 9-15, Griechen and the WA side played 10 games over the week, but the tall GS/GA managed to hold his own. “I was doing pretty well. . . our team was pretty good,” Griechen said. “It was pretty tough, other team have really good players and some had really good team work.” The young netballer made weekly trips to Perth for State training, as well as training with the Senior 1 Kazuals team locally with coach Callum Darch, a former West Coast Thunder player. His mum, Robyn Griechen, said the local Kazuals team had been supportive. “We’ve been very lucky the Kazuals have put him under their wing this year,” she said. A basketball player as well, Griechen hopes to be able to continue playing netball next year, but there is a lack of all boys competition locally. “We’d like to see it change here as well because once they hit 12 they stop playing,” Robyn Griechen said. “We just don’t have the numbers, so the juniors coming through, we just really need the boys to give it a go.”