Mandurah teenager Ciaran Norton has only been playing gridiron for six months, but after just one month of playing was selected to represent Western Australia as part of the WA Raiders team as a defensive back.
Formerly a rugby player when he lived in the United Kingdom, Ciaran said he had dreamed of playing gridiron for years, and being selected to play for WA was a once in a lifetime opportunity for him.
“Gridiron is not as easy to find over there [in the UK]… I think some of the skills I learned over the years playing rugby must have transferred across,” he said.
He will travel to the Gold Coast to compete in the Australian Gridiron League Junior National Tournament on April 7.
“My ambitions are to play with Western Australia Raiders in this tournament, and bring the Junior National Championship trophy back to WA for the first time,” Ciaran said.
“I want to continue playing for as long as possible, but at the moment I think I've reached as far as I can go at my age.”
Because he is not yet an Australian citizen, he isn’t eligible for the Australian national team, the Outback, but he said he hoped to one day become a citizen and represent the country.
