Caydn Beetham is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with St Kilda in the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (AFL).

Beetham was a midfielder, taken at pick nine in the 1999 AFL Draft

1999 AFL Draft

The 1999 AFL Draft consisted of a pre-season draft, a national draft, a trade period and a rookie elevation. The AFL Draft is the annual draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League.In 1999 there...

 from the Oakleigh Chargers

Oakleigh Chargers

The Oakleigh Chargers are an Australian rules football club playing in the TAC Cup, an under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. They are based at Warrawee Park in Oakleigh, Victoria, representing the southeastern suburban area of Melbourne...

 in the TAC Cup

TAC Cup

The TAC Cup is an under 18 Australian rules football representative competition held in Victoria, Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne with each team representing 12 Victorian regions....

.

He fell seriously ill in his first year with St Kilda but managed to make nine appearances in the second half of the season.

The following year, in round five, he was nominated for the 2001 AFL Rising Star

2001 AFL Rising Star

The AFL Rising Star award is given annually to a stand out young player in the Australian Football League. The award is also known as the Norwich Rising Star due to sponsorship reasons. The 2001 medal was won by St Kilda player Justin Koschitzke....

 award after amassing 23 disposals against Carlton

Carlton Football Club

The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

, a performance that would also win him two Brownlow Medal

Brownlow Medal

The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...

 votes. Beetham, who had Scheuermann's disease

Scheuermann's disease

Scheuermann’s disease is a self-limiting skeletal disorder of childhood. It is also known as Sherman's Disease, Scheuermann’s kyphosis , Calvé disease and Juvenile Osteochondrosis of the Spine. It is named after Holger Werfel Scheuermann...

, played a total of 20 games that season and was St Kilda's fourth leading disposal getter.

In 2002 he struggled for form and at the end of the year announced a surprise retirement from AFL football.