Dr Jonty Winch was awarded a BA (Hons) degree (University of Rhodesia); a Master of Arts with distinction (De Montfort University’s International Centre for Sports History and Culture), and PhD (Stellenbosch University). He has written articles for accredited international academic publications, and received the British Society of Sports History ‘Best Article’ award in 2008. An involvement in more than a dozen books on sporting history in southern Africa includes Wits Sport: An Illustrated History of Sport at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Windsor, 1989), while in recent years he has published World Champions: The Story of South African Rugby (HSRC, 2022), and played a prominent role in recording a full history of South African cricket. He co-authored Cricket & Conquest: The History of South African Cricket Retold 1795–1914 (HSRC, 2016); Cricket & Society in South Africa 1910–1971: From Union to Isolation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018); and Too Black to Wear Whites: The Remarkable Story of Krom Hendricks, a Cricket Hero who was Rejected by Cecil John Rhodes’s Empire (Penguin, 2020). The last-named publication was the ‘highly commended runner-up’ in the 2021 Cricket Writers’ Club book awards on the occasion of their 75th anniversary at The Oval, London.
Victor Radebe is chaired by fellow Witsies (Brandon Collyer, Giles Walkey and Jonathan Kallmeyer) after winning the 1500-metres in the 1986 Dalrymple Cup.
The Wits First XI 1983/84 won both the Transvaal Premier League and Sunday Limited Overs League (left to right – back row): M. Rindel, M. Clark, J. du Plessis, J. Pearce, A. Rosselli, T. Blake, S. Lurie (seated): P. Botha, K. Kerr, C. Benadie (captain), R. Ellison, B. McBride and J. Perrott (in front): S. Barnett (scorer).
Pete Suzman received the Dalrymple Cup from Lady Phillips at the conclusion of the first intervarsity athletic meeting in 1921. Providing assistance is Professor J.H. Hofmeyr, the Principal of Wits University (1919-1924) who later became South Africa’s Deputy Prime Minister (1943-1948).
1922 - 2022
Jonty Winch
From top to bottom:
Establishing a 1985 free-fall formation record of ten are Alan Murray, Stef Soncini, André le Roux, Graham Cooke, Steve Marshall, Peter Todd, Mark Allen, Norman Grüning, John Gouws and Udo Sachse
Alan van Coller, was a finalist in the Sydney Olympic Games and won medals in the World Cup in Curitiba, Brazil, to achieve a fifth overall world ranking in 2000.
Two footballers who had an important influence on the game at Wits: Gavin Hunt (left) as a coach and Mike Ntombela as a player.
The rowing team at Port Alfred 2020 (left to right – back row): Tholang Cossa, Robert Basson, Luke Kirk, Joshua Borchers, Michael Marsh, Kyle Hanck, Sloane Steinhobel, Sasha Dubravo, Andrew Cheesman, Lloyd Tinney, Jordan Jackson (half-standing): Rain de Jager, Kirstyn Lloyd (kneeling): Carla Hadfield, Kirsten McCormack, Rosanne Bentley, Victoria Johnstone, Emily Makhlouf, Jade Crooks (in front): Michelle Knowles.
Foreword
Wits Sport 100 is an important, comprehensive account of the history of sport at the University of the Witwatersrand and its precursors. Developments are recorded in their social and political context, enlivened by distinctive characters and numerous outstanding achievements that have made Wits one of the country’s great sporting nurseries.
By the time the university was established in 1922, its students had created a vibrant intervarsity movement. Contests reflected the imperial influence, with the Governor-General enjoying the incessant buzz of athletic meetings, and the Prince of Wales – the future Edward VIII – attending a rugby match between Wits and Tukkies. Blues were keenly sought after; Oxford and Cambridge sent touring teams, and students indulged in the trappings of athleticism with their colourful blazers and tasselled caps.
We are informed that women wished to participate in the intervarsity meetings but Wits, supported by five other universities, voted against their inclusion. It was not as if the female students were unathletic: in 1926,
one of the hockey players became the first Wits student to tour overseas as a member of a South African team, and the following year the women’s hockey side became the first Wits team to win a provincial league.
It took many years before sport was fully inclusive. The SRC voted in 1944, ‘to approve in principle the provision of adequate sports facilities for black students, and to request the All Sports Council to consider ways and means of granting those facilities’. The Principal reacted quickly, stating that ‘no mixed sport was to be allowed’.
We are reminded that when the National Party came to power, all sportsmen and women were affected by the apartheid policy. South Africa was barred from the Olympic Games for 32 years, resulting in Wits’s 100-metres world-record holder Paul Nash being denied the opportunity to win gold at Mexico City in 1968.
Twenty years on, we learn that Wits was not only ranked the top sporting university in South Africa, but was committed to the establishment of its own unified governing
body, the Wits Sports Council. Changes made supported national transformation and subsequently led to the structured implementation of high-performance sport, where elite student athletes are assisted in taking up sporting opportunities while pursuing and achieving academic excellence.
The concept has helped build relationships within the university, and encouraged the Wits community of students, staff and alumni to follow a healthy lifestyle through a diversity of sport codes and excellent facilities. Such positive progress augurs well for Wits as it enters a second hundred years.
Wits Sport 100 provides an invaluable window on an important aspect of the university’s history. We are indebted to the author and his collaborators who have not only explored archives and libraries but have contacted hundreds of past students in order to produce this impressive picture of the past.
ZEBLON VILAKAZI Vice-Chancellor and Principal
Professor Zeblon Vilakazi
A major highlight of the Wits University Centenary Campaign was the announcement that a magnificent new sports complex will be built on the education campus. It is a wonderful gift from the Zylstra family, who had in May 2022, put forward the possibility of generously funding a significant and impactful infrastructure at the university. This flagship project will be named in honour of their parents, Brian and Dorothy Zylstra.
The R250-million complex is made up of three integrated components. Firstly, the Impilo building will become a state-of-the-art clinical, research and training facility. It will develop cross-disciplinary training with research in sport physiology, sport injuries, and the use of exercise and movement in rehabilitation.
The construction of a 44-bed student residence will provide convenient and comfortable living spaces for athletes in training. The purpose is to attract a larger number of elite sportsmen and women to the university, thereby enhancing the profile of sport at Wits.
expanded and integrated approach, that brings all academic elements of the university’s sport and exercise activities into alignment. It is the policy of Wits Sport to provide services and programmes that encourage the university community to see physical activities as a way of life.
Beyond this, Wits supports a wide range of competitive and recreational clubs that are involved in local, regional, national, and international intervarsity competitions. Some thirty clubs cater for active participation on different levels of more than 7000 students. In maximising the resources available and to allow the university to be nationally competitive, there is an emphasis on high-performance sporting codes: rugby, field hockey, football, basketball, cricket and netball. They participate in the national student structures controlled by University Sport South Africa (USSA) and Varsity Sport.
Finally, the Aquatic Centre is poised to be an enclosed facility that will allow training to take place throughout the year. It will not only serve a full spectrum of aquatic sports such as swimming, waterpolo, diving, artistic swimming and underwater hockey, but will provide a dynamic propulsion rowing tank and erg training room. With this expansion, the aquatic rehab facility will be of added value to the Sports and Exercise Medicine therapeutic programming.
Sport at Wits has a long history of success and currently continues to flourish. To take full advantage of progress being made requires a new,
Multiple entities within the Faculty of Health Sciences train students and perform research in various aspects of sport, sport physiology, sport injuries and the use of exercise and movement in rehabilitation. The university recognises the benefits derived from increased academic outputs and improved understanding of sports science, sports-related health (and wellbeing), and sports medicine.
From an operational perspective, it is envisaged that further progress will be achieved by the expansion of the clinical and teaching activities of Wits Sport and Health (WiSH) within the Faculty of Health Sciences. This will further enhance a world-class facility that, amongst other advantages, will place Wits Sport in a better position to support highperformance sportsmen and women.
Artist’s impression – Aerial view of the main entrance.
Artist’s impression – Student collaborative area.
Artist’s impression – Student reception area.
Artist’s impression – Internal aquatics centre.
The Zylstra Family and the Skye Foundation
Brian Zylstra studied at Wits where he completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree and qualified as a Chartered Accountant. He excelled at rugby, representing Transvaal and earning a Wits Full Blue in 1958. He also met his wife, Dorothy a BA (Hons) student, at Wits.
In 1964, Brian co-founded Skye Products. The business began in the cosmetics and hairdressing industry but, in time, the company grew to become a major footwear and apparel wholesaler in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
The Zylstras always maintained a strong interest in their alma mater. Skye rugby bursaries were established through Skye Products in 1987, and these were extended in 1989 to include other sports. A number of the awards were named after sportsmen of Brian’s era, while recipients included future rugby Springboks and Olympic athletes.
From 1995 until 2003 Brian served as a Governor of the University of the Witwatersrand Foundation. He was a member of the Wits Executive Committee of Convocation in 1998 when he funded the establishment of Arena magazine, the precursor to WITSReview.
The contributions made by the Zylstra family have greatly assisted the arts, sport, research and development at the university. Brian and
Dorothy both received the Wits University Gold Medal in 2007 for their sustained support.
Once the Skye Foundation Trusts were established, the family redirected their philanthropic efforts accordingly. These included significant sports scholarships, a Chair in Dramatic Arts, an art commission for the William Cullen Library (T’kama Adamastor), the Vice-Chancellor’s Discretionary Fund, the University Foundation, the Office of Alumni Relations, the Academic Endowment Fund, and the R.W. Charlton Fund.
Brian Zylstra died in 2012, but the Skye Foundation has continued with the family at its helm. Brian’s oldest son, Philip Zylstra (BSc Eng, Wits) is chairman of the board and Dorothy Zylstra and her younger sons David (BA, PDM Bus Ad, Wits) and John (BBusSc, UCT) are trustees. Other trustees cover the academic and financial areas of the scholarships and bursaries that are awarded.
Philip, who met his wife Lisa at Wits, is a great rugby enthusiast. He was secretary and then president of the university’s inter-faculty rugby league, receiving a Student Sport Administrator’s Award in 1987. He also joined the main club, playing for the Wits First XV. By that stage, he was so involved in the game that the university took the unusual step of appointing him as the sports officer responsible for rugby.
have always felt that the greatest gift and privilege is education and the only way to make some kind of difference is to find and help those people that will change the world – education is the key.’
Philip Zylstra speaking to Wits alumni in Australia: ‘We
(Top left) in 1988, Brian Zylstra, a former Wits University Full Blue and Transvaal rugby player, presented Skye rugby bursaries to (left to right) Marko Ilic, Piet Kruger and Bradley Wahl; (top right): the Zylstra family at the ASC’s 50th anniversary dinner, Brian and Dorothy with Philip and his future wife, Lisa; (bottom left) the Wits rugby president Jomo King (left) with Deon Lötter and George Carey who received Skye rugby bursaries from Philip Zylstra; and (bottom right) Philip Zylstra with George Carey in support on the rampage against Alberton.
Preface/ Acknowledgements
This book had its origins in an extensive period of research that took place during the 1980s. A decision to create an historical record of Wits sport was initially driven by the publication of an attractive and informative magazine that appeared three times a year. It created opportunities for interviews, articles and photographs, while the establishment of honours boards and display cabinets showcased a fascinating sporting history. The first person to be contacted was Pete Suzman who had begun intervarsity sport in 1921. He served as Founder President of the South African Universities Athletics Association for 65 years.
Numerous former students were interviewed, including well-known names from the first fifty years such as Elaine Winter, Gordon Day, Paul Nash, Peter Rich and Sonja Laxton (athletics), Eddie Barlow (cricket), Robbie Schwartz (water polo, swimming and flying), Neville Graham (gymnastics), Kathy Hardy (squash), Hugh Baiocchi (golf), Ian Stephen (rowing), Emmie Hartmann, Neville Berman and Steve Jaspan (hockey), Rod Anderson (water polo), Henry Forrest, Syd Newman, Chick Henderson, Harry Small, Wilf Rosenberg, Joe Kaminer, Clive Ulyate and Mike Antelme (rugby).
As details were gathered from interviews, newspaper reports and university publications, it became clear that a great number of students had represented South Africa or won national titles. Paintings by Bella Forsyth of leading personalities were commissioned to appear in the newly established Pete Suzman Room. Written records and photographs contributed towards a book, Wits Sport: An Illustrated History of Sport at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It was launched in 1989 to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the All Sports Council.
The year also marked an important development. Wits became active in supporting efforts by the National Sports Congress to unite all sportspeople into ‘a principled, democratic mass-based sports movement’. A major sports conference was held at Wits in July 1989 that brought together
sportspersons from different backgrounds to discuss preparations for a post-apartheid South Africa. ‘The theme of unity in sports,’ said NSC News, ‘prevailed throughout the conference’. Success, however, was not a straight-forward task.
This updated history of Wits Sport covers the period in which the university’s sport bodies worked within the unfolding political process to build a strong platform for unity. When it was eventually achieved in October 1992, the Wits administration issued a statement in which it accepted that the effects of the apartheid system had led to significant polarisation in the field of sport. It promised full support to the newlyformed Wits Sports Council (WSC) to promote and control sport at the university.
Sport at Wits entered an exciting era, one in which students enjoyed opportunities to participate in the international arena. They competed at the Olympic Games and the World Student Games, as well as World Cups and world championships within their respective sporting codes. The WSC and its clubs also organised tours, while individuals participated in a range of competitions. There were outstanding achievements, not least those special moments when Witsies climbed Everest; set world deep-diving records, and competed in Cape to Rio yacht races.
In 2018, I was approached by Professor Emeritus Bruce Murray to update the written history of sport at the university. It would be a centenary project but again include the early years from 1896-1921. To cover such a sweep of time, the book is made up of eight parts, each sub-divided into sports played within the different eras. The structure ensures developments in sport at Wits are examined within wider social and political contexts.
Early Wits Sport 100 meetings were organised in 2019 by Adrian Carter, then head of sport, and attended by Heather Dugmore, who wrote for Wits Review amongst other higher education publications. Michael Dick became head of sport in early 2020, while Heather was asked to contact alumni.
Gabriela Petras, the 1988 ‘Sportswoman of the Year’, presented a copy of Wits Sport: An Illustrated History of Sport at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, to Emmie Hartmann, captain of the Wits hockey team in 1928, and later a South African international player, umpire, coach and manager.
Pete Suzman, who began intervarsity athletics 66 years earlier, is pictured in 1987 with Olympians Elaine Winter (Melbourne, 1956) and Gordon Day (Rome, 1960).
Robbie Schwartz at the Rome 1960 Olympic Games. He represented South Africa at water polo, swimming and flying. At Wits, he was also chairman of the All Sports Council in 1963.
Information for the post-Unity period – 19892022 – was collected from a variety of sources, with former students particularly generous in providing verbal and written details, articles and photographs.
The sports administration produced ‘yearbooks’ on an irregular basis during 1994 to 2014. Some were a little sketchy but further information came through brochures for the annual ‘Sports Awards’ dinner. The advent of the student newspaper Wits Vuvuzela was extremely important. Grateful thanks must also be extended to Tshepiso Mametela for the excellent articles that he has written on Wits sport in recent years.
References to publications used are referred to in the text. Mention might, however, be made of Professor Murray’s work in assisting this history; in particular WITS: The Early Years A History of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and Its Precursors, 1896-1939 (Wits University Press, 1982) and WITS: The Open Years A History of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 1939-1959 (Wits University Press, 1996).
Neil Stokes produced 100 Years of Wits Rugby, an entertaining publication in which his record of players and achievements from the late 1990s proved very important. Some alumni made notable contributions in recording the developments of their clubs. They include Kevin Kruger (mountain club), Mark Lazarus (baseball), Sakeena Suliman (boxing), André le Roux (skydiving), Roland Skinner (squash), Roxanne Prout and Catherine Honegger (gymnastics), Bronwyn Jackson and Maxine Pinto (rowing).
The Star, Beeld, Rand Daily Mail, Rapport, Sunday Times and The Citizen were of great assistance in providing numerous pictures of the early years. For the post-Unity period, the majority of photographs have been provided by alumni. Nandi Buthelezi, the Wits Sport project co-ordinator, kindly made available pictures that the university had acquired over the years. Through Nandi, Varsity Sports, World of O Runners and Wits Vuvuzela made available some quality photographs.
Pictured at the 1987 display of First National Bank paintings are former South African champions and international representatives (left to right) Hugh Baiocchi, Kathy Hardy and Ian Holding.
The 1991 Wits-SATISCO annual awards depict the tennis mixeddoubles winners and runners-up (left to right): McLean Sibanda, Nakedi Mochaki, Sthu Zungu and Chawapiwa Matenge.
Kevin Kruger on Cable Way Crag, Table Mountain.
Neville Berman was South Africa’s hockey captain and the key influence in a golden period for Wits hockey during the late 1960s/ early 1970s. Ron Street is pictured in pursuit.
The Brebnor brothers, Clive (left) and Keith, were leading players and administrators in a highly successful period for Wits tennis.
One of the most pleasurable aspects of writing the book has been the privilege of working in wonderful libraries and archives with the help of able and obliging staff. At Wits, Margaret Atsango, senior librarian in the African collections at the William Cullen Library, was always most helpful. She and her staff members, Mary Mabote and Bethuel Lekganyane, were of considerable assistance in obtaining information required. It was also good to return to the Wits Archives, where I had received guidance in the 1980s from the extremely efficient Joan Biddles. The archives are now a busy department of the Central Records Office, but Phemy Lekalakala and her staff were very willing in their help and I enjoyed working there.
Outside Wits, time was spent in research at the National Library of South Africa (Cape Town) and the Johannesburg Public Library. A debt of gratitude is extended to the staff of these institutes.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Zeblon Vilakazi kindly provided the foreword, while the Dean of Students, Jerome September, was supportive in overseeing the project in its latter stages.There was assistance from Michael Dick and interim head, Kabungo Mubanga, while the PA to the heads of sport, Faith Mashile, was a key link
in the administration as she arranged meetings, obtained information from minute books and worked closely with Heather in supplying contact addresses.
I am indebted to sports officers who assisted with details that concerned their respective clubs, notably: Ntshembo Vukeya (basketball), Tebogo Rabothata (boat club), Sharmin Naidoo (cricket and hockey), Montsho Matlala (football), Vinolia Austin (netball), Ferdinand Kelly (rugby) and Phuthego Mokgethi (volleyball). Former staff members were able to comment on key issues in the decades after 1989. They include John Baxter, Helene White, Gill Dawson, Marius Henn, Quintin van Rooyen and Erika Venter. Peter Stuckey shouldered the responsibility of designing the book. He was patient and understanding throughout, and produced work of a high standard. Matthew Winch assisted in the preparation of photographs.
Finally, a special thank you to Shirona Patel (Head: Wits Communications) who provided considerable advice in the editorial process; and Peter Bezuidenhoudt (Director: Development and Fundraising) and Reshma Lakha-Singh (Campaign and PR Manager) who played an important role in preparing the book for publication.
Mac Masina, a South African ‘sevens’ player, said Wits ‘is the only club where I have felt comfortable immediately. I loved the coaches, the managers and the team spirit …’
Karate was ‘Club of the Year’ in 1986. Pictured (left to right) are Brian Gering, Gavin Hood, Henry Janse van Vuuren, Lisa de Nikolits, Ric Consterdine and Milton Raftopulos receiving instruction from Springbok captain Keith Geyer.
Wits swimming captain, Chris Lee, congratulates Marissa Rollnick on setting three new records at the 1969 intervarsity in Cape Town. Marissa is professor emeritus in science education at Wits.
Hockey star Nomnikelo Veto represented South Africa at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Dylan Kruger is presented with the 2022 Sportsman of the Year award by the Dean of Student Affairs, Jerome September.
Chapter 1
1896-1921: The Early Years
The attendance at these classes has been far from satisfactory … the golden time of youth often passes by with all its best energies and thoughts given to sports and pastimes or something worse.
Diamond Fields Advertiser, 1896
The Kimberley Days
Classes in mining and allied subjects that commenced in temporary premises in De Beers Road, Kimberley, on 10 August 1896, constituted the humble beginnings of what is now the University of the Witwatersrand. The South African School of Mines, as this institute was known, was based in Kimberley until the end of 1903, when it was deemed more practical to provide instruction in Johannesburg.
Originally the scheme for the training of mining engineers was such that the first two years were spent at the South African College, Cape Town (or at any other college in South Africa which chose to provide the required equipment), a third year was taken in Kimberley, and then a final year in Johannesburg to complete the course.
With the formation of a body known as the Transvaal Technical Institute in August 1903, the first pioneering stage of the University of the Witwatersrand, popularly termed ‘The Kimberley Days’, ended. The entire course was thereafter administered in Johannesburg.
There is evidence that the students at Kimberley were engaged in sport. Professor John Orr, in an article, ‘Technical Education and Training’ from The Transactions of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers, wrote: ‘The departure of the students at the end of 1903 was undoubtedly a blow to the social life of Kimberley, as they had always taken an active part in all forms of sport and were greatly in demand at social functions.’
When the school provided its first detailed report for the Diamond Fields Advertiser a good part of the article was devoted to criticism of the attitudes of rugbymad students towards evening classes:
The attendance at these classes has been far from satisfactory … the golden time of youth often passes by with all its best energies and thoughts given to sports and pastimes or something worse. It is frequently maintained that sports are more essential to health in this country than in more temperate climates –Britain for instance – and everybody has gone out of their way to support and encourage them. Granting the necessity of healthy recreation, the writer ventures to suggest that the thing is altogether overdone. Young tradesmen will find that a knowledge of the turf, or of football, is not necessarily a recommendation when a good fitter or carpenter is required.
The students who attended the evening classes were parttimers. The position of the fulltime students was very different as they came under the tutelage of a young, ambitious and dedicated man whose aim was to ensure that the pursuit of academic excellence was not hindered.
Perhaps Professor Lawn, the first principal and sole teacher at the School of Mines when it began, was conscious of the sportsorientated environment because his student intakes were seemingly so occupied that they did not have the time to indulge in sport. In the school’s opening term, the students were given instruction in practical mining underground each day from seven o’clock until noon, with lectures and surveying in the afternoons. It was found, however, that it was hardly fair on the students to expect them to be alert in the afternoons after their heavy practical shifts in the mornings. In the second term, lectures and instruction were given in the mornings and the manual work followed from one o’clock until five-thirty each afternoon.
Scaer, Maggs and Keyser were all noted rugby players from the South African College.
The South African School of Mines, Kimberley.
Four of the first students at the School of Mines, Kimberley (left to right – standing): Val E. Scaer and H.B. Maggs (in front): R.M. Keyser and W. Versfeld.
It was therefore impossible for the students to attend club practices, particularly as floodlit fields and courts did not exist, and with practical excursions most Saturdays they would invariably have missed matches anyway. This was a pity because some of the South African College’s finest rugby players wended their way northwards to continue their education at Kimberley.
Of the pioneer intake of five students, there were three who had won ‘blues’ or ‘badges’ whilst at the South African College. H.B. Maggs, R.M. Kayser and Val Scaer had been key players in the 1895 side, with the lastnamed being reawarded his colours just prior to the move to Kimberley. Scaer was also given the opportunity of playing representative rugby whilst in Cape Town against the 1896 British tourists.
Apart from their demanding course, there were several other reasons for the students being unable to participate in rugby once based at the School of Mines. The rugby programme was drawing to a close when students arrived in August 1896 and the following year they were preparing for examinations (midJune) during the middle of the season.
Of these young men, one did make a name for himself as a rugby player whilst at the School of Mines. John Rogers was fortunate enough to be selected for the Griqualand West side that won the Currie Cup in 1899. Playing in a central tournament at Kimberley that year meant Rogers’s studies were not unduly interrupted and no doubt this was the deciding factor in his being granted permission to play.
For Rogers, 1899 was to prove a memorable year in more ways than one. Not long after his Currie Cup appearance, he was one of twelve students remaining at the school when Kimberley was besieged by the forces of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. With the others, Rogers joined the Diamond Fields Horse – a regiment in which one student was killed in action and two others wounded.
P.O. Nel, who played for South Africa in 1903, was a member of the fifth group of students to attend the South African School of Mines, Kimberley, in 1901. This photograph taken after a shift underground shows (left to right –back row): C.J Hamilton, A. Tennant, P. Anderson and M. du Preez (middle row): J. Munks, P.O. Nel, D. du Preez and W.B. Carmichael (in front): A. Stephens, W.W. Laurie and C.W. Kightley.
Obviously, with a mere five full-time students initially and only fourteen enlisting in 1897, there were not enough students to start a rugby side. There was also a conspicuous lack of facilities. The application of the School of Mines Committee to take over more suitable grounds in Gladstone met with objections on the part of inhabitants in the immediate locality and this proved an unfortunate delaying obstacle.
In the second School of Mines intake in 1897, there were two particularly useful players – Harry Thomas (SAC Blue 1896) and Joseph Gubb (SAC Blue 1895–96–97). They were followed by John Rogers (SAC Blue 1896–97); Michael du Preez (SAC Blue 1898–99) a powerfullybuilt forward; Charles Kightley (SAC First XV 1899), and Gregor Riesle (SAC Blue 1901) who was a member of the last intake at Kimberley.
Two of South Africa’s leading rugby players were at the School of Mines during the war years. In 1901, Johannes Jacobus ‘Scraps’ Wessels arrived after a distinguished career as a Western Province and South African player. At 26, Wessels, a Bachelor of Science graduate, was the oldest member of his class and was a legendary figure after receiving his South African College Blue for six successive years and gaining selection for South Africa in three Tests against the 1896 British tourists. He was arguably the finest forward in South Africa in his day, representing Western Province in 1897 and 1898 and Transvaal in 1903. When Victoria College (later Stellenbosch University) began supplying students to the school it was not surprising that some rugby players would be amongst their numbers. The most wellknown was Pieter Otto Nel who hailed from Greytown and who had represented Western Province. After his stay at Kimberley, Nel moved to Johannesburg, played for Transvaal and gained selection for South Africa in all three internationals against the 1903 British tourists. When the legendary Springbok coach, A.F. Markotter selected his alltime best Springbok side, he included P.O. Nel.
The
move to Johannesburg
The Transvaal Technical Institute was opened in Johannesburg in 1904 in conditions that were far from ideal. The premises that housed the institute were partly in Kerk Street and partly in Von Brandis Square but were subsequently moved in 1905 to a group of temporary buildings erected in Plein Square. Sporting facilities were nonexistent, and the more active students were initially forced to look to outside clubs for their leisure interests. Many of the rugby enthusiasts joined the local Pirates Rugby Club where ‘Scraps’ Wessels of the old School of Mines was First XV captain.
However, it was not long before social tennis, soccer and cricket matches were organised against local clubs. This did much to raise the spirits within the Transvaal Technical Institute and when a Students’ Representative Council (SRC) was formed in 1905, one of its major tasks was
John J. ‘Scraps’ Wessels, who represented South Africa in three rugby Tests against the British touring side in 1896, arrived at the School of Mines in 1901.
‘to collect the general subscriptions to the clubs and societies of the College and to control their finances’. The first two sporting clubs established were soccer and cricket and their respective secretaries became ex-officio members of the SRC with a limited power of voting.
A special athletics committee was formed as part of the SRC and consisted of the following personnel: F. van Aardt (Secretary); F.K. van Mengershausen (Captain of Cricket); H. Clarkson (Captain of Soccer); R. Beaumont, K.O. Powrie, G.O. Paterson, A. McAlister and L.H. Blackbeard (committee members).
In the ensuing years, a chairman of the Athletics Committee was elected and as more sporting clubs were formed, so their secretaries became exofficio members of the SRC. The first chairmen of the Athletics Committee were G.O. Paterson (1906/07) and A.G.B. Spence (1908/09) whilst members of the various sports clubs dominated the executive committee of the SRC during those times.
On the academic front, it was decided that the original title – Transvaal Technical Institute – was unsuitable and it was agreed to ask His Excellency the LieutenantGovernor to change the name to one that was more appropriate to the work being undertaken. The LieutenantGovernor acceded to this request and in July 1906, the original title was replaced by that of ‘Transvaal University College’. The college was formally opened on 1 August 1906, and two years later a branch was established in Pretoria.
In 1908, three clubs were officially in operation – cricket, hockey and soccer – while a great number of students indulged in social tennis. When the college tennis championships were held, the winner of the men’s singles received a handsome silver floating trophy, which was donated to the club by the father of Harry W. Graham, the leading allround sportsman.
Already captain of cricket, Graham was given the dual honour of leading the first rugby side to be produced by Johannesburg’s division of Transvaal University College. It was decided to put together a team in 1909 and the Transvaal Rugby Football Union agreed to a trial match against Pirates on 17 April of that year to assess whether the students had a team strong enough to play in the second league. The Rand Daily Mail commented, ‘As they met with defeat by the narrow margin of three points, it may be assumed that they are sufficiently strong to warrant inclusion and that this team will be the nursery for numerous notable Rugbeians who will uphold the name and fame of the colony.’
Rugby became accepted almost immediately as the premier sport at the college although their one and only team made a somewhat inauspicious start to its league aspirations. They were entered into the ‘B’ division of the second league and promptly lost their first five games without scoring a single point. However, the East Rand Proprietary Mines (ERPM) rugby club scratched from their fixture against the students and so enabled the college to register two consolation points on the log table.
In the second round they beat Germiston II, Wanderers II and Railways II and after their third victory, the Rand Daily Mail pointed out: ‘The
College have improved beyond all notion and this was proved by their somewhat unexpected victory over the Railwaymen. They are full of go and exhibit any amount of stamina, and over and above all this, their gentlemanly conduct has won them any amount of praise from all sides.’
The college finished third at the end of the second round out of six teams and there was satisfaction that they had overcome the first hurdle in their quest for recognition in Transvaal rugby circles. They also had several promising players in Harry Graham, a stylish centre; J.B. Sutton, an able scrumhalf from the South African College, and D.O.W. Quin, an exPirates First XV threequarter. The major difficulty confronting the club was the lack of suitable training facilities, a problem that would plague the sport for many years.
The South African School of Mines and Technology
In the early part of 1910, an Act was passed in the Transvaal Legislature to make provision for Mining and Technical Education in the Transvaal. Through the provisions of this Act, the South African School of Mines and Technology was established to carry on the work hitherto undertaken by the Transvaal University College. The arts and pure sciences were transferred to Pretoria, retaining the title of Transvaal University College.
The setting up of the school in Johannesburg coincided with better times, as the country recovered from the depression of 1906 to 1909. Sport also began to prosper and the two most important factors in its improvement were the increase in student numbers and the levying of a compulsory sports fee of £1.00 on all students.
The school remained severely handicapped by the absence of any playing facilities, which meant that the students were forced to look to outside clubs. The rugby club was fortunate enough to be able to use the gravel surface fields of the Old Wanderers stadium (the site of
Harry Graham was the leading sportsman at Transvaal University College, captaining both the cricket and rugby sides.
The first hockey team – the Transvaal University College (Johannesburg) team of 1908 (left to right – back row): J.B. Sutton, H. Ball, J. Bourskill, G.F. Huskisson, H.W. Graham and C.J.B. Constable (seated): C. Davies, S. Tapscott, A.J.B. Spencer and A. Gaisford (in front); D.B. Donovan and W.W. Sealey.
the present railway station). This arrangement, which continued until 1920, meant that the club could at least participate in the local league.
Although rugby was the school’s major sport, its position was not initially a bed of roses. With the loss of students to Pretoria, the club struggled to make an impression. When Transvaal University College played the School of Mines at Pretoria in 1910, the Johannesburg students were beaten convincingly 200, although they were not at full strength and one player, C.W.B. Jeppe, turned up at halftime. The school’s performance in the second league that year was also disappointing, as they finished seventh out of nine teams.
The situation improved and by the end of the 1912 season, the school had topped their league. They lost just one game in a competition which comprised the secondstring sides of ERPM, Diggers, Wanderers, Germiston, Harlequins, Pretoria and West Rand, as well as teams from Nourse Mines and Eendracht. The team’s success was rewarded with promotion to the Pirates Grand Challenge.
were awarded special presentation badges, with three – J.C.A. Meyer, H. van der Merwe and Bob Runciman – having theirs backdated to the year they first represented the school .
The outbreak of the First World War saw the second half of the 1914 rugby season cut short. Only two matches were played, with just one involving a fully representative School of Mines first team. The 1915 season began on an equally dismal note, although it was not unexpected because ninety percent of the previous year’s first fifteen were serving at the front. Only thirteen men turned up to the annual general meeting and during the first weeks of the season the appearance of ten players was reckoned to be a big turnout.
The Johannesburg University College First XV 1921 (left to right – back row): B. Salkinder,, A. Harington, E. Bam, W.L. Clucas, E. Gascoine, J.A. Ortlepp and T. Adendorff (seated): A. Mitchell, H. Clark, J. Lindenberg (captain), Dr E. Cluver (president), F. McIntosh (vice-captain), F. Gray and J. Adler (in front): T. Stoffberg and N. Starke (inset): J. Gray. (13)
Transvaal rugby was strong at that time and the performance of the School of Mines in its first venture into the premier league in 1913 exceeded all expectations. Initially, it appeared as if the school would not hold its own, especially as it was well beaten in two preseason friendlies against Wanderers and Germiston. Such fears increased when the first four league matches were lost against Diggers (220), West Rand (70), Pirates (138) and ERPM (233). But then they gained an unexpected 1311 victory over Duggie Morkel’s Germiston team and even better deeds followed. The school team, popularly known as the ‘Collegians’, humbled Pretoria 213, beat Harlequins 113 on their own ground and then, unbelievably, hammered Diggers 197 in the second round. In the final log table, they finished sixth in the nineteam league.
From 1913 onwards, colours were awarded to members of the rugby club. A blue blazer was accepted for the purpose, as distinct from the school’s green, maroon and blue striped blazer. Those players who had distinguished themselves
By obtaining the services of ‘old boys’ who were supposedly on the ‘crocked’ list, the school managed to fulfil their early season commitments in what was a ‘senior competition’ as opposed to the Pirates Grand Challenge. Later the return of men from the front helped considerably. The school took great pride in avoiding the wooden spoon that year, finishing ahead of several teams on the log and only losing to the cupholders, Pirates, in the last five minutes of play.
For the remainder of the war years, there was no official rugby, but the school continued to organise matches. The fact that teams were somehow raised inspired the club secretary to write: ‘On the whole the School of Mines, under conditions of peculiar stress, has by the combined efforts of “old boys” and students, succeeded in maintaining its position of honour in the football world of the Transvaal.’
Several individuals performed well during this difficult period. Bob Runciman was chosen for the Transvaal side that played in the 1914 Currie Cup tournament. ‘Wee Jock’ McClure, who came from the South African College, was vicecaptain of the school side in 1914, but thereafter returned to Cape Town where he represented Hamilton’s, prior to volunteering for military service. Another valuable acquisition from the Cape was S.N. Hoffenberg, an excellent fly-half who kicked well with either foot. He became a regular selection for the Johannesburg side in the annual inter-town fixture with Pretoria. Later, on his return to the Cape, he represented Western Province.
During the war years, the establishment of regular intercollege matches helped promote the muchdesired esprit de corps at the school with tennis and rugby matches played amidst much revelry. The oldest annual intercollege fixture was staged against the Potchefstroom Agricultural College in 1914 but with so many of their students having enlisted, they were unable to raise a side the following year. A replacement fixture was organised with Transvaal University College and this was so successfully inaugurated that it became an annual occasion. By 1919, the intervarsity was fought before a crowd of 12 000, accompanied by the usual dazzling display of college colours and banners, the singing of appropriate choruses and much vociferous enthusiasm. The rugby matches were keenly contested. The honours were shared with
Ivie Richardson, South Africa’s tennis champion in 1925, was an early winner of the singles title at the School of Mines and Technology.
Potchefstroom but the first win over Grey was only achieved in 1922 after three defeats, while success against Pretoria came as late as 1925, after thirteen successive losses.
There were of course other sports played at the school. The cricketers were engaged in occasional social matches and tennis, which could be played on the Rand throughout the year, enjoyed a keen following. The major stumbling block in the promotion of tennis was the lack of facilities, the student magazine recording disappointment when the Johannesburg Municipal Council refused to allow the students to use the municipal courts. The Wanderers made their courts available for an annual tournament which
was staged over successive Saturday mornings. The most important name to be inscribed on the Graham tennis trophy during the years of the School of Mines and Technology was that of Ivie Richardson. He would later team up with Jack Condon in the men’s doubles at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. They went down in the semi-final and then lost to the famous René Lacoste and Jean Borota in the bronze medal match. The same year, Richardson played for South Africa in the Davis Cup against Great Britain at Scarborough. And, in 1925, he won the South African singles title, defeating the former Olympic champion, Charles Winslow in a fiveset final.
The University College, Johannesburg
By the time the war ended in 1918, major administrative developments were in progress at the School of Mines. In 1919, the title University College, Johannesburg, came into use and was made official by an Act of Parliament the following year. Progress was then fairly rapid towards the ultimate goal –the college’s incorporation as the University of the Witwatersrand on 1 March 1922 in Johannesburg.
Everything was being done to promote rugby at University College, but a number of difficulties confronted the club in the immediate postwar years. Practices were poorly attended in 1919; the teams were unfit and second-half lapses saw matches being lost through a lack of staying power. A succession of league defeats for both the first and second teams dampened spirits, although the systematic coaching of the great Springbok full back, Arthur Marsberg, forged a gradual improvement. Two league matches were won (against South African Railways and Far East) and one drawn (West Rand) during the latter part of the season.
At a committee meeting prior to the 1920 season, it was decided that ‘old boys’ and eveningclass students should be debarred from active membership of the club. Their loss was naturally felt but the committee believed the step ‘advisable in the interests of the standard of College football’. It was argued that in the past the team had relied too much upon the play of old boys, and thus neglected to improve the general standard. With 180 male students at the college it was felt that a sufficiently good team could be raised.
The cessation of classes at three o’clock on Tuesdays meant that more time became available in which to coach the many new members, most of whom were former soccer players, as schools in the Transvaal did not offer rugby. In addition, there was a firm promise of a new ground being completed in the near future.
The loss of Marsberg as coach was a blow but the club was fortunate to acquire the services in 1920 of an 1896 Springbok, George St Leger Devenish, and his hard work, particularly with the forwards, was appreciated. Unfortunately, his stay was a short one, possibly because of the decline in interest amongst players. At the
halfway stage of the competition the club was able to field four sides, with the First XV holding its own in the First League and the second and third fifteens winning more matches than they lost. Enthusiasm then waned towards the end of the season and with practices badly attended, the end results were inevitably disappointing. In 1921, the senior league was divided, resulting in University College taking its place alongside the weaker senior teams in a Senior Reserve League. This decision was criticised in the press but as far as University College was concerned, the move proved successful because it enabled the students to take the field against tteams with which they were fully capable of holding their own. The club chairman pointed out, ‘We are no longer fighting against overwhelming weight, with the result a foregone conclusion, but instead acquitting ourselves well, with still the hope of entering the senior league should we come out top of the reserve competition.’
As it turned out, the club enjoyed a successful season in 1921 and was readmitted to the Pirates Grand Challenge the following year. It was with some justification that rugby critics claimed that it would not be long before University College established itself as one of the best teams in the Transvaal, especially ‘with courses which will claim players as college men for some five or six years’.
The upsurge in interest was welcome, but students who wished to form a soccer club failed in their petition to the SRC in 1919. The college magazine recalled:
It was ultimately decided, after very close voting, to refuse permission, it being felt that the formation of such a club would detract from the interest shown in rugby football, this latter game being the recognised inter-collegiate sport. It is certain, however, that further attempts will be made to establish a soccer club at the College.
Soccer made its inevitable breakthrough in September 1921 when, with ‘illegal’ friendlies on the increase, the SRC was forced to relent and agree to the formation of a club.
