Super Netball news: Sydney Swifts meet 100-year-old World War II veteran Reg Chard
Reg Chard does not regard himself as a hero. Nor does he like glorifying war. But a meeting with the WWII veteran could instil the lessons that live long for the NSW Swifts.
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Briony Akle is sitting opposite Reg Chard, 100-year-old WWII veteran and possibly, the last remaining Kokoda Track digger.
As he talks, Akle can see the years melt away.
Chard is still a volunteer guide at the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway in Sydney where he has worked for more than a decade since the death of his wife Betty and was visited by NSW Swifts coach Akle and club co-captains Paige Hadley and Maddy Proud.
Education is now Chard’s calling card, with the veteran’s purpose to educate others on the legacy of the Kokoda campaign.
As he spoke to the trio, Akle saw past the centenarian to the 18-year-old who enlisted for the army more than eight decade ago, a teen no older than her own son.
“We’d seen footage of Reg as a young soldier and I could see him.
“I could see through the demeanour of this man who had been at war but I could see him as a kid.
“And I was thinking, this is like me sitting in front of Seb and not knowing if I’m ever going to see you again,” Akle said of the sudden realisation she could have been looking at the oldest of her four sons, Sebastian.
“And he volunteered to do that.
“I’ve got four boys that probably would have been them.”
Chard did not march on Anzac Day, nor does he regard himself as any sort of hero. He reserves that label for men such as his best mates, who did not return from the conflict.
Like all veterans, he saw and experienced things that left deep scars on his soul.
And yet the lessons he is still able to pass on are invaluable, Akle said.
“I was saying to Paige (Hadley) and Maddy (Proud), who were with me, I don’t think we realise what we’re witnessing sitting here,” Akle said.
“He’s come out with all these positive messages … when he could be saying the complete opposite.
“Just the aura around him, knowing what he’d been through. It was (a privilege), I still get quite emotional about it – and so does Paige.
“I heard Paige the next day sitting in our team meeting telling the other girls and I knew it had had an effect.”
The warlike analogies sometimes used to portray sporting rivalries do nothing to honour men like Chard.
He – and Akle – would reject any notion of glorifying the conflict.
But there were lessons. Teamwork, friendship, never leaving a mate behind.
They were lessons Akle and her captains took away and vowed to repeat – as they did at an Anzac Day training session where Reg’s life was front and centre.
“I don’t want it to be tokenistic,” she said of the visit.
“ The meaning of the Anzac is really important for me and it’s not a toast tokenistic gesture that we’ve gone and spoken to Reg, I want it to live on.”
Certainly, Reg will be watching.
He’s a Swifts fan, you see. And one who was most annoyed recent visitors rang his doorbell in the dying stages of their recent pre-season final against the Melbourne Vixens, preventing him from seeing his favourite team crowned Team Girls Cup winners.
Reg has won a legion of new fans of his own. Ones who are proud to honour his sacrifice – even if they agree, grudgingly, not to call him a hero.
“All of the non-battle stuff, the mental side of it … that probably resonated with me more than the war part,” Akle said.
“The mental side of it. How has he stayed present and been a good dad and a good husband – and he was all of that.
Originally published as Super Netball news: Sydney Swifts meet 100-year-old World War II veteran Reg Chard
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