By Sophie Hammill
While many juniors are busily preparing to play in the first week of finals this Sunday, one Werribee Districts player has also been preparing to represent Australia in the Junior World Series for indoor cricket.
Fifteen-year-old Callan Gilboy has been playing football in the WRFL with Werribee Districts for six years, and despite his young age, has already played in four winning premierships in his short career.
Callan is not shy of an achievement having won numerous awards such as Best on Ground honours (2008, 2009), Most Consistent, a Best and Fairest and being selected to play in the Junior Interleague competition.
Yet while he is already a star footballer, Callan can also swing a bat on the cricket pitch, after starting his indoor cricket career in 2012.
“Callan used to attend his friends and family cricket matches which inspired him to join a league himself,” his father Kevin Gilboy said.
Callan currently plays for the Victorian team and was voted ‘Best Player’ in 2014, before his selection to the national team earlier this month.
Training and playing cricket on a weekly basis, Kevin said it took a lot of hard work for Callan to earn his selection for the Australian squad.
“Callan had to participate in a carnival which allowed him to reserve a spot to perform in the National championships.”
“In just his fourth year of indoor cricket, he has been selected to represent Australia in the World Cup in Queensland, which will no doubt be a great experience for him.”
Although Callan’s commitments have increased since his selection, he has never missed a training session and remains able to play football with minimal disruptions.
Training for both sports during the week as well as playing matches over the weekend, Callan’s schedule is busier than most juniors his age.
However, if this isn’t busy enough, Callan also umpires for the WRFL every Saturday and attends Mackillop College as a Year 9 student.
While he knows that one day he may have to decide to follow his passion for one sport in the future, Callan hopes to continue to play both football and indoor cricket for as long as possible.
It’s needless to say that Callan’s family is incredibly proud of all he has achieved so far and look forward to seeing him in action for the World Cup in September after the WRFL Junior Finals conclude in August.
For more details on the Junior World Series please visit: www.worldindoorcricketfederation.com
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Last Modified on 23/07/2015 09:32