There was an informal air about tennis at University College and matches were always
H. van der Merwe – First XV captain in 1913 and the recipient of a presentation badge.
Bob Runciman received a presentation badge in 1913 and was chosen to represent Transvaal the following year.
S.N. Hoffenberg represented the School of Mines with distinction and went on to play for Western Province.
G.H. Russell captained the Johannesburg University College First XV in 1919.
Hans Pirow won the 100-yards championship at the first gala in 1921. His son Peter (who captained Wits’s swimming team) became South Africa’s 220-yards breaststroke champion in 1951, and his grandson Piers (also a Witsie) received Springbok biathlon colours.
as much a social event as they were a tennis meeting. An important development in 1918 was the addition of a ladies’ singles handicap event. Interest amongst the women increased at such a rapid rate that in 1919 outsiders were excluded from the mixed doubles event, and the following year the women ran their own tournament. The men were not impressed about the latter arrangement and an article which appeared in the student magazine smacked of sour grapes: ‘The ladies’ tennis is despite everything, still wretchedly poor and, until our ladies become more keen, no progress will be made. They are also running a tournament, but their methods, to say the least, are somewhat crude.’
In late 1920, new courts were completed at Milner Park. However, it still took a long time to complete a tennis tournament – the student magazine pointing out, ‘Dental, Medical and Normal College students had to attend classes on Saturday mornings. Engineering students attended various “excursions” on Saturday mornings and all students were expected to support rugby matches on Saturday afternoons. The Senate refused permission to use the Milner Park courts on Sundays.’
Although the club did not last long during the war years, a fresh attempt was made in 1919, when the Ellis Park pool was utilised for training. The first annual gala was held on 21 March 1921 and included events such as neat diving, fourstyle race, standing plunge, 250yards handicap and the blindfold race. The only races of any real significance were the 100-yards college championship (won by Hans Pirow) and the 50yards competition (won by the club captain W. Kelly).
Club president at that time was Dr Eustace Cluver, who had been appointed Professor of Physiology in 1919 at the age of twentyfour. Extremely popular with the students, he made a point of entering every possible event in the galas and set a new plunging record in 1924 of fortyeight feet.
The Johannesburg University College women’s hockey team of 1919, pictured at a practice session with male students who often helped out. The children and granddaughter of Molly Haviland (second from the left) also represented the university at hockey. Her daughter Diana captained the South African Universities side, and her son Tony represented both Transvaal and the South African Universities. Granddaughter Kezia played for Southern Transvaal, South African Universities and Oxford University.
The construction of the new courts did mean that the tennis club could become affiliated to the Southern Transvaal Lawn Tennis Association in March 1921, although difficulties arose with regard to the university’s participation in the league. Matches were played between November and February, but the long Christmas vacation played havoc with the selection of student teams.
The swimming club came into existence in September 1914, under the able leadership of rugby star, Jock McClure. Some thirty members turned out for the practices at the Orange Grove Baths with the club’s main objectives being to teach swimming and to instruct members on aspects of lifesaving. It was stressed at the time, ‘It is recognised nowadays that it is the duty of every man to be able to swim, so that he can, if occasion demands it, not only save his own life but also that of someone less fortunately placed than himself.’
Water polo was played at the School of Mines and Technology as early as 1914 when a team under the captaincy of ‘Erbie’ Bell was formed. Matches during the First World War were restricted to friendlies and efforts in the ensuing years to enter a team into the ‘Polo League’ never materialised. When the University of the Witwatersrand came into being in 1922, water polo had virtually folded and it was to be some time before the sport was revived.
Cricket and hockey also appeared in the sporting programme. But while cricket kept going, albeit on an irregular basis, the men’s hockey section did not last. An unusual announcement, serving as an ‘obituary’ notice, appeared in the 1915 magazine, recording that ‘[hockey’s] place has been filled this year by the formation of our Motor Cycle Club and with such an ardent motorist as “CandlePowerMac” for secretary, it ought to do quite well.’
Through expansion and the launching of new courses, opportunities arose for women students at the school. In 1917, eight arts departments were created, and that year the women’s hockey club was established. Many members of the student club were beginners but through the coaching of C.H. Fouché and diligent practice, a team was soon put together. The men offered their services for practice games as there were not sufficient women to form two teams. Two matches were played in 1918 with the school losing to Amazons 03 and to Pirates 25.
The improvement in women’s hockey was such that in 1919 a magnificent 3-1 victory was achieved against Transvaal University College. The report of the match noted ‘Miss Brown was conspicuous as being a fine centre-forward, Miss Myers and Miss Moore distinguished themselves as halves and Miss Haviland was a reliable goalkeeper.’
The 1920 hockey season was marred by a tram strike and few matches were played, but the following year the side entered the Transvaal League. This was of great benefit to the players even though practices were hampered by the lack of a training facility. The college magazine recorded, ‘After some difficulty the use of the Wanderers ‘B’ ground was obtained six times monthly which is inadequate.’
Chapter 2
1922–1939: Pete Suzman Shows the Way
A man of merciless efficiency … He has been the life and soul of the University sporting movement
J.H. Hofmeyr, Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand 1922-24
Athletics
Establishing intervarsity sport
The most important personality in sporting circles at Wits during the 1920s was Saul ‘Pete’ Suzman. In his student years, he astounded older and vastly more experienced administrators by his incredible organisational ability, and his ambitions for university sport knew no bounds.
It was through his initiative as a 19-year-old student that the Johannesburg University College Athletic Club began in 1920. In that year, the first annual athletic championships were held and The Star recalled, ‘The results were very favourable considering the students had only been training a fortnight … in the 100 yards the exceptionally good time of 10.4 seconds was put up by Abrahamson … Suzman showed his superiority over the distances (880 yards, one mile and two miles) and with greater opposition could have considerably lowered his times.’
The following year, Suzman organised the first intervarsity athletic championships, having persuaded Professor J.H. Hofmeyr, the college principal, and the chairman of the University Council, Sir William Dalrymple, that such occasions would promote contact and dialogue, not only between Afrikaans and English students but between the northern and southern universities. He approached Dalrymple to provide the coveted intervarsity trophy, which became known as the Dalrymple Cup.
The first meeting took place at the Wanderers on Saturday, 1 October 1921, with three universities competing – namely Grey University College (Bloemfontein), Transvaal University College (Pretoria) and Johannesburg University College. Before a large crowd and supported by many of the city’s dignitaries, Johannesburg University College won the inaugural competition and, fittingly, their captain, Suzman, received the Dalrymple Cup from Lady Phillips, wife of the South African financier, mining magnate and politician Sir Lionel Phillips.
The presentation was the the climax of a highly successful first meeting and the young Johannesburg captain was determined to build upon this platform. He had drawn up a constitution for the formation of what was to be the first representative student body in South Africa – the South African Universities (SAU) Athletic Federation. Two representatives from each university attended and the first council meeting of the federation was chaired by Suzman.
Teams from Cape Town and Natal entered
the second intervarsity in October 1922 to boost the number of participating universities to five. Held again at the Wanderers, there were 57 competitors in ten events with guests of honour including the Governor-General, HRH Prince Arthur of Connaught and the Prime Minister, General Jan Smuts.
Cape Town won the Dalrymple Cup at their first attempt, scoring 13 points, and they were followed by the new University of the Witwatersrand (9) and the Transvaal University College (4), Natal (3) and Grey (1). The finest athlete on show was undoubtedly Cape Town’s Frikkie Viljoen who won the 100 and 220 yards, the 120-ya rds hurdles and the long jump.
Wits’s champions were limited to Francis Vincent in the mile and Buster Nupen, the future South African cricket captain, in the cricketball throwing. But it was their slightly built Joe Adler who captured the hearts of the crowd by practically clearing his own height in the high jump. When he failed to get over 5 feet 7 inches, the band readily and appropriately played Poor Old Joe with the crowd rising to join in.
Cape Town retained the Dalrymple Cup in 1923 when they defeated Wits narrowly by 25½ points to 23 at the Wanderers. It was another splendid occasion and the Sunday Times noted, ‘For an hour before the meeting started, the universities gave the public the whole repertory of college songs. The usual banners, flags and mascots decorated the stands, giving the
The first recipients of the Dalrymple Cup – the University College, Johannesburg, athletics team of 1921 (left to right – back row): M. Dicent, D. Rowland, F.P. Grobbelaar, R.W. Talbot, A. Lomainsky, J.J. van Rensburg and M. Perlman (seated); E. Gascoine, J.C. Brink, S. Suzman (captain), T.L. Davis and I. Cazalet (in front); G. Thomson and P.M. Coetzee.
Wanderers sports ground an appearance very rarely presented.’
There were some outstanding performances by Frikkie Viljoen (Cape Town) in the sprints and the long jump; Francis Vincent (Wits) in retaining his mile title; J.C. van Woudenberg (Transvaal University College) who won the shot put; C.K. Olivier (Wits) a tenacious winner in an enthralling half-mile battle, and George Stott (Wits) triumphant in the high jump. The championships were decided in the last event of the day – the two miles – with the Sunday Times describing the scene as follows:
Once again, the stands were a mass of shouting, screaming and frantic students. As the two leaders were fighting it out along the back straight, students at both universities who had encroached upon the ground, caused a profound sensation. It was Laurie Adler, of Johannesburg University, who first ran down the track to shout his man home, and as the two runners, Suzman and Jones, got within 20 yards of the winning post, they were running with their arms touching. It was thrilling indeed but evidently taking a lead from Mr Adler, the manager of SACS (Cape Town) ran alongside the two finishing and almost spent runners, urging his own man, Jones, on. For the last ten yards this over-zealous manager ran practically side by side with Suzman and actually crossed over the winning line in front of him. Jones won by a yard, but the hampering and obstructing of Suzman was a very regrettable incident.
The judges faced a difficult decision over a possible disqualification, but as Suzman offered no objection, the result was allowed to stand.
It was at the 1923 intervarsity that Suzman announced that he had been in touch with the universities of Oxford and Cambridge with a view to a tour of South Africa by a combined universities team. Harold Abrahams of Chariots of Fire fame wrote to Suzman, regretting Cambridge University Athletic Club’s inability to accept the invitation because of prior commitments. However, the arrival of the Oxford University Athletic Club that year heralded the first-ever tour of South Africa by an overseas athletic team. Suzman raised guarantees within a month from sporting bodies and businesses to finance the trip and then proceeded to travel the country to make certain that every last detail was in order to ensure the success of the visit.
The fact that the tour made a profit of some £3 000 reflected the enormous support the athletes received in the various centres. There were endless matters to be seen to – venues, transport, official welcomes, guest lists, advertising, publicity, accommodation, programmes, medals and so on – and one press report noted, ‘For months past, Suzman has been engaged in arranging the Oxford tour. He has practically travelled the Union twice in two months.’
During the Oxford tour, six South African records were established, although only two fell to the visitors. Wits’s Japie Brink was one of the record-breakers. He set a new mile record of 4 minutes 30.2 seconds at Durban, beating the Oxonian, L.R. Miller, who a week earlier had broken Charlie Hefferon’s time which was established at the Wanderers 14 years before. Brink also won the mile event at the 1923 South African Championships but was to prove somewhat of an enigma throughout his athletic career. Wits athlete Laurie Adler recalled, ‘Japie could beat anyone on his day – the better the opposition, the better he ran. But he had to be prodded into action and it often took a defeat to spur him on to victory in the very next race, irrespective of who was up against him.’
Wits’s high jump star at that time was George Stott who was the first South African to clear six feet. He won the high jump title at the South African Championships in 1921 and 1926 and three years later was selected for the Springbok team in a three-cornered Test against the touring Achilles side – a squad comprising Oxford and Cambridge ‘Blues’ – and the SAU. Possibly Stott’s most memorable moment whilst at university was breaking his own national record during the Wits internal meeting in 1924 with a leap of 6 feet 1⅜ inches.
During the 1920s, Wits’s internal sports day, which became known as the ‘Inter-Faculty Meeting’, was the most popular feature on the university calendar. The event was undoubtedly the cornerstone of Wits’s athletics and there were some 250 entries at each meeting. The highlight was usually the 880-yard staff walk, popularly known as the ‘rabbits’ event. In 1925, the principal, Sir William Thomson, with a 440-yard start, won the race amidst what the Rand Daily Mail termed ‘a remarkable exhibition of shapes and sizes’.
Cape Town won the intervarsity title for the third successive year when they hosted the 1924 championship at the Green Point track. However, the meeting was also a personal triumph for Suzman who finished joint first in the two miles with his team-mate, Japie Brink – both breaking the existing record in a new time of 10 minutes 16.4 seconds.
The long-distance running section at Wits was further strengthened by the arrival of Henry Tucker in 1925. At the 1923 triangular meeting which featured the touring Oxford side, Tucker had represented South Africa in the twomile event. He was later the national two-mile steeplechase champion for six successive years (1926–31) and was re-awarded his Springbok colours in 1929.
The dramatic finish to the SAU two-miles event at the Wanderers in 1923. Excited students from Wits and Cape Town ran on to the track to shout their men home.
Japie Brink set a new South African mile record in 1923.
Wits hosted the intervarsity in 1925 but on this occasion the competition was arranged to accommodate rugby, boxing, tennis and hockey as well. An important feature of the athletics was the first appearance of Stellenbosch University. Suzman had for some time been in contact with Stellenbosch and was largely instrumental in setting up their participation.
Over one hundred athletes competed in the twelve events, with Wits’s A.D. ‘Mac’ MacDonald establishing an international class time of 15.2 seconds for the 120-yards hurdles. It was the second-fastest time ever recorded by a South African and although MacDonald spent most of his days running in the shadow of Springbok and Olympic gold medallist, Syd Atkinson, he did win the national 120-yards and 440-yards hurdles titles in 1925.
George Stott and Jumbo Harris won first places in the high jump and the 220 yards, respectively. Harris, who did well to equal Frikkie Viljoen’s SAU record in the 220 yards, demonstrated his versatility by winning the javelin at that year’s national championships. Suzman crowned his university running career by winning the two miles – his brother, Arthur, making it a family affair by finishing second. Japie Brink ensured a clean sweep for Wits in the distance running events by winning the 880 yards in SAU record time and the mile.
Wits regained the Dalrymple Cup by compiling 28½ points, with Cape Town (22 points) second, Grey College third and Stellenbosch fourth. Further success followed in the other sports. The Wits ladies’ hockey team beat their Cape Town counterparts 3-1 with the future Springbok, Jennie Jacobson of Wits, the outstanding player of the match. Wits also won the C.A. Hadley Shield for boxing, and beat Cape Town in the tennis, with the women winning by twenty games and the men by twenty-one.
The final afternoon was set aside for the rugby and a crowd estimated at about eleven thousand packed into the Wanderers to watch four of South Africa’s foremost universities battle for the honours. The Wits second team beat Transvaal University College’s second fifteen, 9-6, in the early curtain-raiser, but Wits’s senior team was well beaten by Cape Town, 18-8.
Suzman’s interests in sport were wide ranging. In conjunction with Dr O.G. Backeberg and Professor A.D. Stammers, he formed a Rowing Club in 1925 and served as organising secretary for two years. Also in 1925, he initiated the first annual intervarsity cross country between Wits and Transvaal University College.
In addition to his sporting interests, Suzman perpetrated the most famous hoax that the university has known. In 1925, the Prince of Wales arrived in Pretoria with his arm in a sling through too much handshaking on the royal tour. While everyone was concerned with the Prince’s plight, only Suzman had the gumption to do something about it. He put his plan into action on the occasion of the royal visit to Wits.
Noticing that a young Johannesburg police constable, Gert Coetzer, was almost a perfect double for the Prince, Suzman made full use
of his persuasive powers and ‘sold’ the idea of impersonating the Prince to Admiral Sir William Halsey, Controller of the Royal Household. Said the Sunday Times:
Thus it was that on Edward’s birthday the bogus ‘prince’ set off from the Rand Club to Milner Park at the appointed time. Women hurled flowers into his car, the populace cheered from packed pavements, and the policeman shook plenty of hands before the real prince arrived on the scene about twenty minutes later.
The high spirits of student life were always evident in the sporting contests. Prior to various intervarsities, competitions were held in order to create college songs which were in turn sung at the actual meetings. Singing practices were well organised affairs at the ‘Tin Temple’, while visiting university sides would be greeted by a selection of Wits’s more hearty songs and war cries as their trains pulled into the Johannesburg station.
The intervarsities were occasions for dinners, dances, smokers, formal debates and tours of the town and district being visited. Student pranks were inevitable, with the universities frequently raiding each other’s camps. A festival atmosphere also pervaded the sports meetings with comfortable wicker chairs lining the track, waitresses serving drinks and the band playing throughout. Such gatherings were tremendously constructive in building up inter-university relationships, social contact being the main aim amidst the fierce competitiveness.
For more than sixty years, Pete Suzman would be the golden thread running unbroken through the history of the South African intervarsity athletics championships. Wits sport during the early 1920s owed more to him than any other individual. He gave the university, then in its embryonic stage, a magnificent start to its future sporting aspirations and, for many years thereafter, he provided a guiding hand.
The Rise of the Afrikaans Universities
After Suzman’s departure, the athletics club continued to attract much interest and to produce athletes of a high standard. The students fully supported the university at the various meetings, but success was not as forthcoming as it had previously been. The prime reason for this was the improved competition from the Afrikaansspeaking universities. Between 1928 and 1934, Stellenbosch and Transvaal University College dominated the Dalrymple Cup meetings. The Stellenbosch team – the Maties – enjoyed great success, winning the competition five times in six years.
In 1926, a confident Wits team was given a rousing send-off when they left for Cape Town to defend their Dalrymple Cup title. On arrival, they were greeted by blustering winds and threatening rain at the Green Point track, conditions sufficient to militate against those all-important fifths of a second. Ironically, Japie
George Stott was South Africa’s high-jump champion in 1921 and 1926. He broke his own national record during Wits’s internal sports meeting in 1924 with a leap of 6 feet 1⅜ inches.
George Stott having a last-minute massage before winning the high jump at the 1923 intervarsity at the Wanderers.
A.D. ‘Mac’ Macdonald won the South African 120-yards and 440yards hurdles titles.
Brink was more hindered by a problem of a different nature. A dog on the track occupied his full attention for a 200-metre section of the halfmile and went a long way towards preventing him from retaining his title. This was a pity because earlier in the day, he had shown that he would be a difficult opponent to beat when he won the mile by a clear thirty metres.
Brink achieved Wits’s only first place at the meeting which saw Cape Town (19 points) edge out Stellenbosch (17 points). Grey and Wits were a further five points behind. The reception the Witsies received on their return was in sharp contrast to that experienced during their departure. When the athletes stepped on to Johannesburg’s railway platform, they were greeted by an awaiting crowd of mourners that included a little terrier of unknown pedigree, suitably draped in black. A member of the group solemnly stepped forward to present a large wreath.
The only trophy that the Wits students obtained on their Cape venture was a bell that had hung for the past one hundred years or so under a tree in the University of Cape Town’s grounds. The stolen trophy was smuggled on to the train and was said to avenge the Cape students taking possession of a pair of gongs from a Wits hostel the previous year. The Rand Daily Mail claimed that it was all part of ‘the modern students’ equivalent of the Red Indian habit of scalp hunting’.
In laying the foundations for future intervarsity success, the Wits inter-faculty meeting beame a valued event. Lionel Melzer won four events in 1927 (the 100, 220 and 440 yards as well as the long jump) and J.H. ‘Snaar’ Viljoen, a recruit from the Orange Free State, showed exceptional potential by winning the 120-yards hurdles in 15.8 seconds and clearing 5 feet 11⅞ inches in the high jump. But the event which aroused the most comment was the inaugural ladies’ 100 yards race, won by the hockey star, Emmie Hartmann. In the ensuing months, the women were to press strongly for admittance into the intervarsity athletics programme.
At the Wanderers that year, Wits regained the Dalrymple Cup after its brief sojourn at the Cape. The host team scored 25 points and was followed by Stellenbosch (18), Grey (18), Rhodes (12), Tukkies (10½) and Cape Town (6½). But if there had been an accolade for the outstanding athlete of the competition, it belonged to a Grey athlete, Billy Legg, who won the 100 yards in a recordequalling 10.0 seconds and the 220 yards in a new record time of 22.2 seconds.
Wits had to wait until well into the programme before they gained a first place and only then did they issue their challenge. Snaar Viljoen tied for first position in the high jump with a height of 5 feet 10¼ inches and then David Jamieson broke the SAU record for the two miles in a time of 10 minutes 7 seconds.
When the scores were posted before the penultimate event, the Witsies were leading by a single point over Stellenbosch, so a great deal depended on the half-mile in which Japie Brink was the main hope for the host team. But Brink, as unpredictable as ever, was not in the mood
that day. Amidst a tense tactical tussle involving the leading runners, Wits’s second-string runner, J.H. Gray, seized his opportunity and put in a fine sprint down the home straight to win by six yards. Legg would wrap up the 220 yards, but Wits could not be overtaken in the points table.
The victory was duly celebrated at a dinner at St James’s, an occasion which aroused considerable attention in the local press. A prominent businessman attending the function described the scene in The Star:
Before the soup arrived rolls of bread were being thrown about freely. Next the flowers in the vases decorating the tables were dipped in the soup and flung indiscriminately from one side of the room to the other. I myself received one of these disgusting missiles on the shoulder of my dress suit. By the time fish was served ash trays and anything else that came to hand were sent spinning about the tables. The gentleman sitting next to me received a tomato full of gravy, right in the middle of his dress suit.
The scandal raged for several days but, fortunately, the guest of honour, Sir William Dalrymple, who spent several minutes ducking and dodging the missiles, played down the episode and told The Star: ‘It was a most successful function. The students got a little cheery but there was no alcohol to speak of. They were boiling over with enthusiasm and good spirits and there was no end of noise. But that was all. They came from different parts of South Africa and saw a lot of good points in one another. That is really the thing of importance.’
The highlight of the All Students’ Congress at Durban in July 1927 was a three-cornered athletic contest between the SAU team, Natal and South Africa. Wits’s A.M. Snijman captained the student team which also included David Jamieson, Snaar Viljoen, J.H. Gray and Japie Brink, while the rising star, Lionel Melzer, was chosen for South Africa.
Snaar Viljoen did not return to Wits. It was a great pity because he progressed literally in leaps and bounds and in 1928 was chosen for the South African team which competed in the Amsterdam Olympic Games. He followed this up by taking part in the Empire Games at Hamilton, Canada, in 1930, obtaining a gold medal for the high jump and a silver in the long jump. The winner of 13 South African titles between 1928 and 1934, Viljoen remains the only athlete to have won six different events at the national championships. Ira G. Emery, who was a long-serving general secretary of the South African Olympic Games Association, wrote, ‘I have often been asked who in my opinion, was the greatest athlete South Africa has produced – and I say without hesitation it was J.H. ‘Snaar’ Viljoen. He was a phenomenal natural athlete who had not the faintest idea of technique in any event and yet did some amazing performances.’
At Bloemfontein in 1928, Transvaal University College seemed to come from nowhere to tally 27 points, way ahead of Wits and Grey (both on 15), Cape Town (12), Stellenbosch (9), Rhodes (7) and Natal (1). Local hero, Billy
J.H. ‘Snaar’ Viljoen – one of South Africa’s greatest all-round athletes.
David Jamieson won the South African four-miles title in 1929 to crown a distinguished athletics and cross country career at Wits.
Legg, was again the star performer, setting up new SAU records in the 100, 220, and 440 yards with a national best time in the furlong. Wits’s hero on the day was David Jamieson who won the mile in 4 minutes 34.6 seconds and the two miles in 10 minutes 12.8 seconds.
At a mini intervarsity in 1929, Wits defeated the ‘champions’, Transvaal University College by 16 points to 14 but the achievement was overshadowed by an important development in athletics. That meeting served as a trial for the introduction of women athletes into the programme and there were moves towards holding at least some events for women at the Dalrymple Cup. A referendum was held amongst the affiliated universities. Cape Town, Potchefstroom, Stellenbosch, Transvaal University College and Wits were against the inclusion of women. Grey did not reply and Natal indicated that they would not be participating in athletics that year. Only Rhodes University voted in favour of including women.
The full intervarsity therefore remained, as in previous years, an all-male domain. In 1929 the Green Point track was the venue and a crowd of 7 000 turned out to watch Stellenbosch eclipse their rivals and finally carry off the Dalrymple Cup, having been second on four occasions. They scored 27 points to finish ahead of the Transvaal University College (23) and Wits (22). These three universities forged well ahead of the others, with the competition decided in the last race of the day.
Lionel Melzer, who had promised so much at previous Dalrymple Cup meetings without fulfilling his great potential, was this time Wits’s chief points-scorer. He won the 220 yards in a time of 22.8 seconds and gained second places in the long jump, 100 yards and 440 yards. He was deservedly chosen as captain of the combined SAU team to meet the touring Oxford and Cambridge Achilles side.
During the Achilles tour, the South African record book was practically rewritten. Eight records were broken and two equalled, with Snaar Viljoen accounting for those set in the long jump (24 feet 7½ inches) and high jump (6 feet 2 inches). The Achilles team, consisting of 14 athletes, took part in seven meetings, the highlight being a three-cornered Test match at the Wanderers, involving the tourists, the intervarsity side and South Africa. It was during this Test that ex-Witsie, George Stott, earned his Springbok colours and he celebrated by turning the tables on Snaar Viljoen in the high jump even though his winning leap of 6 feet 0½ inches was not enough to reclaim the national record.
David Jamieson, who was selected for the student team, did well to finish second in the three-mile event. He obviously favoured the longer distances and the same year won the South African four-mile title to crown a distinguished athletics and cross-country career at Wits University. He was succeeded in 1930 by another accomplished runner, Harold Thompson, whose fine achievements at Wits saw him ultimately gain Springbok colours.
Thompson began his stint at the university in
fine style and clipped more than six seconds off Jamieson’s internal record for the two miles by clocking 10 minutes 3 seconds at the 1930 interfaculty meeting. He then achieved the same time at the Dalrymple Cup in Pretoria to set a new SAU record. Lionel Melzer excelled at the same meeting, breaking Frikkie Viljoen’s seven-year long jump record by leaping 22 feet 6 inches. Their efforts kept Wits in the running for a good part of the day but in the end Transvaal University College surged ahead, compiling 34 points against Stellenbosch (22), Wits (20), Cape Town (5), Rhodes (5), Natal (3) and Potchefstroom (1).
The 1931 season was a very full one. A Wits team would often compete in the Duxbury Cup Standard Relay Race at the Pretoria University sports meeting. That year Wits had an outstanding team – Lionel Melzer (220 yards), Sidney Meyersohn (220 yards), Gerry Hartman (440 yards) and Harold Thompson (880 yards). They won the event in the record time of 3 minutes 32.4 seconds which was 2.2 seconds outside the South African record.
Wits defeated Transvaal University College in a mini intervarsity by the comfortable margin of 66 points to 41, but the team was not in the running at the intervarsity which was held for the first time at Grahamstown. Stellenbosch won the Dalrymple Cup by a very large points margin. Their great sprinter, Danie Joubert, equalled the world 100-yards record (9.4 seconds) as the Maties accumulated 45 points. Rhodes was next best with 18, Pretoria scored 12 and then came Wits with 11⅓ points.
The big news in 1931 was the first visit to South Africa by a team of sportsmen from the United States and they made athletic history. New records were established at every meeting. The tourists’ ace sprinter, Emmett Toppino, from Loyola University, twice beat Danie Joubert in the 100 yards; their long-legged high jumper, Walter Marty, who was later to become the world’s best, smashed Snaar Viljoen’s record of 6 feet 2 inches with a leap of 6 feet 6⅛ inches; and Barney Berlinger beat the standing figures for the shot put, discus, javelin and pole-vault on many occasions. According to the Cape Argus: ‘He took part in so many events that he was like a theme song running through the programme.’
Seven Witsies were named in the Transvaal Universities team which competed against the tourists in Pretoria – Harold Thompson, Gerry Hartman, Nicolaas Meyer, Wilfred Marsh, Ronald MacMillan, Sidney Meyersohn and Jacobus Lombard. Wits captain, Lionel Melzer was named to lead the SAU side in their clash against the Americans but was unable to accept the invitation because of his final-year medical studies. However, Thompson and Hartman gained representative honours in the meeting held at the Wanderers.
Thompson made tremendous progress over the next few months and in 1932 he lowered his mile time to 4 minutes 20.8 seconds at a mini intervarsity with Pretoria and won the 880 yards and the mile at the South African Championships. He was to retain the national mile title in 1933 and 1934.
Lionel Melzer, who was a leading points-scorer for Wits in the Dalrymple Cup, was chosen for South Africa to compete in a triangular athletic meeting in 1927.
Ronald MacMillan was awarded Springbok colours in 1935 and won the national 880-yards title two years later.
The Wits athletics team 1932 (left to right - back row): W. Girdwood, K. Burrow, R. Seawright, WE Marsh (manager), D Kaplan and W Botha (seated): W Macfarlane, HA Thompson (captain), Professor JA Wilkinson (president), J Hurwitz and R MacMillan.
Wits athletes, Harold Thompson (seated) and Willie Botha were chosen to represent South Africa at the 1934 Empire Games at London.
Thompson was also one of the stars at the 1932 Dalrymple Cup meeting, winning the mile in 4 minutes 21.2 seconds, a full seven seconds better than the previous intervarsity best. His teammate, Jock Hurwitz, who in later years became the South African four-mile champion, did even better. He equalled the national two-mile record and shattered the best recorded at a SAU meeting by nearly 13 seconds in a time of 9 minutes 48.6 seconds. But neither could prevent Stellenbosch from racing to their third triumph in four years. At the first Dalrymple Cup meeting to be staged at the Coetzenburg track, the Maties scored 54 points – equalling the 54 points accumulated by all the other universities together.
In March 1933, Willie Botha, a former Matie who had enrolled at Wits, surprised Harold Thompson by pipping him in the 880 yards at a meeting against the Rand Postals Athletic Club and then repeated the performance at the Wits inter-faculty meeting. It appeared that Thompson had, by this stage, met his match in the 880 yards but he had not lost his ability to win races. He turned to cross country and promptly took the Transvaal title. Later in the season, he won the 10-mile cross country championships at Pretoria, thereby proving himself to be a highly accomplished athlete over every distance from 880 yards to 10 miles.
The Maties retained the Dalrymple Cup at Johannesburg in 1933, scoring 52 points while all the other universities together managed 56. Wits showed some improvement on their previous year’s tally of 15 by finishing second with 26 points and owed much to Harold Thompson and Willie Botha. Thompson, the team captain, won the mile in a record-equalling time of 4 minutes 21.4 seconds and then captured the two miles title. Botha ran a superbly judged 880 yards to establish a new SAU record time of 1 minute 57.0 seconds.
Both Thompson and Botha were selected for the Springbok team that attended the 1934 Empire Games at London. The latter was in outstanding form and athletics administrator Ira G. Emery wrote:
The Wits athletics team 1936 – Dalrymple Cup champions (left to right – back row): D.J. van Dellen, R.S. Adams, P.E. Scheepers, G.O. Davis and H.P. Lardner-Burke (seated): H.A. Thompson, J.M. Marquard, A.C. Lyell (captain), T. Rose-Price and L. Hoogenhout.
A race which would be remembered for a long while by those present, was the 880 yards final in which Willie Botha came second. The young Springbok was up against one of the world’s greatest halfmilers of the time, a coloured man, Phil Edwards, from Canada. On his previous times, Willie Botha did not have much chance of winning the final, but the occasion was such that the Springbok found extraordinary inspiration in his will to win. Then a tragic mishap! With only 250 yards to go Botha unaccountably tripped, sprawled headlong, but pluckily picked himself up, desperately chased the leading Canadian, and failed only by inches to actually win the event. As some of the South African team said afterwards, they were so hoarse with shouting for Botha that they could hardly speak for a week
Wits University athletics reached its lowest ebb in the history of the Dalrymple Cup up to that time when the team finished fifth in the 1934 meeting
at Cape Town. Stellenbosch achieved their fourth successive win, scoring 44⅓ points, with Cape Town (18), Pretoria (12⅓) and Rhodes (11) all finishing ahead of Wits (10⅓). The Witsies were a young and inexperienced team and although no first places were achieved, they did manage second and third positions. They were in the process of team building, although few people could have anticipated that the university was going to return with a vengeance and would win the next six Dalrymple Cup meetings.
Dalrymple Domination
Wits University supporters were cautiously optimistic that their team might win the Dalrymple Cup at Durban in 1935. They had a strong all-round combination. H.W. Reid in the sprints, George Davis a highly rated hurdler, J.M. Marquard, a gifted quarter-miler, and A.C. Lyell and Piet Scheepers in the longer distances, provided Wits’s track team with a formidable line-up. In the field events much interest was centred on two newcomers who were to make a great impression on intervarsity athletics – shotputter, Louis ‘Snowy’ Fouché, and high jumper, Jimmy Lane. Points also appeared guaranteed in the pole-vault where the stocky Eric Lurie was expected to do well.
The team was weakened by the absence of Abe Hyman who was competing in the 1935 Maccabiah Games alongside former Witsie, Jock Hurwitz. Hyman had, as a 19-year-old, run the 100 yards in a wind-assisted 9.6 seconds at Roodepoort in 1933, which was at that stage the fastest time ever achieved by a junior athlete anywhere in the world. One publication placed Hyman’s ‘unofficial’ achievement as the sixth best in the world that year.
The Stellenbosch athletes were favourites in 1935, but were beaten by Wits’s superior team effort. Marquard, who had not been far behind Denis Shore when the famous Springbok accomplished a national record a couple of weeks before at the South African Championships, won the 440 yards in 50.6 seconds; Lyell took the 880 yards and Lane and Lurie shared first places in the high jump and pole-vault, respectively. But in scoring 34 points to Stellenbosch’s 30, Wits relied on their second and third places, which in the final analysis reflected superior depth.
The big event of 1935 was a tour of South Africa by a team of nine Oxford and Cambridge athletes. They participated in seven meetings in different centres and became the first touring team to travel by air around the Union. The visitors had a couple of world-class athletes in their side. A.W. Sweeney was the British and Empire sprint champion, but the star attraction was the Cambridge freshman, Godfrey Brown. The latter impressed in every distance from 100 yards to 880 yards, and would be narrowly beaten in the quarter-mile at the Berlin Olympic Games the following year.
Apart from the match against the pick of South Africa, the Oxbridge tourists won all their fixtures. The Springbok team included the Wits hurdler, George Davis, and two former
students of the University, Ronald MacMillan (South Africa’s 880 yards champion in 1937) and Snaar Viljoen. The Wits team was well represented in the SAU combination that was beaten at Queenstown, with Eric Lurie (polevault), Abe Hyman (100 and 220 yards), A.C. Lyell (880 yards), George Davis (120 and 220-yards hurdles), Louis Fouché (shot put), Piet Scheepers (two miles), J.M. Marquard (440 yards) and Dave Kaplan (discus) competing. No visiting high jumper accompanied the touring side and so Jimmy Lane’s unusual but effective style was not put to the test.
The experience gained by the Wits athletes in 1935 proved invaluable and in 1936 they excelled in winning the Dalrymple Cup. Seven first places were achieved, with notable dominance in the distance events where twenty points were scored in the 880 yards, mile and two miles. Wits (40½ points) finished well ahead of Stellenbosch (19½), Pretoria (18), Rhodes (11), Cape Town (9), Potchefstroom (7), Grey (3) and Natal (0).
In a titanic clash, Wits shot-putter, Louis Fouché, beat the South African champion, P.K. van der Merwe, and smashed the SAU record by 36 inches in the process. It was an astonishing performance for someone who less than two years before had been a member of the First XV with no pretensions to being an athlete. According to the student newspaper, ‘The athletic league team had found itself short of a shot-putter. From the rugby club came L.A. Fouché, who, though a mass of brawn and muscle, had hardly ever handled the shot in his life.’
Jimmy Lane was in unpredictably superb form in the high jump. He ‘shook’ the bar at 5 feet 8 inches and again just one inch higher but then went clear at 6 feet 4 inches. At that stage, the only South African to have achieved a better height was Edwin Thacker – Empire Games champion in 1934 and 1938 – who had a leap of 6 feet 5 inches to his credit.
Wits’s second string in the 440 yards, Louis Hoogenhout, surprised a strong field, finishing a fraction of a second outside the SAU record, with a winning time of 49.3 seconds.
Harold Thompson made a welcome return to the university and won the mile (4 minutes 26.2 seconds); A.C. Lyell retained his 880-yards title in 1 minute 57.8 seconds, and newcomer Dirk van Dellen kept up Wits’s good record in the pole-vault to win with a height of 10 feet 9 inches. Although George Davis was unable to reach top form during the intervarsity, he won the South African 200-yards hurdles title in 1936.
Piet Scheepers also shone at national level that year, setting a new South African record for the two miles at the Johannesburg Golden Jubilee Games at the Wanderers. He was pushed all the way by Wally Hayward but won by six yards and in doing so broke the old record set by the Achilles athlete, J.M. Pumphrey, by nearly five seconds.
The 1937 intervarsity held at Pretoria saw the Witsies given an unexpected fright by the Capetonians who had put up such a poor performance the previous year. In the end Wits scraped home with 37 points to Cape Town’s
Louis Fouché, who was the South African shot-put champion and record-holder, won an Empire Games gold medal at Sydney in 1938.
In 1932, Jock Hurwitz equalled the national two-miles record and shattered the best recorded at the Dalrymple Cup meeting by nearly 13 seconds. He became the South African four-miles champion in 1936
George O. Davis – a member of the 1935 Springbok side and the national 220-yards hurdles champion in 1936.
34. They were followed By Pretoria (25), Stellenbosch (13), Rhodes (13), Natal (3), Potchefstroom (1) and Free State (0).
The overriding memories of a meeting which contained some exciting and wholesome contests, surrounded the performances of two Wits athletes. Jimmy Lane beat his previous year’s record in the high jump with a height of 6 feet 4½ inches and then Louis Fouché set a new intervarsity best for the shot put. His throw of 49 feet 8 inches was nine inches better than his old record.
Three other Witsies followed Lane and Fouché to the winners’ podium – Robert McClelland who won the two miles, George Davis the 220-yards hurdles and Eric Lurie the pole vault. McClelland would later become South Africa’s mile champion in 1939, the same year he was a guest star at the Wits University Championships and delighted the crowd by breaking the national record for the unusual three-quarter mile.
Louis Fouché represented the Springbok team at the Empire Games in Sydney, Australia, in 1938. The Games were a major triumph for the powerfully built Wits student, who won the shot put. Curiously enough he was not at his best and the distance he achieved was nearly two feet behind his intervarsity record. The Cape Times noted, ‘It was revealed later that the new shot was produced by the officials without the wax being removed, which handicapped all the competitors.’
Not only did Fouché succeed in winning a gold medal and breaking the Australian record in the week preceding the Games but he was the key figure in the tour’s most notorious escapade. On the return boat trip to South Africa, the Springboks discovered that the glamorous ‘Marcus showgirls’ were fellow passengers. However, any hopes of meeting the girls, billed as ‘the most beautiful women in the world’, were hindered by ‘Old Man’ Marcus’s ban on visitors.
The South Africans were quick to devise a novel method of seeing the girls, and team manager, Ira G. Emery, recalled:
One evening when taking my regular promenade around the deck, I noticed our famous quartermile runner, Denis Shore, holding on to a heavy rope like grim death. Not sensing that anything was untoward, I casually asked, ‘What the deuce do you think you’re doing? Fishing?’ ‘No,’ said Denis, ‘Fouché is on the other end of the rope!’ It
appears the trick was worked out so that one of the team was lowered over the side of the ship after dark, and gladly greeted the girls through the porthole. Unfortunately, when Fouché was down on the rope-end, Shore got such a start when he saw me suddenly come on the scene, that he let go the rope; and so Fouché instead of finding himself in a little mild flirtation, found himself dropped ‘in the drink’.
