Great send-off for top GB gymnastics coach Keith Hardy

Blackpool-born Master Coach Keith was an honorary life member of British Gymnastics and held the UK Diploma of Honour for his services to the sport, among many accolades.

Keith died peacefully in hospital at the age 84 with Brendene, his loving wife of 61 years, and family at his bedside.

The proudest moment of a coaching career which spanned over 55 years came in 1980, when his pupil Mandy Gornall from Garstang was crowned British champion. Many would follow Keith's example by going into coaching himself.

A Women’s Artistic Gymnastics High Performance coach, Keith also served British Athletics on its Board of Control and Executive Committee, also representing the North-West region as president, chairman, coach and competition organiser..

Gymnastics would take Keith around the worked as head of delegation and coach at various international events. He was a national coach at senior and junior levels and later an examiner.

As a schoolboy, Keith taught himself tumbling and balancing routines and would entertain holiday-makers on the Promenade.

This led to an offer of work as an acrobat at Blackpool Tower Circus and Keith often wondered how differently his journey would have evolved had he taken that route.

Instead he worked as a primary school teacher, principally at Hawes Side, gained his first coaching qualification in 1972and opened a boys' gymnastics club at the old technical college .

Few boys turned up for the first session but hundreds of girls did – inspired by Olga Korbut at that year's Munich Olympics – and Keith asted no time in qualifying a women's artistic coach.

He founded the Fylde Coast Gymnastics club at the YMCA in St Annes and ran it for around 10 years until his GB commitments began to take him much further afield.

Monday's service at Blackpool Crematorium was followed by a celebration of Keith's life at Staining Golf Club.

Devoted wife Brendene said: “It was a wonderful send-off, with so many people saying such lovely things. If only Keith could have seen how much he was loved”

Keith will also be greatly missed by sons Karl and Steven, as well as his granddaughters and great grandchildren.

The funeral was streamed via the website: https://briandavidfilms.co.uk/channel1 and can be viewed for the next four weeks using passing 1289.