There are milestones and there is Keith Smith.
The 71-year-old retired financial adviser, pictured, yesterday played his 1000th game for Fremantle Cockburn Hockey Club.
Playing with his over 60s Masters team, Smith did what he has been doing since 1957 when he discovered the Fremantle Hockey Club at the end of his street.
He’s enjoying it while it lasts as he realises time is on his heels.
“It’s finite. In two years I will be 73. When you are 45 chasing someone around who is 22, it is not much fun. When you are 70 chasing someone around who is 45 is not much fun either,” he said.
“I am playing against some people who I went to high school with.”
Smith didn’t win a game in his first season of hockey, but was a junior jet.
He celebrated junior premierships in 1959 and 1961 and was also selected in six junior State sides from 1963-69.
He debuted for the Fremantle A-Grade side at 16 and played at that level for a staggering 15 years.
Typically, Smith didn’t want any fuss over his milestone match, pointing out it was all about the team. Entering the weekend, they sat fourth in a season that will be condensed like all other sports because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“But I know what they are planning behind the scenes, so it will be nice. I play for the social aspect, the mateship. It’s nice to play a game and then have a few beers afterwards,” he said.
And then he is looking forward to getting on with his hockey career and playing his 1001st game with no fanfare.
“That would be nice,” he said.
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