After Wits’s narrow victory at the 1937 Dalrymple Cup meeting, a great deal of canvassing was done for new members prior to the 1938 season and this seemingly paid dividends. The club also acquired the services as coach of Dr Ernst Jokl, whose knowledge of athletics compared favourably with any in South Africa. A powerful side was fielded over the next few years which included South African champions, Jimmy Lane (high jump, 1940); Louis Fouché (shot put, 1937–1938) and Pat Lardner Burke (mile, 1938), plus outstanding performers such as Louis Hoogenhout, Harold ‘Bolsh’ Plen, Vic Turnbull, Doug Silverthorne, E.E. Skinstad, Dave Kaplan, Ken Warr, Gavin Hetherington, F.S. ‘Gravy’ Greyvenstein, Horace Green (who was to break a national record) and Trevor Newman.
Wits won the 1938 Dalrymple Cup at Grahamstown in unpleasant weather conditions, scoring 46½ points and finishing well ahead of Maties (30). Cape Town (15½), Pretoria (15), Natal (10) and Rhodes (9½). They also proceeded to amuse the drenched crowd with a raucous war cry upon receiving the Dalrymple Cup from the wife of the Albany Member of Parliament. Dave Kaplan in the discus was the only Wits competitor to break a record. He set up a new distance in the heats on the Friday and then improved on this throw in the final. Unfortunately, rain began to fall during the event and Kaplan was forced to use a wet discus. Despite this hindrance, he still beat the old mark by approximately ten feet.
There were other noteworthy performances. Wits’s exciting new acquisition, Jannie Joubert – the brother of the famous Danie – annexed the 100 and 220-yards titles, although his best effort came in the heats where he clocked 9.9 seconds for the shorter distance.
Wits athletes won both the 880 yards and mile events. In the former race, Ken Warr was up against two fine runners from Natal, but he ran most intelligently to win a tactical duel by twelve yards. Pat Lardner-Burke, Wits’s South African mile champion, led his race from start to finish, although he was challenged strongly and won by only four yards.
At the Wits University athletic meeting, Jimmy Lane had set a new high jump record with a splendid leap of 6 feet 4⅝ inches. He was unhappy at the intervarsity with a grass run-up but still retained his title and joined Dave Kaplan and E.E. Skinstad as Wits’s field event champions.
Gavin Hetherington had earlier in the season proved himself a top-class hurdler. At the Wits University meeting he beat Snaar Viljoen’s longstanding 120-yards hurdles record by two-fifths of a second, in a time of 15.4 seconds. At the
Jimmy Lane was the South African champion and record-holder for the high jump.
Robert McClelland won the mile at the national championships in 1939.
intervarsity, he was up against Cape Town’s Springbok, Syd Kiel, over this distance and had to settle for second place.
Wits won the Dalrymple Cup for a record fifth successive time when the 19th SAU championships were held on the Groote Schuur cricket ground in Cape Town in 1939. Although every one of their winning competitors was pushed all the way to the finishing post, the Witsies swept the board in all the track events except for the hurdles. An incredible nine first places in 14 events meant there was never any doubt about Wits winning overall. The final placings were: Wits (48), Cape Town (28), Stellenbosch (19), Pretoria (19), Natal (6), Rhodes (6).
There were some glorious moments in perfect conditions. The outstanding Jannie Joubert won three titles – the 100, 220 and 440 yards – with Cape Town runners taking second and third places each time.
Every event on the track was a thriller. Ken Warr won the half-mile and in doing so equalled the SAU record of 1 minute 57 seconds. Over the last furlong, he ran neck and neck with Natal’s James Nicholson until ten yards from the finish. Then Warr, with a supreme effort, managed to thrust himself forward to take the honours.
The mile proved to be an astonishing event. Wits’s Eric Dunstan carefully nursed himself into the race and ran last for the greater part of the way, but he finished in grand style to swoop to victory by five yards, in 4 minutes 25 seconds.
The two miles turned out to be the most exciting of the day and produced a new national record. As the field whirled into the back straight for the last time, McIntyre (Rhodes) and Horace
Boxing
The Boxing Club was formed on 26 May 1922, under the chairmanship of G.F. Slade, and grew quickly. In its first year the club’s membership numbers swelled rapidly to fifty, with well-known coach Jack Corrigan agreeing to train the students on a temporary basis. When he departed overseas, Jim Fennessy, who was recognised as possibly the best boxing instructor in South Africa at that time, took over. Under the latter’s shrewd eye, boxing at Wits prospered during the 1920s.
In 1923, the first intervarsity boxing tournament was held at the Drill Hall, Johannesburg, between Wits and Cape Town. Much of the organisation was undertaken by ‘Tiny’ St John Dean who was then secretary of the South African National Amateur Boxing Association. It was Dean who decided to draw attention to the tournament by obtaining the mascot ‘Phineas’, but little did he realise the repercussions of such a move. The enterprising boxing administrator also prevailed upon Charles Arthur Hadley MPC to prevent a floating trophy for the winning university. Hadley, a wealthy building contractor and racehorse owner, donated an attractive shield.
Wits succeeded in defeating Cape Town by a narrow 33-32 margin on points in 1923, after each university had won four fights. Witsies, J.F. Osborne, Kenneth Rankin, Dan Berman and
Green (Wits) raced shoulder to shoulder, neither prepared to concede until the finishing line was within their grasp. In a desperate final lunge, McIntyre almost lost his balance as they crossed the line together. Green got the verdict – ‘by an inch’ according to the Cape Times – and with it came the South African record in a time of 9 minutes 44.6 seconds.
On what was a most memorable day for Wits athletics, Louis Fouché (shot put), E.E. Skinstad (javelin) and F.S. Greyvenstein (pole-vault) also gained first places. Undoubtedly, the finest javelin thrower at intervarsity level for a number of seasons, Skinstad’s winning effort in 1939 of 168 feet was actually well behind his outstanding record throw at the Wits Championships of 191 feet 5 inches.
Wits athletics team 1939 –Dalrymple Cup champions (left to right – back row): F.S. Greyvenstein, E.E. Skinstad, L.A. Fouché, B.C. Hoets, E.J. Dunstan and H.W. Green (seated): H. Plen, T.A. Newman, V.H. Turnbull (captain), K.R. Warr (vice-captain) and D.F. Silverstone (manager) (inset): J.P. Joubert.
C.J.M. Greef were successful but, overall, they owed their victory to the points that a battered Laurie Adler managed to earn by forcing extratime in his contest.
At the second intervarsity in 1924, the tables were turned as Cape Town – the Ikeys – were adjudged the winners after each university had won four fights. The following year, Wits won easily, collecting 26 points against Cape Town’s 13 and Pretoria’s 6. Then, in 1926, when the tournament was held in Cape Town, the Witsies managed to hold on to the Hadley Shield. They also produced the most outstanding fighter in Frank Rostron, who later managed the Springbok boxing team to the 1932 Olympic Games, before concentrating on journalism and becoming a respected Fleet Street sportswriter.
Pericles Menof, who captained the Wits boxing team during the period 1923 to 26, became Johannesburg and Districts champion for his division and was runner-up in the Olympic trials of 1928. He had assisted in drawing up the constitution of the SAU Boxing Federation in 1923 and from the early 1930s, he continuously served on the South African Amateur Boxing Federation. He was to develop a lifelong interest and, together with fellow Witsies, Pete Suzman (athletics) and Wilfred Marsh (rowing), was
The
Wits University’s original Phineas
inducted into South Africa’s ‘Sports Hall of Fame’ in 1978.
The boxing club was most enterprising during those early years. A Wits student, Michael Kam, was prominent in organising the Oxford–Cambridge visit of 1926 that created unprecedented interest in boxing in South Africa. An enormous crowd turned out to watch the match between a combined universities team and the visitors at Johannesburg’s Town Hall. Six Wits boxers were included in the local squad.
The opening contest was between the bantamweights, Wits’s J.F. Osborne (114 pounds) and Cambridge’s H.R.D. Clark (116½ pounds). The two fighters exchanged punches with a will from the start and Osborne was undoubtedly the evening’s ‘best loser’. Pretoria’s Otto Schultz then created unbounded excitement by knocking out his opponent in the lightweight division, whilst eleventh-hour replacement, H. Brink fought a plucky battle before losing on points.
The welterweight contest featured the promising Rostron, who had won South African junior championship for his division in 1920. His fight against his Oxbridge opponent was an almighty battle during which he was floored four times in the second round. Through sheer grit and determination, Rostron got up each time and continued fighting. Well handled in the corner, he returned with a vengeance in the third and fourth rounds and knocked his opponent groggy. Such was his dominance towards the end of the fight that it was agreed by the two judges and the referee that the contest be declared a draw.
With excitement at fever-pitch by this stage, the crowd vehemently objected to a points decision against the popular Wits middleweight and combined universities captain, Vic Leibrandt. But they could not argue about the last two bouts of the evening going against two other Wits fighters, C.J.M. Greef (lightweight) and Frederick Uys (heavyweight). Both local boxers were against vastly more experienced opponents.
After beating the combined student side 5½1½, the tourists ended their visit with a match against a representative South African team. Vic Leibrandt, who had a victory to his credit over the future South African middleweight champion, Willie Muser, was selected in the middleweight section but injured himself playing soccer and was forced to withdraw. This was a pity, as his return bout against the New Zealander, G.F. McHardy, had been keenly anticipated.
Two years later, in 1928, a team of Wits University boxers toured Rhodesia, where they drew with Mashonaland (four wins each), and beat Matabeleland, winning four out of seven contests. The side invited Otto Schultz, the Transvaal University College boxing star, who had done so well against Oxford–Cambridge, to travel with them. Schultz knocked out his opponents in Salisbury and Bulawayo.
Boxing continued to thrive at Wits over the next few years and they won the Hadley Shield again in 1929 and 1931. Leading fighters during this period included Costa Halamandres, S.A. Butowsky, K.M. Gray and J.D. Naude, with all of them winning their intervarsity weight
divisions at some stage. The club was also fortunate in obtaining the coaching services of Clarence Walker, who won a boxing gold medal in the bantamweight division at the Antwerp Olympic Games in 1920.
When the intervarsity boxing tournament returned to the Rand in 1933 for the first time in five years, the other universities requested that an exhibition fight be held featuring South Africa’s Olympic champion, Laurie Stevens. The brilliant Springbok, who had won the gold medal at Los Angeles the previous year, sportingly agreed and he fought a round each against three university fighters. The actual intervarsity ended in a first-ever tie after Rhodes and Wits had won three fights apiece. The most exciting bout of the evening was the cruiserweight final between Abe Luntz of Wits and Cape Town’s de Villiers. Luntz, a well-built fighter had his opponent struggling in the first round after dropping him twice for counts of nine. But de Villiers made a fine recovery and, in a drama-charged final round, punched Luntz to a standstill. The Witsie only just won – the decision meeting with a mixed reception.
Wits’s other two champions of 1933, George Davis and Morris Kaplan, both became prominent figures in the administration of boxing in South Africa. Davis, who won his Springbok colours for athletics in 1935, was a long-serving member of the executive of the SA Amateur Boxing Association and a member of the Professional Control Board. Kaplan, who also served the SA Boxing Association, became a member of the Executive Council of the SA National and Olympic Games Association.
For six years (1934–39), the Capetonians were the dominant force in intervarsity boxing, winning the Hadley Shield outright five times and sharing it once (in 1937) with Wits. Cape Town won five divisions in 1934 and no fewer than seven out of a possible eight the following year.
Wits won two titles against Cape Town’s four at Grahamstown in 1936. A tireless Spencer Parker triumphed in the light-heavyweight competition, giving his opponent no respite, and Teddy Gillman won the featherweight division after a gruelling encounter.
At Johannesburg in 1937, Wits fared even better and claimed four victories. Both Gillman, in a scrambling affair, and Parker retained their titles – the latter owing his win to a perfect right which lifted his opponent from Stellenbosch right off his feet. New winners were Salvator Benatar, a clever fighter in the lightweight division who was rated the best boxer on view, and the Springbok shot-putter, Louis Fouché, who was fifty pounds heavier than his opponent in the heavyweight final and took full advantage of the fact.
Cape Town won the Hadley Shield again in 1938 and 1939. Wits’s outstanding fighters during this period were lightweight, Aaron Penn, and middleweight, Poggie Swanepoel. The latter’s victory in the 1938 final was the most convincing of the tournament with the referee coming to the aid of a battered and bloodied opponent midway through the second round.
Pericles Menof, captain of the Wits boxing team, with the Hadley Shield.
Vic Leibrandt was selected for the South African boxing team in 1926 but forced to withdraw through injury.
Cricket
Cricket is one of the oldest sports to have been played on an organised basis at the university. The club’s history dates back to the early years of the Transvaal Technical Institute, but it was to be a long time before the First XI played regularly in the Transvaal league system. Games were arranged on a friendly basis for many years, largely because a variety of circumstances prevented the students from raising a side on a regular basis.
When the University of the Witwatersrand came into being in 1922, its first season ended rather abruptly. The student newspaper, Umpa, commented:
The cricket season at Varsity started with great enthusiasm last year, but only a matter of weeks had passed when the long summer vacation brought to an end the activities of the club. Yes, indeed, cricket at the Varsity will only become one of the premier sports when sufficient interest is shown by cricketers, so as to be able to run a team in the league during the long vacation.
Despite such criticism, one can sympathise with the players of that time because the game was staged on a dirt outfield with a matting wicket. Up until the early 1930s, the main aim in the maintenance of the ground was to keep the playing area devoid of veld grass in order to provide a smooth, red-earth surface. The argument prevailed that the sparse rainfall would not support grass survival, especially as the area was used for rugby and football during the off season. Fielding was inevitably a messy, sometimes treacherous affair, whilst spectators found the glare a strain on the eyes.
A. Goldstein captained the university side in its first season and proved a useful all-round cricketer. The star player was ‘Oppie’ Harington, who was a prolific run-getter and won a bat during 1922/23 because of his average of 64.6. But without the incentive of playing in a league during the early 1920s, the game was not taken too seriously.
Efforts were made during the 1923/24 and 1924/25 seasons to enter a side in the second league. The Christmas vacation posed its usual problems and in both seasons the club was forced to withdraw from the league. It was then decided that the groundsman would attempt to turf the field and the university was forced to forego home matches for a long period while the experiment was carried out. As it transpired, cricket dropped out of the list of sporting activities’ for several years.
A team was put together again in 1928/29 and did sufficiently well to finish third in the second league. The students surprised local enthusiasts by winning six and drawing one of the nine matches played, and comfortably defeated Transvaal University College in an intervarsity match.
The University Council’s ruling banning students from participating in Sunday cricket was another obstacle during the 1920s. The better student players were lost to Wits as they could not be expected to participate in a
programme of ‘pick-up’ friendlies. They joined town sides in order to further their game and, in this way, Wits gained no credit for some fine performances by those students – Buster Nupen, Ronnie Grieveson and George Fullerton – who went on to represent their province and country.
Buster Nupen, who captained the South African side to a dramatic victory over England during 1930/31, was an arts student at Wits prior to becoming a lawyer. Although he played his club cricket for Old Edwardians, he had made his mark in Wits sport by virtue of his ability to throw the cricket ball from one corner of the sports field to the other – a distance of 113 yards.
Eddie van der Merwe played for Wits during the mid-1920s and was described in Umpa as being a ‘very useful all-rounder/reserve wicketkeeper’. He was a versatile sportsman, also turning out for the university at rugby, athletics and soccer. Although he was later chosen for Transvaal at rugby, it was in cricket that he excelled. He was selected for Springbok tours to England (1929) and Australasia (1931/32) as well as playing against the Australians at home during 1935/36.
The doyen of South African sportswriters for so many years, Louis Duffus, was another Wits student who played his cricket elsewhere. A regular member of the Transvaal side, he is best remembered in the university’s sporting history as being ‘a boxer of much dash’.
The first major achievement of the cricket club was winning the Chauncey Cup – the Johannesburg third league – in 1932/33. They were led by Tom Fraser, who went on to win a Cambridge University blue and represented the Orange Free State between 1937 and 1947. Professor G.R. Bozzoli, later vicechancellor of the university, played for the winning Wits side and recalled the establishment of the engineering faculty as being important for cricket: ‘It was necessary for engineers to obtain vacation work as part of the practical side of their course and this meant that they would be available to play cricket during the traditionally difficult period for the club.’
The side’s outstanding player was Tony Gyngell, who also earned the distinction of becoming the university’s first provincial cricketer. A polished craftsman, he was chosen to play in an inter-provincial tournament hosted by Western Province in Cape Town during December 1932. He claimed eleven wickets in three matches, including five in an innings against the hosts, and became a regular fixture in the Transvaal side for the next two seasons.
After winning the Chauncey Cup, the club did not progress as anticipated and experienced a disconcerting downward slide. The lack of a decent facility remained a problem because earlier efforts at establishing a turfed outfield had not been successful. For some time, said one source, the university was ‘compelled to hire a backyard in which to play their home matches’. The groundsman, Mr Hubbard, remained adamant in his demand that four inches of rain had to fall before he could plant a new outfield. When the new oval was completed early in
Professor J.H. Hofmeyr, the principal of the university during 1919-1924, was a keen cricketer and played in the annual staff versus students match.
Buster Nupen captained South Africa to victory over England at the Wanderers, Johannesburg, in 1930/31. He claimed 5 for 63 and 6 for 87 in the match.
Eddie van der Merwe was selected for South African tours to England (1929) and Australasia (1931/32), as well as playing against the Australians at home during 1935/36.
a
represented Transvaal.
First XI 1932/33 – winners
Cup (back row – left to right) G. Bozzoli, T. Staples, S. Stewart, M. Gluckman, M. Bryer and J. Smith (seated): W. Meyers, M. Pringle, T. Fraser (captain), A. Gyngell, and C. Harington (in front): W. Girdwood, W. Reichman, G. Christie and P. Bates.
1938, there appeared to be some justification in the prolonged wait because it was immediately acknowledged as being one of the best grass grounds in the province. To mark the opening of the new field a match was played against Pretoria University. The visiting team was captained by the 1927 Springbok left-hander, Jacobus Duminy, who was a professor at the university. He made top score of 47 in Pretoria’s total of 106 and did well to fend off the fiery opening attack of Neville Rankin and Trefor Roberts. It was a score which Wits passed rapidly with Cawood 33, Roberts 35, Drysdale 54 and Rankin 40 to the fore.
The improved playing conditions resulted in better performances. A key acquisition was Carey Cawood who made an important contribution to the Wits side, which won section 2 of the reserve league in 1938/39 and gained promotion to the Lionel Phillips reserve league ‘A’. Cawood scored 597 runs (average 49.75) with a highest score of 176, whilst his wicketkeeping skills were of the highest order. A year later, he was chosen for Transvaal against Eastern Province, scoring a fine 53 not out on debut.
The 1938/39 side also owed much to the all-round talents of Trefor Roberts, the batting of J.G. Townsend and Basil Drysdale, and the bowling of team captain, Neville Rankin. Roberts finished the season with 48 wickets at the excellent average of 10.3, with Rankin taking 32 wickets, average 13.3.
By the outbreak of the Second World War, the Wits team was looking extremely promising. Under the captaincy of Drysdale, the First XI did well in their new league in 1939/40 and finished a point behind the winners, J.R.I. Wu’s Views commented,‘With any ordinary luck they might have topped their division.’
The success of the side during the 1939/40 season was due to a fine team effort, but in the young Eric ‘Pop’ Norton, Wits unearthed a most promising player. He topped the side’s batting averages (85.3) but then joined the South African war effort, and was lost to Wits cricket not long afterwards. Thirteen years later, he was chosen for Jack Cheetham’s Springbok side which toured Australia and New Zealand.
Cross Country
Pete Suzman organised the first annual cross-country meeting in September 1925, between Wits and Transvaal University College. Suzman’s father donated an impressive shield for the inaugural intervarsity, which was run over 6¼ miles on the fields between Sans Souci and Parkview.
A nip in the air, a murky overcast sky and the fact that rain had fallen, made the conditions ideal for cross-country running. The race began at the Milner Park Hostel and a fine contest ensued even though the Witsies won with ease. Henry Tucker finished first by twentyfive yards from James Gear, with Pete Suzman third
The Wits team on that historic occasion comprised A. Brink, J.M. le Grange, A. Archibald, A. Suzman, R. Verney, J. Hofmeyr, J. Gear, S. Suzman and H. Tucker. The manager was Professor J.A. Wilkinson of the Chemistry Department, who helped enthusiastically with student sport although the new principal, H.R. Raikes thought he was simply not in touch with his academic teaching. Raikes, who was a chemist, wrote to his former colleagues at Oxford: ‘My Chemistry professor should be locked up. He is about a century behind the times.’ .
Tucker, who went on to become South Africa’s steeplechase champion, was succeeded by many other fine Wits crosscountry runners. The tussles for supremacy between James Gear, J.M. le Grange and David Jamieson during the latter part of the 1920s were always an exciting feature of the season. Several of the better students began entering provincial competitions and Jamieson became the Transvaal cross-country champion. Members of the club also participated in the Lichtenburg diamond rush of 1927, being paid by the less fleet-footed diggers to race and stake their claims.
When Jock Hurwitz won the intervarsity in 1931, it was in a three-way contest because Rhodes University entered the fray for the first time. Hurwitz was well supported by A.C. Jacques and G. Goel who finished second and fourth, respectively. With such a fine start, the Witsies scored a comfortable win.
The Johannesburg students invariably had the better of the annual intervarsity with Pretoria, and accomplished a unique performance in 1934 by filling the first six places. Their star runner during the mid1930s was Piet Scheepers, who recorded a hat-trick of intervarsity victories in the individual competition, and in 1935 inspired the students to team victory in the provincial cross-country championships.
The Wits
of the Chauncey
Carey Cawood (96),
wicketkeeper/ batsman,
Eric Norton (96) toured Australasia with the Springboks in 1952/53.
Fencing
The Wits University Fencing Club came into existence in mid-1937, largely through the efforts of Signor Ugo Monticelli of the Vermont School of Fencing. Lessons were conducted in the vicinity of the swimming baths and Mrs E.M. ‘Dick’ Richards, the reigning Leamington International Challenge Cup champion, was contracted to assist with coaching.
Mrs Richards helped for several years and her student numbers grew rapidly. Said Wu’s Views, ‘Three times a week the amphitheatre rings to the sound of crossed blades. The sharp snap of the parry is followed (sometimes) by the rattle of the riposte.’
Early tournaments were held with the Pretoria Fencing Club and the Vermont School. Matches were also arranged against the Pretoria Technical College, the Connaught Club, the RAF team from Potchefstroom, the Pretoria Military College and teams from Mozambique. The fencing was initially of a modest standard and the student newspaper records that competitors ‘tended to rely on brute strength rather than skill’.
W. Terry was the first chairman in 1937, succeeded the following year by J.W.A. Warner. They were both competent fencers and would have represented a Transvaal side in a tournament at Lou-
Golf
A golf club was formed at Wits in 1929 when facilities were obtained for students keen to play the ‘Royal and Ancient game’. For a purely nominal subscription fee, three of the best courses on the Rand – the Johannesburg Golf Club, Parkview Golf Club and the ERPM Golf Club – were made available to students. The list of prospective members reached fifty which for a club in its infancy was highly gratifying. The father of the first club captain, R.W. Brinton, presented an intervarsity shield to be played for annually in conjunction with other events against the Transvaal University College (Tukkies).
The first intervarsity was played in August 1929 at the ERPM course with Wits emerging winners by six matches to three. The winning team on that occasion was R.W. Brinton, Melville Festenstein, V. White, D. Kruger, Bollie Sieff of rugby fame and S.C. Quinlan.
Over the next five years honours were shared between the two universities and then in 1935 a full South African intervarsity tournament was started. Although the first competition was poorly attended, it would become the highlight of the students’ golfing year and many outstanding players emerged.
Rhodes withdrew from the 1935 intervarsity at Rapenburg, leaving Cape Town to defeat Wits 5-3 in the singles and 4-0 in the foursomes. The most exciting match of the day was between the two champions, Vic Leary of Wits and Cape Town’s Christiaan Watermeyer, who was later to win the South African Amateur Golf Championship. Leary was one shot ahead at the turn but Watermeyer caught up on the second nine and took the lead by
renço Marques if it had not been for examinations. Other prominent members of the club in those early years included J.G. Joubert, the talented J.J. Brummer, Roy Bahr and John ChancellorMaddison. The last-named was good enough to finish second in the épée event at the national championships and became known as a particularly efficient organiser. In time he became chairman of the Transvaal Amateur Fencing Association and was, for a short period, president of the South African Amateur Fencing Association.
Several of the men showed early promise of developing into first-rate swordsmen but their female counterparts did not progress as rapidly. Wu’s Views commented, ‘The women seem to find some difficulty in acquiring that cold, calculating attitude of mind necessary to make a successful swordsman. They must learn to abandon girlish shyness and giggles and remember that in this sport one’s object is to kill (in theory, at least) without being killed oneself. There is, therefore, no need to apologise when you hit your opponent!’
The women’s champion for several years, Nina Bonini, was, however, a fine fencer. Floating trophies in her name were later awarded for the women’s fencing championships, and competition for the Bonini Trophy was keen.
one hole with the 18th to play. A brilliant approach shot by the Cape Town player left him a few feet from the pin and he duly won two-up.
Leary was one of three Witsies, along with Norman Smetherham and Billy Girdwood, chosen for the first combined universities golf team that played against Western Province.
In the 1936 intervarsity at Johannesburg, it was Wits’s turn to enjoy success. They won the StreathThomas trophy with 18 wins out of a possible 24, well ahead of Cape Town and Rhodes. Norman Smetherham won the individual title over 36 holes with a score of 156, one shot better than teammates, Vic Leary and Ronnie Millin.
The next intervarsity in 1937 was held at the Royal Port Alfred Golf Course. Three members of the Wits side pulled out of the team a week before its departure and a weakened combination was no match for Cape Town and Rhodes.
Wits’s performance at the 1938 intervarsity was equally dismal. Cape Town, the hosts, succeeded in winning 22 matches out of 24 and took the first six places in the individual event.
The left-handed Sid J. Hersch, who was the Wits University golf champion for three successive years (1938–40), was the best of the visiting players, finishing in seventh position.
The Capetonians retained the Smeath-Thomas trophy for a third year in 1939, winning 19 matches against Wits’s 15 and Rhodes’s 2. However, the Johannesburg crowd was thrilled to see the local captain, Bernie van Lingen, emerge as the SAU individual champion. There was a three-way tie on 156 with team-mate, Sydney Cohen, and Cape Town’s John Alexander, but
John Chancellor-Maddison was second in the épée event at the national championships and later became president of the South African Amateur Fencing Association.
Norman Smetherham was the intervarsity golf champion in 1936. He returned to the university to play in the ASC’s 50th anniversary championship in 1989.
Early fencing stars at Wits (left to right): Nina Bonini, John ChancellorMaddison and J.G. Joubert.
Bertie Bernstein, later chancellor of the university, captained the 1929
The first hockey team 1939 (left to right – back row): H.V. Lawrance (secretary), M. Bryer, M. Kramer, M. Bryer and R.W. Hibbit (middle row): M. Kaplan, E.E.A. Driver-Jowitt, J.D. Raftery (captain), C. McN. Cochran and H. Reynolds (in front): H. Fourie and G.StJ. Oxley Oxland.
van Lingen won the play-off convincingly. In drenching rain, he recorded an excellent 72, three under par, to win by seven strokes.
The early competitions were held in July when the Transvaal courses were usually hard and dry and the Cape’s wet and windy. Under the circumstances, scoring was not always easy and at Maccauvlei in 1939, the tournament was played on scarified and top-dressed greens. Nevertheless, the competitions were eagerly
Gymnastics
The gymnastics club has had a somewhat chequered record since attempts were first made to start the sport in the early 1920s. The inaugural committee, which included Springbok hockey player, Jennie Jacobson, was elected in October 1926 at the first general meeting.
The club served largely as a keep-fit class and Arthur Suzman was quick to point out in his first report that ‘… in spite of playing football, cricket
Men’s Hockey
S.C. Heymann was the prime mover in organising a meeting in April 1925, at which the possibility of a hockey revival was discussed. Prospective members were well aware that a team could not be entered into the league because of the University Council’s ban on Sunday sport and a report from that first meeting ruefully admitted, ‘On account of all matches being played on Sundays it is hardly conducive to a great deal of enthusiasm being shown towards the club.’
The 1925 season nevertheless proceeded with forty players being enrolled. To create interest in the sport, the club arranged practice games and intervarsity matches – the Transvaal University College was beaten 6-1 but a 3-0 loss was suffered at the hands of the Natal University College. The setting up of an inter-faculty league in 1927 improved the players’ competitive edge and a match against the University of Cape Town that year was keenly anticipated. The visitors had a very strong team, which at the time was top of the league in the ‘Peninsula’ and included several provincial players. The Witsies surprised themselves by winning 2-1, duly celebrating at
contested and Bernie van Lingen recalled:
Most teams were a mixture of old hands and freshers. The odd, delightful senior citizen from the Cape would have been at medical school for many years, generally carrying forward a first-year subject yet to be passed. Parties were inevitable amongst the golfers with the freshers learning how to order socially acceptable drinks. At the Kowie, the intervarsity ended with attempts to drive across the river from the hotel lawn!
and athletics, fifty per cent of the last draft of Defence Force recruits were physically unfit, showing the urgent need for more gymnastics.’
The perennial problem of insufficient funds, however, prevented the club from purchasing the necessary apparatus and very little progress was made. Over the years, this same obstacle continued to thwart noble efforts to revive the sport.
the first intervarsity hockey dinner which was described as ‘a roaring success’.
The strength of the university’s hockey was further tested when two games were arranged against Durban Deep, a prominent league side. Wits won the first match 1-0 and drew the second 2-2 which indicated that the student team was a most useful combination. But, tragically, the inability of the club to play in the local league hindered further development. The hockey captain in 1929, Bertie Bernstein (who was later chancellor of the university), wrote, ‘Until facilities are granted to us for playing more matches I fear that no great progress can be hoped for either in the standard of play or in the interest of the students.’
During the early 1930s, the club arranged a good number of friendly matches against Johannesburg and district sides to supplement the intervarsities. The annual fixture against Pretoria was always the season’s high point –Wits winning 4-1 in 1932, losing 1-0 in 1933, winning narrowly 6-5 in 1934 and drawing 1-1 in 1935. Wits’s captain and right back, C.McN. Cochrane, was the mainstay of the team and did well enough to obtain provincial honours.
Wits hosted a highly successful intervarsity tournament in July 1937, which attracted teams from Natal and Cape Town Universities. The Ikeys took the honours and a combined universities team (which included Vincent Wright as captain, Hillie Mendelow and Alan Friedman from Wits) put up a creditable performance against a representative Transvaal XI. Such was the success of this tournament that the exercise was repeated in succeeding years.
During the latter part of the 1930s, the game revolved around Vincent Wright, team captain and a most constructive centre-half. At half-back he was well supported by Alan Friedman, whose stickwork was probably the best in the club,
Bernie van Lingen was the SAU champion in 1939 and 1941.
hockey side.
while Hillie Mendelow, who later captained the side, spearheaded the forward line. Lippe Slutzken was the team’s capable goalkeeper and served the club admirably over a long period, while full back Gerry Dalton became one of the best players in the province. The arrival in 1938 of Reg Sidelsky, an exciting opportunist, added a new dimension to the side’s attacking strength. With the Sunday sport issue remaining a problem for many years, it was not until 1938 that Wits was able to enter the Johannesburg and District league. Two teams were entered, with the first side being forced to start off in the third league and work its way up. Wits played
Women’s Hockey
Women’s hockey at Wits made a modest start in 1922, taking a few weeks before they recorded their first victory. There were two major reasons for their inauspicious beginning. The first team was practically an untried combination, and the scarcity of playing fields in Johannesburg resulted in the students being restricted to one practice a week at the Wanderers’ ground. Thereafter, however, they progressed rapidly and very soon the Wits women were recognised as a leading club in the Southern Transvaal.
The opening match was lost to Pirates 2-1, with J. Blevin scoring the first-ever goal for Wits. Unfortunately, further defeats were suffered at the hands of Krugersdorp (6-1) and Amazons (1-0) and the team had to wait until their fourth match for their first win – a 3-0 victory against Chudleigh. An 11-0 massacre was recorded over Vereeniging and then in the inter-collegiate, Wits beat Grey 2-0.
The progress continued in 1923, the first team finishing second in the Southern Transvaal first league and the second team emerging unbeaten in their league. As a result, the club embarked on an ambitious programme in 1924 and entered two sides in the premier division. Even though Wits lacked the overall strength of the previous season, the first team finished third, and the ‘A’ team, which was the second side, did well to win five and draw three of their thirteen fixtures.
In 1924, the new ground was completed, an important development that was noted in the student magazine as being ‘a source of satisfaction to us, and of envy to the visiting clubs’. So unspoilt were players of that generation that a rough, gravel surface was warmly welcomed and the Witsies took pride in comparing their new facility with Cape Town’s ‘paddock’, described as being ‘little more than rough veld’.
During the period 1922 to 1925, the first team was captained by Lucy Sutherland and it was her able leadership that went a long way towards establishing the university as a dominant influence in Southern Transvaal hockey. She was also one of the most outstanding scholars of the time. Having obtained a double first in history and economics, she was awarded her honours degree cum laude and thereafter her master’s. She received the Herbert Ainsworth Scholarship, departed for Oxford and became an historian of international repute.
The All-England tour in 1925 was a great fillip to
without a home ground, which may well have contributed to their inability to gain promotion. Twelve league games were played, of which nine were won and three lost. Promotion hinged on the last match of the season but, playing with a depleted side the day after intervarsity, the allimportant fixture was lost.
The students were to be thwarted again the following year. Wright and Dalton were prominent when Wits won their section of the third league comfortably in 1939 but just failed to win promotion. It was heartbreaking to be beaten 2-1 by City Deep after two sessions of extra-time.
ladies’ hockey in South Africa and, in preparation for the English visit, Southern Transvaal played a match against their northern neighbours. Rose and Irene Kowarsky and Jennie Jacobson were the Wits players selected for the fixture, which Northern Transvaal won 2-1 – Jennie scoring her side’s only goal. All three Wits girls, together with Lucy Sutherland, who came in as captain, were then chosen for the Southern Transvaal team which was well beaten – 7-0 – by the English.
Lady Thomson, wife of the university’s principal, Sir William Thomson, was elected as president of the women’s hockey section in 1925, and became fully involved in the club’s organisation and the entertainment of opposition teams. The Wits season was highlighted by the university’s first-ever win over Cape Town in an intervarsity. That match is remembered for an outstanding performance by Jennie Jacobson, who scored the third goal by taking the ball from the bully, dribbling it through the Cape Town defence and then rounding the goalkeeper before guiding her shot home.
In 1926, the second team went back to the lower division, but this was to prove a temporary measure because the girls won the league and gained promotion. Unfortunately, the first team had a relatively disappointing season, displaying inexplicable inconsistency. Their erratic form in the league was carried over to the intervarsities – where they thrashed the Transvaal University College (7-2), Grey (4-0) and Stellenbosch (5-0) but were on the receiving end against Cape Town and were hammered 5-0.
At the end of the 1926 season, the exciting news was received that Jennie Jacobson had been selected for the Springbok tour of the United Kingdom, France and Belgium. Small in stature, with closely cropped hair and an infectious smile, Jennie was an agile forward, tremendously quick off the mark. An individualist with splendid stick work and an ability to score goals, she learnt much overseas about the finer points of the game. The South Africans won one match –against France – drew one and lost eleven but returned home determined to impart their newlyacquired knowledge to fellow players.
The Springbok hockey captain on the overseas tour, Winnie Yell, coached the Wits side in 1927, travelling in twice a week from Krugersdorp.
Emmie Hartmann won Springbok colours in 1936, served as a South African selector for twenty-one years, umpired at international level, and coached and managed the national side in 1950 and 1959.
Lucy Sutherland captained Southern Transvaal against the All-England touring team in 1925.
Jennie Jacobson became Wits University’s first Springbok when chosen for South Africa’s overseas hockey tour in 1926.
It was a memorable season and the successes achieved were in no small way due to the services of Mrs Yell. The club’s second string fully justified its promotion and the first side emerged unbeaten to win the Southern Transvaal first league. They won eleven and drew one of their twelve matches.
Wits’s forward line in 1927 was particularly lethal, with Irene Kowarsky regularly providing well-placed crosses from the wing to set up scoring opportunities. Irene was chosen to play in the inter-provincial tournament alongside Emmie Hartmann, Else Bull and Jennie Jacobson – the last-named going on a goal-scoring spree and being selected for the Rest of South Africa XI to play against the winning team, Northern Transvaal.
Not only did the Wits side make an impact by virtue of their playing record in 1927 but they created something of a furore over their turn-out. The open-neck, one-piece tunic in royal blue was designed and made by the girls themselves. The attire was considered revolutionary as, well into the 1950s, South Africa’s hockey women wore ties and pinafores when playing,
The students took their hockey very seriously and practised hard. They often bunked classes or sneaked out of the residences, because those were the days of signing in and out and providing reasons for going anywhere. A tall, hard-hitting centre-forward, Emmie Hartmann recalled, ‘The choice of academic courses sometimes depended on the times of hockey practices. Without floodlights there was inevitably little time to play during the mid-winter months and especially when there were afternoon practicals.’
Hartmann said that it took two trams to reach her home in Kensington and socialising after practices was made impossible. However, the social aspect was not then part and parcel of the game as it later became, with the later festive
hockey section and, even after matches, the players did not stay on to have drinks with the opposition. But by the same token, the girls of that time did not go in for pre-season training, seasons were shorter and indoor hockey had not even been considered.
In 1928, Hartmann was named as captain of the first team despite her being a secondyear student. Wits enjoyed another successful season with the second team maintaining its position in the senior league and the first side being defeated in the final by Pirates. Nine players were chosen for the Southern Transvaal trials with four – Emmie and Betty Hartmann, Jennie Jacobson and Brenda Howard – earning provincial honours.
In the intervarsities, Wits twice beat Transvaal University College and defeated Grey at Bloemfontein, but surprisingly lost to Rhodes at Grahamstown. Emmie Hartmann remembers the trips as being great fun – they were days when trains stopped at ‘loops’ to let oncoming trains pass through on the primitive single-line system and the hockey girls would take the opportunity to practise in the veld whilst waiting
Unfortunately, money was scarce in the Hartmann household and Emmie was forced to leave the university at the end of 1928 and complete her studies part-time. It was a blow to Wits because she proceeded to start up the Jeppe Old Girls’ side and was thereafter a conspicuous figure in the ranks of the opposition. She gained her Springbok colours in 1936 at Philadelphia in the United States, when South Africa participated for the first time in the International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations conference.
Jennie Jacobson also left, as did several other first-team regulars, but with Mrs Yell continuing to coach and the arrival of some promising ‘freshers’, Wits held their own in 1929. The first team finished third; the second team won sufficient matches to stay in the top division, and after losing to Transvaal University College in May, Wits gained their revenge by winning the second encounter in August. Membership of the club increased and for part of the season there were enough players to raise a fourth team. Three Witsies were selected to represent the Southern Transvaal side at the inter-provincial tournament in East London – Leila Chapman the goalkeeper, Sylvia Rabie the right-half, and Joyce Tierney, who was named as captain of the side from the right-back position.
