Sports days, Netball and chips-on-a-stick

 Sports days, Netball and chips-on-a-stick

Today was the Netball Interschools. It was quite a festive atmosphere at the Cheve fields, and in the words of my daughter, “They had a delightful spread of refreshments.” This is after all very important in the enjoyment of any sports day. I know parents believe that their children should be more bothered with winning or losing, but they are not. Yes, they walk off the field crying and upset about being out-played and out-smarted, but the mere mention of chip-on-a-stick cheers them up. Because the smell of salt and vinegar and oil is what makes sports days fun!

Oh! Yes, for anyone more interested in results than memories, we will have to admit that for Girls’ High, there have been more successful days on the court than today. No, and losing does not have to define you. It should inspire you. We will have to commend the determination and single-mindedness with which the Paarl Gim girls played. Many of the matches were competitive games even though the scoreboard swayed toward Paarl Gim’s side. Losses could be explained by nerves and excitement, for example, certain teams camped in front of the goalpost but only scored five times. This does not testify to ability but nerves.

The Girls’ High family will have to congratulate one of their own, Ms. Shannon Bartlett, for her excellent coaching of the Paarl Gim U.13 A Netball team. Wow! What a team. They played with determination and speed. They own the open spaces, got away from defenders, and scored whenever they saw the goalpost. Trying to deny their ability would be to lessen the GHS’s u.13 A Netball team's effort. We tried our best with Lumari Carstens really giving it her all. She was not willing to go down without a fight. I felt particularly proud of this U. 13  team for how they remained steadfast in character. Usually when a team faces such overwhelming opposition they tend to fall apart and turn on each other. These girls did no such thing, they in fact supported each other and encouraged each other to keep the faith.

We are still proud of our team and our coach, Ms. Lizani Cronje, who supported her girls and encouraged them to raise their game as they did in the third quarter of the game.

At Girls’ High School, we are never comfortable with losing but always eager to take on a challenge as we saw our hockey side did. We can recognise a growth opportunity and acknowledge our opponents, but still, say, game on for next year. We will all be there cheering with our chip-on-a-stick in one hand and our slushies in the other.

Go Girls’ High!