Tragically, Harry died unexpectedly at the age of 19, but he was poignantly remembered by his beloved Maitland Pickers during the annual memorial tribute.

Through the tribute game the Pickers and Cessnock Goannas again demonstrated their value to the community – not in the jubilation of championship teams but in their quiet respect for a good young man whose life was cut short.

The Pickers and Goannas players and officials gathered with Harry’s family to remember a young man who epitomised all that can be learned from sport and involvement with a sporting club.

The young men who called Harry a friend have been there for Harry’s family in the 18 months since his death. 

School mates and club mates wanted to show they had not forgotten him. They chose to remember him with a memorial before his beloved Pickers reserves teammates and the mates he forged playing footy at school with Cessnock students at St Mary’s College.

The pain is still raw for these young men, but they and the club only proceeded with their plans when they received the OK from Harry’s family, in particular his mother Liz whose pain was even more acute on the eve of Mother’s Day. 

“I felt very proud to see just how loved he was. Sport, and the Pickers in particular, were such a big part of Harry’s life,” his father Mark said after last year’s ceremony. “They have been fantastic to us in the support they have given us. His mates have just been terrific.”

Harry Hofman learned about loyalty, mateship, honesty, humility and integrity from his parents, but he found positive reinforcement of those qualities through his involvement in sport.

Those lucky enough to be involved with the Pickers know that those qualities are shared by the young men who so proudly called Harry a mate. They are being permanently perpetuated in a trophy each year awarded to a reserves grade player.

They are the same qualities which are being reinforced at the Maitland Magpies and Blacks, the 265 teams in the Maitland Netball Association, the Mustangs, Saints and Rams, the Weston Bears, Kurri Kurri Bulldogs, Speedway Club and Motorcycle Club and hundreds of other sporting bodies.