EVERYTHING was telling Kiahna Fallon to play basketball. Her dad played, and her auntie played for Australia, so it made sense.

Coming from a sporty background, Fallon was spoilt for choices with her mum also playing netball growing up.

Fallon first picked up a netball at 5-years-old then took a hiatus to pursue her original love.

“I wanted to be like my auntie, so I set from a young age that I was going to play for Australia in basketball,” she told Rookie Me Central.

She returned to the netball court at 11-years-old with South Barwon Football Netball Club and has played ever since. It was useful having older sister Tyra who played the sport as well, helping Fallon fall in love with the environment.

“That’s what I think kept me around and transitioned me from basketball to netball where I made friends and my family was there,” Fallon said.

“My sister was there and I just loved that environment, that supportive environment that netball kind of brought from South Barwon.

“I don’t really have time for both (netball and basketball) anymore unfortunately, even though basketball will always hold a special spot in my heart.”

Fallon’s confidence has been the biggest barrier in her career, struggling to persevere when times got tough in the sport she loves. The winning mentality wasn’t there, and Fallon tried to find a light at the end of a difficult tunnel.

“I do overthink things, I question things,” she said.

“Playing and trying to play without overthinking and believing in my abilities and what I know and what my body can do is enough.”

She quickly changed her focus to her development, her improvement, her skill set becoming advanced enough to dominate the game. Fallon was being recognised by her coaches and rewarded with court time in dire situations.

“I was little, I was skinny, probably very raw, but had two coaches in Shirley Fagan and Chris Brown,” Fallon said.

“They had a lot of belief in me and they had a lot of belief that I could do things, even though I was a nervous little girl who didn’t really know too many people.”

Placed in a tightly pressured game, Fallon was put on court in the grand final playing in her first year at South Barwon. As a bottom age player, she played the whole game and won the premiership in the meantime.

“(Fagan and Brown) had faith that I could do it and I ended up getting the game winning intercept.”

This became a constant, having coaches have belief in Fallon to thrive and perform under the pressure.

“(Coaches) put me on in times where I thought, ‘why are you putting me on?’ but they believed in me,” she said.

“It’s probably just a bit of confidence within myself and belief that I am capable of playing at higher levels than I thought I was capable of playing at.”

The biggest confidence boost for Fallon was being recognised by Geelong Cougars Head Coach Gerard Murphy near the end of the 2021 while Fallon was still playing under 19s. He told her ‘you’ll be making champ soon’.

“Like as if, but I kind of went, okay, maybe it’s a possibility,” Fallon said.

Caught off guard and in denial with his belief, a dream became reality when Fallon took home the joining division one MVP award for the Cougars following the 2023 Victorian Netball League (VNL) premiership season.

“I really didn’t think I was going to win it to be honest, I didn’t poll in the last few rounds. I was just watching my name and everyone else catch up,” she said.

“I play a wing defence role, so it’s a bit of an underdog type role. So I really didn’t think I had any chance to kind of win that.

“I guess coaches saw that what I was doing as a wing defence was worthy enough for that award.”

Now a part of the full time Cougars championship side, the news still hasn’t kicked in yet for Fallon.

The 19-year-old made her champ debut in Round 14 of the 2023 season, progressing up the Netball Victoria pathway at a fast pace since starting her netball journey at South Barwon nine years ago.

While playing for South Barwon, Fallon made the Geelong Football League (GFL) under 13s and 15s representative sides. She also played for the Barwon region in the state titles in 2022 and quickly progressed to the Geelong Flyers development program.

Fallon said being a part of the Flyers environment was a big turning point in her mental game for netball.

“That was probably the biggest turning point for me. It was probably that step up into a bit more of an older environment,” she said.

“It was quite a scary and daunting environment when I was 14 and playing with and training against girls who were 18.

“It was quite daunting for me, but I think that environment really changed me mentally.”

Fallon attracts success being part of the Victoria under 19s state team as a bottom age player in 2022 that took home a bronze medal. 

“To say this coach had this belief in me that I could do this and I could play at that level was massive for me and I really wanted to prove to her she made the right choice,” she said.

Wearing the navy blue ‘V’ dress was one of the first moments that came to mind for Fallon in her career so far, but nothing so far has topped winning the division one premiership with the Cougars in 2023.

The second year ACU student is studying a Bachelor of Physiotherapy in Ballarat, but she’d ideally like to continue living in Geelong and work in the elite sporting industry.

Before making any giant leaps, she’d like to gain experience seeing where to fit in the physiotherapy community, but she’s looking at the possibility of doing some outpatient work at a hospital in Geelong.

While still in her playing career, Fallon would like to continue developing her game and make it into an Australian Netball Championships (ANC) team within the next few years. It would be an excellent addition to be selected into the Vixens Academy where other athletes of Fallon’s age are showcasing their stardom.

“I’m always looking to keep progressing and whatever that next step is, I’m wanting that and willing to work for that,” she said.

“I’ve always wanted to be an elite athlete.”