Long before she pulled on a Queensland Firebirds Futures dress this season, the Darling Downs junior was already used to the kind of sacrifice that comes with chasing bigger opportunities.
From her early days in Toowoomba with Highfields District Netball Association, to three seasons in the Ruby Series with the Darling Downs Panthers, van Greunen has built her career on a willingness to go where the next challenge takes her.
That mindset only intensified in her final year of high school, when she made the move to Bond University Bull Sharks while still living in Toowoomba. It was a huge commitment for a young athlete still juggling school, training and Queensland pathway commitments, but one she embraced.
“Yeah, every week, lots of travel,” van Greunen said. “Usually it would be like once a week to Gold Coast and then twice a week to Brizzy.”
It was not a journey she made alone. More often than not, it was family road-trip time.
“Definitely, mum and dad time,” she said. “Usually they would just be waiting for me after school, and then we’d just go straight there.”
For van Greunen, there was never much thought given to whether it was too much. It was simply what needed to be done.
“It was a lot,” she said. “But, you know, got to do it.”
That attitude has shaped her rise through Queensland’s pathway system. Van Greunen represented Queensland across multiple state age campaigns, making both 17 and Under and 19 and Under teams as a bottom-age and top-age player. It gave her an early grounding in representative netball, but it also reinforced the standard required to keep progressing.
Now the same appetite for hard work and travel is still defining her journey.
Last season, van Greunen seized a Super Netball Reserves opportunity with the Sunshine Coast Lightning Bolts, even though it meant another punishing commute - this time from the Gold Coast to the Sunshine Coast.
For a player who had already spent years clocking up kilometres in pursuit of her goals, it was another challenge she was prepared to take on.
“There was an opportunity at Lightning Bolts that I thought would be good,” she said. “But I knew it would be a lot of travel.
“I guess I was kind of used to it being from Toowoomba to do it anyway.”
The season proved worthwhile. It gave van Greunen valuable exposure to the Reserves environment and strengthened her belief that she belonged in that next tier of netball. But when the chance came to return to the Queensland Firebirds pathway this year, it felt like the right move at the right time.
“It was the best choice for me and where I was in that moment,” she said.
There were practical reasons, of course. A return to the Firebirds fold effectively halved the travel burden. But the pull of the program was bigger than logistics.
There was familiarity. There was connection. And there was the knowledge that the pathway was producing real results.
Van Greunen is now back in a team that includes several of her Bond teammates from last year’s HART Premier Netball League Sapphire Division premiership side, including Sasha Flegler, Kirra Tappenden and Jayden Molo. That shared success has only strengthened the chemistry within the group.
It has also helped that so many of the players around her are people she has grown up with through Queensland netball.
“Lots of girls that I’ve played a lot of netball with,” she said. “A lot of them are at Bond as well.”
That familiarity has made the transition into this year’s Firebirds Futures campaign all the more exciting, particularly in the goal circle where she is linking up closely with one of her best friends in Tappenden.
“It’s been good just spending that extra time with her,” van Greunen said. “I mean, she’s one of my best friends, so it’s been convenient and lucky that I have someone that I’m so close with that I can train with and drive with.”
But just as important as the friendships is the inspiration.
Few players in the Futures squad need much reminding that this pathway can lead somewhere significant. This year alone, Elsa Sif Sandholt, Jessie Laga’aia, Lily Gribble and Sasha Flegler have all stepped up and made their impact for the Queensland Firebirds at Suncorp Super Netball level. For van Greunen, watching those opportunities unfold has been hugely motivating.
“It is very inspiring,” she said. “Seeing that all the hard work pays off.”
In Sandholt’s case, the inspiration is especially personal. Van Greunen has played alongside her through Queensland pathways and seen her development up close.
“It’s been amazing seeing her come through kind of the same pathway as I am,” she said.
“If I work hard, like Elsa has, and like obviously all the other players that have made their debuts this year, like Gribs and Sash, I’ll be able to get there too.”
It has made this season feel especially meaningful for the lifelong shooter, who says she has never really had her eyes on anything else.
“Always netball,” she said.
“I just haven’t really had my eyes on anything else except getting the best at netball that I can.”
This Sunday, van Greunen gets another chance to test herself when the Firebirds Futures host West Coast Fever Reserves at Nissan Arena. For a player whose career has already involved so many road miles, the destination is still the same: keep improving, keep learning and keep pushing toward the purple dress.
FIREBIRDS FUTURES SQUAD - Round 5, vs West Coast Fever Reserves (Sunday, 4.20pm @ Nissan Arena)
Kirra Tappenden
Kaylin van Greunen
Jayden Molo
Jessie Laga'aia
Maddison Ridley
Sasha Flegler
Gemma Hutchings
Lillyana Rennie
Lily Gribble
For Super Netball Reserves scores and results, click here. To watch matches live, visit CODE Sports (subscription required).
