With great sadness, we advise the touch footballing community of the passing of one of the sports’ genuinely nice guys, Ian Geddes.

Ian passed on Saturday, September 3, following a heart attack and being treated in hospital over the past week.

He was a coach in our sport who always focused on his players and team’s development. He thrived on preparing individuals to develop to make them Premier League-ready. His coaching career spanned across Western Suburbs TA, Parramatta TA, and Sydney Mets.

He coached Western Suburbs in 200 Vawdon Cup games in Women’s 20s/23s from 1994-2002, Women’s Open from 2003-2004, and Women’s Open Division 2 from 2008-2014. He also coached State Cup in those years.

At Parramatta, Ian spent another ten years developing young players, being involved with the Eels Under 10s Boys team consistently through to the Under 18s at the Junior State Cup. He coached Parramatta at Vawdon Cup across Boys Youth League, Men’s Division 2, and Men’s Division 1. He also coached their Men’s U20s and the reigning Men’s Open B champions at the State Cup.

At the regional level, he also significantly contributed significantly to Region 8 and Sydney Mets. He coached Women’s 20s in 1995 and 2004, Women’s 18s in 1996, Women’s Open in 1999, Men’s 40s in 2003 and Women’s 30s 2005-2006

He was not just a coach but also a volunteer at the grass root level and was made a Life Member of the Western Suburbs Touch Association in 2004.

His funeral will be held on Friday, September 9, 11.15 am at the Palm Chapel, Macquarie Park Crematorium, Plassey Road, North Ryde.

On behalf of the membership of the NSWTA, we send our condolences to Sharon and Ian’s family.

Vale Ian Geddes.