The 1920s had proved a highly successful period in the university’s hockey history and provided a strong platform for the future of the game at Wits. Indeed, in 1930 and 1931 the first team finished second in the league behind Wanderers and continued to be well represented in the Southern Transvaal side.
In 1930, the Empire Tournament was held in South Africa and was one of the most ambitious and successful sporting events yet organised in the country. Players from England, Scotland, Australia and South Africa were involved, and they moved around the country and Rhodesia by train, spreading a fine example of skilful hockey.
The Wits hockey side which won the Southern Transvaal first league in 1927 (left to right –back row): B. Hartmann, J. Tierney and K. Knowles-Williams (seated): B. Roe, I. Kowarsky, D. Kotze, J. Jacobson and E. Hartmann (in front): E. Bull and E. Shlom (inset): M. Paine.
Irene Kowarsky was a key member of the Wits and Southern Transvaal hockey teams during the latter part of the 1920s.
Jennie Jacobson was re-awarded her Springbok colours and scored the opening goal of South Africa’s first match of the tournament, a 6-1 victory against Australia. Southern Transvaal were given the chance to play against two of the touring sides – drawing 0-0 with Australia and losing 5-0 to England, the strongest side on view. Wits players, Leila Chapman and Sylvia Rabie, shone in these matches. Against Australia, The Star commented, ‘Miss Chapman, the university ’keeper, edged two hard shots away from the net in the beginning of the game with exceptional skill. Nine times out of ten they were certain goals for the Australians’; and in the match against England, the same newspaper stated, ‘Miss Rabie running all over the field with a freedom which does not conform with the English style of play, was particularly good in spoiling.’
The Wits’ girls organised tours to the Cape in 1930 and Natal the following year. In the former trip the side played against and beat Huguenot University College and Stellenbosch University but lost 4-3 to the Cape Town students. The Natal tour was very successful, and the team returned unbeaten. They beat Ladysmith 3-2, Natal University College twice and Durban Old Girls 2-1.
The 1931 side was as strong as any before it and finished second to Wanderers in the league. Four players – Leila Chapman, Phyllis Cooper, Isobel Hawkins and Sylvia Rabie – were chosen for Southern Transvaal. While the future of the women’s hockey section at the university had seemed assured, one major problem hovered over the club. Up to the early 1930s, Wits had been fortunate in being able to overcome the difficulties created by the university’s ban on Sunday sport. This was achieved by the fact that the other clubs were willing to re-schedule their matches against the students and play on Saturday afternoons. But this ceased in 1934 as it was considered somewhat inconvenient to the restructuring of the league.
All was not lost, as an invitation was extended to students to play for the Past Students’ club which was started in 1933. The formation of the new club was the brainchild of Brenda Howard, who did well to inveigle some outstanding former Wits players into her squad. Isobel Hawkins captained the inaugural side, which played its first season in the Second League. It was a disadvantage for a player of her calibre to move from Wanderers where she was a prominent first league player, to the lower division. But, happily, the gamble worked – the Past Students combination won the second league at its first attempt and was duly promoted.
Isobel Hawkins might well have gone on to achieve Springbok selection. However, she became Mrs Giddy in 1936, and later remarked, ‘In those days girls retired when they got married.’
Students such as Cynthia Howie, Iris Casson and Joyce Barlow excelled for their new club and were chosen for Southern Transvaal in 1934. All three were fine players. Howie, a talented all-rounder, endeavoured to play ‘friendlies’ for Wits as well as league for the Past Students.
Casson, who represented Southern Transvaal between 1932 and 1938, was asked to join the South African side for their 1939 tour of England, even though she had missed the trials. Barlow, a fearless competitor, under her married name, Joyce Waring, later became an outspoken newspaper columnist with political aspirations, and challenged Helen Suzman for the Houghton nomination in 1952
Wits persevered with a hockey side and, in 1934, several intervarsity fixtures were arranged. Both matches against Pretoria were lost, a home intervarsity against Natal was drawn and a Natal tour saw the side win two matches (Ladysmith and St Anne’s), lose two (Natal University College and Durban Tech) and draw one (a scratch Durban team). In 1935, the Past Students’ second and third teams were comprised entirely of students, but such was the strength of the university’s hockey that Johannesburg’s top side, Wanderers, scraped a narrow 2-1 victory
The Wits first hockey side in 1930 (left to right – back row): E. Arnott, N. Routh, E. Little, T. Siemerink and P. Cooper (seated): L. Chapman, B. Roe (vice-captain), J. Tierney (captain), B. Howard and K. Knowles-Williams (in front): S. Rabie, I. Casson and I. Hawkins.
The Wits hockey team at Ladysmith during their 1931 tour (left to right – back row): S. Rabie and G. Tatham (third row): I. Hawkins, L. Chapman and P. Krige (second row): E. Little, B. Howard, P. Cooper, I. Casson and E. Arnott (in front): N. Routh.
Cynthia Howie – a fine all-round sportswoman who represented Southern Transvaal at hockey.
over the full Wits student team in a friendly. The Witsies also achieved their first win over Pretoria University in four years and five players were chosen for the Combined Northern Universities team which played against Southern Universities to mark that year’s Nusas Congress. The women who took part – left-half Cynthia Howie, left back Joan Robb, right-half Merle Tatham, leftinner Dot Christie and centre-forward Edith Durrant – played alongside one Pretoria, one Free State and four Natal players.
Edith Durrant captained the Wits team in 1935, with its most experienced player being Cynthia Howie, who was chosen to represent Southern Transvaal for the fourth successive year. Another Witsie, left-wing P. Richie was also selected for the provincial side. It was clear that hockey was thriving at Wits despite the Sunday rule. An indication of the spirit was the fact that the club’s Rag float that year – ‘Past, Present and Future Hockey Players’ – collected more than £60.
Intervarsity fixtures kept interest alive during 1936. In all, five matches were played – against Pretoria (one draw and one loss), Natal (lost) and Rhodes (one draw and the other won). It was a modest record, but the team was in the throes of rebuilding and further success was just around the corner.
At the end of the 1936 season, Wits severed connections with the Past Students club and rejoined the Southern Transvaal Hockey Association. The students chose to disregard the university’s Sunday rule and two sides enjoyed a fine season in 1937. Playing in the Second League, Wits emerged as champions and then won promotion matches against Krugersdorp and Southern Transvaal Printers. Under their efficient coach, Mrs Norgarb, the forward line excelled and three players, Elma Turner, Margie Walker and Rhona Carter, were selected for Southern Transvaal. To put the seal on a memorable season, Wits twice defeated Pretoria University (3-1 and 5-2) and then beat the University of Cape Town (5-3). But no side improved to the extent of the university’s second string. After losing their first intervarsity match to Pretoria 4-5, they won the return clash 10-0.
Wits experienced a successful league season in 1938 and showed impressive form on a tour to the Cape. They beat the leading Western Province league side, Gardens, 2-1 on an unfamiliar grass surface with centre-forward, Betty Leach, hammering in both goals. The Cape Times said of the tourists, ‘They play with such speed and dash that they are able to cover up most of their mistakes.’
The second fixture was against the University of Cape Town and once again the tourists set the pace. Jackie Rissik scored twice and Betty Leach added another to give Wits what appeared to be an unassailable lead. But the local university raised ‘an extra bit of puff and push’ to score two goals and achieve an unexpected draw.
Wits then lost to Atlanta and defeated Stellenbosch University twice, 4-2 and 1-0. Their results were pleasing but, most importantly, the side produced a fast, exciting style of play that
was favourably commented upon. The famous English international, Mabel Bryant, personally congratulated the team and the Cape Times gave them prominent coverage in a detailed summary of the tour. The article noted that:
Wits wear a very smart pleatless tunic, very much the same colour as the Western Province royal blue, with a gold belt and their uniform was much admired.
They have some excellent material and although their teamwork and distribution of play could be improved, they have taught us a lot by their visit. They have literally forced their opponents to speed up their game and wake up.
They have shown local players that it is possible for a half back to support her forwards adequately; to help her backs adequately, and yet not die of exhaustion.
From Stellenbosch the side travelled to the Orange Free State and Wu’s Views reported:
We arrived at Bloemfontein in the early hours of the morning, bundled out of the train and made desperate attempts to find the people who had come to meet us. Well, it didn’t take us long to discover that they hadn’t come. We were informed that the hockey team had just left Pretoria. We all bundled back into the train, very disgusted, and ate and read love stories till we reached Johannesburg.
Victories were achieved over Tukkies in 1938 (1-0 with Jackie Rissik scoring) and 1939 (3-2 with Rissik scoring all three), but the latter season was a dismal one as far as Wits’s league campaign was concerned and the university was for some time in danger of relegation. A point earned against Wanderers in their last match but one enabled Wits to overtake the eventual wooden-spoonists, Pirates. The students created the surprise of the season by scoring four goals against Wanderers in the first twenty minutes, but their opponents came back well to score an equalising goal on time and share the match 4-4.
In the latter part of the 1930s, Wits produced another outstanding player in Jackie Rissik, also the popular chairwoman of the hockey club in 1939. The university relied heavily on her goalscoring ability and Wu’s Views commented, ‘A brilliant player and a capable and enthusiastic captain, it was largely due to her that the Varsity team has been put on the map.’ She represented Southern Transvaal with distinction at centreforward and gained recognition at national level when she was selected as a member of the Springbok team to tour England. Unfortunately, owing to the war, the visit was cancelled.
One young woman who watched Jackie Rissik play early on for Pretoria High School and Northern Transvaal became a devoted fan of her hockey-playing heroine. In fact, Dolores Theresa Sorour says in her autobiography, a Spitfire Girl: My Life in the Sky, that she was so inspired that she chose the name ‘Jackie’ for herself. As ‘Jackie’ Sorour she learnt to fly at just 15 and as ‘Jackie’ Moggridge, became the first woman airline captain to fly passengers on scheduled flights.
Iris Casson represented Southern Transvaal during 1932-1938 and was asked to join the South African side for their 1939 tour of England, even though she had missed the trials. The tour, however, was cancelled because of the war.
Wits’s successful goal-scoring duo –Jackie Rissik and Betty Leitch.
Jackie Rissik was chosen for the cancelled South African hockey tour to England in 1939.
Rowing
At Wits, the boat club has always one of the most consistently successful of all the university’s sports clubs, with a proud record at all levels in individual and team events. It is a club steeped in tradition: numerous honours have been attained even though there has always been that regular (and healthy) turnover of students one associates with university teams.
The Wits University Rowing Club, as it was known in the 1920s, was inaugurated at a general meeting held on 26 September 1924. The club was formed because it was felt that rowing was essentially a university sport and Umpa noted, ‘At Oxford and Cambridge it takes precedence over all other branches of athletics.’
Unfortunately, the timing of the setting up of the committee was a little inappropriate, as exams and the subsequent vacation meant very little could be achieved until the following year. By that stage, a couple of enthusiasts had left and although committees were elected each year thereafter, very few members left the debating table to indulge in some rowing.
Facilities for rowing were offered at first by the Victoria Lake Club at Germiston but this was very much a temporary arrangement. The keener (and richer) members managed to organise one practice a week for the first few months. Travelling posed a problem in that it cost ‘the better part of half-a-crown to get there and back’.
The club looked towards Wemmer Pan as being a more suitable venue as it was reasonably accessible. There was also every intention of obtaining club boats and a clubhouse but then, according to Umpa, ‘The Wemmer began to dry up, and with it the enthusiasm of the members.’ The article continued, ‘Rowing at the University fell into a state of coma’ and it remained in that condition for five or six years.’
It was one of the club’s original vicepresidents, Professor O.K. Williamson, who set about resuscitating the comatose rowing club in 1931. Assisted by Dr James Gear and Wilfred Marsh, the club, under the new name of the Witwatersrand University Boat Club, officially came into being in October of that year with a new constitution being drafted.
Arrangements were again made with the Victoria Lake Club to use their facilities and a reduced subscription fee of one guinea per annum allowed the students to take advantage of the available racing boats. The old rowing club had left £50 standing to its credit on fixed deposit and this enabled the committee to purchase a secondhand racing four. Training began immediately under the guidance of Professor Williamson.
Most members of the club had no previous experience of rowing and Professor Williamson was forced to start from scratch in explaining the rudiments of the sport. However, when the good professor went on holiday, the students decided of their own accord to speed up the learning process and Umpa reported that being ‘greatly daring’ an entry was made into the Kroonstad Regatta.
A crew got into training and for the first time we
took our boat out of the boat-house. That attempt at rowing a four will not soon be forgotten. The crew turned it over before a stroke had been rowed, and four shamefaced young men, mutely moist, righted it before a crowd of indulgently amused spectators.
The club was fortunate when two new and relatively experienced coaches offered their services. They were H.C. Nicholls, who had rowed number five in the Queen’s College boat at Oxford University and Osmar Atkinson of First Trinity who had obtained a ‘trial cap’ at Cambridge University. The latter played a particularly influential role in the club’s progress and, together with the enthusiastic organisational skills of Wilfred Marsh, helped place the university’s rowing on a sound basis.
To everyone’s surprise, Wits won the Buffalo Grand Challenge, South Africa’s premier rowing event, at the East London Regatta in 1933 and then retained the trophy the following year. Rex Milford, the club’s secretary, writing in the Umpa, commented, tongue-in-cheek:
The club had it firmly impressed upon it that the 1933 result was pure luck: everyone else’s boat fell to pieces, went in the wrong direction, or its crew became entangled with its blades. In 1934 we were again lucky, winning the race by a comfortable margin. This time the other clubs were not so unlucky.
The first intervarsity was staged at Port Alfred in 1934 and was won by Natal University College. This intervarsity, however, was not regarded as official in newspaper reports and, in 1935, the
The first Wits University rowing crew, 1924: J.F. Osborne (cox), A.D. Stammers (stroke), O.G. Backeberg (3), A. Pelling (2) and J. Cole-Bowen (bow).
The boat club’s ‘fours’ crew of 1931 (left to right): W.E. Marsh, E.G. Pringle, Professor O.K. Williamson, B.L. Bernstein and J.L. Parnell.
first official regatta took place at Vereeniging during Easter. It involved teams from Wits, Rhodes, Cape Town and Natal University. There was tremendous rivalry between the highly rated Wits team and the ‘unofficial’ reigning champions, Natal. The Rand Daily Mail noted with great pride:
It was a clear-cut victory for Witwatersrand, who rowed steadily and with machine-like precision over a gruelling course of one and a half miles. To the students, their triumph over Natal University College is a matter of real importance, and Johannesburg will share, at least to some extent, in the joy of an auspicious beginning in this branch of sport.
The first official intervarsity was undoubtedly an enormous success and the Rand Daily Mail added:
The Vaal outside Vereeniging is hardly as popular as the Thames between Putney and Mortlake, yet two thousand people lined its banks on Sunday to cheer on the students. It is hoped that in the years to come, more and more will make the journey, and that the local boat race will attain a popularity, at any rate in this country, comparable to that of its great prototype.
The university was naturally impressed with the achievements of their boat club and the principal, Humphrey Raikes, showed a personal interest. So much so that when Wits slipped a little at the Vaal Regatta at Vereeniging in April 1937,
Raikes wrote to the club president, Rex Milford:
Now that Mr Saker is providing the club with a Boat House, it seems to me essential that we should endeavour to raise the standard of the University rowing to what it was a year or two ago. The principal point in obtaining a good standard of rowing is the provision of a good coach and I should be very glad to know what steps the club proposes in this regard. Of course, even with the best of coaches disaster may follow, as has happened to Oxford for so many years, but the eclipse of that University has now passed and I can assure you that rowing at Oxford had sunk very badly. You have not got to recover a great deal but it is only by real hard work that success can be achieved. I hope that you will make every effort to get the crews into good training under a first-class coach by the time the next regatta comes along. If I can be of any assistance in persuading any coach you may wish to have, I shall be only too willing to help.
It did not take the Witsies long to right matters and eight months later, in December 1937, they again won the Buffalo Grand Challenge. The victory came shortly after the opening of the new clubhouse, and Raikes wrote again to the club president:
My dear Milford
Congratulations on your win of the Buffalo Cup. I didn’t even know you were in the running this year. If the new Boat House produces this sort of thing in a few months, we shall be well away.
(sgd) H.R. Raikes
Wits’s third victory in the prestigious Buffalo Grand Challenge was a triumph for E.B. Youlden’s fine stroking. Rowing with his customary long and steady stroke, he worked within himself until three-quarters of a mile from home. At this point the Buffalo Rowing Club had drawn level and even nudged ahead for a short while. But the Witsies had far more in reserve and in a powerful finish, drew away from their rivals to win by four lengths.
In a splendid season for the university crew (E.B. Youlden, F.H. Bird, G.F. Mearns, R.B. Milford and P. Colman), they went on to win the Transvaal Cup, the Vaal Grand Challenge Fours and then regained the W.E. Grocott Cup at the annual intervarsity. It also heralded a rewarding period for the boat club in that it won four successive intervarsities (1938–1941) before the Second World War halted the competition.
The visit of the Cambridge University crew to South Africa in July 1939 was due largely to the efforts of two old Wits rowing men, W.L. Morrison and Wilfred Marsh. Morrison had stroked the Witsies to victory in the 1934 Buffalo Grand Challenge and Marsh was for many years a leading figure in the club. It was while Marsh was on a visit to Morrison, then resident in England, that the idea of the Cambridge tour was discussed and put into action. The South African Rowing Association and the SAU Rowing Federation took over from there and completed the arrangements. The tour was a great success and, but for the outbreak of the war, would have been the first of such visits from overseas clubs.
The Wits crew which won the Buffalo Grand Challenge in 1933 (left to right): J.L. Parnell (manager), R.G. Bruce (cox), S. Watson, J. Fassler, N. Kennedy and J. Davidson.
The winners of the first official intervarsity at Vereeniging in 1935 (left to right): R.B. Milford, I.L. Brebner, I.T. Greig (cox), E.G. Mearns and D.P.S. O’Keefe.
Rugby
Inescapably unpredictable
Transvaal club rugby flourished during the 1920s. Northern Transvaal had not yet broken away into a separate province and the Pirates Grand Challenge was made up of the best teams from both Pretoria and Johannesburg. It was indeed a formidable task for the young and comparatively inexperienced university players to establish themselves in the distinguished company that prevailed at that time. Pretoria were always strong and boasted Springboks Nico Bosman (full back), Tiens Kruger, Dr Jack van Druten and Joe Nykamp (all forwards). They also included the hardy schoolteacher Elmore Hudson, who played one season for Wits, and the speedy wing Nico van Heerden, who later joined the professional league in England. The massive Jim Michau captained ERPM and Transvaal for several seasons and was described by Wits full back Joe Adler as the ‘most fearsome specimen we came across’, once carrying four students over the line in the course of a try against Wits. Meanwhile, the Diggers, although not quite the force they became in subsequent years, contained stars such as Dauncey Devine – being chased by English club, Wigan, with an offer to turn professional – Ernie and Cliff Riordan and Springbok Nic Pretorius. Pirates were particularly strong and boasted Springbok full back I.B. de Villiers, ‘Tank’ van Rooyen, Nick Bodenstein, Sandy Sanderson and Stanley Harris, who had returned to South Africa as a member of the 1924 British touring team.
Those were rough-and-tumble days and the Wits players never thought twice about playing their sport on the red-earth grounds. Rolling around in the dirt that seeped into their sweatsoaked rugby kit and clung to the pores of their skin was part and parcel of the game at that time. The somewhat primitive conditions did not seem to dampen the enthusiasm of those participating, nor did the players give vent to their frustrations in as violent a manner as might be expected. Louis Duffus wrote, ‘It is an indication of how rare such incidents were that the very brief exchange of blows between Mervyn Ellis and Britain’s Reverend A.F. Blakiston as a scrum was about to form, left a lasting impression.’
The first internal report of rugby at the University of the Witwatersrand began, ‘The 1922 rugby season at varsity started with great enthusiasm; seldom, if ever, has there been so much keenness and competition amongst its members.’ But as the season progressed and league matches were lost with alarming regularity the spirited start subsided. Well into the season, Umpa cuttingly asserted that ‘despite press eulogies and euphemisms, the team is poor, and will never be anything else until each individual member takes the game more seriously than he does at present.’
The Witsies had only just been readmitted to Transvaal’s premier league – the Pirates Grand Challenge. The side was also in the throes of team building and their lack of confidence might
well have been unfairly mistaken for lack of commitment. The Transvaal Rugby Union gave Wits every encouragement, as the provincial body was well aware of the impact that the Cape universities had made on Western Province rugby.
The Transvaal president, Eric Tucker, persuaded his committee to nurse the student club during its early struggling existence and his vision and foresight were vital ingredients in the establishment of Wits rugby. In 1922 one of the Transvaal board members, Charlie Lambe, turned up once a week to coach the First XV, and the side appreciated his efforts. Compensation for being outclassed and winning no matches in the league came by way of intervarsity victories over Potchefstroom Agricultural College and Grey University College.
Of the individual players, one notable success emerged. He was Dan Berman, who had been ousted as the First XV full back the previous year by Joe Adler but had switched to the pack and was selected for the Transvaal side in the Currie Cup. Unfortunately, he was badly injured in the match against Border, which caused him to miss the last part of the season, a blow to Wits’s already threadbare resources.
There was a slight improvement in 1923, borne out by the fact that the league matches were invariably that much closer than they had been during the previous year. In beating ERPM 13-3, Wits ended the rash of defeats which had plagued them for two seasons. The intervarsities, however, did not go as well as they had in 1922. When the annual clash against Pretoria was resumed after a year’s break, the Witsies were beaten 19-9, and at Bloemfontein they lost to Grey 9-0.
There was no respite on a tour to the eastern Cape during the July vacation, where a series of defeats were suffered against local opposition.
Dan Berman captained both Wits University and Transvaal during the 1920s.
The Wits rugby side which toured the Eastern Province in 1923 (left to right – back row): F, van de Steen, F. Duthie, B.H. Ziervogel, H. Henning and C.J. Claassen (middle row): T. Roos, E. Jooste, J. van Rooyen, A.L. Harington, M. Rostovsky, E.J. Shaw, S. van Aarot, G.M. Greef and E.J. Bam (seated): P. Rankin, L.D. Adler (manager), F.C. Gray, A. Lindenberg and D. Gien (insets): F.C. Hill, A. Adami and B. Salkinder.
Dr Laurie Adler, who managed the 1923 touring team, commented:
We never seemed to win matches in those days – nor did we expect to do so – but good fun was had by all. The players were a spirited bunch and I remember being woken up at midnight on their account by the Grahamstown police. The lads had been out watching the film, Daughter of the Gods, and three mischievous members had later stolen a poster of the lead actress, Annette Kellerman, subsequently tying it to the cathedral door.
The 1923 season brought to the attention of Transvaal supporters a very talented player who was to have a profound influence on Wits University rugby over the next few years. His name was Bollie Sieff – at that time, a schoolboy at Jeppe and playing his rugby for Pirates in the Under 18 league. His rise to prominence came when Manny Kennedy, the regular Transvaal fly-half, was injured at the eleventh hour prior to a friendly match against Rhodesia at Pretoria, and Sieff was pitchforked into the team. He recalled the moment in an interview with the Rand Daily Mail just before his death in 1974. ‘I had to ask permission from my Latin master for the afternoon off. He didn’t like the idea but when I told him my reason, he nearly fell on his back.’
Sieff enrolled at Wits in 1924 and the timing of his registration could not have been better. Clarence Becker, who had assisted Charlie Lambe with the coaching in 1923, had taken over as the club coach and had very definite views about the style of rugby that he intended his teams to adopt. A firm believer in the open, attractive game, he was fully responsible for the advance of rugby at Wits, as he undertook the onerous task of coaching all the teams for several years.
Becker’s policy of playing imaginative, running rugby was instilled from the outset and he was fortunate in having a player of the calibre of Bollie Sieff to ensure that his instructions were carried
out effectively on the field of play. In the years that followed, the Wits team attacked from every possible, or even impossible, position – taking the risk even if the opportunities were against it succeeding. There were never any recriminations – and win or lose, the Transvaal public flocked to watch them play.
The Star described the 1924 season as ‘the rise of the Rand University’. The middle of the season victories marked a watershed because from that point onwards, the Witsies began to hold their own in inter-club matches and achieved as many successes as they did failures. They lost six and drew one of their first seven games; the turningpoint coming when they beat Simmer and Jack (lying third in the league) 17-5. This seemed to give the players a new-found confidence and they subsequently thrashed Wanderers 25-3, narrowly lost 11-10 to ERPM (co-holders of the Pirates Grand Challenge) and accounted for Diggers 11-3. They finished in a lowly ninth position out of twelve teams, but the side was a young one and needed a year or two to become acquainted with the rigours of senior rugby. It also spoke volumes for the skill and keenness of the players that despite innumerable flounderings and mistakes, their efforts were always worthy of the closest examination. Moreover, sides committed to the running game were inescapably unpredictable and in this light their erratic performances might be better understood.
Wits captain, Dan Berman, stood head and shoulders above his fellow students as the player of the season in 1924 and it was no secret that he was under serious consideration for a place in the Springbok side against the touring British Isles. He represented Transvaal in all their matches, but his finest performance was in the first of the two intervarsities against Transvaal University College, which was played as a curtain-raiser to that year’s second Test at the Wanderers. Tukkies won 11-9, but Berman’s efforts all but brought Wits their first victory in their most important clash of the season. The Rand Daily Mail commented, ‘The outstanding player of the game was Berman. This brilliant forward once more gave of his best and showed his value to the side by scoring both their tries.’
Berman was selected to play for Transvaal against the touring British before a record 20 000 crowd. The match was drawn 12-12, but then a Witwatersrand XV which included Berman and two other Witsies, Bollie Sieff and the fast and elusive Edgar Shaw, did even better and beat the tourists 10-6.
The 1925 season was eagerly anticipated, as the previous year’s successes had generated much optimism amongst team supporters. A new league system came into operation, which saw the introduction of a sectional league for the first few weeks and thereafter the Pirates Grand Challenge run as a single round. The change was certainly in Wits’s favour. It also meant that the clubs had the chance of winning one of three contests because the Lillienfeld Knock-out Cup was retained – a competition in which Wits had experienced little success.
By 1925, the type of running game that Clarence
Bollie Sieff – a great captain and fly-half, he represented Transvaal as a schoolboy and played in the 1928 Springbok trials.
Dan Berman introduces members of the Wits University First XV to the Prince of Wales in 1925.
Becker had implemented at Wits was beginning to pay dividends. Bollie Sieff spearheaded a talented array of backs. His partner at scrum-half was the experienced Nobby Clark who, according to one press report, ‘exploited the dive pass most effectively’. The two young wings, both in their first year out of school, made an immediate impression. Ronald Weavind from Pretoria Boys High was a strong, well-balanced runner whose hand-off was to become his hallmark, whilst Johnny Kneen from Kingswood College was an explosive player possessing all the attributes of a first-rate wing – hands, pace and devastating swerve. At centre were Fanie Gray and Harry Heydenreich, a solid and dependable pairing, capable of creating the openings so necessary in setting up the two wings. And together, the Wits backline brought a new dimension to rugby in the Transvaal.
As anticipated, Wits’s opening performances were a little erratic, but when they struck form, they were a joy to watch. They accounted for Railways 21-0 with Weavind and Kneen to the fore in a ‘dazzling display’ and then they scored five tries in a 15-11 defeat of Pirates, with Dan Berman responsible for three of them. Although Wits did not figure near the top of the sectional league, they did hint of better things to come.
For the opening part of the 1925 Pirates Grand Challenge, Wits was in contention at the top of the league table. Although they did slip back a few places as the season progressed, much satisfaction was derived from defeating the eventual champions, Harlequins, 14-9. Equally encouraging was the fact that they reached the final of the Lillienfeld Cup, accounting for ERPM, Benoni and South African Railways en route. Pretoria Club, however, proved too strong in the final and Wits went down 9-3 after a plucky showing.
The university was well represented in the Transvaal side during 1925 and this reflected the esteem in which the players were held in rugby circles on the Rand. Dan Berman was again a regular in the side and continued to score tries and kick goals at all levels. Ben Small at full back and Bollie Sieff at fly-half established themselves at provincial level and turned in some excellent displays. Small was a priceless find and his coolness under pressure was of inestimable value to both club and province –most memorable was a crunching corner-flag tackle that saved the day for Transvaal in a tense 3-3 draw with Griqualand West. Finally, the promising Johnny Kneen and the consistently excellent Fanie Gray also won Transvaal colours in the course of the season.
The intervarsity programme helped make it a year to remember. A tournament arranged by Pete Suzman featured Wits playing Cape Town, and Transvaal University College taking on the might of Stellenbosch. The Capetonians, boasting the likes of the legendary Springbok fly-half Bennie Osler and his international halfback partner ‘Pally’ Truter, defeated Wits by a comfortable 18-8 margin. But the home team was never out of the picture and through tries by Sieff and Berman they kept within range of Cape Town’s score for much of the game. The Star
commented, ‘An amazing spectacle, considering the experience of the Springbok, was the way in which Bennie Osler time after time took the dummy from Bollie Sieff whose special peculiarity of breaking is well-known locally.’
A return match was played in October at Newlands and Cape Town won again, this time 17-6. Once more, Sieff showed up well against the illustrious Osler, making some telling breaks and scoring one of his side’s two tries. Johnny Kneen scored the other following a swerving run in which he rounded the opposition full back with nonchalant ease.
The annual intervarsity against Transvaal Uni`versity College was undoubtedly the highlight of a busy year. The Rand students organised a ‘rag’ at the Wanderers to celebrate the rugby clash and special singing practices were held. The tremendous support no doubt spurred the Witsies on to their first-ever victory over Tukkies in an intervarsity. The match was also an important feature in the programme arranged for His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales during his visit to South Africa, and the teams were given the honour of meeting the future British King prior to the kick-off.
Wits won by the narrow margin of eleven points to eight. Johnny Kneen, ever dangerous and a player for the big occasion, made the running for Fanie Gray’s try and scored the second himself. Big Nick van Flymen then secured an historic victory for his team by wrenching himself away from a loose scrum and bulldozing his way over for the decisive try.
There was a delay to the 1926 season while an attempt was made to construct a new turf surface on the rugby ground. The project was to cause the club a certain amount of inconvenience as the uninviting replacement field was hardly adequate for the six official league teams plus extras. The rugby reports of the time note that 40 to 50 players had to sit out each weekend because the club was not permitted to enter any further teams in the local leagues.
After the awkward start to the season, the side came together well and ultimately ended up fourth in the Pirates Grand Challenge behind Pretoria, Diggers and Simmer and Jack. A key figure in the team’s development that season was the experienced tight-forward, Elmore Hudson, who spent just one year at Wits before moving on to captain Wanderers. He had represented Tukkies for a number of years and at 190 pounds, he was the second heaviest player in the Transvaal side after 235-pound Jim Michau. His steadying influence was invaluable in enabling the forwards to secure sufficient possession for Wits to unleash their exciting backline.
The highlight of the season was the tour to the eastern Cape where the side was more successful than their 1923 predecessors, winning seven matches, with an 8-8 draw against Olympics being the only blemish on their record. Their free-scoring wing, Johnny Kneen, hailed from that area and revelled in the type of rugby played – his dummy and side-step allied with a clever knack of changing pace were seen at their most hypnotic as he scored tries almost at will on
Elmore Hudson, who spearheaded the Wits pack in 1926, played for Transvaal in more than 50 matches.
Francis ‘Pinky’ Hill represented the Wits First XV at scrum-half and captained the cricket First XI.
Nick van Flymen was one of Wits’s most impressive forwards of the 1920s.
the tour. A Rand Daily Mail report on the game against Rhodes University College said, ‘From the kick-off, the visitors played an open game which was developed to a high standard. Unused to this style of game, Rhodes were outclassed in all departments. The Wits players simply juggled the ball and Kneen, an old Kingswood boy, was the cynosure of all eyes.’
The match against Port Elizabeth’s Crusader Rugby Club was a thriller. Seven minutes from the end, the tourists were down 15-8. Kneen then seared through the defence and scored a converted try. A minute to go and Crusaders held on to a 15-13 lead. The wily Bollie Sieff initiated a final movement, going blind and Kneen was sent over in the corner to give Wits a single point win. It was lauded as ‘one of the finest games seen in Port Elizabeth in many a long day.’
The effects of a tour during the lengthy July vacation were shown up to Wits’s detriment in 1927. The university started the season in fine fashion and in the sectional league competition defeated the 1926 sectional champions, Harlequins, 23-9, West Rand 17-3, Wanderers 26-8, Pretoria Police 6-3 and Diggers 26-13. They then contested and lost the final to the Pretoria Club, who had been undefeated in their section. The Witsies enjoyed an equally successful run in the Pirates Grand Challenge but, after the July vacation, they were not the same side and had slipped into sixth position by the end of the season.
encompassing twenty-two matches in all for each side. On average form, though, the students should have done better, especially as they gained victories over strong combinations such as Pretoria and Diggers. An extraordinary reverse in the first match of the season resulted in Wits going down 24-20 to Harlequins, having led 20-0 at half-time. This defeat, together with two losses within a week against South African Railways, did much to lower their stock.
Wits again won both intervarsities against Tukkies. These were titanic struggles. Down 6-0 at the interval in the first encounter, Wits did well to win 12-6. When the two universities met again at the Eastern Sports Club, Pretoria, tries by Peter Kirsch, Bollie Sieff and Johnny Kneen enabled Wits to edge home 15-14.
Demonstrating the importance attached to intervarsity rugby was the fact that Fichardt and Sieff later withdrew from the Transvaal team in order to participate in the traditional match against Grey University College. Both played important roles in a 10-5 victory at Bloemfontein, although it cost them their places in the provincial side for several matches.
The Wits rugby side which toured Rhodesia in 1928 (left to right –back row): Q. Ochse, T. Kneen, J. Freislich, C.J. Claassen, A.H. van Wyk, L. van Flymen, W. Heunes and F.A. Brandt (middle row): H.B. Michalow, N.L. Murray, E.A. Faber, G.L. Burger, R.G. Weavind, A.D. Proudfoot, P. Kirsch and R. Brinton (front row): A.N. Sandenbergh, J.G. Kneen, P. van der Lith, F. Uys, B. Sieff (captain), M.A. Cooper, H. Heydenreich and G.F. Mynhardt.
The talented Wits team won both intervarsities against Tukkies (14-3 and 11-8), and then accounted for Grey University College 15-9. In these matches, Theunis Fichardt was in fine form and his penetrative running was responsible for the bulk of the points scored by Wits – it was he who set up Johnny Kneen’s hat-trick of tries in the opening match against Pretoria University. The victory over Grey was put into perspective by the fact that five of their side were chosen for the Free State team which beat Transvaal a week later.
The 1928 season was notable for Wits’s alternating brilliant and drab displays. In actual figures, the university was placed fifth in the log of twelve with the Pirates Grand Challenge reverting back to a system of two rounds,
During the July vacation a tour was organised to Rhodesia, where an exhausting itinerary of six matches in less than two weeks was arranged. It was an exciting undertaking, with the Wits players arriving in typical student fashion –dressed in their plus fours and shouting their war cry as the train pulled into Salisbury station. They proceeded to treat their hosts to glimpses of their ability by running up and down the platform passing rugby balls. A reporter from the Rhodesia Herald was informed in no uncertain terms that the students had every intention of beating the Rhodesian team.
A few days later, the headline in the same newspaper read ‘Sieff too clever for Rhodesians’. Wits’s ace fly-half turned in one of his best performances in front of a crowd of 2 500 –the biggest seen at a rugby match in Salisbury since the visit of the British in 1924. To the accompaniment of sporting cheers and motor horns, Sieff set up two tries, scored one himself and was the dominant figure in Wits’s 16-6 victory.
Rhodesia gained their revenge at Bulawayo, but in all fairness to the visitors, their crowded programme of matches on top of what Umpa called ‘multitudinous entertainment’ had begun to take its toll. The Witsies were well beaten and although Kneen grabbed his customary try, sallies were spasmodic and fleeting. Victories in the course of the tour were achieved over Umtali (16-8), Rhodesia (in Salisbury 16-6), Midlands (20-11), Bulawayo (9-7) and defeats were against Salisbury (0-10) and Rhodesia (in Bulawayo 9-19).
A second turf ground was completed at Wits early in 1929 and was available later in the season, partly accounting for an increase in club membership over previous years by more than fifty. In addition, an ‘introductory scheme’ brought many ‘freshers’ into the rugby section and this innovation saw club members top the two hundred mark.
Johnny Kneen, Wits’s elusive Transvaal wing.
Wits entered seven teams into the various leagues – five senior and two under-19 sides. The First XV were disappointing in finishing sixth in the Pirates Grand Challenge, but injuries to key backline players towards the end of the season resulted in some unexpected defeats. The intervarsities were shared – Wits winning the first 20-11 and Tukkies the second 5-3 – with Bollie Sieff used at centre and Harold ‘Mickey’ Michelow coming into the team at fly-half.
The second team was an outstanding success in their league, winning through to the final without the loss of a single match. They had to their credit scored a remarkable 216 points against 29 but in the final played below their true form and lost an uninspired game 12-6 against Old Edwardians.
By the end of the 1920s, Wits University had become a powerful force and no fewer than seven players represented Transvaal during the 1929 season – Bollie Sieff, Johnny Kneen, who had blossomed into full maturity, Gerald Mynhardt, Vic Leibrandt, Hugh Husted, Wynand Heunes and Peter Kirsch, with Ulrich Glatthaar being named as ‘16th man’. In turn, Transvaal enjoyed a successful year and, after two unexpected losses early on, they came to within a hair’s breadth of winning the Currie Cup. The early defeats proved costly as they they were beaten by the ultimate champions, Western Province, 11-9. Nonetheless, Kneen’s unforgettable try, in which he outpaced the defence in a thrilling 30-metre dash to the corner flag, sent the Ellis Park crowd into ecstasy.
The club secretary, Melville Festenstein, in summing up the 1929 season, spoke for the entire decade when he said, ‘The season is now at an end, and in conclusion, for the consolation of those who think that the results of the teams are not what they ought to be, I would like to point out that in this season, as in the past, it was left to the university teams to show spectators and opponents alike, that the bright, open type of game is worth playing for its own sake, and that the aim of rugby is not always to win matches.’
Rugby’s first Springbok
At the conclusion of the 1929 season, six Witsies were selected for the combined SAU rugby tour of Kenya. They were Bollie Sieff, who was vice-captain of the side, Johnny Kneen, Peter Kirsch, Ulrich Glatthaar, Gerald Mynhardt and Tommy Gibbs. The touring party of 24 players was captained by W.G. ‘Jos’ Stanford Driver and managed by former Wits University player, Dr M.A. Cooper. They travelled on the SS Khandalla in late December and arrived in Mombasa, where they were soon to discover, in the words of their manager, that ‘the people of Kenya are the most hospitable in the world’.
The South African students travelled the length and breadth of Kenya and attracted surprisingly good attendances wherever they played. The tourists won all 14 of their fixtures with ease, including the three ‘Tests’ against Kenya. Their line was not crossed until the last match of the tour and the statistics clearly illustrate their superiority – points for 508; points against 18.
The tour captain, Jos Stanford Driver, turned out for Wits during the 1930 season and led the forward pack with credit. Bollie Sieff continued to captain the side and once again the university relied heavily on its backline, which included provincial players, Johnny Kneen, Hugh Husted and Peter Kirsch. Kirsch was in particularly fine form and, by the end of the season, was rated the best centre in the Transvaal. An exciting prospect on Wits’s other wing was the strongrunning Jacobus Alberts, who was likened to the great Springbok, A.C. Stegmann.
The university enjoyed some fine victories over the best teams in the Pirates Grand Challenge but, as had been the case during the 1920s, they lacked consistency. The team finished fifth behind Harlequins, Simmer and Jack, Pretoria Police and Pretoria Club, and shared the intervarsity honours with Tukkies. In the two matches played, Wits won the first 18-5 but lost the return clash 8-3.
