Koenen was 17. Living with her parents and three sporty siblings on north Queensland’s tropical Magnetic Island (population: 2000, traffic lights: zero).
She had just finished grade 12, having commuted daily by ferry to the mainland, and flown to Brisbane to pursue her netball dream each weekend.
The meeting was with Kylee Byrne – now the Sunshine Coast Lightning’s assistant coach, then with Queensland Fusion and running elite development for Netball Queensland – and Christine Voge, then the state 17/U coach, ahead of the national championships in Darwin.
“The gist of the conversation was ‘well, you’re moving to Brisbane, right? There’s no way we can do it if you don’t,’’ Koenen recalls. They said ‘So you’re moving? Is that what’s happening?’.’’
It was and it did – so strong was netball’s pull. But Koenen admits she put less thought into the challenges of relocating at such a young age, because the financial reality was that her super-supportive, hard-working newsagent parents could not afford the FIFO alternative.
“So the decision was made and I packed up my gear and drove down to Brisbane with a carful of stuff and my older sister (AFLW player Breanna),’’ Koenen says. “We lived together for that first year, which in itself, was a bit of a challenge for us.
Obviously having family there was a massive help, but we did have our rows!
“It was definitely too early, looking back. I don’t think at 17 anyone is really ready to move out of home, move thousands of kilometres away from their parents, and find their feet themselves. But I definitely think those hard times made me the player that I am today.’’
Needing to study full-time for her degree in forensic science, criminology and criminal justice in order to qualify for a government subsidy, what was left after rent and bills was $100 a week. Not enough for a car, which meant lifts to training, public transport to uni, and, ah, “borrowing” an unimpressed Breanna’s wheels when she sneakily could.
But then, in 2016, came the announcement of a shiny new national league called Suncorp Super Netball, and the lanky Australian World Youth Cup squad member was stunned to discover she had caught foundation Lightning coach Noeline Taurua’s eye.
“There were all these rumours about these new teams, and a lot of buzz around that whole thing. I did not think for a second that I was going to be one of the players to be called up,’’ Koenen says.
“I’d just turned 20 when I was blessed enough to receive a call from Noeline and I just burst into tears – it was all very shocking for me. Noels was like ‘here’s the offer, if you need to think about it, you’re more than welcome to, and I was like ‘I don’t need to think about it. Where’s the dotted line? Let me sign!’.’’
Consecutive premierships have followed for Caitlin Bassett’s understudy, who was given court-time in 10 games, highlighted by a few precious minutes when Steph Wood was sidelined in the 2018 grand final against the Fever.
This year, rewarded for a strong pre-season, and having dialled back her studies after “a pretty tough conversation with the coaches”, the 23-year-old is vying for the starting GS bib with Ugandan import Peace Proscovia, and last weekend scored 30 goals from 32 attempts in the first three quarters of the Lightning’s win over the Thunderbirds.
A mobile 190-centimetres, Koenen has also caught the eye of Diamonds’ coach Lisa Alexander as one of just two Australians not named Caitlin (the other is T-bird Sasha Glasgow) to be given substantial minutes at goal shooter this SSN season.
“Having Peace brought in from overseas has made me hungrier, and want it that much more,’’ Koenen says. “We’re constantly in a battle for that starting seven position, which I think is a great thing, and it has definitely improved my game.
“Having Caitlin move out of that spot and then Peace come to fill it, I was like ‘nuh, I’m not having this, I’m gonna stand up here and I’m gonna try my best to be able to get that starting spot’.’’
In other words, a challenge Cara Koenen didn’t refuse, six years after being made an offer she couldn’t.
