Caitlyn Nevins

Caitlyn Nevins
Personal information
Full name	Caitlyn Nevins (née Strachan)
Born	1 June 1987 (age 37) ; Geelong, Victoria
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
School	Echuca High School
University	La Trobe University
Netball career
	Playing position(s): WA, C
Years	Club team(s)
200x–200x	Echuca United
2006–2011	Southern Saints
2009	Victorian Fury
2011	Canberra Darters
2012–2014	Victorian Fury
2012–2014	→ Yarra Valley Grammar Ariels
2013–2014	Melbourne Vixens
2015–2019	Queensland Firebirds
Years	National team(s)
2016–2017	Australia
Medal record
Representing Australia
Fast5 Netball World Series

Caitlyn Nevins (born 1 June 1987), also known as Caitlyn Strachan, is a former Australia netball international. Between 2014 and 2016, she was a member of three successive ANZ Championship winning teams. She won her first title with the 2014 Melbourne Vixens before winning the 2015 and 2016 titles with Queensland Firebirds. She was a member of the Victorian Fury teams that won Australian Netball League titles in 2009, 2013 and 2014.

Early life, family and education

Strachan is the daughter of Lyn and Rob Strachan.^[2] She is originally from Victoria, born in Geelong and raised in Echuca.^[3]^[4]^[5] Between 1999 and 2004 she attended Echuca High School and between 2005 and 2008 she attended La Trobe University where she gained a Bachelor of Podiatry. Throughout her netball career, Strachan continued to work as a podiatrist.^[6]^[7]^[8] In November 2014, Strachan married Sam Nevins, an osteopath.^[9]^[10]

Playing career

Early career

In her youth, Strachan played both basketball and netball. She played basketball with Echuca Pirates and netball with the Echuca and District Netball Association and Echuca United Football Netball Club. She trialed for state teams in both netball and basketball. At 17 she decided to focus solely on netball.^[3]^[11]

Victorian Netball League

Between 2006 and 2014, Strachan played for both Southern Saints and Yarra Valley Grammar Ariels in the Victorian Netball League, winning club best and fairest awards with both teams. After six seasons with Saints, in 2012 Strachan switched to Ariels. In 2012 she shared the league's MVP award, the Margaret Caldow Trophy, with Helen Barclay and Mwai Kumwenda. In 2013 she again shared the award, this time with Brooke Thompson.^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]

Australian Netball League

Victorian Fury

Strachan had two spells playing for Victorian Fury in the Australian Netball League. She initially played for Fury during the 2009 season. She again played for Fury between 2012 and 2014. She was a member of the Fury teams that won ANL titles in 2009, 2013 and 2014. She was vice captain of the 2013 and 2014 teams.^[12]^[13]^[14]^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21]^[22]

Canberra Darters

During the 2011 season, Strachan played for Canberra Darters in the Australian Netball League. She played in 31 of 32 quarters for Darters. She was named the team's best and fairest player for the season and was subsequently inducted into the Netball ACT Hall of Fame.^[12]^[19]

Melbourne Vixens

Strachan was a member of the Melbourne Vixens team that won the 2014 ANZ Championship. However she sat on the bench for most of the season, kept out of the starting seven by the form of Madi Robinson.^[2]^[10]^[11]^[22]^[23]

Queensland Firebirds

Between 2015 and 2019, Strachan, now known as Caitlyn Nevins, played for Queensland Firebirds, initially in the ANZ Championship and later in Suncorp Super Netball. She was a prominent member of the Firebirds teams that won the 2015 and 2016 ANZ Championships.^[1]^[24]^[10]^[11]^[20]^[25]^[26]^[27] In 2017 she was appointed Firebirds vice-captain.^[28] In August 2019, Nevins announced her retirement from netball, effective at the end of the season.^[4]^[5]^[29]^[30]^[31]

Australia

After representing Australia at the 2016 Fast5 Netball World Series,^[32] Nevins made her senior debut during the first 2017 Netball Quad Series. On 28 January 2017 in the opening match against New Zealand, Nevins replaced Paige Hadley for the final quarter, helping Australia secure a 57–50 win. At 29, she became the oldest debutante for Australia in forty two years.^[33]^[34] On 31 January 2017, she made her first start for Australia in a 62–46 win against South Africa.^[35]