Rugby was very popular at Wits, with club membership standing at 180 and seven teams taking the field every Saturday. A remarkable feature was that most of the players only learnt to play the game once they had arrived at university. For a long time, Wits had campaigned unsuccessfully for rugby to be played in Johannesburg’s high schools. In 1930 there was a fresh attempt, largely as a result of Transvaal’s dismal performances against the visiting Western Province team. So outclassed were the Transvalers in losing 28-5 at Pretoria and 28-3 at Ellis Park, that critics frantically searched for something on which to pin the blame. They concluded that Johannesburg was not producing its own rugby players but was relying on men who had learned the game outside the Rand and Pretoria. Of the Transvaal side that had been crushed by Western Province, only three had been brought up in Johannesburg and of these, Bollie Sieff and Dauncey Devine were the products of special coaching by the Pirates and Diggers clubs, respectively.
Reg Smith, who was secretary of the Transvaal Rugby Union, became increasingly conscious of the value of rugby-playing feeder schools to other universities. As a consequence, he was largely instrumental in tempting Transvaal high
Henry Forrest was Wits’s first rugby Springbok. He toured the British Isles with Bennie Osler’s 1931/32 side and was a reserve against the 1933 Australians.
The Wits First XV 1929 (left to right –back row): E.A. Faber, U. Glatthaar, G.F. Mynhardt, H.M. Forrest, V. Leibrandt, W. Heunes, W. Liebenberg and M.H.S. Festenstein (secretary) (seated): P. Kirsch, R.G. Weavind, Professor Watermeyer (president), B. Sieff (captain), M.A. Cooper (TRFU representative), N. van Flymen and J.G. Kneen (in front): H. Husted and T.L. Gibbs.
schools to switch from soccer to rugby during the early 1930s. According to the Rand Daily Mail, ‘he achieved this by offering to turf the school’s playing fields and it was an ingenious idea. The headmasters followed him like the mice had the piper in Hamelin.’
In the event, Wits’s first Springbok was a soccer convert, only taking to rugby seriously when he arrived at Wits in 1929. Henry Forrest, who went on to gain a place in Bennie Osler’s highly successful 1931/32 Springbok side, proved to be an outstanding player and a fine pack leader at Wits. During the 1931 season, he set a splendid example by his productive forward play, and in doing so, managed to extract the best out of his team-mates.
Forrest’s inspiration was badly needed because Wits had lost many of their old stalwarts to Pirates. With a relatively unknown team under the captaincy of Tommy Gibbs, Wits confounded the critics in 1931 by starting off the season in grand form. They beat ERPM, Pirates and Diggers while drawing with Wanderers. Unfortunately, they were unable to keep up their success and, with Forrest being forced to withdraw from the scene because of the impending Springbok tour, the team fell back into sixth position. It was nevertheless a memorable season that saw Jacobus Alberts and fly-half, Gustave Ackerman, join Forrest in the Transvaal team.
A Wits tour of mixed fortunes was made to the eastern Cape, but the season’s most rewarding successes were two fine victories against Tukkies. At Pretoria, Wits won a tense contest by the margin of a drop goal, but before a lively crowd at Ellis Park, they were firmly in control. The second encounter began with Ackerman reminding Pretoria of his drop-kicking talents by securing a fine goal from forty metres out. Hendrik Lyell, Jacobus Alberts, Tommy Gibbs and John Smetherham (two) scored tries as Wits built a convincing 21-10 victory, but the star of the match was Henry Forrest. He had just been chosen for the Springbok side that was to tour the British Isles, and the Rand Daily Mail commented, ‘Forrest played excellent football on Saturday and his selection for the tour made him a 60 percent more polished player.’
Wits’s exciting young forward benefited greatly from the grand-slam winning overseas tour and returned a considerably more mature and better player. He was immediately appointed captain of the Wits team for the 1932 season but they did not enjoy much success. Forrest was injured early on in Transvaal’s match against the Orange Free State and this kept him out of the side for some time. Moreover, he was heavily committed to Transvaal matches when fit again so the university was forced to struggle on without their leading forward for a good part of the season.
In their Pirates Grand Challenge campaign, Wits won 5 and lost 19 of their 24 matches. They finished last out of the 13 teams that took part, although they did have the satisfaction of defeating the 1931 champions Simmer and Jack 3-0 early in the season.
Forrest was unavailable for the intervarsity against Pretoria at Ellis Park but the Witsies rose
to the occasion admirably to win 14-8. They were not so lucky in the return fixture, however, and only gallant defence kept the score down to 3-0 in Pretoria’s favour.
During 1933, press reports frequently commended the students for courageous displays in the face of bigger and better opponents but only one match was won in the Pirates Grand Challenge. That was an 8-0 win over Pirates in the tenth match of the season after nine successive defeats. The 1933 league table was worked out on a percentage system because the two universities did not have time to complete their programmes, yet there was no doubt about Wits again receiving the wooden spoon.
Forrest turned out for the university early in the 1933 season but thereafter played for Simmer and Jack. His departure was a blow to the inexperienced Witsies, although an even greater problem was the lack of quality backline players. An exception was Leo Brener on the wing, who was an elusive runner and became the team’s leading try-scorer. Behind a line weak in defence, full back Robert Crozier rendered yeoman service despite his frail build and somewhat unorthodox methods. Hendrik Nel at the base of the scrum was a tower of strength, while the forwards worked diligently at their game with Izak de Wet, John Pollock, William Neale-May, Charles Theron and Anthony Fowler always in the thick of it.
The sharp downward trend in the rugby club’s fortunes was both sudden and distressing. Having finished amongst the top six sides in the Pirates Grand Challenge for many years, the university had slumped badly, philosophically accepting their position at the bottom of the log. The root of the problem appeared to have been the apparent neglect of the junior sides. These teams seemed to lack identity, stemming from the fact that up to 60 different players would turn out for any one of the lower sides in the course of the season. As a result, there was never any opportunity to develop team spirit and it became clear that standardisation of the teams was an essential factor if there was to be a renaissance of Wits rugby.
Rebuilding Rugby at Wits
The Wits First XV had not registered a single win in 1933 and the lean period provoked depressing forebodings as to the future of the game on campus. In a desperate move, the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) laid it down that there should be no dances and major functions on a Friday night.
The First XV lost all twelve matches in the 1934 Pirates Grand Challenge, which was played over one round. They finished last for the third year in a row, conceding 249 points and scoring 55 in the course of the season. Very little went right and to round off a wretched season, the league champions Pretoria Police swamped them 413. The sole success was achieved against Grey University College. Both intervarsities against Pretoria ended in defeat. The matches were extremely close affairs – the first was lost 3-0 at Ellis Park and the second 5-0 at Pretoria. In the
Tommy Gibbs represented the South African Universities at scrum-half during their 1929/30 tour of Kenya and captained the Wits First XV in 1931.
Jacobus Alberts, a strong-running Wits’ wing who represented Transvaal during the early 1930s.
T.A. Downes was awarded a Full Blue during 1931-32-33-34
latter encounter, Wits boasted the best player on the field in their scrum-half, Hendrik Nel, and could count themselves unlucky not to snatch victory. The excitement in the match was such that there were occasional eruptions amongst the spectators and appeals had to be made for more moderation in the physical interchanges between the supporters. The periodic uproar on the stands caused a stoppage to play on a couple of occasions.
In his review of 1934, Wits principal, H.R. Raikes, bemoaned
… the somewhat dismal fate which has overtaken rugby football. In the past we have had sides second to none in the Transvaal, and one had hoped that we might go on to see more than a solitary Springbok selected from the university. But we have gone into decline. It is time that we started to climb out of the valley of defeat and show our colours again on the high tops.
There were individual success stories. Hendrik Nel turned in his finest performance in Transvaal’s 28-12 win over Western Province at Ellis Park. He provided a splendid service to his backs and scored a crafty try when he nipped around the side of a scrum before the visiting forwards were even aware that the ball had come out.
Two other Witsies – Leo Brener and Charlo ‘Boep’ Southwood – also represented Transvaal. The latter had already played for Natal in 1932 and 1933, including a match against the touring Wallabies. He took great delight in turning out for Transvaal in a friendly match against his old province and scored a vital try five minutes before the end, which brought about a draw. Southwood, an aggressive and determined hooker, was to play an important role in Wits’s rugby progress over the next few years. His leadership qualities were of the utmost importance in uniting a team that was blessed with a few talented individuals but a deplorable lack of combination.
Wits began the 1935 season with an easy win over Fred Smollan’s Wanderers in the opening friendly. It was acknowledged all round that the team had a long way to go, but several players looked to be above-average prospects. A highly rated forward from the previous season who was still at Wits was J.J. ‘Sharky’ Theron, who had previously represented the Orange Free State. It was only a matter of time before he and fellow forward, ‘Bokkie’ Winter secured their places in the provincial side. They gave the university pack a more formidable look – strong, rumbustious forwards, well suited to the most heated of exchanges.
Victories in the course of the season over Simmer and Jack (10-5), Wanderers (9-7), Pretoria Club (10-3) and ERPM (3-0), and drawn matches with Springs and West Rand, lifted Wits off the dreaded last place in the Pirates Grand Challenge. But their luck was out when it came to the intervarsities against Tukkies. At Pretoria, Wits lost 11-8, although it was a case of two drop-goals (each worth four points) and a penalty outdoing two tries
(Chris van der Merwe and Bokkie Winter) and a conversion (Trevor Trevor-Jones). Under the modern scoring system, Wits would have won 12-9. At the second meeting, only the jazz bands and the singing enlivened an otherwise drab and colourless game, which Pretoria won 14-7. Of interest, though, was the fact that the Wits Third XV beat their Pretoria counterparts for the first time in twelve years – 13-8. The club’s commitment in building up its depth was seemingly bearing fruit.
An innovation was to select a South African Universities (SAU) team to play the most powerful provincial side in the country, Western Province. To choose the side, a Northern Universities XV with nine Witsies played their southern counterparts. From this trial, which saw Northern Universities emerge triumphant 12-6, an SAU XV was selected which was captained by Danie Craven and included three players from Wits – Paul Bothma, Charlo Southwood and Sharky Theron. The students put up a grand performance at Newlands before losing to the Currie Cup champions 13-9.
Wits finished 13th in the 16-team Pirates Grand Challenge of 1936. Out of the 15 matches played, four were won (including a 19-9 victory over Diggers) and one was drawn. The games were invariably low-scoring affairs and rarely did one see the liberal exchange of points that is commonplace today. Wits’s final points tally was 143 for and 178 against.
The intervarsities in 1936 were closer than they had ever been. Through a try by Sharky Theron and a conversion and a penalty from Trevor-Jones, Wits drew the first match against Pretoria at Ellis Park 8-8. Inspired by Bokkie
The Wits First XV 1935 (left to right – back row): H. Marcus, T.R. Trevor-Jones, H. Faber and R.S. Parker (middle row): G. Croudace, H. du Plessis, H. le Roux van Niekerk, D. Taylor, A. Orsmond and Dr H. Haden (coach) (seated): R. Turton, B. Olivier, Professor G.A. Watermeyer (president), C.J. Southwood (captain), P. Bothma, P. Winter and K.E. Steele (insets): H.J. Nel (vice-captain), J.J. Theron and P.S. Thiel.
Hendrik Nel represented Wits and Transvaal at scrum-half during the 1930s.
T.R. Trevor-Jones surrounded by the ‘old enemy’, Pretoria University. Trevor-Jones represented Wits for eight seasons (1933-40), captaining the side in the last three. He also played for Transvaal.
Winter in rampant form, the Johannesburg students might easily have won. It was only magnificent defence by Tukkies in the last minutes of the game that kept the Witsies at bay. The tension was immense and brought about an ‘orgy of hooliganism’ in the crowd. One report noted:
The hooliganism develops out of the sophisticated game of purloining caps and badges and other mementoes of such an historic occasion from members of the rival university. The rules are either impromptu or absent and yesterday led to frayed tempers and two free fights among rival students in the grandstand. In no time these developed into resemblances of Wild West saloon affrays though fortunately none of the irresponsible carried revolvers. There are some things that the average follower of rugby football can be thankful for.
The crowd was in a more amicable mood for the return intervarsity at Pretoria, although the match was just as tense as the first encounter. The Witsies were down 3-11 well into the second half before recovering to share the honours 1111. C.W. Liebetrau, the Wits wing, scored his team’s final try after a great run which started inside his own half. One other intervarsity played during 1936 was also drawn. During a tour of the eastern Cape, Wits drew with Rhodes University 3-3.
incumbent was skipper, Boep Southwood. They were backed up by stalwarts, Trevor TrevorJones, Sharky Theron, Spencer Parker, Horny Roberts and Jacobus van Wyk. The last named also went on to represent Transvaal and was described by Trevor-Jones as having been ‘a fabulous forward – as hard as they come’.
The backs were an entirely new combination, apart from Choots Taylor whose enterprising and penetrative running, even against the strongest of opponents, made him a favourite of the Wits crowds. Tall, sinewy and exceptionally fast, he was difficult to bring down. His only flaw was that he did not relish training, and it was considered opinion that if he had attained peak fitness, he might well have represented South Africa.
Syd Newman in action for the combined Oxford-Cambridge side on their tour to Argentina in 1948. He represented Wits, Transvaal and England with distinction.
Wits’s player of the season was probably eighthman Bokkie Winter, a prolific try-scorer who became a key figure in the provincial side. Of the other student players, Boep Southwood was given the honour of captaining Transvaal when they defeated Western Transvaal 18-6 at Potchefstroom, and Hendrik Nel, Sharky Theron and H.M. ‘Horny’ Roberts, also represented the province.
In its efforts to establish a successful club once again, the rugby section received great support from members of staff who acted as vice-presidents; namely, Professor I.W. Brebner (Medicine), Dr M.A. Cooper (Classics) who was also vicepresident of the Transvaal RFU, Dr Gurney Lawrie (English) and Dr Alexander Galloway (Medicine). Professor G.A. Watermeyer (Mining and Surveying) served as president for many years and he was particularly well remembered by the rugby-playing students for the occasion that he was the victim of a mistaken identity. His fine beard helped make him the splitting image of Beauty Bell, a renowned convict of that time, and on one rugby trip to Pietersburg the police were at the railway station waiting for him, much to the amusement of the students.
The 1937 season was the most successful Wits had experienced since 1931. The First XV tied with Pirates for seventh place in the league which again consisted of 16 teams. But even more important was the fact that Wits beat Tukkies for the first time since 1932.
The improvement was largely attributable to a strong pack of forwards, well equipped to hold their own in all phases of the game. The former Free State hooker, Tiffy King, was an invaluable acquisition, although he had to be accommodated at prop because the hooking
An exciting prospect was 18-year-old Syd Newman, whose penalty kicks taken from the vicinity of the halfway line became a talking point in local rugby circles. A product of the Christian Brothers’ College, Pretoria, he endured a somewhat inauspicious start to his rugby career at Wits. At his first practice he made it known that he could kick with both feet, a talent carefully nurtured during his soccer-playing background, and he was promptly drafted into the hooker position. He spent the rest of the season in the forward pack of one of the junior teams but early the following year, he was by chance pulled out of the stands to assist the second team at full back. A spectacular rugby career was thus launched and he was quickly moved up to the First XV. Newman was one of the heroes of the most enthralling match of the 1937 season, which saw the first victory over Tukkies in ten clashes. As the last line of defence, he produced a faultless display, while booting over three penalties and constantly relieving pressure with lengthy touch kicks. Yet, with only a matter of minutes left, it looked as if the huge Wits support was going to be denied a night of revelry because Pretoria led 11-8. It was then that fly-half, Neville Blake, won the game by dropping a superb goal from a set scrum. His match-winning kick gave Wits the game 12-11 – the crowd erupting and the Wits players almost delirious with delight because at that moment it represented the acme of achievement.
The Witsies were not as fortunate in their game at Ellis Park. The First XV struck an off-day, which prevented a grand slam being recorded as the second, third, fourth and under-19 teams had all beaten Tukkies. The success of the junior sides was reward for the prolonged effort on the part of the committee to improve the organisation of the club at all levels.
The Pirates Grand Challenge was cut down to twelve teams in 1938 and, with most of their players back from the previous year, there was an air of confidence in the Wits camp. Backline players of the calibre of ‘Dupie’ du Plessis, Bob Antonie, Frank Gillwald, Dickie Burmeister and Choots Taylor were collectively as exciting as any line since the Bollie Sieff era. And behind them, Syd Newman provided that much required look of solidarity.
Unfortunately, there were several unforeseen
problems, the first being the retirement of Boep Southwood during the season. For four years, he had devoted himself wholeheartedly to the welfare of the club and had proved a great captain. He was compelled to withdraw from the rugby scene through injury, which could well have jeopardised his professional future.
A further blow occurred when Newman was put out of action after contacting tick-bite fever on a mining engineering excursion. It was only after some persuasion that he returned to the game before being fully fit and subsequently found himself in the second team for the first of the annual intervarsities. His influence on the game was such that he scored a record 22 points as Wits thrashed a bewildered Tukkies’ second string. The significance of his contribution can be gauged from the fact that Wits’s first and third teams were comfortably beaten.
The embattled First XV immediately reclaimed their ace full back and promptly beat Diggers 17-13. In an inspired performance, Newman banged kicks over from the half-way line, but this remained Wits’s sole win of the season. Paradoxically, they were only narrowly beaten by Springs, ERPM and New States, the top three teams in the competition. Usually a last-minute score or failure to convert at a crucial moment led to their downfall, but from all accounts the outlook was not one of pessimism.
There was at no stage the same air of gloom which had prevailed during the early 1930s. As Dr Gurney Lawrie, the Transvaal RFU delegate, pointed out, ‘The way players turned up to practices right up to the end of the season was the finest tribute to the spirit which Southwood has instilled in the club.’
Trevor Trevor-Jones was named as the new First XV captain in 1939. Although relatively light for a front-ranker, his tigerish play earned him recognition at provincial level. He was a reserve for the Transvaal side on many occasions before being drafted into the frontrow on a regular basis during the 1939 and 1940 seasons. Unlike most front-rankers, he showed considerable talent as a goal-kicker, once converting three vital penalties to enable Transvaal to pip Western Transvaal 12-10 at Ellis Park.
Former players, Dr Bollie Sieff and Tommy Gibbs, returned to the club as coaches, with the university fielding four senior and four under-19 sides. The First XV defeated Harlequins early on in a friendly encounter but their Pirates Grand Challenge campaign again presented a disappointing story. It took a 15-11 victory over Pirates in the last match of the season to lift the team off bottom place and to enable them to settle for eleventh position out of twelve teams. Wits, nevertheless, played exciting, often spectacular rugby with centres, Dickie Burmeister and Choots Taylor, and halves, Cornelius Mostert and Durr Meyer, showing up to advantage. Matches were frequently lost during the latter part of the game, which pointed to suspect fitness. On many occasions, including both intervarsities against Pretoria, Wits looked convincing winners during the first half but then seemed to lose their impetus
and squandered their hard-earned leads. An intervarsity was also played against Cape Town University at Ellis Park and the unbeaten under-19s were justly rewarded when their star loose-forward and future Junior Springbok rugby captain, E.B. ‘Pop’ Norton, was brought into the first team. The match, which proved one of the most entertaining games to be seen at Ellis Park during the season, was drawn 11-11. Wits’s hero was left wing, Choots Taylor, who scored two tries – the second when he beat his opposing wing and Cape Town’s full back in a fine solo run.
The major event on the 1939 rugby calendar was a tour to the Copperbelt and Southern Rhodesia, under the management of Dr Galloway. The touring team covered 7 200 kilometres and played nine matches in 16 days. The overall cost to each player was £1-7-0d, which included the train fare, bedding, meals and a visit to the Victoria Falls. The SRC agreed to subsidise three-quarters of the costs involved, and where players were not able to contribute, the full amount was paid. However, the students earned their keep in a tough programme and over each of the three weekends during the tour, the team played two consecutive matches against different opponents. All matches were low-scoring, keenly contested affairs, partly indicated by the fact that the side scored 89 points and conceded 88 in the course of winning four and losing five of their nine matches.
One former Witsie was at the Salisbury matches. Spencer Parker, a member of the Wits first team in 1937, represented Rhodesia against the touring British Lions in 1938. He would become well-known in the capital, not only as an architect but in developing junior cricket; he played an important role in introducing black schoolboys to the game. Of further interest, his grandson married ‘Pippa’ Middleton, sister of the Duchess of Cambridge.
Tiffy King played in the front-row for Wits and Transvaal.
The Wits First XV 1937 (left to right – back row): N. Blake, F. Gillwald, H. Antonie, L. Jacobs, N. Orsmond, S. Newman, D. Taylor and A. Burmeister (middle row): B. van Lingen, J. van Wyk, J. Theron, E. King, J. Dippenaar, J. Mather and H. Roberts (in front): H. Marcus, S. Parker,, Professor G.A. Watermeyer (president), C. Southwood (captain), P. Cooper and T.R. Trevor-Jones.
D.L. ‘Choots’ Taylor – his enterprising, penetrative running made him a highlyrated centre for Wits and Transvaal.
Soccer
The first official soccer league season was played in 1922 – the year in which the University of the Witwatersrand came into being. Three teams entered the various divisions, with the First XI finishing unbeaten in the Transvaal second division despite the fact that the side had no coach and their practice ground was limited to one goal-end.
Promotion to the first division followed automatically in 1923 but the students quickly found themselves out of their depth, blaming their lack of success on their poor training facilities. At the end of the year, they were relegated.
Practice conditions were given a boost when the hockey section agreed to share their inhospitable, stone-strewn dirt expanse with the soccer club, but it did not help. The university slipped into the lower realms of the third division during the latter 1920s and enormous difficulties confronted the administrators of the game.
A letter to the student newspaper, Umpa, at the end of the 1925 season drew attention to the problems within the club:
Sir
The conduct of the soccer club this season seems to me to warrant an SRC inquiry. It is a shame and a scandal that any university club should fall with impunity into such well-deserved disrepute.
Because the side languished in the third division, the more talented student players joined outside clubs. In addition, a South African Football Association regulation prevented many students, primarily from the East Rand, from playing for Wits by requiring that they appear for clubs in the district in which they resided.
Despite criticism from different quarters the soccer club bravely soldiered on, determined to weather the storm. An important step forward in improving matters was the setting up of the first intervarsity soccer match. In 1926, Wits travelled to Cape Town where they defeated the host university. J. Leslie, S. Block and L. Becker distinguished themselves in this match, which Umpa noted would have ‘far reaching consequences’ for soccer at university level.
The following year, Wits again beat Cape Town when the latter travelled to Johannesburg. Although the match did receive wide publicity in local newspapers, Umpa bemoaned the fact that ‘about four supporters turned out to shout for College’.
The Wits first soccer team 1922 (left to right – back row): R. Stirling, M. Perlman, C. Forder, H.G Durand, J. Leslie, L. Becker and A. Lomiansky (seated); J. Glennie, T.L. Davis, G. Thomson, J. Gaw and W. Kerr (in front): I. Carpel and E. van der Merwe (inset): J.T. Morrison.
The policy of ‘Jobs for Pals’ has been observed by the irresponsible syndicate in charge, and obviously there are people playing in the first team who should never be on a football field. The practices throughout the season were treated with levity by the captain and his officers: the ball was freely handled, players were humorously fouled, and everyone played out of his place.
In the matches there was bad play, rough play, and a rotten spirit. It must be clear to all that there is something wrong. The club has as good material as ever it had, and yet it has to its name a series of ignominious defeats such as no other university team has ever sustained.
EX-SOCCERITE
During the latter part of the 1920s, the club improved under the guidance of the new president, Professor J.H. Wellington, and in 1929 promotion was earned to the second division. Wits lost only one match in the course of their campaign – an away fixture against Vereeniging. Unfortunately, enthusiasm waned in 1930 and Wits only just retained its position in the second division, finishing ninth out of eleven sides. Called on to play during the vacation and handicapped by a lengthy sick list, the university had difficulty in fielding a full team. But the greatest factor militating against the success of the club was the lack of a facility on which to play matches. Fixtures were played on an away basis on gravel grounds, although a match played at Crown Mines resulted in the Witsies being ‘somewhat at sea, slipping and sliding on their opponents’ grass field’.
The introduction of an under-20 side was an important turning point in building up the club’s depth and, by 1935, Wits had secured a place in the first division of the Witwatersrand league. Consolidating their position in the higher league was the immediate priority and under Reg Sidelsky, they did relatively well to finish eighth out of twelve sides in 1936. There was cause for concern when only one First XI player returned in 1937 and the side had to be rebuilt. It was necessary to bolster the team with under-20 players, but they showed encouraging signs of developing into a more than useful side.
In 1938, the provincial leagues were restructured, and Wits was placed in the Southern Transvaal League second division where they finished seventh out of ten teams. Club secretary, Leon Stein, commented, ‘In the main the team played better football than did their opponents, but they failed to get goals. In seven matches, the First XI were beaten by the odd goal in three while only on three occasions were they beaten by more than one goal.’
The highlight of the 1938 season was the
Trefor Roberts was the university’s first soccer full blue.
selection of 18-year-old Trefor Roberts for the Southern Transvaal senior side that visited Mozambique to play against Lourenço Marques and a visiting Lisbon team. Roberts was one of only a select few to have represented the provincial side whilst playing in the under-20 league and, moreover, the first Witsie to gain such an honour.
Much of the credit for the increased interest in soccer during the latter part of the 1930s could be attributed to Jimmy Drysdale, a lecturer in the department of Mechanical Engineering. He had played for the Scottish club, Alloa Athletic, in his youth and was to make a great impact at Wits as a president who became fully involved in the administration of the game. Drysdale, however, pointed out that the success achieved was due to the splendid work of student committee members, Harold and Leon Stein.
In 1939, the construction of the new soccer field was completed and Wu’s Views observed, ‘After years of wandering in the wilds of Pioneer Park and being confined to the small dimensions of the hockey ground, the soccer club have now attained sufficient importance in the eyes of the university authorities to warrant their being given their own ground.’
To mark the opening of the ground on 15 April 1939, a match was organised between staff and students. The staff team was a reasonably strong combination and had, with the aid of some curious off-side rulings, defeated the students 2-1 during the previous year. There was a great deal of needle in the second clash. The President of Convocation, W. Grant Mackenzie, opened the new ground, whereupon his wife courageously kicked off into what Wu’s Views described as ‘the faces of the banditti (staff)’. On this occasion,
Swimming
Wits Swimming Club galas were largely lighthearted affairs in the early years, spoilt only by the rain that never failed to appear. However, a big increase in entries and the organisation of an intervarsity brought inevitable changes of attitude. There were a massive 180 entries in 1924 which contrasted sharply with a mere thirty in 1922. This produced serious competition in many of the events and the format of the gala altered radically over the next few years.
It was a defeat in an intervarsity team-race against Pretoria in 1924 that really stirred the Johannesburg students into improving the standard of their swimming. Training became more important and when Pretoria hosted an intervarsity gala two years later, the Witsies were well prepared. Led by the talented H.A. Olsen, who was described as the best all-round swimmer in South Africa at that time, they avenged their previous defeat, winning 3414. The Star commented: ‘Swimming at last occupies a well-deserved place in the sports calendar of the university.’
Tom Ferguson, popularly known as ‘Fergy’ served Wits for 23 years. He was appointed swimming bath superintendent in 1929 and at
the student newspaper lamented the fact that biased refereeing allowed the staff to share the honours 2-2.
The club enjoyed a fine season in 1939. Skipper and centre-forward, Sam Goodman, right wing Horace Paynter, and left back Trefor Roberts, were all chosen for a Southern Transvaal divisional side in the course of the season. The Witsies also made history when they were the first team to be chosen from one of the lower divisions to play in the Transvaal Challenge Cup. Undaunted, they established another record by trouncing Brakpan 4-1 and so became the first nominated team in 20 years to reach the second round.
S. Goodman.
the same time took on the duties of coach to the university team. He was to enjoy tremendous success and was, in fact, rated by one international list as the eighth-best swimming coach in the world. After defeat by Tukkies at Pretoria in 1932, Fergy’s swimmers never lost again. He coached them to 18 successive SAU victories prior to his death in December 1952. Seven students were at some stage South African swimming champions: Dennis McClure, Raymond Harcourt-Cooke, Des Cohen, Leslie Klenerman, Peter Pirow, Ruth Fouché and Micky Coetsee. Many others were outstanding intervarsity champions and some record-holders –amongst the men were John Duncan, John Walker, D.M. Watt, Alex Lisus, Paul Mare, Anthony Brink, Eric Morris, Gabriel Balkind, Chris Troskie, Arthur Painting, Gerald Tiley, Laurie Duncker, George Albertyn, Hugh Benjamin, D.H. Walker, Johan Steytler, Charles Kitay and Ken Patterson. Leading women swimmers included Lynette Coetzee, Doreen Stewart, Dot Baker, Mea Swierstra, Betty Leitch, Priscilla Kincaid-Smith, Paddy Petersen and Pat Watkins.
Fergy was also one of the foremost diving authorities in South Africa and the university
The Wits first soccer team 1938 (left to right – back row): P. Franklin, N. Flekser and A. Josselsohn (middle row): C. Martin, T. Roberts, O. Hansen, H. Paynter and F. Hayes (seated): A. MacDonald, J. Drysdale (president), L. Stein (captain), H. Stein (chairman) and
H.A. Olsen – one of South Africa’s finest all-round swimmers in the 1920s.
developed a reputation for producing quality competitors. The first student to reach provincial standard was François Brandt who went on to become South African champion in 1932 and 1933. Seven years later, another Witsie, Willem Bohlander, emulated Brandt by winning the national title. Other divers of note included Barbra Pomfret, Sue Womble, Betty Leitch, Arthur Painting, Laurie Duncker, S. Robinson, J. du Plessis, Danie Toerrien, Ian Cameron, S.M. Brew and Jenifer Krohn.
In 1929, Wits affiliated to the SAU Swimming Federation and a team was entered that year in the first SAU gala, which was held at Pretoria. An intriguing competition for highest aggregate score evolved in a triangular meeting comprising Cape Town, Wits and Pretoria Universities. Everything depended on the final event – the men’s relay race – with the winning university emerging as the inaugural intervarsity champions. Amidst great excitement and confusion, Cape Town won but were immediately disqualified and the Witsies were crowned the first winners.
The Ikeys avenged their unfortunate defeat the following year at Cape Town’s Long Street Baths. They scored 55 points against Wits’s 28 in a gala that saw Pretoria’s South African champion, Maisie Weir, steal the limelight with performances of the highest calibre. Wits gained most of their points through their divers, Barbra Pomfret, Lynette Coetzee, H.J. Zadikoff and George Adcock.
A timely development to raise the standard of Wits swimming was the opening of the university’s splendid new swimming pool in October 1930 by his Excellency the GovernorGeneral, the Earl of Athlone. The Rand Daily Mail commented:
For years the Rand University Swimming Club has been struggling to keep the sport going, but the possession of their own swimming bath in their own grounds puts an entirely new complexion on their efforts. The only university in the country with a bath of their own, the Rand students have set an example to
other institutions which is certain to lead them to do their utmost to emulate Johannesburg’s success.
The opening ceremony was followed by a series of events involving students from Wits and Tukkies as well as leading swimmers from Pretoria and Johannesburg. The Wits women’s relay team (Isobel Hawkins, Barbara Pomfret, R. Goldberg and Lynette Coetzee) caused a major upset by defeating their fancied Pretoria counterparts. With no lanes, the visitors wandered off course a couple of times and even Pretoria’s Maisie Weir could not make up the leeway. The victory secured a fine double because the Wits men’s team (A.R. Jacobs, P. Saltman, I. Finkelstein, Walter Carlson, John Duncan and J. Hack) won their race comfortably.
Wits’s first chance to host the SAU gala occurred in 1931. Interest in the competition was lessened by Cape Town’s inability to send a team, leaving a field of two, Wits and Pretoria. Tukkies, with three Northern Transvaal swimmers, overshadowed the home team in the women’s events, but Wits won overall through the efforts of their strong men’s side, with John Duncan in outstanding form.
When Pretoria staged the gala in 1932, Cape Town again withdrew, resulting in a re-run of the previous year’s contest. This time the incomparable Maisie Weir inspired Tukkies to a ten-point victory– Pretoria winning ten of the fourteen events.
The scene was set for an enthralling contest in 1933 when the gala returned to Cape Town, but this time it was Pretoria’s withdrawal that took much of the edge off the competition. The Witsies, led by Transvaal ace, John Walker, were expected to impress, yet few could have predicted their overwhelming domination. Their 97 points put them well ahead of secondplaced Cape Town on 43, with Rhodes, Grey and Stellenbosch trailing far behind. In Doreen Stewart, Wits also produced the outstanding swimmer of the championships. The Cape Times said of her:
She broke the Western Province and intervarsity 100 and 220-yards freestyle records and in the 100 yards she left her opponents standing. She has a powerful beat and ought to make her mark among the country’s best. In reply to inquiries why she had not appeared at any South African Championship meeting, she informed the representative of the Cape Times that she had recently left school and that her parents wished her to concentrate on her studies.
Stewart, who later qualified as a medical doctor, did not compete the following year at Grahamstown when Wits (80 points) again won easily over Cape Town (41), Rhodes (32), Grey (6), and Stellenbosch (0). She returned in 1935 and was in devastating form at the Long Street Baths, Cape Town. The Cape Times reported:
Year by year the average standard grows higher and swimming is steadily consolidating its position. Most astonishing was the all-round ability of the Witwatersrand representatives of whom Miss Doreen Stewart was outstanding.
Dr F.G.A. Roberts donated the Roberts Trophy in 1935 to commemorate his son’s presidency of the Wits University Swimming Club.
The Wits swimming team 1929 – the first intervarsity champions (left to right – back row): J. Haak, D. Roberts (president) and W. Carlson (seated): R. Zadikoff, W. Gallagher, C. Lawrie (captain), F.A. Brandt and N. Finkelstein.
Tom ‘Fergy’ Fergeson coached Wits to eighteen successive intervarsity victories.
The young Wits star once again made a clean sweep of the freestyle titles and broke the Western Province record for the 220 yards, which she won with ease by nearly twenty yards. Her contribution was invaluable because Natal’s entry into the competition reduced Wits’s victory margin of previous years. The Johannesburg students scored 65 points against Cape Town’s 50, with Natal and Rhodes following. Stellenbosch, Grey and Pretoria were unable to send teams on this occasion.
At the 1935 gala Dr F.G.A. Roberts donated a trophy to commemorate his son’s presidency of the Wits Swimming Club during the 1929/30 season. David Roberts had done much to put Wits swimming on a sound footing in the early years of the intervarsity competition. The design of the trophy was suggested by H.R. Raikes, Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand, and the work was carried out in most striking fashion by Miss Quale of Cape Town. It featured a bronze mermaid with outstretched arms swooping downwards on the crest of a wave.
The Johannesburg students were somewhat concerned when they lost their most promising ‘fresher’ of the 1935 SAU – Paul Mare – to Cape Town. He had lowered the intervarsity 220-yards freestyle record by 3.8 seconds in 2:41,5 and, once at Cape Town, was to slash nearly ten seconds off this time. But with Fergy working wonders, Wits continued to produce champions. Eric Morris put up the best performance of the 1936 gala, winning the 100-yards freestyle in a new intervarsity record time of 59 seconds, while Dot Baker (100-yards women’s backstroke), Anthony Brink (100-yards men’s backstroke), Dennis McClure (200-yards men’s breaststroke) and Willem Bohlander (diving) established intervarsity records in 1937. McClure’s time of 2:40,6 in the breaststroke over a furlong was even more noteworthy because he beat the national record held by K.B. Yuill. Fellow Witsie, Gabriel Balkind, finished second with Yuill from Natal third
Nine Full Blues were awarded to the Wits Swimming Club in 1937. Wits Student commented:
All nine men and women have either obtained provincial colours or have broken intervarsity records. Dennis McClure is a South African champion and record-holder and has recently equalled an Empire Games record. Both Balkind and Brink are runners-up in South African championship events, and both narrowly missed national records in March.
The standard of swimming in the universities improved with each successive gala and this necessitated changes in the format of the programme. Prior to the 1938 intervarsity, the president of the SAU Swimming Federation, Harry Getz wrote:
At the early galas, the distances were short and the dives elementary. There were practical difficulties, not the least of which was the fact that swimming clubs at the colleges did not have many good (or
rather mediocre) swimmers and they could not compete in too many events … the earlier meetings lasted one night. Now the tournament is spread over two morning galas for heats, preliminary diving competitions and polo matches, and two major galas for finals of all events and relay race championships.
At Cape Town in 1938 the intervarsity was close, and the result was in doubt until the very end. In the men’s events the host university proved superior and their star swimmer, W.P. Stanford, won every title except for the diving and breaststroke. But the Wits girls swept the board, with former Tukkie Mea Swierstra compiling a personal tally of 18 points. As the winning margin was a mere ten points, her contribution did much to enable her newly adopted university to withstand Cape Town’s valiant challenge. It was the same story at Grahamstown in 1939, with the Wits girls again setting up the victory. This time, however, the Wits men won the water polo so the scoreboard reflected a more comfortable victory for the Johannesburg students: Wits 83, Cape Town 62, Pretoria 27, Rhodes 15, Stellenbosch 4, Natal 1, Free State 0. Cape Town’s W.P. Stanford won another three events, but the star of the 1939 intervarsity was Wits’s Betty Leitch. She not only won the diving for the fourth successive year but captured additional first places in the 50- and 100-yards freestyle and second places in the 200-yards breaststroke and 220-yards freestyle. She then added to Wits’s record of success in the national championships by finishing third in the diving at Bloemfontein.
Between the wars, Wits produced four South African champions who together won 10 titles. They were Albert Crewe (500-yards freestyle 1920-21); H.A. Olsen (500-yards freestyle 1925-26); Dennis McClure (200/220-yards breaststroke 1935-36-37) and Raymond Harcourt-Cooke (200/220-yards breaststroke 193839-40). It was at East London in 1938 that the Eastern Province Herald recalled HarcourtCooke taking McClure’s title in ‘a remarkably well-judged race.’ Unfortunately the war prevented him from attempting to build on his hat-trick of victories.
Doreen Stewart – one of South Africa’s most outstanding swimmers of the early 1930s.
The 1937 swimming intervarsity was at Durban and Witsies who took the opportunity of a trip to the beach included (left to right): Willem Bohlander, Mick Harris, Ben Haak, Alex Lisus, Dennis McClure, Harry Getz (SAU chairman), Betty Leitch, Dot Baker, Arthur Painting, Lynne Cook, Joe Brink and Natie Flekser.
Willem Bohlander won the South African Diving championships in 1940.
Tennis
Tennis was well established by the time the university came into being in 1922. New courts had been completed at Milner Park in 1920, which meant the club could become affiliated to the Southern Transvaal Lawn Tennis Association in March 1921. Difficulties arose because league matches were played between November and February, the long Christmas vacation playing havoc with the selection of student teams.
Tennis might have been even more popular, but the Senate would not allow students to use the Milner Park courts on Sundays. In 1923, entries for the annual tournament were noted as being ‘quite good’ – 225 for the men’s and 112 for the women’s competition. A double blow for the men, however, was the fact that not only were they were soundly beaten by Tukkies for the second year in a row but the Wits women’s team won by 15 games.
The 1920s essentially belonged to Maurice Franks and A.E. ‘Boy’ Ettlinger. For six years they were virtually unbeatable in the doubles and it was almost a case of taking turns with regard to the singles crown. Tours were arranged to the Free State and Eastern Province in 1923 and to Natal in 1926; an annual match played against the Rand Daily Mail ensured good press coverage for the club, and the University of Cape Town men’s and women’s teams visited in 1925, with the Witsies winning both sections comfortably.
was runner-up in the Southern Transvaal junior championships, prior to becoming the university champion for the first time in 1939.
