Netball has long been played predominantly by women, but the rise of men’s netball has seen young stars like Max Carson shine under the spotlight.
Only two years into playing, Max has already made a name for himself recently announced as one of the finalists in the 2024 Netball Queensland Awards for Rising Sun.
At 17 years old, the defender juggles the demands of his year 12 studies and travels weekly to Brisbane, training for the Nationals Competition in April 2025.
When he was just 10 years old, Max relocated to Dalby from Brisbane where his mum, Fiona Carson, grew up.
From tagging along to the games his mum played, Max eventually learnt to understand how netball was played.
“I grew up watching my mum who has played forever, for as long as I’ve been alive.
“They needed a fill in, in her women’s league so I played for one game and slowly started filling in more, and it grew from there.
Being a visual learner, Max says he learnt the art of playing his main positions as goal defender and goal keeper from watching games.
“Mum has gone through every position through her lifetime so she’s very versatile,” Max said.
“My mum and a teacher at my school are my biggest influencers who have taught me a lot of what I know today.
“I knew the concept of the game from watching but as I started playing, I learnt the rules more and more.”
For Max, netball was a hobby at the beginning, and it wasn’t until his first state competition in April 2023, playing for the Darling Downs Stampede where he fell in love with the sport.
“That was my first time playing in an all men’s netball competition and it was my first time playing on a team that wasn’t mixed.
“I’ve found that all men’s netball is a very different play style with a lot more aerial, jumping and sometimes can be more physical.
“There’s not a lot of a following from young boys playing netball but it’s slowly growing in regional towns like mine and there’s definitely a lot more playing in the cities.”
The sport is still in its early stages in regional Queensland but the growth seen in men’s netball in the Darling Downs has definitely been significant over the last few years.
“It was the Tuesday and Thursday night leagues when I started playing about two years ago, I was one of the only boys playing in the whole league.
“Now there is a mix of boys and girls playing and it has grown a lot in a short time in my town.
Max has come a long way, only playing his first proper game of netball in 2022.
His potential and talent in netball has not gone unnoticed, being recognised as a Rising Sun at this year’s Queensland Netball Awards.
“It means a lot to be recognised in the awards especially because this year was my first appearance at nationals.
“The amount I’ve achieved with the Australian squad has really grown my love for netball and it just keeps getting better.
“Being a finalist in the awards is definitely a sign to keep going and keep playing.”
Max currently plays for multiple teams, his regional team, the Darling Downs Stampede and for the Queensland Suns where he made the u17s team last year in October.
Max played in nationals this year where an Australian squad was selected to play for the Oceania Netball competition in New Zealand this December.
He was announced as a training partner, meaning Max will train with the Australian squad to learn the strategies and the set ups, just in case he is pulled in to play in the competition.
While training takes up a lot of Max’s time, he also puts a great amount of energy and effort aside to finish his year 12 studies and plans to move to Brisbane after he graduates.
“There is so much more opportunity in Brisbane for netball and I am hoping to do much more with it.”
“I see netball becoming more and more prolific in my life in the future.”
