School sport in our neck of the woods took a bit of a
breather as many took the opportunity provided by a three-day week to have a
rare weekend off.
Not everyone though. Parktown staged its Alan Monk U16
tournament from Thursday to Sunday – it was the only gap for it in the middle
of the all the frenetic activity, with the Aitken-Boden weekend coming up soon
as well.
There’s a school sport highlight right there. Those
teachers, most of whom never had an April holiday – there were tours and
festivals everywhere – were happy and enthusiastic about working some more
while everyone else had a break, because giving the U16s a taste of tournament
play is that important to them. Anyway, I was there too. I didn’t need a break though,
I always say the best things about retirement are the hours, and the length of
the working week!
And I’m so glad I went. I don’t know much about hockey but I
can recognise (and I’m a big fan of) passion and commitment. There was plenty
of that, from players, coaches, and those who were running the event. It went a
bit too far once or twice, I thought, but if the adults in the room used that
to teach the boys the lessons that these sorts of event are all about, then goals
were attained.
Affies and Pretoria Boys High were there, and St Alban’s
were there last year. I asked about that, because I recall that the idea
was to have an abbreviated Boden/Aitken competition, at the same time,
involving the top 10 U16 teams in the S Gauteng Province. I was told that isn’t
so. It’s Parktown’s tournament and they can invite who they like. Apparently,
they are looking to involve teams from KZN and elsewhere from next year on too.
That’s fine. I love tradition, but sometimes it gets in the
way. In this case, the boys at this age need a taste of what’s to come in the
future, and that includes playing six games against top opposition. It would be
sad, though, if the local sides that have been supporting the event for years
have to make way for the big guns. They could use another field I guess; they
did that this year. But I love the Parktown setting with its towering oak trees
and rustic stone seating, in the middle of the concrete jungle. The boys need
to experience playing there.
An added bonus, for me, was that the final featured the two
schools where I have some involvement. I was there to report on the progress of
St John’s and Jeppe over the four days, and they both went all the way. For
once I could really say that it didn’t matter who won. In the end it was Jeppe,
but they were made to fight for it by a brave and resolute St John’s outfit who
have some very skilful players. More importantly, the biggest game of the
weekend saw less of the niggly play and bad attitudes from the players than some of the earlier ones I watched.
And at the end of the prize-giving proceedings, the teams
were given a couple of boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts each by a St John’s parent and
– they are teenagers after all – they wolfed them down on the spot!
I drove home with a warm feeling, beaming with pride at both
“my” schools, and very impressed with the show that Parktown put on.
Highlights, for sure.
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