IT’S heartbreaking for any sporting club to be dealing with the tragedy that the Heathcote Football-Netball Club is coming to terms with.
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The club is mourning the loss of one of its players – 27-year-old Riki Stephens – taken in the prime of his life while on the end-of-season footy trip on the Gold Coast.
Stephens died on Friday, having been admitted to the Gold Coast University Hospital the previous weekend after toxicology results revealed he had taken a mix of LSD and MDMA known as the drug N Bomb.
Gun forward Stephens (pictured) had only been at the Saints for one season after being recruited from Diamond Creek.
But the outpouring of emotion and tributes that have flooded social media in recent days suggest that Stephens’ one season at Pigeon Park in 2016 will certainly leave a lasting impression on the club.
Stephens’ playing exploits speak for themselves – 59 goals in a team that won just one game and awarded the most consistent player – but his most significant impact at the club going forward can ultimately prove a valuable life lesson for all young Saints’ footballers and netballers of today and in the future about the dangers of drugs in society and the devastating impacts they can have.
The Saints, like many clubs in the area – AFL Central Victoria has run drug information sessions at 20 football-netball clubs over the past 18 months – have been active in recent years in areas such as drug education and will continue to do so, but it will now take on far more meaning.
The strength and resilience of Heathcote has been tested like no other club over the past 15 months.
The club is still struggling to get over the death of their much-loved junior netballer Georiga Edsall-French, killed in a car crash in Queensland in July, last year, at the age of 15.
The Saints turned purple for a day on the anniversary of Georgia’s death earlier this year with a community day in her honour.
Heathcote’s senior team was held to just five goals that day in a heavy loss against Huntly – Stephens kicked three of them – and now he too is gone.
Through what’s another traumatic time for Heathcote, to all those at the Saints who are hurting, stay strong and do what clubs do best through difficult times – get around each other.
It’s the hard times like these that often bring out the best in clubs.
Luke West – sports reporter.