FOOTY or netball? That plays on the minds of many Australian girls in the modern era.

Thanks to the AFL Women’s and Super Netball competitions, both sports provide pathways and opportunities for young girls to thrive in their chosen codes. Now that both sports are able to be taken all the way, it is difficult for young girls to choose one love over the other, and balance them until that time comes.

Kiara Boyd is a member of the Western Jets squad for footy and Western Warriors for netball. Both sports where she is thriving and making a real impact, but she finds it difficult sometimes to pursue both codes and have time for her friends on top of school.

“At times it does get very challenging with every opportunity I get in sport,” Boyd told Rookie Me Central.

“You’ve just got to sometimes just say you can’t do something if your heart or whatever desires to do something else. “At times I’ve had to say ‘no’ to friends and going out to try to help my sport out, but at the end of the day, I know what I need to do.

“Sometimes you have to make challenging decisions, but hopefully rewarding ones.”

Boyd debuted for the Jets in Round 8 of the Coates Talent League season against Northern Territory in torrential rain, and has not looked back since that moment. Usually a defender, Boyd was shifted to the forward line in her maiden game and was relatively quiet until a shift in mindset made everything change.

“It wasn’t the best weather to play footy in, but it is a winter sport, so I can’t do much about that,” she said.

“At the start of the game, I wasn’t feeling like it was my best game. I was chucked into a new position, it was the first time playing forward. “I’m just taking every opportunity I can get and trying to make it the fullest.”

After half-time, Boyd came out with a new mindset and changed some of her tactics for the game. She went on to kick three goals to spur her side onto victory and was subsequently named best on ground.

“I don’t even remember what was going through my head,” she said. “It was just goal after goal after goal.”

Boyd has been selected into the Vic Metro summer hub for 2024/2025.

The natural defender was selected into the Warriors under 23s for 2025 team after a standout 2024 campaign. Boyd joined the Warriors after serving as a training partner with the City West Falcons to play alongside more girls she knew from her rep days at Westside.

The first taste of the VNL environment two years ago was “confronting” for the 16-year-old but Boyd continues to thrive in any place she joins.

At just three years-old, Boyd found that she couldn’t stop moving. Just wanting to move and groove, she started dancing. Still wanting to move her body, Boyd started playing netball at seven years-old for her local side.

Then the renowned team of Westside came calling. Boyd started playing rep netball at Westside with Darren Abela as her coach and stayed with them for six years. During her time with Westside, Boyd joined the Falcons as a training partner at 14-years-old.

Wanting to move up the ranks, Boyd trialled for the newly established Western Warriors side based in Melton and was selected in their developmental side. It wasn’t long until she got her call up into the Victorian Netball League (VNL) under 23s squad and made a permanent spot for herself. She has solidified herself as a future champ player.

Boyd will keep playing in the red and blue for the Warriors and she can’t believe how much has happened in her sporting journey already.

“It’s crazy to think about that and how I’m 16 and being able to have the opportunities that I am and like not just getting to be on the court, but definitely training with them,” she said. “Getting all the facilities, all the coaches, everything is just surreal.”

“Even though I’ve put in so much hard work, I’ve also had so many coaches that have helped me throughout the way and shown me how to improve.

“I’m just so happy that I’ve had such supportive networks, coaches, friends, family, everything. Last year was crazy just being able to manage both sports and being able to do them both at as high of a level.”

In 2022, Boyd was selected in the Under 15 State School Victoria (SSV) wider squad as a bottom ager and went on to the next stage in 2023.

“I was a bottom ager, so I didn’t think I’d make anywhere near that, I just was trying to trial, see what it was like,” she said.

The following year, she made the Under 15s SSV team as a top-ager and went through the tournament undefeated to take home the title.

“That was crazy to me — being around those girls, being around that different level to what I was used to was crazy. We went undefeated that whole tournament, which is definitely a shock,” Boyd said.

“It was such a good reward for all the weeks and hours we put into training. It was just everything I could dream of in a year.”

Boyd made the Under 17s Victorian State Squad in 2024, being in the top 25 athletes and was picked as a training partner. She has now made the top 12 as a top-age Under 17s player to compete at the National Netball Championships in Sydney next year.

“Looking at the SSV squad to now the actual Vic state team, even though they’re both Victoria, but just seeing the difference was crazy,” she said.

Boyd will forever be grateful for her parents who will travel everywhere to watch their daughter play either sport, even driving to Adelaide to watch her play footy. Her parents are extremely supportive and don’t care how far they have to travel. It does not matter where or when, they are always on board.

Boyd’s mum Bronwyn is her idol because she shows just how important personal values are both in and outside of sport.

“She just shows me determination,” Boyd said. “If you don’t want to do it, you have to do it anyway.

“You’ve made a commitment. She’s definitely my biggest supporter and my biggest advocate.”

Boyd is now reaching a point where she has to choose either netball or footy but she’s trying to stretch the choice out as far as she can and so far it’s working.

“That’s never on my radar,” she said. “I’m just gonna see where both take me and go for both and hope for the best.

“I’m definitely hoping to make it in one or both sports. Just trying to see where that takes me.”