Australian Men’s Netball player Daniel Cools lends support to creation of SWNFL men’s netball league in 2023

A prominent figure in the country’s men’s netball scene has backed a move for a league to be created for the sport in the South West. Waroona’s Daniel Cools, who has reached the peak of the game earlier this year playing as a member of the Australian Men’s Netball team, has endorsed a proposal by the South West Netball Football League for a local men’s netball competition in 2023. Cools said it was fantastic to see a regional sporting competition looking at introducing the sport. “There are a few associations up in Perth that have started to bring it in and obviously men’s state league came back in about five years ago now, but to see it out in the regional communities, it’s going to expand the game and it is obviously a good thing,” he said. He said the sport had been played for a long time but in a mixed or social form which did not get the exposure of a fully-fledged sport. While men’s netball is growing, there is still stigma attached to playing a traditionally female-dominated game. When the South Western Times reported the announcement of the potential competition last week, the Facebook page was lit up with comments disparaging of the sport and its players. Cools described the comments as “disappointing”, but said the best way to change minds was to get the game more exposure. “When they can actually see that the men when they can play netball, bring such good athleticism and they actually understand the game, it’s an exciting game to watch,” he said. “You are going to have this stigma around it because it has been a traditional women’s sport for such a long time, but the more we can get ourselves exposed especially at those higher levels...I think we will break down those viewpoints and hopefully prove a few people wrong.” When asked what should be done to promote men’s netball, Cools stated the need for pathways to allow players to continue playing the game during their youth. “A lot of associations have always been able to play (boys) up to 12 years and then there’s a bit gap where there’s no competitions for them to play because unfortunately there’s not a junior competition in a lot of associations,” he said. “The more we can get men’s netball exposed and have those competitions run where we can have enough boys to play and play all the way through their youth, that will obviously grow the sport so that they don’t have to stop, go away, look for different avenues and then come back when they’re 17 or 18 into the men’s competitions.” It has been a whirlwind year for the Waroona product, who has played the game since 2013, as the sport has taken him to new heights. Having already played in local competitions and the WA men’s netball team, Cools was selected for the Australian Men’s Netball team earlier this year and played exhibition matches against New Zealand and England. He described it as a “great experience”. “To go away and actually experience what truer life can be for a professional athlete – it was as professional as men’s netball has ever been - to go along, train alongside the Diamonds at the AIS, have the training camp and then play three tours was such a good experience and something I will never forget,” he said. For those considering putting their hand up to play in the inaugural South West men’s netball competition, Cools’ advice is simple: “give it a go”. “I started mixed competitions in Waroona and literally everyone who has ever played it have absolutely loved the game, so my biggest piece of advice is go out, give it a go, even if it is just socially and you just want to have a bit of fun,” he said. “Once you actually see what skill can be on the court and how fast-paced the game can be, I think it is quite a hard sport not to like.”