Netballer Gina Kickett's death stuns community

By Angela Carey
Updated November 2 2012 - 11:04am, first published November 16 2008 - 6:43am
Gina Kickett stars on the netball court
Gina Kickett stars on the netball court

GEORGINA Kickett will never know whether she was good enough to play netball at the highest level in Ballarat.Gina should have been aniticipating the release of the Ballarat Pride netball squad for 2009. Instead, Ballarat's netball fraternity will join her family and friends on Wendesday for a memorial service for the 27-year-old mother of two. Gina Kickett died suddenly on Tuesday last week after collapsing at a local supermarket.Doctors aren't certain yet what caused her death so unexpectedly, but suspect it could be the result of an undiagnosed blood clot.There had been no sign that Gina had been unwell. "She said to me that morning that I might have to fill in at netball for her that night because her back was a bit sore,'' her mother, Belinda Hayden said at the weekend. That was the one and only clue her family got that anything might be wrong.Gina had been trying out for selection in next year's Pride team, which will play in the inaugural season of the Victorian Netball League.Coach Jo Dash said that "at the very least", Gina would have made the team's development squad.Since moving to Ballarat in 2004, Gina had made quite a name for herself in netball circles.The night she died, she had been due to play in a netball final with her team, Dela Force. Stunned by the news of their teammate's death, the girls forfeited the match.They rallied and played on Thursday night - Gina's 15-year-old sister Jordan included. Watching from the sidelines was Gina's partner Aaron Clark, their two children, three-year-old Alkira and 18-month old Mingara and members of the Kickett and Clark families.But the team's grief was too overwhelming and they were beaten, forcing Dela Force into a prelimary final on Thursday night.Gina's death has shocked both the Aboriginal community and her family and friends.Her partner, Aaron, is devastated."Life was just starting for us,'' he said.Gina had returned to serious netball competition after a break to focus on the care of her babies."Now that the kids were a bit older, she was just starting to get back into netball and was thinking about her career again,'' Aaron said.Gina had sought advice on joining the Victoria or Australian Federal Police.Tragically, that has all been cut short.Georgina Dianne Kickett was born in Merredin in Western Austraila, a small town in the heart of the WA wheat belt, 260km from Perth. She was the oldest of Belinda Hayden and Stan Kickett's four children. Her brothers, Marcus and Aidan play football with North City and her sister Jordan played alongside Gina in the North City senior netball team which is coached by their mother, Belinda.Gina's sporting prowess showed from a very early age."I remember when she was in year eight, she was going for a high jump record at a sports event. It was my record and one that I had held for 20 years,'' her mother said."She came to me and said 'Mum, if I get this record, I beat you'. I told her that was okay, to go for it. She didn't beat it but she did equal it,'' Belinda said.When Gina's brothers' skills as footballers started to emerge, the family decided to relocate to Perth to give them further opportunities.Gina decided she wanted to finish her year 11 and 12 studies at Merredin so stayed behind with relatives."She was one of very few Aboriginal children from the area to complete year 12,'' her Uncle George, after whom she was named, said."Lots of kids in the area have followed her example and gone on to finish year 12,'' he said.In 27 years, Gina became an unofficial role model for Koori people across the country.After leaving school, she graduated from the West Australian Police Academy as an Aboriginal Liaison Officer."She had a special affinity with children, in particular,'' said her father, Stan. "The police would send her into a situation where there was trouble and they knew that she would handle it her way and everything would be okay,'' he said.Gina became a highly regarded member of the liaison team, so much so, that her senior officers encouraged her to join the regular police force."She felt she could do more to break down the barriers between police and the Aboriginal community as a liaison officer though,'' said her father, Stan.Gina stayed in that role until she resigned to move permanently to Victoria.That move was prompted by her love affair with with Aaron, who she met at a Charles Perkins Football/Netball Carnival in Canberra in 2002, one of three that she competed in as captain of the West Australian netball team. It wasn't until a year later that thre relationship really took off and the distance between Ballarat, where Aaron was playing football with the North Ballarat Roosters, and Perth meant some serious decisions had to be made about their future.Gina decided to move to Victoria and, after Alkira was born, her family followed."Every time she would visit, saying good-bye was hard,'' Belinda said. "The last time, she walked through the airport and did not look back - it was too painful for her.''That was when Belinda decided to move the rest of her family.The Kicketts are full of praise for the way Ballarat has embraced them and their culture."There isn't a more welcoming and inclusive city for Aboriginal people than Ballarat,'' Aaron's father, Geoff Clark said.Aaron said there was still a significant cultural divide between Aboriginal and white communities in Western Australia, but the Kicketts had experienced none of that since arriving in Ballarat."Ballarat changed Gina's life,'' Aaron said. "She was all talk about Ballarat and how great it is. She was so grateful for the opportunities this city gave her family, especially her sister, Jordan.''Jordan is in year 10 at Ballarat and Clarendon College and in September, she and Gina were members of the Western Eels team which won the annual Victorian Sport and Recreation indigneous netball competition in Melbourne. Gina was captain of the team. She also captained North City's senior netball team in the BFL this year."Gina was a natural leader,'' Aaron said. "Whatever team she played with, she always ended up as captain.''Geoff Clark said Gina's efforts to broaden the community's understanding of her culture through the simple act of involvement had been inspiring."One of the best ambassadors we've had has been struck down too prematurely,'' he said.Mr Clark was full of praise for his daughter's strength of character."She came into our family at a difficult time,'' Mr Clark said, referring to allegations of rape against him and susequent court hearings."A weaker person would have found it all too hard to deal with and walked away,'' he said.But Gina stood by Mr Clark, figuratively as well as literally. "When the media was following Geoff, Gina always made sure she was standing right their beside him and Aaron,'' her mother said.Seated next to his grieving son now, Geoff Clark presents a much different figure to that portrayed in courts.He juggles his granddaughter Alkira on his lap and laughs as she threads pink ribbons and clips through his hair. "I've made Poppy look like an old woman,'' she says. And Poppy plays along.Alkira's name comes from a Northern Territory dialect and means "the sky''. Mingara, also Aaron's middle name, means "sky spirit''.Aaron said he knows his children, young though they are, sense Gina's absence already. "Her spirit is all around us here, but they know she has gone,'' he said, cradling Mingara in his arms.He hopes both children have inherited the traits of their mother."There wasn't a selfish bone in her body. There were times when we didn't have a lot ourselves, but what we did have, she would give away to others. That's the kind of person she was.''The point is not lost on Aaron that many of Gina's friends will experience an Aboriginal funeral for the first time this week.Even in death, Gina will be working to bridge the gap between the people of two worlds that meant so much to her.

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