STANGER SECONDARY SCHOOL 1955 TO 1957– SPORT IN GENERAL Part 2 following on part 1. CRICKET Far more boys played cricket and that made the organisation easier in a certain sense. We were not so dependent on finding matches in Durban and further afield as in the case of rugby. We played against Mt Edgecombe, Verulam, Maidstone and as far north as Empangeni. TRANSPORT Organising transport was a nightmare from week to week. As has been said already most of the pupils were from the outlying areas and the parents from those areas were mostly shift workers of a kind and not always available for carting children. With the school on the other hand not having its own transport those years or other bus services that we could call upon like today, Kearsney’s so called school bus, a Ford bakkie with a canopy had to be relied upon if available. The school had to supply the driver, and in those days, whoever did the driving, did so on their own risk as insurance policies did not yet exist and the Education Department was not getting involved at all should an accident occur. Well, being the only male staff member as stated before, I had to travel practically every Saturday to one or other venue. Some mornings I left the school hostel at 5 am in my vehicle, a 1937 Plymouth, drove to Kearsney, left my vehicle, collected the school bus, drove all the way to Doringkop, collected the cricketers, drove to Melville and picked up the pupils from there, and be at school at 7.30 am, to meet the town pupils and then only depart on our trip. The roads in those day were only tarred up to Melville and the rest of the roads in Zululand were dirt roads. With all the dust, many pupils got car sick and this resulted in many a roadside stop. When the venue was reached and the game started, I also had to umpire in the sultry Zululand heat. If we had happened to be in Empangeni, we would leave for home at about 3.30 pm, arrive home about 5pm , off load the town pupils, take back the pupils to Melville and Dorinkop reaching Kearsney again at 8.30 pm. Most of the time I only got to bed at 9.30 pm. Having said this, I would not have missed this period in my life. At the age of 80 I want say THANK YOU STANGER SECONDARY SCHOOL, HOSTEL AND COMMUNITY, that I was once again afforded the opportunity to share this with you.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 19:44:16 +0000
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