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Meeting old friends has been the highlight of the weekend

 

My school sports highlight of the weekend? …. The rugby festivals, obviously. 

Everything about them, really, but in particular, for me, seeing some familiar faces, men and women who have spent much of their lives in service of sport at schools. There are too many to list them all, but I know there will be no offence taken if I’ve left someone out.

I spoke of the guys in the KES Festival office the other day, Derron van Eeden, Neil Darroch and Ian Sim – people with weighty jobs over the festival weekend – but always gracious and courteous in all their dealings with everyone. And while I was at KES I saw Tinus Diedericks, the Golden Lions Schools Rugby chairman, Brad Ireland and Ian Rickelton, long-termers at St David’s, Hans Coetzee – a rugby coaching legend in these parts, and from the school cricket world, Niels Momberg, who is commentating on SuperSport Schools.

Down the road at St John’s, I had a word with Arnold Geerdts, who has been the announcer there for the last 15 years in a row, and I saw Adi Norris, who has been involved in that festival from the beginning, and Jacqui Deeks who makes sure that the media are looked after there better than at any of the other festivals. And Cliff Midgley popped in to the media tent. He ran the festival from the school’s side for many years, before retirement. And on the touchline was Frans Lombard, the doyen of school rugby photographers, ever friendly, and generous with advice to a wannabee snapper like me. Also in the tent were Hannes Nienaber and Carl Fabian, who have made reporting on schools rugby their careers and know more about the players and schools than anyone in the country.

I love the Easter rugby festivals for all sorts of reasons, but mainly because I get to see old friends, and giants in the world of school sport.

 


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