By Chris Wilson, Sports editor at The Canberra Times
He’s an emerging star in softball and AFL, but double-play doesn’t do Josh McGovern’s story justice – this 16-year-old has a lot more on his plate.
Named the most valuable player at last week’s national under-17 softball championships, McGovern leads the ACT into this week’s under-19 titles in Canberra, aiming to make the final cut to represent Australia at the world championships in Canada in June.
But as soon as the softball wraps up next Wednesday, the following day McGovern will trial with the under-18 NSW-ACT Rams, hoping to step up after a year playing with the Greater Western Sydney development squad.
The teenager is hoping to debut in the NEAFL with the Queanbeyan Tigers this season too, but has already been selected to compete in the ACT men’s softball squad that will defend their national title in Perth in March.
”I’m happy to play both, but there’ll be a time, when I’m older, I’ll have to pick,” McGovern says.
The choice could be difficult.
Softball is the family’s sport. His father Lindsey Carroll was a former national men’s coach and is a Softball Australia hall-of-famer, while his mum Kim McGovern represented ACT. His elder sister, Brianna, is playing for ACT in the under-19 nationals too, having just returned from a tour with the ACT women’s team.
”I’ve been brought up with softball. I played my first games when I was about five,” the versatile shortstop and catcher said.
ACT junior coach Andrew Kirkpatrick, the star pitcher in Australia’s 2009 world championships victory, said McGovern had the ability to reach the game’s highest level.
”He’s one of the younger guys in our team, but one of the strongest too,” Kirkpatrick said.
”This week will tell how good he really is, playing against older boys, but he’s definitely got the talent to go a long way in this sport.
”He’s got all the talent in the world.”
McGovern will relocate from Marist College to Erindale College, which offers him the chance to develop his AFL through the school’s Talented Sports Program.
”I thought the AFL would be more beneficial for me,” said McGovern, who started following North Melbourne when it began playing home games at Manuka.
”There’s more of a career in AFL than softball, so that’s where I’d like to go, but I’ll have to wait and see.”
John Love, a talent manager with the Giants Academy, said McGovern – a midfielder – was on the radar.
”He’s a good leader,” Love said. ”He’s at a point now where if he commits to footy, he’s got a two-year window to make the [NSW-ACT] Rams squad, that’s an under-18s program … that’s the pathway to potentially getting drafted [into the AFL].”
? The National U19 softball championships continue at Hawker until next Wednesday, January 22.