Originally published May 9, 1994
THE Sunraysia sporting community was in a state of shock as it tried to come to terms with the death of promising young Mildura footballer Jason Hosking.
The 19-year-old died at Mildura Base Hospital after being involved in a collision with an Imperials player during the third quarter of the senior match at City Oval.
He is believed to have got to his feet after the collision before collapsing to the ground.
Players from both sides, trainers, a trained nurse, police and ambulance officers worked feverishly on Jason in an attempt to revive him as he lay on the ground.
The game, which was stopped when umpires in charge realised the severity of Jason’s injury, was later abandoned.
Jason’s parents and grandfather, who were watching the game, went on to the field to assist the young player whose death left players from both sides in tears.
Tributes to the young rover, who was a member of the Sunraysia interleague team, began pouring in.
One of the first was from grandfather Charlie May who said watching Jason grow into a fine young man had been a “privilege”.
Other tributes came from Mildura Football Club and the Sunraysia Football League Board of Commissioners.
The collision happened in time-on in the third quarter when Jason stepped in front of an Imperials player who was making a lead to the Eleventh Street side of the oval.
Jason, who had kicked four goals to that stage of the game and was largely responsible for Mildura having a 17-point lead, tried to block the lead.
The collision did not appear to be hard or malicious and the Imperials player continued on past Jason.
When he collapsed there was no one near him.
Both sides stayed on the ground and a hushed crowd was stunned by what they saw taking place.
The umpires stopped the game at 4.35pm.
Long after the ambulance taking Jason from the ground had left City Oval players and spectators stood staring at the empty playing surface.
Not a word was spoken as his teammates, opponents and supporters tried to come to grips with what they had witnessed.
Jason started his football with Mildura in the under 11s and won best and fairest awards with the club in both the under 13 and under 15 age groups.
In 1992, he went one better when he won the Jobson Medal for the best and fairest in the Sunraysia Football League under 17 competition.
The Sunraysia Football League saw fit to name the title of the league’s best representative player award the Hosking Medal.
For almost 14 years, Jason’s revered No. 34 guernsey was set aside as a mark of respect until younger brother Troy donned the guernsey for Mildura in April 2008.
Tests revealed Jason had died of heart failure.
