Blaine Boekhorst was at home with the folks when he heard his name called at 19 with Carlton’s first round selection of the 2014 NAB AFL draft.

For the silky-skilled, fast-moving Swan Districts midfielder, home is Port Hedland, the second largest town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, some 1320 kilometres north of Perth. It’s where his father Anthony relocated from Adelaide as a child with his parents more than 40 years ago.

Fittingly, Anthony and wife Clorinda were there to share in their boy’s life-changing moment (Blaine’s older sister Justine followed draft developments from Perth) and while Boekhorst is now bracing for the trek across the Nullarbor, Mum and Dad couldn’t be more willing advocates of the move.

As Boekhorst explained: “They already lost me once to boarding school a few years ago, and they’re all for it with the move, which is awesome”.

Boekhorst, whose family origins can be sourced to Holland, completed what was truly a breakout year for Swan Districts, emerging as a success story for the black ducks after three seasons as a comparative fringe player.
He took his game to a whole new level with the WAFL outfit and duly earned state selection, having put down his improvement to a physical and mental maturity, and the support of Swans’ midfield coach Mark Piani and his dear old Dad.

“2014 proved to be a massive turnaround for my footy career. I came out and played what I would call consistent footy and put my name out there,” he said.

“The biggest thing was lifting my confidence level to back myself in every week. Once you play that one good game where you tend to dominate (it happened in a pre-season encounter against East Perth) you find that self-belief and you go from there.

“Dad has always supported me from day one. He was always in my head and telling me I was good enough to get to the next level. Mark Piani was also a good motivator, someone outside family, who was also able to help.”

Though Dennis Armfield, David Ellard and Chris Yarran are all ex-Swans, Boekhorst has never before met them – but he looks forward to comparing notes when he hits town within the week.

And for those of us who haven’t seen the 21 year-old in full flight, how would Boekhorst best describe his on-field attributes.

“I’m just a running midfielder who breaks the lines, makes good decisions, has good skills with hand and foot and is someone who can take the game on and provide the x-factor,” came the reply.

“I’ve focused my energies into footy to hopefully get drafted and realise my dream. Now I’m hoping to put my foot in the door and make a name from there.”