By Greg Blake
Nothing can allay the grief of those closest to her, nor will it diminish the shock and sorrow reverberating throughout the wider sporting community at the news that Keely Lockhart has passed away. At just 26 years-of-age. Bloody hell!
I did not know Keely personally. It would be glib to pretend otherwise, just as it would be tasteless and shallow to reduce Keely’s life to a series of soccer statistics. What she won, what number she wore, how many goals she scored.
Yet, that’s what I know of her. That’s the reason so very many people knew and loved her. Like me, many of them didn’t know her personally. “Don’t talk about the game”, they told me. How can you not? If you are part of Heidelberg United Alexander in any any capacity, you knew her, even if only by name. And soccer is the link.
This club’s tentacles wind through a community which spans the globe. Alexander’s core business for six decades has been soccer. Keely Lockhart was very, very good at playing soccer. And Keely wore the yellow and black with pride. She made us cheer. She made us stand a little taller.
And that’s why so many of the massive Heidelberg United Alexander family felt as I did after the phone call late last Sunday night with news of her passing. My heart sank. I can’t shrug the sadness. Not because we lost a soccer player. Because we lost one of our own. Keely’s passing means we are one less.
The key KPI of a sporting club comes in registering wins and losses.There are disappointments and there is sadness. But these aren’t real tragedies. Sometimes tears and emotion cloud the eyes and blur the boundaries between the two. The loss of Keely means the entire Heidelberg United Alexander club has suffered a massive, irredeemable loss. One from which bouncing back doesn’t equate to ‘there’s always next week”.
Too young, too sudden, too soon. Losing Keely Lockhart is a tragedy. No on-field success can ever balance the scales. To her loved ones and those closest to her, heartfelt commiserations from both myself and the media department of Heidelberg United Alexander.
As a player. Keely is bold, tenacious and brave. A quality finisher. A champion. I can’t past tense this because that’s the Keely I knew and that’s how she will remain in my mind. I am reminded of a line from Laurence Binyon’s poem ‘For the Fallen’. “Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn”.
I didn’t know Keely. But I knew her. If you’re part of the Heidelberg family, we all knew her. That’s what this club is about. And we’re all grieving.
