BEAUMONT — Jodie Blotner said she had just texted Rico Keeling on Sunday about practice times for her daughters Alexis, 14, and Addison, 12.

“He was coming to Mid-County to Port Neches-Groves High School to meet them for practice,” Blotner said.

A short time later, a friend gave Blotner some devastating news.

“I didn’t believe it, so I confirmed with [PNG soccer] coach [Aimee] Bates, and she said, ‘Yes, it’s true,’” Blotner said.

Keeling, a soccer coach to many Jefferson County youths and a 2007 Nederland High School graduate, died that evening, the cause still unknown as of Monday night. He was 29.

Instead of meeting with Keeling for a training session, Blotner, her daughters and hundreds of others gathered at Beaumont’s Cris Quinn Soccer Complex for a vigil and balloon release in his memory.

“He didn’t coach them in soccer. He coached them in the game of life,” Blotner said.

Keeling’s first cousin, Shawn Wyatt, who considers him a brother, said Keeling was “a fantastic person” who lived a great life and had come far in it.

“You can see by the turnout here how many people’s lives he touched. I’m extremely proud of him and what he’s done. He’s a person who was taken from us before his time, but he did a lot of great things for these people and this community, and I want people to know that and praise his life.”

Keeling was “the most positive and the most energetic stand-up guy, like everybody wanted their kid to work with him,” Bates said.

“Like, phenomenal,” she added.

Bates’ PNG team, as well as Nederland, will compete in the UIL 5A Region III girls tournament at Humble High School’s Turner Stadium on Friday, but the news of Keeling’s death hit Bates’ players hard.

“My players were very upset at the high school,” Bates said. “They had to get out of class, kind of regroup themselves. We did not talk about it before [practice] because I knew they wouldn’t recover. We went straight to the field and got busy because sometimes that’s the best thing, to get active.”

Bates said she and her players did talk about Keeling after practice and competing in his memory.

Memorial boys soccer coach Chris Bradford was filled with emotion over the loss over his former Lamar University club and professional teammate.

“Although he was a year younger than me, I learned so much from him,” Bradford said. “I’m 30. He was 29. He was such an honest, hard-working person. He taught me to be a better person. I learned from him. I learned a lot from him.”

Bradford and Keeling had a friendship that lasted 17 years and included meetings against each other on the pitch in high school, Keeling as a Nederland Bulldog and Bradford as a West Brook Bruin.

“That’s when we linked up and got a lot more close,” Bradford said. “We played in the Sunday league, all on the same team. We coached together.”

Keeling and Bradford were teammates on the Texas Strikers indoor and Oxford City of Texas professional clubs, both of which operated in Beaumont.

“A lot of times, it was me and him on long road trips, only Beaumont natives,” Bradford said.

Many continued to come up to Bradford for a hug before he could complete a thought about his friend.

“He was a selfless, honest, hard-working person,” Bradford said. “He kept God first. He kept other people first.

Wyatt’s aunt took Keeling in when he was about 5 while the family still lived in Florida. Keeling was 14, according to Wyatt, when they moved to Nederland.

“I taught Rico how to play when he was a kid and I coached him coming up,” Wyatt said. “When he stopped playing, he really wanted to be a coach and he really wanted to help kids. He just had it ingrained in him.”

Keeling was an industrial project manager/estimator at Gulf Coast Machine and Supply Co., according to his Facebook page. He organized GAP Performance Training, which, as Nederland boys coach Keith Barrow and Blotner explained, bridged the gap between soccer seasons.

“GAP Performance is basically getting away from the competitiveness of club soccer and giving kids the necessary skills to develop as players, outside of the competitive realm,” Wyatt said. “It was something he was very passionate about. I’m super-proud of him for doing it and going forward. I hope it keeps going afterwards.”

Barrow is the Beaumont boys director for the Houston Dynamo’s youth club based at Cris Quinn and worked with Keeling on many occasions.

“Just such an amazing personality and infectious smile and laugh,” said Barrow, whose oldest son and nephew trained under Keeling. “… He’s one of those coaches who can get on your butt so hard, and the kids respond in a good way. They work hard because they want to please him. He’s what coaches want to be like and he’s what you want the way kids at him and respect him. That’s what all coaches want.”

Keeling leaves behind a wife Bethany and baby girl Keris.

“He was so proud of his girls,” Blotner said.

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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews