Ten of my school sports highlights of 2022

1 Let’s get the hardy perennials out of the way up front: St Benedict’s won the boys competition at the SA Schools rowing championships at Germiston Lake (Roodeplaat was hyacinth-choked) for the 28^th consecutive year in March, and ….

2 Northcliff High school won the Joburg co-ed schools A league athletics interhigh for the 24^th time in a row. There are still no contenders in sight for either of them.

3 The Easter Rugby festivals were on again, which was in itself a highlight. I was at KES, and what stood out for me was the Queens College old boys standing in a torrential downpour, singing their songs from the 1^st whistle to the last.

4 The Jeppe vs KES rugby double header derby clash is always special, but the 1^st meeting this year really stands out. It was thriller, won 27-26 in the last minute by KES. There were 22 black players across the two teams and the standard of rugby was fantastic, a triumph for successful transformation.

5 The Aitken Trophy final this year ended four hours after it began, due to lightning 1^st, then loadshedding. Jeppe scored in the final second to beat St Stithians 2-1, their 6^th consecutive title. What I’ll remember, though, was the sight of the Saints players going across to applaud the Jeppe supporters after the game ended.

6 The U13 Craven Week was at Monument in Krugersdorp and it was great to attend it again. The Golden Lions beat Boland in the “main game” after defeating Western Province on the second last day – the 1^st time WP had lost a game at the week in 10 years.

7 I was at a special event at KES in October. It was a farewell evening for Tutty Faber who has hung up his whistle after coaching at the school for 40 years. He has been an incredible servant to King Edward in number of different roles. It will be hard to imagine the place without him.

8 St Dominic’s School of Boksburg lost 10-8 to St Stithians in the final of the Saints stayers tournament in November, after beating Roedean 4-3 in the semifinals. It’s been remarkable story of improvement. I remember not too many years ago when they were cannon fodder at the Roedean tournament, just making up the numbers, really.

9 Central Gauteng won the boys and girls U19 titles at the SA Schools water polo tournament in Durban in December, and took the overall title, ahead of Western Province who have dominated this event for the last 10 years.

10 The year ended for me with a week in Stellenbosch at the Khaya Majola cricket week. There was no week in 2020 and I missed 2021 because of Covid. It was great to be back at the world’s greatest school cricket festival – it keeps that title, only just, despite some serious cutbacks in the production due to CSA’s financial woes. And there can be no better setting it for than between the Eerste River and the Hottentots-Holland mountains at the Maties’ Coetzenberg complex.