The men earned promotion to the first division of the Southern Transvaal League in 1935. They won their section of the second league without losing a match, beating Troyeville in the sectional final and then accounting for a strong Benoni side to qualify for senior status. Jackie Laurence, the first tennis full blue, reigned supreme as Wits’s star player for five years, with Billy Girdwood, later a well-known physician, a key member of the university team.
In 1939/40, the Wits men were winners of their section of the Southern Transvaal first league. By then, a number of fine players had enrolled at the university and they were able to further enhance the club’s increasing reputation in tennis circles. They included Archie Halliday, Allan Cowan, Jackie Theron, Bobby Connor, Peter Wium, Cliff Lauf, Charles Scrimgeous and Andre Doman. Connor, who was chosen for Southern Transvaal, later became the Eastern Transvaal singles champion three times (1949–51); won the Nottinghamshire singles title and was accepted for Wimbledon.
Water polo
The Wits tennis team 1939/40 –winners of the Southern Transvaal First League section 2 (left to right – back row): R. Connor, A.D. Cowan, A. Doman, C. Lauf and S. Krombein (seated): P. Wium and A. Halliday (captain).
Success in the league did not come until some years later. In 1934, the women’s section was unbeaten in the Southern Transvaal Wednesday second league, section 2. It was reported that ‘the Wits first couple, Miss Broadhead (captain) and Miss Carr (vice-captain), were not defeated by any couple throughout the league’. They also won Wits’s annual tournament, but Cynthia Howie took the singles title. Another impressive player amongst the women was Pixie Osler, a cousin of the famous rugby Springboks Bennie and Stanley Osler. She
At the first meeting of the SAU Swimming Federation in 1929, it was decided that water polo should be included in the intervarsity swimming gala. However, when it was found that only Cape Town had an active side, the other universities were given three years to build their teams, after which water polo was to count towards the aggregate trophy.
The establishment of a water polo tournament within the annual SAU swimming championship was a great boost for the sport. Wits became the inaugural winners in 1932, defeating Pretoria 7-1, but then Cape Town did not compete and the victory was a somewhat hollow one.
Playing skills were initially fairly limited, largely because the students played few matches outside the annual intervarsity. But, as the water polo tournament counted as much as 12 points towards the overall aggregate, the universities could not afford to take it lightly. Some students joined outside clubs in order to improve their games, and an inter-faculty competition was held at Wits during the latter part of the 1930s.
For a long time, Wits did not participate in the Transvaal League, largely because of the university’s inability to raise a team during the long vacation. As a result, Wits did not always gain credit for the achievements of its student players outside the intervarsity tournament. The first Witsie to win provincial colours was Albert Crewe, who became Transvaal captain in 1927. During the latter part of the 1930s, there were several fine players, leading to the 1940 team being one of the strongest. It included provincial players such as Bernardus Haak, who represented Northern Transvaal, George Albertyn who played for Natal and Alex Lisus who was selected for Transvaal.
Maurice Franks (left) and A.E. Ettlinger dominated Wits University tennis during the 1920s. The leading players in the club, they also shared much of the administrative load and helped place tennis on a firm footing at the university.
Chapter 3
1940–1959: Sport in the ‘Open’ Years
No mixed sport was to be allowed; black students were to have their own separate change-rooms and equipment, and they were not to play in any league matches.
H.R. Raikes (Principal) to All Sports Council, 24 April 1944
The All Sports Council
By 1939 Wits University was firmly established as one of the leading sporting nurseries in the country. Its athletes, rowers and swimmers reigned supreme at intervarsity level; the rugby club had frequently impressed in the highly competitive Pirates Grand Challenge, and the cricketers were ready to challenge the leading clubs. Hockey, tennis, boxing, fencing and golf were flourishing, while soccer, squash, ice hockey, shooting, cycling and baseball attracted interest.
With the university’s sports clubs rapidly increasing in strength and number, fragmentation of the student body was inevitable. The All Sports Committee became a distinct division, having outgrown its original role of being a mere sub-committee of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC). Concern about the anomalous position of the committee resulted in six students, Brian Bunting, George Warren, Trevor Trevor-Jones, Neville Rankin, L. Abrahams and A.L. Kowarsky, being appointed to draw up a new constitution for the administration of sport at the university. Their efforts culminated in the establishment of the All Sports Council (ASC) on 1 September 1939.
Early meetings of the ASC were formal, wellrun affairs and would involve the executive committee and approximately twelve delegates from the clubs. Initially, the election of officers would take place at the first meeting of the year, but the election date was later changed to August and finally, September. At this meeting, the SRC treasurer would deliver the budget and, as there was never enough money to go around, its reading was eagerly anticipated by the awaiting members.
Brian Bunting was the first chairman of the ASC. He edited the campus newspaper Wu’s Views as well as the literary magazine Umpa, and was elected president of the SRC. He joined the South African Communist Party in 1940 and after the war served on its central committee. When he was prohibited from publishing in 1963, he went into exile in London where he was the correspondent for the Soviet news agency Tass. According to The Independent, he exercised great influence in South African affairs simultaneously as an editor in London of the African Communist (printed in East Germany), and as a senior backroom figure in the antiapartheid movement. Returning to South Africa in 1991, Bunting was elected to parliament in 1994.
It was to be many years before Wits appointed full-time staff to assist in administering student sport. However, it would be somewhat amiss not to mention Tom ‘Fergy’ Ferguson who served as superintendent and coach at the swimming baths for twenty-three years until his death in December 1952, and his successor, Victor Macfarlane. The former confined himself to the various aquatic activities, while the latter, who served the university for 32 years, found himself drawn by circumstances into other sports. Both were unquestionably accomplished coaches and provided swimming with the continuity that was lacking in so many of the other sports clubs.
The ASC also suffered in that committee members were usually in office for just one year and, understandably, were not able to tackle major problems such as the question of facilities. An exception was Chris Rachanis, a dental student, who was both a seasoned member of the SRC and the first student to serve as ASC chairman for more than two years (1953–56). He campaigned for the upgrading of facilities and successfully motivated for projects such as grassing the athletics and soccer fields, the establishment of new squash courts and the lighting of the swimming pool area. He also initiated the movement towards the construction of a gymnasium, although this was to be a long and frustrating campaign, with building only starting in 1968.
Under Raymond Coll, ASC Chairman from 1957 to 1959, the students continued to press for improved facilities. Apart from a gymnasium,
Brian Bunting – the first chairman of the All Sports Council, later a prominent figure in anti-apartheid politics.
The All Sports Council 1940 (left to right – back row): S. Goodman (soccer), P.N. Swanepoel (boxing), S. Hersch (golf), T. Kotze (rowing), B. de Saxe (squash) and A. Gonski (shooting) (seated): V. Turnbull (athletics), J. Richardson (treasurer), G. Warren (chairman/ men’s tennis), J. ChancellorMaddison (secretary/ fencing) and N. Dison (women’s tennis) (insets): D. Macleod-Elliot (ice-hockey), B. Drysdale (cricket), R. Judge (women’s hockey), T. TrevorJones (rugby) and W. Bohlander (swimming).
The All Sports Council 1959 (left to right – back row): R. Heimann (judo), D. Kessel (table tennis), B. Scrutton (boat), L. Lotzoff (soccer), I. Froman (tennis), W. Barker (cross country), P. Viljoen (cricket), G. Taylor (baseball) and D. Brislin (fencing) (middle row): R. Wiggill (squash), A. Hovis (basketball), J. Fisher (athletics), C. Noble (weightlifting), P. Harris (wrestling), D. le Roux (rugby), J. Harrison (badminton) and C. Cohen (SRC representative) (front row): J. Guthrie (women’s hockey), J. Miot (men’s hockey), S. Katz (treasurer), R. Coll (chairman), R. Trew (vicechairman), C. Bosman (minutes secretary) and J. Mackinnon (swimming).
The principal, H.R. Raikes, took a keen interest in club activities and was influential in sporting decisions.
the clubs expressed a need for more squash courts, a larger pavilion and additional fields. Matters came to a head in the early 1960s when a mass protest meeting was held, but it was to take the best part of the decade before the university’s administration reacted to student demands.
Another problem confronting the ASC in its early years was the ban on Sunday sport. It affected cricket, hockey – although the women’s section ultimately ignored the ruling – tennis, baseball and water polo, and resulted in students joining outside clubs in order to participate in the various Sunday leagues. In 1948 the principal, H.R. Raikes, presented the council with a strongly worded memorandum requesting the playing of certain sports on Sundays. The eventual relaxation of the ruling paved the way for an improvement in the standard of sport at the university.
The social ‘colour bar’ in sport
The outbreak of war in September 1939 split the governing United Party in two. The prime minister J.B.M. Hertzog argued that South Africa had no business in interfering in a quarrel between European powers and was in favour of remaining neutral. His deputy Jan Smuts, who was vehemently opposed to fascism, believed it was in South Africa’s interests to support Britain. The House of Assembly voted on the issue after delegates had engaged in a day of intense debate, and it was decided by a narrow margin of 80 votes to 67 to enter the war against Germany.
The war and the divisions that were created within South Africa naturally impacted on campus life at the different universities. Wits was in the process of becoming more ‘open’ in its admissions policy. The student enrolment increased from 2 544 (2 081 full-time) in 1939 to 3 147 (2 645 full-time) in 1945, with a steady advance of ‘non-white’ students to 152 (71 Africans and 81 Indians) by the end of the 1940s. Despite the relatively small number of ‘non-whites’, the university was deeply conscious of their presence and cautious not to clash with government policy. The library, for
example, continued to provide a restricted and separate ‘non-European reading room’ which it had opened in 1935. There were areas, however, where black students gained full access to facilities. These included the refectory, commonroom facilities under student control and cultural and scientific societies.
Students at Wits developed a growing realisation of the significance of racialism in South African society. Professor Bruce Murray pointed out in his book, Wits: The Open Years, that the social ‘colour bar’ was to have considerable impact on both sport and formal social events such as university dances. He wrote that ‘at the time, social segregation in South Africa was as much a matter of custom as of law – it was part of what were called the “mores” of the country – and the university came to define its official policy as one of upholding “social segregation”.’ The authorities adopted the stance that ‘non-Europeans’ were excluded from social contact outside the academic sphere because it recognised ‘the special circumstances which prevail, in the field of social relationships, in South Africa’.
The university’s policy of ‘social segregation’ was seen by Murray to evolve piecemeal and to be made up of decisions taken over a period of time by the principal H.R. Raikes or the Council, sometimes in consultation with student bodies. Such social space as was created for blacks on campus ‘was largely due to student initiative, and a delicate fencing match was often played out between students and the university administration over the nature and extent of that space’.
Murray arrived at the conclusion that ‘a profound conservatism, and even pessimism informed the administration’s approach to interracial social relations on campus’. He explained:
The administration’s basic attitude was that black students were at Wits for academic purposes only, and that their presence on campus should not otherwise represent a challenge to the ‘custom of the country’. The controlling element in this response was the desire not to challenge the prejudices of the wider white society unduly, but it was linked also with a genuine fear of racial incidents, and possible conflict, on campus itself.
The sports clubs were restricted in their administration. This was inevitable because they operated under controlling provincial and national sports bodies that were tied to the government policy of segregation. However, problems also existed in the organisation of sport within the university. A Wits student, Ken Weinbren, ‘received a dressing down from the chairman of council, P.M. Anderson, for playing tennis with black students’. On the motion of Weinbren and Violaine Junod, the SRC became involved in the need to improve black access to the university’s facilities. It was recorded that after ‘animated and lengthy discussion’, the SRC voted on 18 April 1944, ‘to approve in principle the provision of adequate sports facilities for black students, and to request the
ASC to consider ways and means of granting those facilities’.
When the ASC met less than a week later, on 24 April 1944, they were unable to seek ways of implementing the SRC request. Raikes had intervened in the matter and forwarded an instruction to the ASC that ‘no mixed sport was to be allowed; black students were to have their own separate change-rooms and equipment, and they were not to play in any league matches’. The result, said Murray, was that:
… mixed tennis was prohibited on campus, with one court being set aside for blacks, though the prohibition was not always observed, and in other sports while some clubs agreed to make practice facilities available to black students, the majority proved uncooperative. The attitude of the cricket club was that it would not give up any of its nets, nor would it provide any equipment, and the swimming club was adamant that it could not provide any facilities for blacks.
In the course of the war years, the admission of black students posed a number of questions, not least Wits’s position within the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). The issue over whether Wits should support the admission of the black University College of Fort Hare to NUSAS brought the Wits SRC into immediate conflict with the Afrikaanse Nasionale Studentebond (ANS). At the time, students from the English-speaking universities affiliated to NUSAS and perceived themselves as being pro-war, anti-Nazi and fighting racialism. Their ANS opponents were anti-war and seen as pro-Nazi because of their association with the Ossewabrandweg. Although they were not recognised by the Wits SRC, the ANS had an active branch at the university with its headquarters off-campus in Braamfontein.
There was strong opposition within NUSAS to the admission of Fort Hare. It was feared that the arrangement would divide white student opinion at a time when there was an all-important need for unity in supporting the war. As a result, NUSAS declined to invite Fort Hare to join. The decision produced mixed reaction, with the Afrikaans-speaking universities assuming an aggressive attitude towards Wits as a result of their involvement in the debate. The ANS, which had been frequently criticised by the Wits SRC for introducing partisan politics into student affairs, saw an opportunity to flex their muscle. They called on Afrikaner universities to boycott Wits sport.
When Wits invited Pretoria to an intervarsity in Johannesburg at the end of August 1941, the Pretoria SRC issued a proclamation which broke off all relations ‘until the intolerable liberal policy of the students of Wits has been so modified that it opens the door for the restoration of normal relations’. Potchefstroom, Bloemfontein and Stellenbosch endorsed the proclamation by severing formal relations – chiefly in the field of sport – with Wits.
There was an attempt to restore the relationship between the two universities when SRC
representatives met on 12 June 1944, but negotiations collapsed because Wits declined to give a guarantee that Pretoria students would encounter no black students when competing in Johannesburg.
With the German surrender in 1945, student leaders moved rapidly to restore sporting relations. A conference was held at Wits, which was attended by all the major white campuses, except Rhodes, and rigidly confined itself to restoring sporting relations. On the central issue of segregation at intervarsities, the conference approved the Natal University College’s motion that ‘no black student should be included in an intervarsity team without the permission of all the universities in the competition, and that visiting teams were entitled to insist on strict segregation at their matches’. Wits alone recorded a dissenting vote. They had been instructed by their SRC not ‘to discriminate against any Wits student, white or black’, and therefore could not endorse any segregationist motion.
Weinbren, a member of the First XV and president of the SRC, explained later in an interview with Murray that he ‘gave the assurance that Wits would abide by the majority decision’. In doing so, he considered the fact that Raikes had already prohibited black students at Wits from participation in university sport. Weinbren was nevertheless able to assure a general meeting in the Great Hall that the arrangement ‘meant that Wits itself was still free to compete against Fort Hare, if it so chose, and that members of a visiting team who desire it may be given a separate portion of the grounds where they (and only they) will not come into contact with ALL our students’. NUSAS in the meantime, at its conference in Bloemfontein in July 1945, agreed to admit Fort Hare.
Those who opposed the liberal attitude of Wits students – such as their acceptance of black participation in the 1948 Rag procession – sought opportunities to dwell on the ramifications for the university. Afrikaans newspaper, Die Vaderland, claimed that the SRC’s opposition to university authorities over the Rag issue prompted Wits students to vote against Smuts in protest against a greater black presence in aspects of university.
The Member of Parliament for Wonderboom, Daan Nel attempted to spread unease by referring to white and black students sharing meal-times together and drinking tea and coffee out of the same cups. And in a calculated attempt to shock readers, the Transvaler inserted a pre-election photograph of blacks and whites playing tennis together on the Wits courts.
Nelson Mandela wrote of his student years at Wits in Long Walk to Freedom:
Despite the university’s liberal values, I never felt entirely comfortable there … My manner was always guarded, and I met both generosity and animosity. Although I was to discover a core of sympathetic whites who became friends and later colleagues, most of the whites at Wits were not liberal or colour-blind.
During his years at Wits, Nelson Mandela was unable to compete for a place in the university’s boxing team. The principal H.R. Raikes informed the ASC in 1944 that ‘no mixed sport was to be allowed’.
Athletics
In 1940, Wits won the intervarsity athletics – the Dalrymple Cup – for the sixth successive time. There was plenty of drama in the wet conditions at Bloemfontein. At the half-way stage of the meeting, Pretoria led with 27 points, followed by Cape Town 20, Stellenbosch 19 and Wits 13. It appeared as if the Witsies had no chance when Pretoria increased their tally to 30 prior to the last two events, with the Johannesburg students still five points behind. Joubert gained a third position in the javelin to give Wits an extra point with Pretoria being unplaced. Then came the 440 yards and an indelible piece of Dalrymple Cup history as Vic Turnbull turned on the pace to record a veritable triumph on a waterlogged track.
Wits (32) finished ahead of Pretoria (30), Stellenbosch (29), Cape Town (28), Rhodes, Natal, Potchefstroom and Orange Free State. For Wits, Turnbull had earlier won the 220 yards in 22.4 seconds; Ken Warr retained his 880 yards title; C. Hamman won the 220-yards hurdles and Jannie Joubert gained one second and four third places.
After six highly successful years, the Witsies were finally stripped of the Dalrymple Cup at the Wanderers in 1941 by a rampant Stellenbosch combination. It came as a surprise. Jannie Joubert gave Wits a fine start by winning the 100-yards dash and followed this up with victories in the 220 yards, the long jump and the shot put. But, apart from Vic Turnbull retaining his 440-yards title, the hosts had little else to offer. The Maties won easily, compiling 50 points, with Wits a long way behind in second place on 28 points. Not long afterwards, it was decided to suspend the competition indefinitely. Arrie Joubert commented in his book, The History of Intervarsity Sport in South Africa:
… certain political overtones crept into the fabric of university life in both English and Afrikaans universities … the Afrikaans universities had withdrawn from NUSAS and had formed the
Afrikaans Studentebond (ASB). The universities of Pretoria, Potchefstroom, Bloemfontein and Stellenbosch formed a Studente-Atletiekbond and, in conjunction with certain Teachers’ Training Colleges continued to hold annual athletics competitions.
The athletics club at Wits attempted to maintain interest during the war years but, without the incentive of the intervarsity and league competitions, the standard inevitably declined. The winning times and distances at the university’s internal championships did not compare favourably with the pre-war achievements and Wits Student likened the athletics club to a ‘flickering flame’.
When the Dalrymple Cup meeting was resumed in 1946 only four universities competed: Cape Town, Natal, Rhodes and Wits. A competition staged at the Wanderers provided the usual excitement, especially as most of the participants were taking part in their first intervarsity meeting. For Wits, Lionel Shapiro won both the 100 and 220 yards; Harry Brews the mile; Don Walker the 440 yards and Charles Louw the shot put, while Geoffrey Fine was second in the 880 yards. The team total of 40 points was nevertheless a poor second to Cape Town’s 62.
During the off-season, efforts were made to bring the Afrikaans universities back into the fold but the Studente-Atletiekbond placed three conditions in the way of an amalgamation ‘… the rigid adherence to the colour bar, the inclusion of the normal colleges and the participation of women athletes’. The inclusion of women in the annual meeting posed no problem and was in fact an ongoing consideration, while Pete Suzman and his SAU Athletic Federation made it clear that no preconditions should be laid down. It was Suzman who carefully pursued the issues involved and through tactful negotiation an agreement was reached and the StudenteAtletiekbond disbanded.
Cape Town won the Dalrymple Cup on five successive occasions between 1946 and 1950. Wits scored a mere nine points at the Groote Schuur track in 1947: Adriaan Tromp won the discus (124 feet 6 inches) and the remaining points were made up of four third positions. There was pride nevertheless in the achievements of a former student, Keith Huskisson, an engineering graduate and fighter pilot during the war, who equalled South Africa’s 440-yards hurdles record and was national champion for two years in 1946 to 1947.
When the Dalrymple Cup competition returned to the highveld in 1948, Wits’s performance improved. Pride of place went to future national champion, Stan Basson, who set a new SAU record for the triple jump (47 feet 3 inches) and gained second places in both the discus and long jump. Don Walker regained his 440-yards title in 49.5 seconds and Mike Rubinowitz won the two miles (10 minutes 5.7 seconds), but Cape Town (35 points) held on to win against a strong challenge from Wits (33 points).
Vic Turnbull winning the 440 yards at the 1941 Dalrymple Cup meeting at the Wanderers.
Jannie Joubert won the 100 and 220 yards, long jump and shot put at the 1941 intervarsity.
Two days later, a combined universities team which included four Witsies (Michael Spilkin, Don Walker, Stan Basson and S. ‘Besem’ Broome) competed against the Rest of South Africa at Kimberley. A major achievement was the establishment of a new South African record for the mile-relay (3 minutes 28.7 seconds) with Wits’s ace quarter-miler, Don Walker, playing a key role.
Pietermaritzburg hosted the 1949 intervarsity, which Cape Town won with ease. Three athletes excelled for Wits: the youthful Athol Jennings, who had earlier set a national mile record (4 minutes 23 seconds) during the South African Junior Championships, won the mile and was second in the two miles; Michael Spilkin achieved a splendid hurdles ‘double’ over 120 (15.1 seconds) and 220 yards (25.0 seconds); and Joan Botha was not only the first Wits woman to achieve a place during the SAU but she equalled the 100-yards record in 11.7 seconds.
The Capetonians made it five in a row at Stellenbosch in 1950. The abiding memory of the first day of that meeting was a fine effort over the 220-yards hurdles by Bertie Myburgh of Cape Town who clipped four-tenths of a second off the existing Dalrymple Cup record in a new time of 24.2. Myburgh, who became Professor and Head of Department of General Surgery at Wits, held the South African record at the time –23.7 seconds, set at Kimberley in 1949.
Wits finished in a dismal fourth place but there was light at the end of the tunnel, and in Athol Jennings, who won the mile and two miles, and Don Clark, Wits possessed two athletes of tremendous potential who would become Springboks within a year.
Satisfaction was also derived from the performances of Joan Botha and Elaine Winter in the women’s events. The former set new records for the 100 (11.4 seconds) and 150 yards (17.2 seconds) and the latter achieved second places in the 100 yards and 80-metres hurdles. They were the first of a small band of Witsies who were to excel in the women’s section of the SAU during the 1950s.
Success in the Dalrymple and the Roger Dyason Shield
Springbok Don Clark, fresh from a Test series against the touring Americans earlier in the season, led Wits to victory in the 1951 Dalrymple Cup at Potchefstroom. It was an enthralling meeting. Harry Grisdale was second in the 100 yards; Athol Jennings retained his SAU mile title; Don Clark won the 440 yards in a record time of 48.6 seconds and John Sandeman came top in the high jump. Wits established an early lead, but Cape Town responded by amassing 16 points in quick succession. Jennings then reduced the leeway by winning the two miles and Grisdale won the 220 yards in fine style. Hugh Fraser did his bit by achieving third places in the 220 yards and long jump.
At that stage Wits was just in front with 30½ points, followed by Cape Town (30) and Potchefstroom (19). Wits and Cape Town
students were also strongly favoured to take the last two events, which ensured the closest of finishes.
A heavy responsibility rested on the shoulders of fresher, John Heath, in the 440-yards hurdles. Cape Town possessed a capable competitor in Guthrie, but the Wits student rose to the occasion magnificently and not only did he win the race but he broke the old record by 0.7 seconds. He gave his team a 2½-point lead, which meant a second place in the half-mile would ensure victory for the Witsies. Don Clark was up to the task, finishing a commendable second to Cape Town’s Voss. With Wits on 36½ points, they had edged out Cape Town on 36, followed by Pretoria with 22½.
The women’s competition for the newly presented Roger Dyason Shield did not produce quite the same drama. However, the small Wits contingent of three athletes performed admirably with Elaine Winter underlining her potential by setting up a new record of 12.4 seconds in the 80-metres hurdles while Joan Botha again won the 100- and 150-yards sprints. The Witsies could be satisfied with second place, six points behind the larger Pretoria contingent.
Cape Town returned with a vengeance at the 1952 Dalrymple Cup meeting which was held at Grahamstown. They took the honours with 50 points, well ahead of Pretoria (34) and Wits (22½). For the deposed champions, newcomer Brian Peers set a new SAU record for the two miles in 9 minutes 40 seconds and Athol Jennings, who had represented South Africa at the Helsinki Olympic Games in 1952, won the mile again. Wits’s most outstanding athlete at the meeting, however, was Elaine Winter, who lowered her own SAU record time for the 80-metres hurdles to 11.9 seconds and then won the 100 and 150 yards for good measure. A great effort, but it was not enough to prevent Pretoria winning for the second successive year.
At Bloemfontein in 1953 an interesting development took place. An improved performance by the Stellenbosch women saw them capture a number of points that would normally have gone to Pretoria and they unwittingly tipped the balance in favour of Wits, or should one say Elaine Winter. In exceptional fashion, Winter won the Shield on her own. With victories in the 100 and 150 yards, and the 80-metres hurdles – in which she broke Edna Maskell’s national record by 0.2 seconds in a time of 11.3 seconds – she scored all the points for her university and enabled Wits to win the competition by two points. It was a remarkable achievement for a young woman who had not been able to take up athletics until she arrived at Wits because the sport was ‘not considered ladylike’ at Pretoria Girls’ High School. She recalled entering an inter-faculty hurdles race. ‘I had nightmares about what I had let myself in for’, but her first entry into the event proved successful and paved the way for an outstanding athletics career.
Bloemfontein proved a memorable venue for Wits and a great ‘double’ was achieved when the men won the Dalrymple Cup. After the previous year’s disappointment, Wits pipped Stellenbosch
Don Clark represented South Africa against the 1951 American tourists and led Wits to their first post-war Dalrymple Cup success.
John Heath broke the SAU record for the 440-yards hurdles in dramatic fashion during the 1951 Dalrymple Cup meeting.
Wits
team 1951
Cup champions (left to right – back row): C. Rachanis, C. Jeannot, D. Stitt, J. Sandeman and H. Gris dale (middle row): K. Stevens, J. Botha, E. Winter, J. Blomefield and H. Fraser (seated): J. Heath, D. Clark (captain), O. Matterson (coach), J. Heimann (vice-captain) and A. Jennings.
by one point. It was a grand fight-back by Don Clark and his team, with Athol Jennings (a new SAU record in the 880 yards – 1 minute 54.4 seconds – and first place in the mile), John Heath (a new SAU record in the 440-yards hurdles in 53.5 seconds) and D. Wurtz (first place in the hop, step and jump) producing fine performances.
Wesley Perkes breaks the tape first during a league meeting with Gordon Day (extreme left) and rugby international Tom van Vollenhoven (extreme right) two of his rivals. Perkes arrived at Wits in 1952, and subsequently won three South African 220-yards titles.
The most impressive achievement at the 1954 Dalrymple Cup at Cape Town belonged to Athol Jennings, who shattered his own South African record in the mile by nearly three seconds. It was Jennings’s last intervarsity and it was a wonderful way in which to round off an outstanding athletics career at university. Although Wits was unable to retain the Dalrymple Cup, they influenced the outcome of the meeting. Cape Town needed gold in the last race to win overall but Jennings beat Voss and a delighted Matie immediately draped his Stellenbosch colours over the Witsie’s shoulders.
In the Roger Dyason Shield, Wits’s team
of three competitors emerged winners for the second successive year. They scored 19 points against Stellenbosch’s 17, with Free State, Pretoria and Cape Town following in that order. Elaine Winter reaped her usual haul of points and was assisted by Galena Kotze who won the women’s shot put with an SAU record distance of 35 feet 10¾ inches.
Although both Elaine Winter and Athol Jennings graduated at the end of 1954, neither was lost to the athletics world. Winter won Springbok colours in 1955, her first year of teaching, when she was selected to compete in the hurdles against a touring German team. Her international debut was a tough one and she lost the first two encounters against the German star, Anneliese Seonbuchner. But, determined to succeed, she overcame the psychological barrier and beat her opponent next time out at the Pretoria Caledonian track. In 1956, Winter took part in the Olympic Games at Melbourne where she participated in the 100-metres sprint and the 80-metres hurdles. In the latter, she ran an outstanding time of 11.1 in her heat, to reach the semi-final.
Athol Jennings, who lowered his national mile record to 4 minutes 9.9 seconds during the 1955/56 season, was named as captain of the Springbok athletics team which competed in the Test series against the Germans in 1955. And, like team-mate Elaine Winter, he saved one of his best efforts for the Pretoria meeting. Running a brilliant tactical race, he came thrusting through at the right time around the final bend to beat Ernst Kleynhans, Paul Soine and Werner Leng. Jennings won the South African mile title on
The
athletics
–Dalrymple
Athol Jennings breaking the South African mile record during the Dalrymple Cup meeting at Groote Schuur, Cape Town in 1954. He was South African mile champion for eight successive years (1950-57) and participated in the 1500 metres at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games.
The famous Czechoslovakian star Emil Zatopek on a training run with Elaine Winter at the 1958 Olympic Games at Melbourne.
eight successive occasions between 1950 and 1957. As his rivals soon learnt, it was foolish to forecast defeat for one of the most determined of all South African runners. The Star recorded his dramatic seventh victory as follows:
At Bloemfontein in 1956 the scene was set for a new South African mile champion. The race was run in appalling conditions with driving rain falling until the last quarter-mile. At the 100-yards mark, Paul Soine and Athol Jennings pulled ahead of the field and with ten yards to be covered Soine looked a certain winner. Then he faltered for a stride and Jennings, who is never beaten until the tape is broken, surged up and whipped past him to score a great win by a yard and a half.
He won again in 1957 at Queenstown where he held off a strong challenge from George Traub and Gawie Richter. His great success in the mile together with national victories in the 880 yards (1953) and three miles (1954–55) made Athol Jennings one of the finest athletes South Africa had known.
Stellenbosch held on to the Dalrymple Cup for three years (1954–56). The 1955 meeting at Johannesburg was especially disappointing for the hosts as they were out of contention in both the Dalrymple Cup and the Roger Dyason Shield. The star Wits athlete was Brian Peers, who won the mile and two miles in a year in which he also won his Springbok colours when he competed against the touring Germans. In the Wits women’s team that lost its hold on the Roger Dyason Shield, Galena Kotze broke the women’s shot-put record and Elaine Barker took second place in both sprints.
At Pretoria in 1956, Wits finished a single point behind in the Dalrymple Cup. The meeting crystallised virtually into a three-way contest between Stellenbosch, Wits and Pretoria. Wits came through strongly towards the end, with Brian Peers and Wally Barker taking first and second places in the two miles and Gordon Day dominating the sprints. The final positions were decided on the last race of the day; Wits Student
recording that ‘Sonny Norman put up a great fight before losing to Brewster (Cape Town) in the 880 yards.’
The top athletes amongst the women in the 1956 Roger Dyason Shield competition were probably the two Witsies, Elaine Barker (100 and 220 yards) and Galena Kotze (shot put), who set new SAU records in the events that they entered.
Free State’s leading athlete Danie Burger decided to switch allegiance and register at Wits in 1957. He had competed for South Africa in the 110-metres hurdles at the Melbourne Olympic Games, and was quick to make his presence known at his new university. At the internal championships, the accomplished all-rounder won the 120- and 220-yards hurdles (breaking the Southern Transvaal record in the latter), the pole-vault, the high jump, the hop, step and jump and the discus, and only lack of time prevented him from entering other events. But the real highlight of the afternoon was the invitation 440 yards. The 1956 Olympic 400-metres finalist, Malcolm Spence was invited to compete against Wits’s up-and-coming young sprinter, Gordon Day. For several years, sportswriters queried why Day ignored the 440 yards in favour of the shorter sprints and one critic was moved to write: ‘He has style, economy of movement and, most important, HEART!’
‘I did not really enjoy the 440 yards,’ responded Day, ‘as it is a hard, gruelling event and I certainly was not a willing party to inviting Malcolm Spence to what was interpreted by many as something of a “challenge” race.’ The crowd was, nevertheless, riveted by an event that lived up to expectation. Spence (46.6) pipped Day (46.8) with both runners breaking the empire record of 46.9 seconds. Making it a competition to remember for the Wits star was the fact that he also won the 100 (9.9 seconds) and 220 yards (21.5 seconds) – all on a grass track!
Wits could also call on Perry Leary, Pat Laurence, Peter Thorburn, Klaus Schiess and Johann van Loggerenberg in a strong side for the 1957 Dalrymple Cup. With Danie Burger shining, Wits won by recording 50 points, well ahead of Pretoria in second place on 29.
Elaine Barker and Galena Kotze were to the
West Germany’s Anneliese Seonbuchner and South Africa’s Elaine Winter in the 80-metres hurdles during the 1955 Test series.
Brian Peers, an outstanding athlete and cross-country runner who represented South Africa in the three miles in 1955.
fore in the women’s events, making it a great all-round day for Wits as they won the Roger Dyason Shield for the third time. Barker broke the intervarsity record in the 220 yards (25.4 seconds) and won the 100 yards, while Kotze increased her SAU shot put record to 39 feet 1½ inches. Elaine Barker would go on to gain Springbok colours in 1959 for the 100 and 220 yards, but it was to be Wits’s last Roger Dyason success. The following year they ended up second last with just one point to their credit.
Wits sent another powerful men’s team to the 1958 Dalrymple Cup. The clay Stellenbosch University track, normally very fast, was a morass after a morning downpour. Fortunately, this hardly affected the reigning champions, as they finished with 55 points, twenty-three clear of second-placed Stellenbosch. The versatile Danie Burger shared first place in the 120-yards hurdles which was run on the rugby field, easily won the pole-vault and was third in the long jump. Pat Laurence won the mile, with Perry Leary second, Jon Lang the two miles and Klaus Schiess the high jump.
Gordon Day injured his leg running the 100 yards but returned to the track in the afternoon to win the 220 and 440 yards – an act which initially cost him the opportunity of Springbok selection for the 1958 Cardiff Empire Games. By aggravating the injury, he was unable to run at full stretch at the Springbok trials and was not chosen for the national squad. There was an outcry in the press and he was eventually included, his travelling costs being solved through the assistance of Joe Bloom, father of Wits athlete, Tony Bloom.
Ironically, for a competitor who was a lastminute selection, Day found himself running in no less than ten events in ten days. He was also the only Springbok athlete to reach three finals – qualifying for the 100 yards and winning a bronze medal in the 220 yards. He then took part in the 440-yards relay – an event in which the South Africans (Day, Gerald Evans, Gert Potgieter and Malcolm Spence) won gold in a clear-cut win in record time. It was not only the last race of the Cardiff Games, but it was to be the last time for many years that the South Africans were to appear amongst British Empire (and subsequently Commonwealth) nations.
Day returned to the 1959 Dalrymple Cup meeting at Potchefstroom as team manager. Wits again emerged triumphant, with Pat Laurence (one mile and 880 yards), Peter Thorburn (220and 440-yards hurdles) and Jon Lang (three miles) all winning their events. A bigger, stronger team than ever also enjoyed considerable success in the Southern Transvaal league meetings. During 1959, Gordon Day, Pat Ryan, Klaus Schiess, Vic Essakow, Peter Thorburn, Pat Laurence, Perry Leary, Jon Lang, Tony Bloom and John Garson turned in excellent performances. The major event of the year was the selection of Gordon Day, Peter Thorburn, Klaus Schiess, Pat Laurence and Elaine Barker for the Springbok team to compete against the touring Germans during November. Vic Essakow, who broke the South African record for the javelin (224 feet
The versatile Danie Burger is shown competing in the pole-vault at the World Student Games in Australia and in the hurdles at the British AAA Championships. He would later compete for the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in the 1962 Empire Games at Perth where he won a silver medal in the pole-vault and was part of the 4x110-yards relay team that finished fourth.
Gordon Day won a bronze medal in the 220 yards and was part of the 4x440-yards relay team that won gold in 3:08.1 minutes.
The Wits athletics team 1959 – Dalrymple Cup champions (left to right – back row): J. Garson, K. Schiess, P. Smith, V. Essakow and N. Good (middle row): J. Torrance, L. Hacker, J. Lang and G. Cavaleros (seated): P. Thorburn, G. Day (manager), P. Leary (captain), J. Fisher and K. Blake.
6 inches), was unfortunate not to get his colours as the Germans did not have a javelin thrower in their team.
‘Success breeds success,’ commented Gordon Day in analysing the athletic club’s splendid achievements during the 1950s. With the Springboks in the club showing the way, high standards were set and maintained. Although international honours provided a tremendous incentive, the intervarsity competition remained the cornerstone of the country’s athletic potential. Wits had a proud tradition to maintain and, in those years, could partake on an equal footing with the other universities as there was no fear of athletes being lured away by lucrative sports scholarships and better facilities. Great spirit was developed within the club and was carefully fostered through long hours of training together, memorable tours, intervarsity success and friendly rivalry cultivated between athletes. The rivalry invariably spilled over to the social activities, and train trips, for example, were characterised by the game of ‘chicken’. Last one on the train was the winner of this high-spirited activity which frequently involved a frantic dash after a moving train – Tony Bloom was for some time the club’s ‘chicken expert’.
Wits were fortunate in being able to call upon several coaches of noted ability and Day acknowledged the assistance he received from Ian Balfour, Ivor Buratovich and Neville Price. He also pointed to the work done by the club’s administrators; in this sphere, Jeff Fisher, the chairman during the latter part of the 1950s, was conspicuous for his invaluable contribution.
The club did have their clashes with the authorities. There was the occasion when Wits
– the strongest club in the province if not the country – made headlines in the national press by being suspended. Their crime was to compete in Lourenço Marques without the permission of the South African Amateur Athletic Union. A statement issued by the Southern Transvaal authorities said that the students had ‘infringed an international ruling’. It went on to announce the suspension of ‘Fisher (chairman), Thorburn (captain), Lang (vice-captain), Stocks (secretary), Day, Bloom, Schiess, Essakow, Christianson, White, Hacker, Hewett, Barrow, Dry, Good, Ryk, Booysens, Noble, Boonzaier and Garson.’
Pat Laurence won the mile at the intervarsity at Stellenbosch in 1958 with Perry Leary second.
Peter Thorburn, who was ranked as one of the finest hurdlers in the British Empire, represented South Africa in 1958.
Vic Essakow broke the South African record for javelin.
Klaus Schiess, who represented South Africa at high jump, went on to compete for the Swiss national team during 1962-68 as a hurdles’ record-holder.
The Wits athletic club’s suspension in 1959 made headline news.
Baseball
A baseball club was formed and accepted by the SRC in 1939 but the war intervened, and the club’s activities were temporarily curtailed. Baseball was re-established in 1945 and, two years later, Wits played its first intervarsity matches against Tukkies at Pretoria. The second team, skippered by Des Hartwig, defeated their Pretoria counterparts 22-10 but the senior side, playing without regular pitcher, Bob Nupen, was not as fortunate and lost 22-12.
During the Easter break, a tour was arranged to the Cape where Wits challenged the universities of Stellenbosch and Cape Town. With Bob Nupen pitching at his best, an unexpected 11-5 victory was achieved over Stellenbosch, but the match against Cape Town was marred by rain and a bitterly cold wind. Although Nupen again pitched well, neither the batters nor the fielders could come to terms with the weather. Nupen and Eddie Becker made safe hits, but Cape Town, aided by errors, won easily 10- 3.
During the 1949 season, Wits participated for the first time in the formal SAU tournament. Although the Johannesburg students did not come close to winning the intervarsity between 1949 and 1955, their standard of play improved gradually. A highlight was the selection of Teddy Slotar for the combined universities touring side to Rhodesia in 1953.
