23 May 2013

The Final National Senior Certificates have arrived and are available in the College reception. Please come in and collect them from Mrs Pender at your earliest convenience.

Please click here to read the letter of thanks from the Keegan family.

Dear Parents

I have enjoyed a week of some contrasts – all of which revolved around teams, team spirit, selflessness, the passion of participants and coaches and the importance of support.

It began with the Under 14 hockey game against Westville, played at the Clifton@Riverside Astroturf on Friday.  It was a tight game, which we lost 0-1.  We had our chances and we had long periods of superiority but the result did not go our way. Amidst all the genuine sportsmanship at the end of the game, it was hard not to detect the irritation of our boys and coaches at the result.  They expect victory of themselves and they should.  While I did not see the games that followed at Westville, I know that the same was true of these.  There, our First XI fought back from a 0-3 deficit to run close against their opponents.  There, the sense of what was possible was equally apparent.  Fierce but friendly competition is a part of schoolboy sport and it is what makes it so special to watch and this was equally evident in the games against DHS on Wednesday, where our boys excelled under just those conditions and achieved the victories.  What a celebration!

The rugby matches against George Campbell were played in a perfect setting at our Riverside fields on a glorious autumn day and produced contests that underline just how far our rugby has come at Clifton.  A full house of ‘A’ team victories and a thrilling First XV victory, with Mercurial Manqoba working his magic, proved that our focus on pre-season work and strategy has paid dividends.  Of course, it was far more than victory that mattered.  In each game, the spirit of competition was clearly present but all ended with players and coaches acknowledging the contest and looking forward to the rematch.  It was proper sport played properly.  Coaches, officials, players and spectators all look forward to the rematch and the way in which the First XV players and the school supporters came together after the final game to celebrate was moving and affirming.   Proper sport played properly.  Again, Wednesday’s rugby fixtures against DHS underlined this:  our boys played and supported with equal determination and the atmosphere at Clifton@Riverside surely was unbeatable!

On Sunday, I watched teams of a very different sort perform at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.  The KZN Youth Orchestra and the KZN Youth Choir, both with significant Clifton representation amongst the ranks, took part in the Youth in Music Festival.  The standard was extraordinary, the goals set by the conductors were far above anything I might have imagined and the performances were sublime.  Just as in a sports team, these young people train and practise under the direction of passionate coaches.  Each musician and chorister depends on the other to ensure that the work is correct and each has to give a massive amount of energy and dedication to ensure that the finished product is a musical victory.  This was a chance for the soul to be nurtured and the audience was fully appreciative, with the Youth Choir deservedly receiving a standing ovation at the end of its programme.

It might not be often that a sports team and an orchestra or a choir are mentioned in the same context but at Clifton we find that easy to do!  Throughout this weekend I had an overwhelming sense of pride in the achievements of our young men and the way in which they conducted themselves.  We really could not ask for more.

And then there were the defeat of the Stormers and the victory of Arsenal to remind me that sport is not always kind, happy endings are not always to be expected and solace has to be found in music!

BRIAN MITCHELL
EXECUTIVE HEADMASTER

On Friday, Messrs Jones, Mezher, Greaves and Bresler will be at the Prep rugby matches being played away at Merchiston.  On Saturday Messrs Greaves and Mezher along with Mrs Young will be at the Grades R-2 Dads and Lads session on the Whitehead Oval.  Mrs Young will also be at the Chess Tournament at Chelsea.  Mr Bresler will be at the College hockey matches being played away at Hilton College.  Messrs Mitchell, Goedeke and Mezher will be at the College rugby matches being played against Voortrekker at Clifton@Riverside.

All results are for Clifton against the equivalent age groups or teams unless otherwise stated.

PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Cross Country

The following boys were placed in the top 25 in the Clarence Primary League Race on Wednesday 15 May:

Under 10

Al’lanzo Cassim – 9th
Ross Montgomery – 12th

Under 11

George Edward - 1st
Josh De La Porte – 19th

Under 12

Matthew Nordengen - 1st
Christian Brand – 7th

Rugby

Results from the matches against Virginia Prep

First XV lost 8-14
Second XV won 5-0
Clifton Fourth XV vs Virginia Third XV won 14-0
Under 11A won 21-0
Under 11B won 35-0
Under 10A lost 5-20
Under 10B won 15-5
Clifton Under 10D vs Virginia Under 10C lost 0-25

Results from the matches against Crawford North Coast

Clifton Third XV vs Crawford First XV lost 0-20
Clifton Under 11B vs Crawford Under 11A drew 10-10
Clifton Under 10C vs Crawford Under 10A drew 25-25

Results from the Chelsea Under 9 Festival

Under 9A vs Chelsea won 15-0
Under 9A vs Highbury drew 5-5
Under 9A vs DPHS drew 0-0

