Maccabi mourns the loss of Gray
MACCABI NSW is slowly coming to grips with the sudden passing of Ian Gray, as the club reflects on the former Socceroos' legacy.
DAVID WEINER
MACCABI NSW is slowly coming to grips with the sudden passing of Ian Gray, as the club reflects on the former Socceroos’ legacy, while trying to fill the “irreplaceable” void that he leaves behind.
“This hit like a tsunami through Maccabi,” said Youth Development League (YDL) chairman Jon Marcuson, who knew “Iggy” for all of his 15-year involvement with the club.
“He was such a great coach, a good bloke. Such a loss.”
All Maccabi soccer clubs cancelled training for the week out of respect, and a minute’s silence was held and black armbands worn at the YDL intra-club trials on Sunday.
Each team, from juniors to the club’s most senior masters, held their own gatherings through the week, and both Maccabi and the Jewish schools organised counsellors for the kids.
There has been a genuine outpouring of grief and shock for Gray, who was found dead in his Sydney apartment on February 15. A “RIP Iggy” Facebook page has been flooded with eulogies from its 557 members, with its creator, under-15 YDL player Ryan Miller, writing: “We all love you and miss you. You were not only our coach; you were our brother and mentor. You were always so happy and never in a bad mood. You were always the first to make a joke and always the quickest to make a comeback. Life will never be the same without you.”
Maccabi NSW has also been flooded with reflections, which will be put in hard copy and given to Gray’s family, with another copy to be kept at Maccabi headquarters. YDL’s end-of-year trophies will also be re-named in his honour.
Senior club president Jon Pillemer said: “What are the lessons that he taught us that left an indelible mark on our lives?
“He was a good person before he was a good footballer — the hallmark of the guy was he treated everyone the same, whether you were the star or the sub … he taught our kids valuable lessons, not just on the football field.”
But the reality set in when Maccabi’s teams returned to the field this week. Not only was Gray the “sounding board” for Marcuson and Pillemer’s “first port of call”, he coached the under-15s, AA1s, AA2s and Grand Masters.
Calls have been put out to contacts to find senior coaches, while Gray’s assistant, Laurence Braude, will take the mantle of the under-15s, to the delight of the young squad.
Media reports have painted a salacious picture of Gray’s final hours. Twenty-two-year-old escort Sherryn Marie Davis of Richmond, NSW, has been charged with manslaughter, theft and supplying a prohibited drug. But the expected turnout of hundreds of mourners at the Salvation Army Church, where six Maccabi juniors will be ushers, will help ensure he is remembered for what he brought to Maccabi and football at large.
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