Baseball became a summer sport in 1952, which had serious repercussions at the university because of the problem of raising a team during the long vacation. Fortunately, the new chairman of the club, Reg Cutler (later made a life member) took it upon himself to keep the first team afloat during this period and his hard work paid dividends. With Ivor Sarkis (who was an excellent pitcher), ‘Bokkie’ Livshitz and Eddie Perlman in fine form, the team earned
Boxing
further promotion to the Senior Reserve ‘B’ League in 1953.
The Witsies were lucky to avoid demotion during a disastrous 1954 season, and there was some relief that baseball became a winter sport again in 1955. A second team was formed in the course of rebuilding the club. After mediocre results in 1955 and 1956, the exercise began to reap some fruits in 1957. The first team displayed a wonderful spirit in losing only two league games during the entire season. They deservedly gained promotion to the senior ‘A’ league, which was effectively the Transvaal third league and carried over their good form to the SAU tournament.
The outstanding player at Wits during the mid-1950s was Ian Scott, who also played full back for the rugby First XV. He was the only Witsie to be chosen for the combined universities team which lost narrowly (5-3) to the touring Americans in 1955, and his ability was such that he was subsequently selected for the Springbok side.
The 1956 intervarsity was cancelled because Wits, as hosts, were unable to provide sufficient accommodation. Fortunately, they were given a second chance the following year and made amends by organising one of the best tournaments ever staged. There was the additional satisfaction of Wits reaching the final of the competition for the first time and ending runners-up to Pretoria after a closely contested game. Ian Stromin, who had earlier gained selection for Transvaal Colts, was in outstanding form and, together with Stan Hankey and Arthur Centner, played a significant role in Wits’s fine performance.
The first few seasons in the senior reserve ‘A’ league saw the Witsies struggle to come to terms with the higher level of baseball. However, it seemed inevitable that the side would ultimately succeed in a sport that was becoming increasingly popular on campus.
Poggie Swanepoel was the star fighter in 1940 when Wits regained the Hadley Shield. The team captain and a fitness fanatic, he achieved greater fame that year in another sport. He was selected to ride for his province in the South African 100-mile cycling championship, and more than proved himself by winning this most gruelling of races.
The Hadley Shield changed hands in 1941 with Wits finishing second to Pretoria. Charles Schwartzel (welterweight), a fresher but with plenty of junior experience, and team captain, Aaron Penn (lightweight), gained Wits’s two victories that year. Penn was most impressive in defeating Pretoria’s R.C. Swiegers on a technical knockout with a classical display of straight punching and fast footwork.
The war prevented the continuation of most tournaments including the SAU. This was a pity as it would have been interesting to have seen Empire Games gold medallist, Johan Joubert, in action as he was a student at Wits in 1942. The previous year he had assisted Pretoria in their Hadley Shield success, defeating Wits’s Barney Benjamin in the final of the featherweight division.
When the SAU tournament resumed in 1946, the Wits team included Charles Schwartzel, who had won the welterweight title five years earlier. He had managed to practise his boxing skills a little during the war and won a forces’ title in Rome in 1945. As expected, he was one of the
stars in the Wits side which recaptured the Hadley Shield at Johannesburg in 1946. Representatives were gained in six finals with no fewer than five being won. It was a convincing performance with D. Blumenthal (flyweight), W. Isaacs (bantamweight), Joe Siegenberg (welterweight), Charles Schwartzel (middleweight) and Nic van der Walt (light-heavyweight) all winning their divisions.
Wits retained the Hadley Shield in 1947 in front of a large crowd at Cape Town’s city hall. The Johannesburg students won four of the eight finals to register 23 points, with the Cape Town and Stellenbosch teams each scoring 19 points. Spectators were entertained to some fine boxing and the fact that all but one of the eight bouts went the distance was evidence of the stoic endurance qualities of the night’s game losers. Ruben Klein (flyweight), Robert Keet (lightweight), Joe Siegenberg (welterweight) and Charles Schwartzel (middleweight) were the victorious Witsies, while Bernard Barlin provided a courageous display in the featherweight final.
The SAU team embarked on a short tour in December 1947. They lost 9-3 to a Transvaal side which included several South African champions but defeated Natal 7-3 with one draw. Joe Siegenberg was the hero of the first competition despite losing his fight. Dropped for a count of eight in the first round and two counts of nine in the next round, he fought back with a rare gameness and all but knocked out his opponent.
Charles Schwartzel won SAU titles as a welterweight in 1941 and middleweight in 1946 and 1947. During the war he won a forces’ championship in Rome in 1945.
A hat-trick of SAU victories was established at Stellenbosch in 1948. Wits (26 points) finished ahead of Cape Town (18), Pretoria (6), Stellenbosch (5) and Rhodes (1). Ruben Klein (flyweight) and Robert Keet (lightweight) retained their titles and Douglas Silva, the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross during the war, became the new welterweight champion. Two Witsies were unexpectedly beaten – Joe Siegenberg, the former middleweight title holder, and the experienced Abe Luntz, who had won his weight division in the combined universities championship of Britain in 1935, 1936 and 1937.
At Pretoria in 1949, Wits made it four in a row. Scoring 21 points, the reigning champions were well clear of Pretoria (15), Cape Town (10), Rhodes (5) and Stellenbosch (2). Joe Siegenberg regained his middleweight title but what was impressive about Wits’s victory was the number of new faces to do well, with F. Jacobs (cruiserweight) and Alex Revelas (heavyweight) becoming champions.
Wits’s run of success ended at the Johannesburg Drill Hall in 1950. Only Wolfe Edelstein (flyweight) and Charles Swart (bantamweight) won titles for Wits on a night that Pretoria finished champions by a clear six points.
It was a similar story at Cape Town in 1951, when Pretoria (24 points) were comfortable winners over Wits (17), Cape Town (14), Rhodes (8), Free State (6), Stellenbosch and Natal. There was nevertheless much to applaud in Wolfe Edelstein retaining his flyweight title, the promising Joe Roberts winning the lightweight division and Alex Revelas returning as heavyweight champion via a third-round technical knockout.
In an exciting intervarsity at Grahamstown in 1952, Wits (26 points) pipped the holders, Pretoria, by one point with Stellenbosch (15), Cape Town (11) and Rhodes (4) all having an influence on the proceedings. Joe Roberts, Dennis Horwitz and Alex ‘Mauldie’ Zimmerman were the outstanding fighters in a victory all the more commendable because the team was handicapped by the non-appearance of Bill Liversedge. Team-mate, Ian Brummer, recalled, ‘Bill was broke at the time and decided to hitch down in order to save travel costs. Unfortunately, he got lost and by the time he arrived in Grahamstown the tournament was over, and we were on our way back to Johannesburg.’
In 1952, the then President of the SAU Boxing Federation, E.G. Levitan, presented a floating trophy which was to be awarded to the ‘Best Boxer’ of the annual tournament. Wits lightweight Joe Roberts was the first recipient and the following year, Alex Zimmerman made it two in a row for the Wits boxing club.
A good all-round performance in 1953 at Stellenbosch saw Wits (29 points) retain the Hadley Shield over Pretoria (26), Stellenbosch (18), Cape Town (15) and Rhodes (1). Five victories were achieved through Wally Aab (bantamweight), Alex Zimmerman (lightweight), Ron Jackson (welterweight), Peter Donnelly (middleweight) and ‘Curly’ Curlewis
(light heavyweight) winning their weight divisions. Curlewis’s fight was a tense affair in that it decided the outcome of the tournament. Ian Brummer had just been disqualified and everything rested on the light-heavyweight clash during which Curlewis and his fellow gladiator went for each other tooth and nail.
Wits did not contest all the divisions at Pretoria in 1954 and subsequently lost the Hadley Shield. Tukkies, with 38 points, were easy winners ahead of Wits (20), Cape Town (19) and Stellenbosch (5). But what was encouraging for the Johannesburg students was that from their team of six, five made their respective finals. Leon Vermeulen (welterweight), who became one of South Africa’s leading fighters, and Ian Brummer (middleweight), both went on to win their divisions by technical knockouts.
Ian Brummer’s record in intervarsity boxing is remarkable. After being a runner-up at the 1953 tournament, he won SAU titles in 1954, 1957, 1966 and 1967. Selected but unavailable for the SAU tour of Europe in 1958, he captained the side to England nine years later. He was a most durable fighter and at the age of 36 was still good enough to reach the semi-final stage of both the Springbok trials and the inter-provincial tournament.
Wits won the Hadley Shield for the last time in 1955 at the Drill Hall, Johannesburg. The crowd had plenty to enthuse over as their local stars gained a four-point victory over next-placed Stellenbosch. Leon Vermeulen (welterweight) and Dennis Horwitz (light-middleweight) won their divisions for Wits and the hard-hitting Dave Cochrane was unlucky to lose the lightheavyweight title after twice dropping his opponent.
An interesting name in the Wits side of 1955 was that of Sol Kerzner, the hotel magnate, who
Douglas Silva, who won the Distinguished Flying Cross during the war, was the SAU welterweight champion in 1948.
The Wits boxing team 1948 – winners of the Hadley Shield (left to right – back row): R. Keet, A. Luntz, D. Silva and B. Barlin (seated): D. Legg (chairman), J. Siegenberg (captain) and G. Bridger (coach) (in front): R. Klein and W. Edelstein.
The Wits boxing team 1959 (left to right – back row): J.R. Lindsay, D. Gibbs, M. Brooks, J. Henderson, K. Gass and P. Zeiss (seated): W. van Vuuren, R. Voigt (captain), D. Ellis, C. Cohen (manager) and J. Langford. The team travelled to Stellenbosch for their intervarsity. Charles Cohen, who was originally named as manager, decided en route to enter as a competitor. Although he lost, he succeeded in flooring Drummond, a former Northern Transvaal champion.
George Fullerton, a Wits graduate in classics, went on to represent South Africa in seven Tests from 1947 to 1951. He had earlier played friendlies for the university but, like many students affected by the ban on Sunday sport, he joined an outside club to take part in league cricket.
had earlier won the university’s welterweight title and subsequently earned SAU colours. At the intervarsity he came across Cape Town’s J. Baxter in the final. The Star reporter wrote that Baxter, who won the ‘Best Boxer’ award in 1954 and 1955, ‘fought coolly and well to beat Kerzner. Kerzner was the faster of the two but his opponent, who timed his punches beautifully, displayed a sound defence and wasted very few of his punches.’
There was no intervarsity in 1956 and Wits did not participate in the tournament the following year that saw Pretoria and Cape Town locked together on 30 points. The Johannesburg students returned to the SAU championships in 1958 after a two-year break and finished second to Pretoria for the Hadley Shield. Wits’s Eastern Transvaal star, Mike Wayson, was the outstanding boxer of
Cricket
During the war years, friendly fixtures replaced an organised league in the Transvaal. Concerted efforts were made to promote cricket at the university and in 1941/42, a tour was made to the Cape where Wits gained a convincing victory over the Western Province Cricket Club at Newlands. Eric Jenkins was the outstanding batsman for the side during the season, scoring more than 500 runs at the impressive average of 52.09. He took over as captain in 1942/43 and further fine performances saw him obtain a place in the Rest of South Africa XI that played against the Army. In addition, his team-mates, Bob Nupen and Peter Stemmler, were good enough to be selected for Transvaal.
Wits played matches against sides such as Balfour Park, Wanderers, Municipals, Old Johannians, various army and air force combinations, and A.P. Walshe’s XI. Although the long vacation still provided problems, there was a wealth of cricket talent at the university. In 1943/44, Wits enjoyed
the tournament. He won his first two fights with second-round knockouts and his opponent in the final promptly withdrew. On being selected for the SAU team, he found little problem in knocking out the Defence Force’s Willem van der Mescht.
Brian Cooper made his first appearance as a boxer in 1958 and exceeded all expectations by winning the flyweight title with two TKO victories. In a remarkable rise to the top, he was chosen for the SAU team that toured overseas at the end of the year along with Ron Voigt, Dave Gibbs and Bill van Vuuren.
Wits finished third at the 1959 SAU tournament at Stellenbosch but, surprisingly, three of their fighters who had toured overseas were beaten. Dave Gibbs was the victim of what was possibly the worst decision of the championships, and Ronnie Voigt and Bill van Vuuren lost their finals quite contrary to expectations. The only victorious Wits fighters were fresher John Langford (light welterweight), and Ian Hunter (bantamweight). Said the ITA Year Book report of the latter’s victory: ‘Never a great one for training and this year was no exception, his achievement was a remarkable one, especially too, as he had to pull weight to make the limit.’
For Ronnie Voigt, the disappointment of his intervarsity defeat was quickly wiped out in the course of a hectic programme. He was chosen as the number one selection for the SAU team which fought against Western Province and he decisively beat Roberts, the Western Province champion. He then made his way to Bloemfontein where he was the only SAU entry for the South African championships. A cut eye in the semi-final prevented him from fighting Hennie Laubscher, the Empire champion, for the title, but he was the only SAU boxer to be chosen to fight for the Combined Police-Defence Force-Universities team against a touring Irish side. In an enthralling contest, he lost a narrow points decision to the Irish champion, Bill Perry, veteran of more than fifty international fights.
an unbeaten record, with the team winning six and drawing one of their matches. The most notable performers were Dennis Oberholzer who topped the batting averages (60.57), and opening bowler, Adrian van Velden.
The 1944/45 side won four and drew two of their eight matches. There were a couple of memorable victories, one against Balfour Park when Stemmler and Oberholzer laid the foundations by each scoring centuries. Against Old Johannians the famous Springbok, Bruce Mitchell, made 110 in enabling his side to compile a score of 268. Wits lost early wickets in reply but then Nupen and Jenkins scored undefeated centuries to enable the students to win by seven wickets. At the end of the season, an intervarsity match was played at home against Rhodes over Easter. The visitors were a strong combination but left Wits an unrealistic target of 368 to make in three and a half hours. Bob Nupen, batting with courage and skill, scored
123 and guided his team through poor light to reach 245 for 6 by the close of play.
In the immediate post-war years, the university team included players of provincial calibre, such as Eric Jenkins, Bob Nupen, Peter Stemmler, Adrian van Velden, Max Bloom, John Maile, Mervyn Barrkman, Dennis Oberholzer, Don Walker and Ronnie Beuthin. In 1945/46, they were able to enter the senior Lionel Phillips Cup, which involved matches being contested over two successive Saturdays. They played splendid cricket, the highlight being a magnificent victory over Wanderers by one wicket. Set to make 280, Wits needed 46 runs when the last pair of Dave Forder and Tony Trollip came to the wicket. Against the wiles of the great Springbok, Xenophon Balaskas, who took six wickets, the two students batted with dogged determination to score an upset win.
After eight matches and with one to go, Wits led the ten-team Lionel Phillips competition by two points. Unfortunately, a three-wicket loss in their last fixture against Old Edwardians allowed Old Johannians to sweep past and leave Wits in second place. It was frustrating for skipper, Bob Nupen (who scored a fighting 95 against Old Edwardians) and his highly promising side. Adding to their disappointment was the decision of the Wits batsman A.I. ‘Scotch’ Taylor to join Old Edwardians at the end of the season; he would go on to play for South Africa.
The 1946/47 season was not as successful, with the Lionel Phillips Cup competition being a campaign of two contrasting halves. Before Christmas there was just one defeat against Pirates in the last over despite an undefeated 116 by Don Walker, while a particularly good win was achieved over an Old Johannians side that included Bruce Mitchell and Russell Endean. In the second part of the season little went Wits’s way and they slipped to fifth place. The side’s unpredictable performances continued into 1947/48 when the team finished sixth in the league.
In 1948, the club was granted permission to play Sunday cricket, and promptly entered a side in the Transvaal League. Because of their inexperience, Wits spent several seasons trying to find their feet in this competition but their cricket improved as a result of being exposed to the full-day game. In 1950/51, they improved their position in the Transvaal League to sixth out of eleven teams and went one better in the Lionel Phillips Cup, finishing fifth. The outstanding player was John Maile whose splendid summer was encapsulated in an outright victory over Pirates in the Transvaal League. In a low-scoring encounter, he scored 53 (out of 104) and an undefeated 60 (out of 109), captured 7 for 33 in Pirates’ first innings and another two wickets for only one run in his only over of the second innings.
Maile, also a hockey player of note, enjoyed considerable success in a long first-class cricket career for Transvaal and Western Province. Fellow all-rounders, Ian Marx and Derek Bruorton, were also chosen for the Transvaal team. In 1951/52, Bruorton amassed 1 271 runs in all matches at an average of 55.17 with a highest score of 143 not out against Jeppe in the last match of the season.
Wits maintained a steady, if uninspiring status quo in 1951/52 and 1952/53, finishing at best as a middle-of-the-table side in both competitions.
Scotch Taylor – Transvaal and South Africa. Johnny Maile represented both Transvaal and Western Province and was named one of South Africa’s ‘Cricketers of the Year’ in 1960.
The Wits First XI 1946/47 (left to right – back row): J. Lawrie, D. Walker, A. van Velden, R. Paxton, D. Oberholzer and J. Maile (seated): M. Barrkman, E. Jenkins, P. Stemmler, M. Bloom and R. Nupen.
Don Walker and Joe Pamensky opening the batting for Wits University.
Ian Marx – Wits and Transvaal allrounder.
Morrison with the Lionel Phillips Trophy which Wits won during the 1953/54 season. It was the first success that the university had at first league level. Morrison, a fine opening batsman, captained the South African Universities XI for three successive seasons (1954-55-56).
There was a conspicuous change in fortune in 1953/54. A pleasing performance in the Transvaal League was followed by a grand finish to the Lionel Phillips competition which Wits won for the first time. Their success came dramatically in the last match of the season against the Railways. Wits had to score 161 runs in 75 minutes to secure an outright victory. Forced to go for quick runs, they found themselves in great difficulty at 79 for 8, but Adrian Couzyn and the Transvaal rugby star, Freddie Herbst, hit out boldly to snatch a last-minute victory in frenzied circumstances.
It was a memorable season for Wits’s cricket chairman Joe Pamensky because he made his maiden century in first-league cricket. In a Transvaal League encounter, he scored 120 in 135 minutes out of his side’s total of 239 against Pirates. His opening partner, Ian Morrison, contributed 72 before the side’s batting collapsed dramatically.
Another important feature of the season was the entry of a second XI into the league. For many years this had been rendered impossible because the university had but one cricket field. A home ground was leased from the Municipality of Brixton, which one report described as also being ‘home territory for local footballers, jukskei players and kite-flyers!’
In the following seasons, the Second XI won promotion the hard way into the top reserve leagues on both Saturdays and Sundays. In 1955/56 when a good turf wicket was laid on the bottom hockey field, a third XI was established. This side was hardest hit during the summer vacations and the ITA Sports Yearbook recalled: ‘Of them is told the famous and true story of the five cricketers who turned up one Sunday morning to find that they were the Third XI. They decided not to scratch, played and won by
an innings and a hundred runs before lunch. Of such stuff are our third-teamers made.’
The Wits First XI continued to perform well in the Lionel Phillips Cup but their main aim was to win the Transvaal League. They possessed a side good enough to make a strong challenge. Led by the SAU XI skipper and Transvaal opening batsman, Ian Morrison, the team was a well-balanced combination. Morrison headed a batting line-up that included Ian Fullerton, Harvey Illing, Peter Leigh, John Maile, Clive Ulyate, Adrian Couzyn, Chick Baines, Colin Eagle and wicketkeeper, Angus Morrison. The bowling showed a similar depth. While Freddie Herbst was unable to play as often as he had done in the past, Clive Ulyate and Don Pistorius were a most effective opening pair. The long-serving umpire, Hayward Kidson, described them in his book, Over and Time, as having ‘formed the finest club opening attack in the country.’ They were backed up by the varying styles of Maile, Couzyn, Baines, Illing and Robin Hoare.
Wits made a determined effort to take the Transvaal League in the 1956/57 season. They were very much in contention until the last couple of weeks. With two matches to go, they were in second place, but successive defeats at the hands of Wanderers ‘A’ and the eventual winners, Balfour Park, ruined their hopes. There was some consolation when Wits thrashed Balfour Park in the end-of-season Transvaal Experimental League. Matches were played over two days in this competition and Adrian Couzyn (6 for 26 and 6 for 27), assisted by Robin Hoare, broke the back of their opponent’s batting lineup. The Witsies were left with 69 to win outright in 45 minutes and, with nine minutes left, Clive Ulyate, hit the ball out of the ground to put the seal on a fine victory.
Richard Cheetham led Wits to their first SAU success.
The Wits First XI 1953/54 – winners of the Lionel Phillips Trophy (left to right – back row): B. Livshitz, A. Couzyn, H. Illing, D. Pistorius, P. Leigh, C. Ulyate and R. Baines (front row): J. Pamensky, I. Morrison (captain), W.H. Milton (president), J. Maile and F. Herbst.
Ian
Adrian Couzyn played an important role in Wits’s first two league successes of the 1950s.
A brilliant all-round sportsman, Ulyate was also well known in the sporting world as the perpetrator of many good-natured escapades. When Balfour Park’s prodigious smiter of the ball, Dirk van Blerk, was finding it increasingly difficult to belt sixes, it was only because Ulyate was mischievously moving the boundary boards further and further outwards.
The prospects at the beginning of the 1957/58 season were none too bright, not only because several of the old stalwarts had left the university, but because of the inconvenience of being without a field, as it had been decided to complete the turfing of the ground. The side also began the season poorly but under the enterprising captaincy of Fritz Koch, knitted together in the second half of the season. They finally captured the Transvaal Premier League crown in grand fashion. In a thrilling climax to the season, the league title was decided in the very last match – shades of Wits’s success in the Lionel Phillips Cup in 1953/54. It was again Adrian Couzyn who played the lead role. The situation was one in which Wits needed 148 for an outright win against Jeppe Old Boys. Future Springbok Eddie Barlow gave Wits a good start with a half-century but thereafter wickets fell at regular intervals. In gathering dusk, the visiting captain Eric Rowan used the Springbok opening bowler Neil Adcock and Transvaal paceman J.R. Lodwick to bowl the final overs (which were then eight balls). The Rand Daily Mail recorded the finish:
So it was the last over with Hoare, the last man in, facing Lodwick and 12 runs wanted for a win. He took a single off the first ball. Couzyn, who had hit Lodwick for a four and a six in his previous over, got four off each of the next two balls. Three wanted to win, Couzyn swung at the next ball and hooked it to leg. Two runs, the scores level and the odds heavily on Wits to get one run wanted for victory. Couzyn could not get the next ball away, and the
following he snicked to wicketkeeper Gill who lost it in the gloom. The next ball, the last but one of the match, was mis-hit into Motley’s hands at midwicket and this thrilling match ended in a tie.
First innings points and the subsequent tie were enough to give Wits the league title. It was a wonderful achievement at a time when the Transvaal senior league was considered by English broadcaster, John Arlott, as being of the highest standard in the Commonwealth.
The 1950s also saw a number of Wits players selected for Transvaal. Ian Marx, Derek Bruorton, John Maile, Clive Ulyate, Don Pistorius, Ian Morrison, Ian Fullerton, Graham Bunyard, Eddie Barlow and Sid Stanley gained selection at different stages.
The Wits First XI 1957/58 – winners of the Transvaal Premier League (left to right – back row): R. Hurd, P. Fenix, C. Baines, T. Franklin, R. Hoare, A. Couzyn, P. Leigh, G. Bunyard and J. Landau (scorer) (front row): W. Barnes, F. Koch (captain), W. Grant Mackenzie (president), A. Morrison (vicecaptain) and P. Viljoen.
The Wits First XI 1955/56 (left to right – back row): R. Hoare, R. Baines, C. Ulyate, H. Illing, W. Barnes, A. Couzyn, C. Eagle and A. Morrison (seated): P. Gain (chairman), I. Morrison (captain), W.H. Milton (president), I. Fullerton (vice-captain) and D. Pistorius.
South African Universities Cricket Week
The annual SAU Cricket Week was first considered in March 1946, when the Natal University College invited the various universities to take part in a tournament the following month. None of the university teams could attend, but all expressed their enthusiasm for the idea of an intervarsity competition and thus the plan began to take shape. As Natal had done so much of the pioneering work, it was appropriate that they should be the hosts for the first tournament in February 1947.
Five universities sent sides to Pietermaritzburg for the inaugural week: Cape Town, Natal, Rhodes, Stellenbosch and Wits. It proved successful and Senator W.J. O’Brien presented a shield as a floating trophy. The SAU Cricket Association was formed, and a constitution drafted which was submitted to the South African Cricket Association with a view to affiliation to the central body. This met with unanimous approval.
Cape Town won the first tournament with Wits second. For the Johannesburg students, opening bowler Adrian van Velden and leg spinner Max Bloom burned a fiery path through alternatively tentative or reckless batting and between them captured more than 50 wickets. At the conclusion of the tournament, the tradition was established whereby a combined universities team was selected
Cross country
to meet the host province. Peter Stemmler and Adrian van Velden became the first Wits players to be chosen for the SAU team.
It was decided that December would be a more suitable time to hold the ‘week’, and a second tournament was arranged in 1947 at Cape Town. Stemmler recorded Wits’s first century – 113 not out versus Stellenbosch – and John Lawrie achieved Wits’s finest-ever bowling figures when he took 9 for 26 (13 for 36 in the match) against Potchefstroom. To Dick Cheetham fell the distinction in 1951 of being the first Wits player to captain the SAU side. That year, Wits not only hosted the event but won the O’Brien Shield for the first time. Further honour came Wits’s way when Ian Morrison captained the SAU team on three occasions, 1954, 1955 and 1956.
Surprisingly, Wits had relatively little success in terms of winning the O’Brien Shield, with their next success coming twelve years later in 1963, when they shared the title with Stellenbosch and Natal. During this period, Wits’s lowest-ever score was recorded at the 1957 Week when the side crumbled to 29 all out against Rhodes. Seam bowler, Brian Ashley-Cooper, did the damage, claiming eight wickets for 20 runs.
Participants in the 1952 intervarsity (left to right – back row): Pretoria – E. Hulse, D. McKillop, S. Oosthuizen, M. du Preez, N. Claassen and W. van Wyk (third row): Wits – R. Kidger, B. Peers, C. Jeannot, K. Millward, R. Cowley and R. Mole (second row): Cape Town –S. Traub, M. Whiley, R. Shand and P. O’Brien (front row): Natal – A. Wade, S. Zietsman, P. Osborn, P. van der Lieuw, P. Ivy and D. Lawler.
During the war years, cross country competitions continued against Pretoria, with an exciting dead-heat for first place between Wits’s Roy Bahr and Tukkies’ Laubscher in 1945 being the most memorable. But it was not until the advent of the full intervarsity meeting in 1951 that the sport began to gain the recognition it deserved. Natal University won the inaugural meeting which was held on the hilly Pietermaritzburg course. Their tally of 20 points ‘against’ placed them comfortably ahead of Wits (34), Stellenbosch (39), Pretoria (61) and Cape Town (79). There was glory for Wits in that Claude Jeannot won the individual title and he subsequently became the university’s first recipient of a full blue for cross country.
The following year, Wits (23 points) pipped Natal (26 points) at the Wanderers with Cape Town (37) and Pretoria (69) trailing behind. The first four runners home counted: Wits’s winning foursome on that occasion consisting of Brian Peers, who became the new champion, Kenny Milward, Claude Jeannot and Ralph Kidger. Wits won again at Cape Town’s Milnerton racecourse in 1953. Peers retained the individual title, and then made it three in a row in 1954. In the latter race, the Johannesburg students celebrated by taking the first three places over Pretoria’s testing 6.2-mile course. Team captain, Butts Ralphs (36 minutes 43 seconds) finished first, half a minute ahead of Ken Stevens, with the reigning champion, Peers, third.
Peers, a Springbok athlete, came back with a vengeance at Grahamstown in 1955 to regain the individual title and set a course record. Wits were then without him in 1956 and surrendered the intervarsity trophy after four successive victories. They were beaten by both Natal and Cape Town at Stellenbosch but celebrated Wally Barker’s first place. He was the only member of the Wits team to finish in the first six.
On his home course in 1957, Barker retained the individual title, holding off a determined challenge from team-mate, Alf Burgess. At the end of the 5.2-mile course, only five yards separated Barker (34 minutes 38.1 seconds) and Burgess after they pulled away from the rest of the field during the last two miles.
The Witsies were always well prepared for the intervarsity as a result of their participation in the strong Transvaal league. It was in this competition that they came across the likes of Springbok Jan Barnard and the legendary marathon star, Wally Hayward. Barnard’s team, Johannesburg Harriers, together with Germiston Callies and Wanderers, usually finished ahead of Wits in the league.
Wits won the 1958 intervarsity at Durban, but the following year were beaten by Cape Town at Bloemfontein. There was nonetheless much to
Fencing
By 1941 the fencing club had its own tarmac pitch – near the swimming pool – where competitions could be held. The war, however, retarded any further progress and equipment became scarce. There was a chronic shortage of foils and exmembers of the club were urged to search their attics in an attempt to secure weapons. The problems mounted and by the end of the war the club had virtually folded as there was no coach and no adequate equipment.
A most enthusiastic fencer, Emanuel ‘Butch’ Daniels, who had initially taken up the sport at Wits in 1939, returned after the war to play an important role in the resuscitation of the club. He had gained valuable experience in fencing while on active service in Italy and he was able to be of great assistance in building up a competent Wits team.
In 1946, a squad was chosen for a short tour of the Cape. The Johannesburg students learnt much on the trip, which saw them lose to the University of Cape Town (12-29 and 18-27) and the Southern Sword Club (17-24) but defeat Stellenbosch University (11-7) and HMS Nigeria (21-20).
Wits possessed some promising fencers, notably Denis Colclough, who went on to win provincial colours and receive Wits University’s first full blue for fencing. The team captain and club chairman, Butch Daniels, was also a proficient fencer.
In the university’s first post-war championships in 1946, Daniels won the épée and sabre and was second in the foil. In 1950, he was chosen
be pleased about at the latter event as Jon Lang, one of Wits’s finest runners, became the 1959 individual champion.
for Transvaal and he represented the South African team at the Maccabi Games in 1950 and 1953. Thereafter, he became involved in the administration of the sport and served as president of the South African Fencing Association for three terms between 1961 and 1988.
After a comparatively quiet period during the early part of the 1950s, fencing at Wits suddenly came into its own and the club rose quickly to become one of the most powerful in the country.
Andrée Sacco, an eighteen-year-old Bachelor of Social Science student, won the South African women’s foil fencing championships for the first time at Cape Town in 1956 when she beat the title holder, Kathleen Ward-Cox 4-2.
Fellow Wits student, Roland Berger, dominated the men’s section of South African fencing and was regarded as one of the greatest fencers the country has known. In 1956 and again in 1959, he demonstrated his superiority by winning all three events – the foil, épée and sabre – at the South African Championships. He was in a class of his own at the annual intervarsity, which Wits won convincingly in 1956 and 1957.
Great honour came Andrée Sacco’s way when she was chosen for the Springbok side that took part in the 1958 Empire Games at Cardiff. She finished in a highly creditable fifth place and a few months later was chosen to captain the SAU women’s team on their first overseas tour.
Wits was well represented in the Protea team for a tour which encompassed Holland, Germany, France, Belgium, England and Scotland.
The Wits cross country team 1958 – the intervarsity champions (left to right): A. Burgess, J. Morrison, W. Barker (captain), P. Laurence and J. Lang.
Emanuel ‘Butch’ Daniels, who gave a lifetime’s service to fencing, was the recipient of the State President’s Silver Sports Merit Award.
The Wits University fencing team visited Cape Town in 1946 (left to right – back row): Denis Colclough, Nigel Sutherland and Lou Collins (seated): Eric Rososchaki, Butch Daniels (captain) and Bill Halfern.
Sacco was joined in the women’s squad by Pat Willcocks, while Rudolf Berger was selected for the men’s side. The success of this pioneer venture exceeded all expectations. The men won 14 of their 23 matches and women 18 out of 27. Said Daniels at the time: ‘We were particularly gratified by our performances in beating London University and Oxford and Cambridge’.
The outstanding performers on the tour were the two Witsies, Rudolf Berger and Andrée Sacco. The former won 99 out of his 148 bouts, and the latter won 79 out of 92. A highlight of the tour was undoubtedly Sacco’s great win over the English international, Margaret Stafford.
In the SAU tournament, Wits slipped to a
Golf
The Wits golf teams also experienced more than their fair share of intervarsity success. Between 1940 and 1959, Wits won the SmeathThomas trophy on twelve occasions out of a possible sixteen. A most impressive list of SAU champions also emerged from the Wits ranks: Bernie van Lingen (1939 and1941), Reg Taylor (1947), Ernie Lewis (1948 and 1950,’51 and ’52), Ralph Hoffman (1953), Derek Muller (1955) and Angus Mathieson (1958).
The 1940 intervarsity was cancelled because Cape Town had difficulty in obtaining ‘military leave’ but was resumed the following year. In 1941, Bernie van Lingen – who had won the Wits championship, having been runner-up on four occasions – went on to spearhead Wits’s great intervarsity victory that year. The Witsies (28 points) did well to beat the strong Cape Town combination (20 points) as the latter had just won the Cape inter-club competition for the ninth year in succession. Van Lingen (with rounds of 79 and 78) secured the individual title for the second time and on this occasion, it was by a massive nine-stroke margin.
The war years brought a temporary end to the intervarsity tournament, but the Wits club remained active. Samuel J. Cohen, a medical student, won the Wits championship in 1943, an achievement he was to repeat in 1946, while Frank Keeny was champion in 1944 and 1945.
Keeny captained Wits when the intervarsity was resumed, hosted by Rhodes at Port
Roland Berger twice won all three events (the
shock fifth place at Stellenbosch in 1958 but improved the following year. At Pretoria in 1959, the women beat their Cape Town opponents 5-4 in an exciting final to their section but the Ikeys men evened the score by defeating Wits 15-12.
Alfred in 1945. Playing good, steady golf, the Johannesburg students gained 30 points to beat Rhodes (17) and Cape Town (7), although their best performance in the individual competition was Alan Campbell’s third place.
A key member of the Wits team in the years after the war was Harry Brews, son of the famous South African golfer, Sid Brews. Harry, a chemical engineering student, was a fine all-round sportsman and won his full blue for golf and athletics. The intervarsity mile champion, he also finished third at the intervarsity golf championships in 1946 and fourth in 1947. But his greatest feat in student sport was winning the Boyd Quaich InterCommonwealth Tournament at St Andrew’s, Scotland, in November 1947. He remains the only Witsie to win this prestigious competition, although Ernie Lewis was second in 1948.
Rain interrupted play on the last day of the SAU tournament at Wynberg in 1946 but it did not matter as Cape Town had already taken an unassailable lead. In a disappointing few days for the Wits students, the one bright spot was the performance of their team captain, Sydney Cohen, in the SAU team’s match against Western Province. With the students being thrashed 10-2, Cohen alone won his singles match and then, in partnership with Harry Brews, salvaged another point in the foursomes.
The Wits golf club could hardly believe its good fortune over the next couple of years when outstanding golfers, Reg Taylor, Roger Brews and
Andrée Sacco was fifth (individual foil) in the 1958 Empire Games at Cardiff.
Butch Daniels introduces Rudolf Berger to the president of the French Academy of Fencing during the Protea tour in 1958.
foil, épée and sabre) at the national championships.
Ernie Lewis won the SAU individual title four times.
Harry Brews was the Boyd Quaich Inter-Commonwealth tournament champion in 1947.
Ernie Lewis, registered at the university. Fielding a powerful combination at Durban in 1947, Wits regained the Smeath-Thomas Trophy. To complete a memorable week, Reg Taylor – destined to become South Africa’s all-time leading amateur golfer – took the individual honours.
Medical student Ernie Lewis enjoyed a particularly successful record at Wits and for six years headed the university’s challenge at the intervarsity competitions. He won the 1948 individual title at Glendower, Johannesburg, with a four-round aggregate of 300 – seven shots better than second-placed Arthur Hawke. By winning again in three successive years between 1950 and 1952, he established a long-standing record of four tournament victories. In addition to his efforts for Wits, he won the Transvaal Amateur, and it was only a matter of one stray shot at Glendower which cost him the chance of dethroning Bobby Locke in the Dunlop Masters.
Natal’s victory in 1949 at Port Alfred ended the Wits–Cape stranglehold on the SmeathThomas Trophy, albeit briefly. In an exciting contest they scored 65 points against the 62 of runners-up Wits. Cape Town’s Roley Peart held on to win the individual title in a fierce southwesterly gale, with Roger Brews, the first Witsie, in third place.
Cape Town won in 1950 at their Mowbray course, Wits at Pietermaritzburg in 1951 and again at Houghton, Johannesburg, in 1952. Ernie Lewis took the individual title by two strokes in both 1950 and 1951 but his finest performance was on his home course at Houghton in 1952. Reg Taylor returned for the first time in five years and in what was one of the most memorable clashes ever seen in intervarsity golf, Lewis scored 291 to beat Taylor by three strokes.
Port Elizabeth staged the SAU competition for the first time in 1953 and the Witsies took an immediate liking to the Humewood course. They won all their matches and Ralph Hoffman, a five-handicap player, scored a runaway victory in the individual competition by eight strokes. Proving that he was one of the leading players in student golf at that time, Hoffman also won the Wits University title at the Royal Johannesburg course in 1953 and was again in contention at the intervarsity at Rondebosch in 1954. In the latter year, he finished second to Cape Town’s Neville Kosviner but Wits continued their winning streak and hammered the host university 11-2.
When a Springbok side was chosen in 1954, Reg Taylor and Roger Brews were included in the team of six players. The Springboks competed in the Commonwealth tournament at St Andrew’s and then went on a tour of Britain, playing in several of the major tournaments. A fourth position out of five teams in the Commonwealth tournament might have been improved upon with a little more luck but a highlight was the exciting victory over Canada. Roger Brews (South Africa’s Amateur champion in 1953) came from behind in the last match of the day to win a nail-biting contest for his country.
Reg Taylor went on to represent South Africa on thirteen occasions (1954–74) and played for Transvaal for twenty-five years. He won the
Roger Brews was South Africa’s amateur champion in 1953 and awarded Springbok colours a year later.
South African Open championship in 1954, the South African Amateur title two years later, and the South African stroke play in 1961, 1964 and 1972. He also captained the Commonwealth team; was named South African ‘Amateur of the Century’ and became the Belgian (1958), German (1958), Canadian (1962), Mozambique (1960-’61,’62 and ’66) and French (1970) Amateur champion.
An important innovation at the 1955 intervarsity at Durban was the decision to enter ‘B’ teams. In later years, Wits’s second string was to achieve some excellent results and on one glorious occasion won the tournament. But 1955 was to prove unsuccessful as Wits relinquished their hold on the Smeath-Thomas Trophy after four years. Dental student Derek Muller nevertheless became the new individual champion, and Dave Symons, on his way to becoming one of the country’s finest amateurs, was one of four Witsies selected for the SAU team. Symons represented South Africa on fifteen occasions and won the South African Amateur Championship in 1963.
On home ground at the Kensington course, Wits regained the SAU title in 1956, beating the holders, Cape Town, by a clear eight points. It was a convincing performance and there was further satisfaction in the ‘B’ team’s fourth place out of the nine teams participating. The only disappointment was Jack Rathouse being unable to clinch the individual trophy as he had led the field by a stroke after 54 holes.
