HE trains in the paddock at home and watches YouTube for hints on technique, but natural talent is what saw Bathurst 16-year-old Kane Simmons crowned a state champion.
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He took out the javelin event for his age group in the All Schools State Championships at Homebush last Friday, beating 13 other more experienced athletes to the gold medal.
The Bathurst High School student will now represent his state at the national championships in Cairns in November, after his throw of 51.7 metres bettered all his rivals.
At Homebush many of Simmons’ rivals were looking to utilise the skills gained in specialised coaching and training programs, while the he simply drew upon what he learned in dry paddocks at home.
Understandably, his father Troy Simmons said he was pretty nervous.
“At that level a lot of the kids have coaches, while he’s just out the back in the paddock having a go,” he said.
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Simmons said he wasn’t sure what would happen on the day, but turned up hoping for the best.
What makes his success even more incredible is the fact Simmons didn’t compete, or even really throw a javelin, until about 18 months ago.
“I’ve done shot put and high jump before, but not javelin,” he said
“It really all started while I was still at Stannies. I was competing in the CIS state in shot put, long jump and high jump.
“Someone else was suppose to be in the javelin and they didn’t turn up so my teacher just grabbed me and told me to do javelin as well. From then on I did javelin,” he added with a laugh.
In order to compete at state level, Simmons made it through school zone, district and regional carnivals.
At Homebush each competitor had three throws, with the top five after those preliminary rounds then given a fourth attempt to decide the victor. It was Simmons who finished on top.
Troy Simmons, who also held a state title in javelin as a high school student, said his son worked hard to get the result.
“He’s got a lot of drive,” he said.
“He dead set goes out to the paddocks and practices everyday. We brought him a javelin and spray painted a line across the grass in the paddock, that’s all he needed.
“He watched You Tube [clips] on how to throw it, and just went off and practised.”
Simmons said he never knew his father was also a talented javelin thrower as a teenager, until recently. Once he did it added to his motivation.
“That’s what kept me going, I wanted to do what he had,” he said.