Results from the Virginia Under 10 Festival

Under 10A vs Virginia won 10-5
Under 10A vs Westville won 10-5
Under 10A vs Chelsea lost 10-15
Under 10A vs Glenwood drew 5-5
Under 10B vs Virginia drew 5-5
Under 10B vs Westville lost 0-10
Under 10B vs Chelsea won 5-0
Under 10B vs Glenwood won 20-5

COLLEGE

Rugby

Results from the matches against George Campbell Technical High School

Under 14A won 22-10
Under 14B lost 12-27
Under 15A won 27-17
Under 15B lost 12-15
Under 16A won 17-3
Third XV lost 10-27
Second XV lost 18-40
First XV won 17-10

Results from the matches against DHS

Under 14A lost 0-66
Under 14B lost 0-69
Under 15A lost 12-71
Under 15B lost 0-65
Under 16A drew 14-14
Third XV lost 5-50
Second XV lost 7-55
First XV lost 11-28

Hockey

Results from the matches against Westville Boys’ High School

First XI lost 2-4
Second XI lost 0-2
Third XI lost 0-7
Under 16A lost 0-1
Under 16B lost 0-2
Under 16C lost 1-4
Under 16D vs Westville Under 16E lost 0-5
Under 14A lost 0-1
Under 14B lost 0-2
Under 14C vs Westville Under 14D lost 1-4

Results from the matches against DHS

First XI won 2-1
Second XI won 4-0
Under 16A won 3-0
Under 16B won 3-0
Under 14A won 4-0
Under 14B won 4-1

Tennis

Results from the matches against Kearsney College

First Team won 5-4
Second Team lost 2-7
Third Team lost 0-9

Results from the matches against Northwood

First Team won 8-1
Second Team won 9-0
Third Team won 9-0

Cross-Country

Results from the Durban Interschools Cross-Country League on 16 May

Under 15 Individual:

Callum Simpson – 2nd
Ryan Harris – 13th
Ryan Kuter – 20th
Dane Harris – 28th
Dean Palahniuk – 35th
Jayden Emde – 40th
Siphiwe Madonsela – 52nd
Matthew Loder – 53rd
Muhammed Vally – 57th
Uzayr Jadwat – 58th

Under 15 Team:

Clifton A Team came 3rd
Clifton B Team came 8th

Under 17 Individual:

Keldt Schoeman – 8th

Under 19 Individual:

Chris McGlynn – 11th
Jonathan Fell – 14th
Allister Boosey – 34th
Jonathan Grimbeek – 35th
Cameron Peters – 36th
Calvin Annandale – 40th

Under 19 Team:

Clifton came 4th

Squash

First Team vs Kearsney Second Team won 12-4
Third Team vs Northwood Third Team won 12-1

Joshua Lavery, who was appointed as the captain of the Under 14 KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Team.

Matthew Meyer and Callum Simpson, who came first (20:35) and sixty-sixth (30:17) respectively in the Dolphin Mile Swim on Sunday 19 May.

Michael Goedeke and Joshua Brown, who were selected for KwaZulu-Natal Under 13A rugby team.

Joffe Dougall, who was selected for KwaZulu-Natal Under 13B rugby team.

Timothy Mundell, who was selected for KwaZulu-Natal Under 12 rugby team.

Keegan Nell, who made it to the final round of the KwaZulu-Natal Under 19 rugby trials.

Alexio Phytides, who was selected for the Under 15 eThekwini soccer team that is touring Turkey this month.  The team will be taking part in the One Nation Cup which they won in Bremen, Germany in 2006.

Well done to our College hockey teams who all beat their DHS counterparts yesterday in their matches at Clifton@Riverside. The First XI game was particularly exciting, with a goal in the closing minutes of the game to clinch a 2-1 win over a solid DHS team. Pictured below are the First XI with coach, Karl Bresler, after their win.

Clifton rugby supporters left Clifton@Riverside with pride on Saturday after seeing the host team play with guts and determination in their matches against George Campbell Technical High School. Pictured below are the Clifton First XV leading the College in a war cry after their 17-10 win.  Thank you to Mrs Downes for the great photo.

The Grade 2 boys once again put on their thinking caps to design and construct these floating masterpieces!

Well done to our First Team squash lads who beat Kearsney College Second Team on Monday afternoon.  Pictured below are:  Andrew Earle, Kenyon Torr, Nikhir Soni and Wyatt Edwards.

Please send any Old Boys’ news to Jess Basson via email at: jbasson@cliftonschool.co.za.

Dylan Nel was recently selected for the Sharks Under 21 Squad.

Remember to follow Old Boys’ updates on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

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