The 1957 tournament at Grahamstown was an absorbing struggle for supremacy with the lead changing hands several times. Wits went ahead after two days but first Cape Town and then Natal overtook them to set up a tense final day’s play. In the end, Cape Town and Wits shared the honours with 75 points apiece – a valiant Wits ‘B’ team again finished fourth, some seventeen strokes off the pace. Natal were rewarded for their endeavours with first place in the individual competition. Ian Fleming finished seven strokes ahead of second-placed Warwick Barnes of Wits.
In 1957, Wits sponsored a tournament at the Wanderers Golf Club for the University Appeal. It raised a large amount of money while serving as a
Reg Taylor won the South African Open in 1954, the South African Amateur Championship in 1956 and the South African stroke play title on three occasions. He is recognised as the country’s all-time leading amateur golfer.
Dave Symons won the South African Amateur Championship in 1963, and represented the country on fifteen occasions.
Derek Muller, who won the SAU individual title in 1955, reached the final of the South African amateur championship in 1959.
promotional exercise for the golf club. Four Ryder Cup players, John Jacobs, Bernard Hunt, Dai Rees and Ken Bousfield, together with South African stars, Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Bruce Keyter (who won the Wits University Championship in 1951) and Harold Henning, played for £1 000 cash prizes. Gary Player, then the young assistant professional to Donald Black at Killarney, took the lead after the first round with a 68, but Harold Henning won in the end in front of a large gallery. The students’ section saw a tie for first place between Malcolm Mackenzie and Derek Muller.
Men’s Hockey
Don Walker, who received a full blue award for cricket, hockey and athletics, was chosen for the cancelled South African hockey tour to Kenya in 1953.
The war quickly altered the structure of hockey in the Transvaal. The shortage of players was such that the provincial body ruled that where a club had a surplus for their weekend fixture, then those players not selected could turn out for a rival team. Under the chairmanship of Lippe Slutzken, Wits remained relatively well off and managed to field two sides during this period. At the end of the war, Wits had the most promising side in the province and a report for the 1945 season commented:
In spite of the addiction of members of the first eleven to Saturday night debauches, there has been no falling off in the standard of men’s hockey at Wits. Outstanding players in the team, which sometimes lacked cohesion, have been Alec Smith, whose eagle eye and ready stick have made him chief goal-getter; J.G. Draper with his wizard work on the right wing and Adrian van Velden, whose murderous clearances under pressure have had a decided demoralising effect on the opposing
The 1958 intervarsity was held at the King David Country Club in Cape Town and, for once, there was no rain during a ‘week’ at the Cape. The Witsies revelled in the conditions and were unbeaten, defeating Cape Town 7-2 on the last day. Indicative of the club’s strength was the third place achieved by Wits ‘B’, while Wits ‘C’ finished eighth out of ten teams participating. Wits also swept the board in the individual competition – the consistent Angus Mathieson recorded a four-round total of 314, which was five strokes better than three other Witsies tied in second place, namely Jack Rathouse, Mike Dix and Warwick Barnes.
Golf was flourishing at Wits and there was much to offer aspiring student golfers. The club championships continued to be an important event on the golf calendar, and the Brewers’ tournament, open to anyone connected with the University, was a major social occasion. There was also the freshers’ tournament, the Kessel knockout competition, the Lezard Trophy, the staff match, better ball and individual bogey competitions, the Ermelo tour and ‘socials’ involving Pretoria University.
The golf was of an extremely high standard. In 1959, Derek Muller made the headlines when he reached the final of the South African Amateur Championships. Playing magnificently, he eliminated a number of prominent golfers en route, including Springboks Reg Taylor and Jannie le Roux. He eventually lost the final to another Springbok, Arthur Walker
Tukkies produced an outstanding golfer at this time in Selwyn Schewitz who was good enough to win the SAU individual title for three successive years – 1959, 1960 and 1961. Nevertheless, the Wits team enjoyed considerable success during the same period, retaining the Smeath-Thomas Trophy at Swartkops Country Club, Pretoria, in 1959, at the Pietermaritzburg Country Club in 1960 and at Parkview, Johannesburg, in 1961.
forwards. Don Walker, a fresher, has also been in the limelight with dashing tactics and clever stickwork on the left wing.
After the war, an unofficial intervarsity was played at Grahamstown in 1946 – at which Wits finished second – with the competition proper beginning at Cape Town the following year. It proved a success and the final log recorded that Cape Town and Wits were locked on twelve points each. To the dismay of the Johannesburg students, it was decided that Cape Town had a better goal average and that they should receive the Mundy trophy. Wits’s ‘for-against’ record was 35-7 as opposed to Cape Town’s 27-5 – the calculated difference of 0.4 was the deciding factor. It was a controversial decision, which resulted in the use of goal average being dropped from future tournaments and ‘joint winners’ becoming acceptable. Compensation for Wits came with the announcement that six of their players were chosen for the combined
universities team: Steve Anderson as captain, Paddy Dobson, Adrian van Velden, Ken Gough, Don Walker and Peter Moir.
At home in 1948, the Witsies emerged as the only unbeaten team, but again finished second. It was a tournament that they should have won, an argument emphasised by the fact that they gave the new champions, Natal, a 4-0 drubbing when the two teams met. Three inexplicable draws cost the powerful Wits side the Mundy trophy; a 1-1 result against relatively weak Potchefstroom being a major shock. Acknowledging the strength of the Wits side, the selectors named five – David Harrison, Don Walker, Ken Gough, James Dexter and Fly Levy – in the combined universities team which drew with the OxfordCambridge ‘Swallows’.
There was frustration of a different kind at Stellenbosch in 1949 when rain played havoc with the organisation of the tournament. Only one of the scheduled two rounds was completed but the Witsies did enough to win the competition for the first time and on this occasion gained another five players (Fly Levy, James Dexter, John Matthews, Peter Horsfall and Ian Marx) in the combined side.
Hockey was making great strides at university level and in 1950 the Proteas made their first trip overseas. The team visited Holland and Britain and did well considering that they left South Africa without a goalkeeper. Thirteen matches were played in a wide range of conditions of which five were won and four drawn.
At the 1950 intervarsity, the Witsies emerged unbeaten, defeating Cape Town 2-1 in the match that decided the tournament. Competition was always fierce and after losing their title at Bloemfontein in 1951, the Johannesburg students struggled to regain the top spot. They shared the Mundy trophy with Cape Town in 1953 and were on course to win in Cape Town in 1955 when the inevitable rains intervened. At the latter tournament, the Witsies accounted for the holders, Cape Town, 1-0, and had a two-point lead with only struggling Stellenbosch to play. Victory appeared a foregone conclusion, but then came the rain and the organisers ruled that Wits and Cape Town should share the trophy.
The Witsies were always one of the teams to beat at the SAU tournament but they experienced limited success in the Transvaal first league for which they qualified in 1947. There were, of course, extenuating circumstances for this state of affairs. Wits had no coach and lacked a floodlit facility, which hindered match preparations. In addition, the unavailability of players during the mid-year examination period and vacation often weakened the team.
Despite the difficulties encountered, the students were determined that hockey would continue to flourish on campus. They were aware that the club had to maintain its first league status in order to retain the services of its better players. The constant battle for survival brought with it many anxious moments, such as the dramatic promotion-relegation match of 1954 when Wits, having finished last in the first league, met second division ‘hopefuls’, Balfour Park.
The game opened well for Wits as Tony Lange scored after a penalty bully, but the real action started when Balfour Park thought that they had equalised. Their players disagreed vehemently with the referee’s decision that Wits had cleared off the line and their supporters, led by a woman brandishing her umbrella, staged an astonishing demonstration. The mob invaded the field to remonstrate with Wits’s goalkeeper Eddie Perlman, who was unwittingly the cause of their wrath, but they were unable to change the referee’s mind. In fact, Wits should have gone 2-0 up when the former Transvaal rugby star, Laurie Stewart, ‘scored’ a second just as the referee blew his whistle to award the students a profitless penalty corner.
In 1955, Wits finished eighth, ahead of both Jeppe Old Boys and Garrison, but the following year it was the wooden spoon again. Their second promotion-relegation match in three years posed few problems. They defeated Cambrians comfortably 3-1 with George Dimopoulos (2) and Yvic Bosman scoring the goals.
The early 1950s saw many fine players represent the university. Names frequently cropping up in match reports include Ken Gough; James Dexter; Peter Moir; Don Clark, the Springbok
Paddy Dobson represented Wits before and after the Second World War. He was chosen for South Africa in 1948 (against the Swallows) and 1951 (against the British and Irish teams). He was also selected for the abandoned tour to Kenya in 1953. Later, in 1968, he was elected president of the South African Hockey Union, and the following year managed the Springbok team on tour to Europe.
The men’s first hockey side 1947 (left to right – back row): J. Harden, P. Moir, A. van Velden, K. Gough and V. Thorpe (seated): D. Walker, P. Horsfall, S. Anderson (captain), P. Dobson and D. Harrison (inset): W. Levy.
David Harrison – an outstanding player for both Wits and Transvaal.
Tony Lange, a prolific goalscorer, pictured creating havoc in opposition defence during the 1957 Protea overseas.
Ronnie Bowen captained the SAU side against 1958 English tourists.
athlete who was described as being the fastest player in the league; John Lawrie; Petros Christianakis; John Maile; Keith Strachan; Eddie Perlman; Tony Roberts; Clive Ulyate, the rugby Springbok; Arthur Payne; Dennis Hellman, who was Wits’s famous cheerleader; and Colyn Else. Two players to provide yeoman service for a good part of the decade were Ronnie Bowen and Tony Lange. The former was a highly respected captain and centre half while the latter was an elusive inside forward and a prolific goalscorer. At the 1956 intervarsity, Lange scored seven goals in one day – a hat-trick during a 3-2 morning victory over Cape Town and a further
Women’s Hockey
Wits women proved to be the surprise team of 1940. Without the brilliance of Jackie Rissik and despite a poor start, they covered themselves in glory and very nearly won the Southern Transvaal league. Basing their success on teamwork and enthusiasm, they finished second behind Wanderers I. There were, of course additional factors, not least being ‘Miss Norgarb’s able coaching’ and the advantage of having eight players return from the previous year.
Very little went wrong in the course of a season that also saw Wits thrash Pretoria 6-0 in the annual intervarsity and gain a muchacclaimed victory over Wanderers I in the allday tournament. Wu’s Views commented:
It is difficult to criticise the first team players individually because their strength lies in the fact that they play as a team and not as individuals. Outstanding players are, however, the two full backs, Audrey Swart and Miriam Colman, both of whom were chosen to represent the province this year. The half-backs are steady and Frankie Hons, who also played for Southern Transvaal, is particularly reliable. The forwards are fast and combine well. Marion Kelly, at centre forward, distributes the game evenly, and her play is good both in the field and in the circle. The attack of the forward line is especially strong because the shooting is not left to any one person.
four in his team’s 6-0 thrashing of Pretoria a few hours later.
Lange certainly proved the scourge of the Cape Town defence and in 1957 registered another hattrick to set up a 4-2 victory over the Ikeys in that year’s intervarsity. The venue of the tournament was the Stellenbosch rugby ground, where the going was heavy and the Johannesburg students were frustrated by drawn matches against Free State and Rhodes.
The 1958 season was relatively successful in that the Witsies were strong contenders in the Transvaal league for some time and were runners-up in the intervarsity at Pietermaritzburg. The absence of Transvaal left inner Tony Lange for a good part of the season was a severe blow but Ronnie Bowen, Froggy Miot and Rowly Waller were in fine form. Bowen captained the SAU side that was beaten 3-0 by England at Stellenbosch, while it was acknowledged that Waller received an unfair deal at the hands of the SAU selectors. The view was clearly endorsed not long after Waller left university and was chosen for the Springbok side.
Bowen, Lange and Waller left Wits in 1958 and with only five members of the first team returning, they were not expected to do well in 1959. Fortunately, the ‘underdog’ label seemed to spur the side on to greater deeds and, displaying spirit and determination, they finished fifth in the Transvaal league. They also won the senior all-day tournament and, well-led by Froggy Miot, came out victors at the intervarsity at Bloemfontein.
Seven members of the first team returned in 1941, which augured well for another successful season. Players such as Pam and Dorothy Elliott and Judy and Ruth Judge had matured into fine exponents of the game and were selected for Southern Transvaal, as was the talented Audrey Swart. With such a strong team, it was not surprising that Wits thrashed Natal University College 5-2 early in the season – Marion Kelly (2), Pam Elliott (2) and Judy Judge scoring the goals – but the anticipated success did not follow. The usual bad start in the league, players being over-committed, the university vacation, and Marion Kelly being out for two months, all contributed to some disappointing results. Perhaps too much was expected of the women’s hockey section after the prosperous 1940 season, but Wits did not really present a serious challenge to the log leaders over the next few years. The side was not short of good players. Left half Katherine Greig, who made her debut as a vacation replacement during 1941 and became a stalwart member of the side, represented Southern Transvaal, as did right wing Judy Inglis (née Judge) and right half Barbara Dodson. In the remaining war years, Ruth Aronstein, Helene Lane, Priscilla Kincaid-Smith, Doreen Treadwell and Elizabeth McGregor all gained various representative honours. A left wing of great potential was Else Kops, who came into
Rowland Waller – a 1958 full blue who went on to earn Springbok colours.
her own after she had left university and was selected for Southern Transvaal.
There was a brief period of relegation shortly after the war but by the end of the 1950 season, Wits had won back their place in the higher echelon of Southern Transvaal hockey. It brought both joy and relief. They had been unlucky not to go up at the end of the previous year and when they did gain promotion it was amidst much tension. After losing only one league match during the 1950 season, Wits tied for first place with Vereeniging. It necessitated a play-off, with the students winning 1-0.
The experienced Priscilla Kincaid-Smith captained a young but capable side that year. Audrey White, Hilda Rouse, Pat Gretsy, Joan Botha, Molly Leipoldt and Lindsay Elder had the benefit of playing together during the 1949 season – the last named, an excellent left half, was to prove the star of the side and was chosen for Southern Transvaal. Rhoda Kagan and June Robertson were promoted from the ‘B’ team and two promising freshers, Suzanne de Villiers (centre half) and Jeanette Robinson (goalkeeper), became key players in the side and subsequently won SAU ‘Protea’ colours.
Women’s hockey in South Africa benefited enormously from the introduction of an annual intervarsity. The tournament at Durban in 1950 was an overwhelming success. Wits won all seven matches to become champions for the first and only time in their history. They accounted for Stellenbosch (7-0), Pretoria (3-0), Potchefstroom (5-1), Cape Town (2-1) Rhodes (2-1) and Orange Free State (7-2), but the most exciting clash of the week was the match against Natal, the reigning champions for the previous two years. The Johannesburg students led 2-0, but Natal pulled up to go ahead 3-2 at the interval. It required a storming finish from Wits to win 4-3.
Eight Wits players – Jeanette Robinson, Audrey White, Molly Leipoldt, Suzanne de Villiers, Joan Botha, Priscilla Kincaid-Smith, June Robertson and Pat Gretsy – were chosen for the first SAU hockey team (fifteen women and thirteen men plus officials) to tour overseas. The side which left Cape Town on 1 December 1950, was away from home for more than two months, with the women playing twelve matches in Holland and Britain of which they won four and drew four. For the South Africans, who were used to wearing rubber-soled shoes on hard, gravel pitches at home, it was a brand-new experience wearing studded boots on lush grass fields. The games were inevitably slower than they were used to, while the climatic conditions provided another challenge. Before playing at The Hague, the tourists and their Dutch opponents spent more than three hours clearing snow from the pitch.
One young Witsie did not seem perturbed by the unfamiliar conditions. It was at Bristol that Suzanne de Villiers amazed the crowd by playing barefoot in the snow – ‘My shoes were hurting me,’ she explained afterwards. A physiotherapy student, Suzanne attracted the attention of the provincial selectors during the
1951 season and quickly developed into one of South Africa’s leading players. She was chosen for the Springbok trials in 1953 and the following year played in the Test series against the touring English team. In 1956, she accompanied the Springbok team to the International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations’ (IFWHA) tournament in Melbourne where the South Africans demonstrated their talents against the leading hockey nations of the world. Victories were earned over the United States, the Netherlands, Scotland, New Zealand, England, Australia and Ireland – the only defeat was a return encounter with the English.
Suzanne de Villiers was joined at the 1953 inter-provincial tournament at Cape Town by two other Witsies, Donna Airth and Diana Lange. It was not the easiest tournament to play in because Green Point’s bumpy surface saw the ball rearing dangerously and unexpectedly. The Cape Times described the conditions as ‘terrible’ and pointed out that the tournament was one of ‘swollen ankles, battered shins, bruised kneecaps, black eyes and all other hurts’.
Diana Lange, who was a natural ballplayer and became the South African squash champion, was named as captain of the SAU hockey team at Pretoria in 1953 after Wits had finished third. They would undoubtedly have done better had Jeanette Robinson, Donna Airth and Suzanne de Villiers been available.
When the SAU team toured Europe again in December 1954, Diana Lange was chosen as vice-captain and four other Witsies (A. Archibald, J. Caudingley, V. Gordon and N. Huxham) were selected. The team enjoyed a fairly successful record, winning twelve and drawing four of their 21 fixtures.
Losing to Stellenbosch (2-0) and Cape Town (4-2) on the opening day ruined Wits’s hopes in the 1955 intervarsity and, despite some good performances thereafter, they could not retrieve the situation. It was not until 1959 that the Witsies were again in contention at the SAU tournament.
Mixed fortunes were experienced at the SAU tournaments during the latter part of the 1950s, and Wits’s performances in the Transvaal first league provided little cheer as there was a gradual decline in the club’s fortunes. Sixth out of nine
June Stander was chosen for the 1957 Protea tour to Europe. Of the ladies in the front row she is pictured second from the left. Also in the photograph is fellow Witsie Tony Lange who is in the centre of the group and is wearing a striped scarf.
Suzanne (Zan) de Villiers represented South Africa against the English in 1954 and at the IFWHA tournament in Australia in 1956.
teams in 1954 and 1955, the students slipped to last position in 1956 and were relegated. Apart from a brief return to the senior ranks in 1958, the Wits women’s hockey team remained in the reserve league until 1963. It was surprising that they should spend time languishing in the
Judo
The Wits judo club was formed in 1956. Early the following year, Lionel Barac placed the colour award standards before the All Sports Council. These were approved and three members of the club received team awards.
Enthusiastic assistance came from Professor Isaacs, a lecturer in the department of mathematics. He donated a floating trophy – ‘The Kano Cup’ – after the founder of the Kodokan University and this was initially awarded to the male judoka best able to demonstrate the principles of ‘the gentle way’. However in 1960,
Rowing
The most distinguished oarsman to have been produced by Wits, Ian Stephen, registered at the university in 1946 after service in the South African Air Force. He rowed in the fours for a year before acquiring an ancient sculling boat and subsequently turning his attention to that aspect of the sport. Small in stature, he was considered ‘more suitable as a cox than a sculler’, as the club records note. But, despite weighing 145 pounds, Stephen’s determination resulted in his defeat of Dave Cadle, the South African champion in 1948. Springbok honours followed when he was selected for that year’s London Olympic Games and went on to reach the semi-final stage at Henley.
In 1949, the Wits rowing club embarked on their first trip to the Henley Royal Regatta. The eights team, described as ‘the most successful the country has seen’, had enjoyed a fine season, culminating in a South African record (6 minutes 57 seconds) over 1 mile 550 yards. Six members of the crew were ex-servicemen and not one of
lower division because hockey was flourishing at the university during this time and in 1959 a record five teams entered the Southern Transvaal leagues. The year also saw three Witsies – Janet Giddy, Clare Brayshaw and Denise Thomas –chosen for the Witwatersrand side.
Prof. Isaacs presented it to Joyce Ulyate, who achieved her blue belt and was a leading light in placing the women’s section on a sound footing.
Generous support was received from the ASC in the purchase of a mat for £123 but the search for suitable premises was to prove frustrating. For some time, the club made use of the Dalrymple Hall and when this was not possible, members trained in primitive huts which were positioned where the Old Mutual Hall stands today.
The progress of the club was such that in early 1958, members staged their first judo intervarsity. Pretoria, Cape Town and Wits each sent two teams and Natal one. Wits Student reported:
The championships’ atmosphere was tense as could be expected when competition was fierce. It is true to say that in the early stages of a judoka’s career, the man who works with force will generally beat a judoka who is trying to apply the principles of ‘the gentle way’ but in time the balance will tip in favour of the soft-styled judoka and then it will be too late for the ‘powerman’ to switch over. This is the underlying principle of judo and it is a pity that so little of it was seen at the championships.
The Wits first team (Bob Heimann, R. Coetzee, Andre Kok, Trian Fundudis and Selwyn Levitan) finished third in Section One while their ‘B’ team was second in the lower division. Pretoria, with a team of high-graded judokas, won as expected and they were to dominate SAU judo for many years.
the eight had had more than three years rowing experience. Captained by Eric Petit, the team comprised Noel Pope, John Webb, Ronnie Parsons, Mike Lay, Tony Fleischer, George Menniem, John Tucker and Graham McCallum. At Henley, the Johannesburg students were unlucky to be drawn against the Lady Margaret ‘B’ crew that earlier in the week had broken the Thames Cup’s record time. Although the Witsies put up a great show, they were beaten by a length and a quarter. Said Eric Pettit after the race:
When we had reached the half-way mark and were still a length ahead, I really thought we were going to get there. But just as we South Africans have become known here for getting off to a quick start so the Lady Margaret men are feared for the very strong way they finish. I think that as soon as we felt them creeping up, the knowledge of their finishing prowess flickered across our minds and was psychologically too much for us. For a moment or two we got ragged – and were undone.
The Wits judo team 1959 (left to right – back row): B. Jager, R. Hunt, P. Jansen, K. McDermott and R. van der Spuy (seated): A. Kok, R. Heimann (captain) and T. Fundudis.
Springbok rowers, Stuart Cutler and Ian Stephen, with the painting of the latter in the Pete Suzman Room.
South Africa’s flag was hoisted to the Empire Games’ flagpole at Lake Karapiro, New Zealand, in 1950, when Ian Stephen won a bronze medal in the 2 000-metres sculls. Before thousands of onlookers, who were lining the beautiful artificial lake, he held his position throughout the race, behind the Australian Olympic champion, Mervyn Wood, and England’s Anthony Rowe.
Two years later, Stephen became the first South African ever to qualify for the final of an Olympic Games rowing event when he won his sculling repêchage at Helsinki. He won by two and a half lengths in a time of 7 minutes 38.6 seconds – the fastest yet recorded in the event that year. In the final, he was placed fifth.
Wits was well represented at Helsinki with their entire fours crew – John Webb, Robin Veitch, Don Dyke-Wells and Damian Nichol –being selected for the Springbok team.
Robin Veitch recalled:
My most clear memory of the Olympic trials on the Buffalo River some thirty years ago, was of a disaster. It was the third race in a series of twelve and we had drawn both Leander and Wemmer –favourites to win the trials. Damian Nichol caught a crab on the fourth stroke of the race turning the boat ninety degrees off course. Stopping, turning back onto course and restarting must have cost us eight to ten lengths. In frustration we set off to catch the others. After some phenomenal rowing we came second, losing by a quarter of a canvas. It was the only race we lost. The experience gave us such a psychological advantage that in subsequent races we virtually played cat and mouse with all the other crews on the water.
Wits won the annual intervarsity numerous times between 1940 and 1959. The 1953 competition was held on the Zambezi River at Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), as part of the Rhodes Centenary celebrations. Wits won the senior eights on that occasion and the event proved so enjoyable that the club returned to the Zambezi several times over the next few years. They were exciting trips with the guiding buoys invariably set out of line so as not to disturb the viewing point of the hippos.
In 1958, the Wits senior ‘eights’ – Russell Kitto, John Shaw, John Read, Barri Scrutton, Trevor Winer, Attie van Dongen, Tony Lawrence, Brian Marsh, Derek Ritchie, Roger Hemp, and coaches, Bill Arthur (formerly of Lady Margaret and Cambridge) and John Davidson (First Trinity) – were nominated for the Empire Games at Cardiff. It was a great honour for the crew and the coaches but insufficient funds resulted in the team missing out on the trip.
A member of that side, John Shaw, reminisced on the late 1950s:
The period was the final era of the club at Rand Leases before moving to Wemmer Pan in the early sixties. The club had the exclusive use of that mine dam with our clubhouse comprising a dance hall, verandah and pub above the boat house and changerooms. The pub I remember by the sing-songs led by Mike Martinson and the beer which came in quarts
was warm. The big problem was that the adjacent mine dumps were slowly eroding into the dam and the initiation of new members each year was to cut a new opening in the reeds and move the landing stage a further fifty yards away from the clubhouse.
Prior to school rowing gaining momentum in the 1960s, there were far fewer regattas and they were often months apart. John Shaw pointed out: ‘No one had heard of Roodeplaat or the Wemmer Sprint then, and the calendar consisted of the Navy League Regatta run by the Sea Scouts on the Vaal; Bloemfontein, held on a narrow windy course at Mazelspoort; Buffalo – always the great rowing Mecca; V.L.C. Boksburg, and our own Wits Regatta at Rand Leases.’ Later, in 1959, when the South African Championships were first introduced, they were held at Billabong on the Vaal.
Wilfred Marsh, a long-serving member of the Wits rowing club, organised the second tour by a Cambridge University team to South Africa in 1959. He had been very involved in the first trip in 1939 when the University of Cape Town had been the only side to hold their own against the tourists. Twenty years later, the Light Blues again created tremendous interest and regattas involving them were staged throughout the country, terminating with the grand finale on the Vaal, which attracted an estimated crowd of 10 000 people.
Ian Stephen represented South Africa at the Olympic Games in 1948 (London) and 1952 ((Helsinki), and at the Empire Games in 1950 (Auckland). He was fifth at Helsinki and won an Empire Games bronze medal at Lake Karapiro.
The Wits senior eights were nominated for the 1958 Empire Games at Cardiff (left to right –back row): J. Read, B. Scrutton, J. Shaw, R. Kitto and R. Hemp (seated): T. Winer, A. van Dongen, D. Ritchie (cox), A. Laurence and B. Marsh.
The Wits fours crew chosen to represent South Africa at the 1952 Olympic Games at Helsinki (left to right): Damian Nichol, Robin Veitch, John Webb and Donald Dyke-Wells.
Rugby
The 1940 season was affected by the war effort; there was no official league, and many of the matches involved local or visiting military teams. It appeared to rugby followers that the authorities had given up prematurely and the public soon lost interest. Matches with a military flavour rarely had the same competitiveness, although Wits experienced a tough encounter against the anti-aircraft brigade, which included several Western Province players and was managed by Bennie Osler. The highlight of the university season, however, was the intervarsity where Wits beat Pretoria 6-3. The sprint champion Jannie Joubert scored both Wits’s tries in an excellent performance on the wing.
It was generally accepted that the policy of playing a series of ‘friendly’ matches during the 1940 season did not work. The Sunday Times commented:
The attitude adopted by the union – and there is a lot to be said for it – seemed to be that every player should be in the army, but since then it has been made clear that in modern warfare the home front is as important as the front line – and government and industry have refused to release thousands of ablebodied men who would rather be in the firing line.
A league system was reintroduced in 1941 with eleven teams participating. Only one round was staged, each side playing ten matches in competition for the Lillienfeld Cup. Wits experienced a season of mixed fortunes and finished in the middle of the table. The outstanding player in the side was the rugged number 8, C.G.J. Delaporte. He was invariably at the forefront of any forward raid and his talents were put to good use by the provincial side. Other noteworthy participants in the Wits team at that time were fellow forwards, Tiffy King and burly Ballie de Klerk, who were both chosen for Transvaal.
Intervarsities were also played. During a Cape tour in 1940, the Witsies were well beaten by Cape Town and Stellenbosch but in 1941 they thrashed Natal 27-0 (wings, Howard Wells and J.T.M. de Villiers sharing five tries) and drew 3-3 with Pretoria. Thereafter, the war brought a temporary end to the annual intervarsity against Tukkies.
By 1942, many more players had joined the forces, but the Transvaal senior league continued even though it was reduced to nine sides. A blow to Wits was the departure of Delaporte, who moved to Diggers and became a major influence in their impressive revival. Initially, the Witsies seemed certain to improve on their previous year’s ranking and they headed the log at the halfway stage. Fine wins were achieved over the reigning champions, Germiston Simmer (17-5), and Diggers (10-8) and an 8-8 draw was managed against the strong West Rand combination. Unfortunately, the side slipped badly after the mid-season break and in the end languished in bottom spot along with three other teams on thirteen points from sixteen matches.
Wits boasted a well-balanced team and it seemed a travesty that a side of such potential should share the wooden spoon. The pack was ably led by Nicolaas ‘Butch’ Slabbert who was chosen for Transvaal late in the season along with J.R. Lloyd-Wronsley. Kingpin in the backline was fly-half Durr Meyer, who was drafted into the Transvaal side and performed with credit.
There were more than 700 Afrikaners at Wits during this period and they both strengthened and influenced the rugby section of the university. A Wits delegate to the provincial union, G.D.S. van Heerden, and his Diggers counterpart were credited in March 1942 with introducing Afrikaans to a Transvaal RFU meeting for the first time. Rugby articles in student newspapers such as Wu’s Views and the Auricle appeared in Afrikaans.
There was optimism that the 1943 season would be successful. An imposing forward pack averaged 190 pounds per man, and there was depth within the club, as its ranks were swelled by an abundance of talent amongst the freshers. One notable newcomer was Willem ‘Bossie’ Boshoff, who became one of the wiliest players of his era, and teamed up effectively with scrum half, Cornelius Mostert. The two halfbacks were among seven Witsies to represent Transvaal in the course of the 1943 season.
With so many good players vying for places in the university team, the club went so far as to impose a five-shillings fine on players failing to turn up for practice. However, club officials erred badly during 1943 in deciding to contest only one of the Transvaal senior league’s two rounds. It became increasingly obvious that there was little incentive for players to do well other than to make the Transvaal team. This resulted in selfish individualism and only three victories were achieved in ten matches.
One of Wits’s best performances was against Cape Town at Newlands, where injuries had reduced them to thirteen men. They led 5-3 until the last few minutes when the home side scored a converted try to win 8-5. The match was played to raise war-funds, a contentious issue that resulted in rugby unions becoming bitterly divided. It was significant that the Wits team at Newlands was largely Afrikaansspeaking (Vorster, Burger, Boshoff, Marais, de Villiers, Meyer, Mostert, Lloyd-Wronsley, van der Merwe, Wilken, Slabbert (captain), de Klerk, Rautenbach, Raath and Joubert)
Conflict between pro-war and anti-war factions in rugby came to a head in 1944 when the Rand Daily Mail reported that there was opposition – led by delegates from Wits University and Diggers – to gate money being used by the Transvaal RFU to support war funds. Anti-war clubs prepared to seize control of the union. Members of the Wits Rugby Club were prominent in supporting them, notably medical student Carel de Wet, later South Africa’s Ambassador to London, and Dan de Villiers, an advocate who offered to coach the under-19 team and used the position as a platform upon
Durr Meyer is pictured with the legendary Bennie Osler prior to a match against a Military XV in 1940. Wits forward E.R. Louw looks on.
C.G.J. Delaporte – an outstanding Wits and Transvaal number 8.
Nicolaas Slabbert – one of Wits’s greatest rugby captains.
which he promoted his own rugby ambitions and political views.
At the March 1944 Transvaal RFU annual general meeting, there were 25 votes for the pro-war president H.J. Sanderson, and 22 for J.G. Brink of Diggers. T.D. Nelson of the Rand Daily Mail lamented the fact that ‘the three Wits delegates saw fit to side with the so-called “Nazi sympathisers” who had dragged the game into such disrepute during the war years’. He added: ‘Few would be sorry if the game were closed up altogether, until those thousands of splendid young rugby players who saw where their duty lay return to take charge as they assuredly will do.’
De Villiers challenged the validity of the evening’s voting. He led the opposition to Sanderson and his committee, and encouraged Diggers to take action. On 31 October 1944, an application came before Justice Ramsbottom in the Supreme Court to set aside the election of office-bearers of the Transvaal RFU and to direct the union to hold a special meeting within a month to elect new office-bearers. On 23 December, the application was dismissed with costs by Ramsbottom.
Meanwhile, in the course of 1944, Wits University’s SRC had undertaken an inquiry. Its president, Ian Welsh, said the impression created had been that the rugby club was associated with the Ossewabrandweg and that its representatives had acted unpleasantly at Transvaal RFU meetings. Correspondence had been received from prominent members of the club that Wits’s representatives on the Transvaal RFU were not members of the university. No action was taken. The SRC was known to be ‘anxious to appease the substantial, conservative, rugbyplaying elements in its constituency’ and had been involved in attempts to restore relations with Pretoria. It therefore adopted a conciliatory stance which permitted allegations involving the Transvaal RFU to be considered unproven and forgotten.
On the rugby field, Wits wisely decided to participate in both rounds of the senior league in 1944. It involved a busy season of 22 matches of which seven were won, one drawn and fourteen lost. They drew popular support because of the brand of rugby that they played and their narrow 13-12 win over Wanderers at Ellis Park was one of the best games of the season. Fresher Dennis Oberholzer, who put over the kick in order to win that match, enjoyed a wonderful season at full back and was capped for Transvaal. A talented all-round sportsman, he showed an uncanny ability to improvise and legislate for the unexpected.
Nic Slabbert continued to captain Wits in 1944 and 1945 and was the university’s sole representative in the Transvaal pack during those two seasons. He never missed a match for the club except when on duty for the provincial side and was highly regarded as a resolute leader. He was awarded his full blue on five successive occasions (1941–45) and was undoubtedly the First XV’s steadying influence during the war years.
Wits won eight of their 21 league matches
in 1945 but the club’s finest moment came in the first post-war intervarsity against Pretoria. The student bodies had moved quickly to reestablish sporting links and decided that there should be just one full rugby intervarsity, played on an annual basis and staged alternatively in Johannesburg and Pretoria. At Ellis Park in 1945, Wits lost all three under-19 matches, the fourth team match 24-0, the thirds 32-3 and the seconds 24-9. There was no score in the first half of the main game but in a tense second spell the match was finally decided by kicks, Wits getting all of them to win 10-0.
The influx of ex-servicemen saw the university bulging at the seams with a record number of students in 1946 and the confident rugby section entered two teams into the Transvaal first league. Unfortunately, after a bright start both teams faded badly. The second side was relegated to a junior league while the first team carried on to a succession of defeats and a poor placing in the Pirates Grand Challenge. The university had become an unwieldy organisation with the arrival of so many students, and it would take a year or two for the desired spirit to develop in student circles.
There were, nevertheless, some outstanding players. Two of the most experienced were Willem Boshoff and Dennis Oberholzer who had both represented Transvaal with distinction. There were also exciting newcomers, such as Fraser Carey, Bruce Macdonald, Harry Small and Mervyn ‘Fluffy’ Barrkman, who were almost immediately drafted into the Transvaal team.
During the off-season, former student Syd Newman began his studies at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He made his debut for England in their victory over France at Twickenham in April 1947. The following season, Newman was again chosen for England and played against Australia and Wales. In the latter match, 73 000 spectators crammed into Twickenham and saw Newman land a towering 50-yards goal in the opening minutes of the game. Later in the match, it was only his superb tackle that prevented Jack Matthews, the Welsh wing, from scoring at the corner flag. England held on to draw the contest 3-3.
In 1947, the former Springbok wing, Maurice Zimerman, took over as Wits coach, and spoke
Willem Boshoff was one of the most exciting backline players in the Transvaal during the 1940s. His snipe-like breaks and flair for the unorthodox were to set up many scoring opportunities for Wits and the provincial side.
Harry Small, who captained Wits, later represented England when still an Oxford ‘fresher’.
The Wits First XV 1947 (left to right – back row): G. Stark, D. Oberholzer, G. Godden and G. Bremner (middle row): M. Lawton, H. Musto, P. Human, P. McDonald, P. Magennis, P. Pienaar and F. Carey (front row): Dr B. Sieff, B. Macdonald, H. Small (captain), O. Ritson (vice-captain), P. Craig and Dr B. Becker (president).
Pat Craig represented Transvaal on the wing during the 1947-48 seasons.
out confidently. He saw no reason why Wits should not be one of the top sides and stated: ‘There is no excuse for students not being fit for they have more time for training than the office boys … the university should supply the brains of the Transvaal side and the other clubs the brawn.’ Playing with greater all-round verve and thrust than in previous seasons, the Witsies were in joint second place behind Diggers after the first round of the Pirates Grand Challenge. They had won seven and drawn two of their ten matches.
Zimerman had realised that the university could not match the size of the awesome Transvaal league packs – West Rand averaged 205 pounds per man – but if the students spread the ball wide, they could run heavier opponents into the ground. Maximum use was made of limited possession and it became an unpardonable sin to die with the ball. Much was also owed to the team’s effective support play, through their superior fitness. This approach was evident from the outset with the team, well led by Harry Small, recording a shock 8-7 victory over West Rand.
Wits also played two intervarsities in the first half of the season. After beating Rhodes 7-6 over Easter, they accounted for Pretoria University 1411 at Ellis Park before a crowd of 20 000. Early in the second half, ‘Bull’ Ritson scored a converted try for Wits after a clever piece of opportunism and at 14-3, the Witsies seemed home and dry. A late rally by the resilient Tukkies enabled the future England international, Murray Hofmeyr, to place two drop goals – each worth four points – and reduce the home side’s advantage. In the last ten minutes, Pretoria launched attack after attack but Dennis Oberholzer, Wits’s ace full back, never once faltered in a brilliant performance in defence.
To ensure that the July vacation did not put Wits at a disadvantage, a tour was arranged to Rhodesia. Seven fixtures were organised during an exhausting itinerary which took the students to the four major centres of Southern Rhodesia as well as to Livingstone. Five matches were
won and two lost, but it might well have been too much rugby. A weary, lacklustre side lost six of their ten second-round league matches. There were defeats against some inferior opposition, resulting in the side slipping to fourth position behind West Rand (the ultimate winners), Diggers and Crown Mines. It was still the best performance since 1926, when Bollie Sieff’s team also finished fourth.
Small was an inspirational leader, providing both guidance and example. He was not only the scourge of local fly halves, but his great anticipation and understanding of the game made him a leading try-scorer while at Wits.
Seven players – Small, Oberholzer, Carey, Macdonald, Pat Craig, Mervyn Lawton and J.F. ‘Tiny’ Steinhobel – were chosen for the provincial team during the season. Transvaal, incidentally, reached the Currie Cup final at Newlands and Carey scored a try in the 16-12 defeat at the hands of Western Province.
By 1948, rugby was thriving at the university. Dr Bollie Sieff praised the university’s bright, open game under Zimerman’s coaching. ‘Most Grand Challenge sides,’ he said, ‘produce their best rugby against us because our game is played according to “The Book” and not with an eye to the log.’ Despite a disappointing performance in the Pirates Grand Challenge, Wits Student described the season as ‘successful’:
At the end of the season it has been possible to raise seven senior teams and four under-19 fifteens which we think is a state of affairs without precedent. In the past it was quite a battle to scrape up a third team after July. To keep 200 or so characters reasonably contented is no trifle for any committee.
Bruce Macdonald, Harry Small, Mervyn Lawton and the powerful newcomer Lieb Gioia were chosen for Transvaal. Lawton was consistently impressive. A diminutive wing – just 5 feet 6 inches – he played the game without inhibition and, if necessary, would have run through a brick wall to reach the try line.
Gradually, Wits’s form returned and six out of nine second-round matches were won in the Pirates Grand Challenge in 1949. There were also numerous wonderful opportunities for the student players when the New Zealand All Blacks toured that year. No fewer than ten Witsies were chosen to play against them. Eight – Macdonald, Steinhobel, Oberholzer, Lawton, Eric Brink, Bertie Musto, Alec Rodger and Peter McDonald – were selected for the Northern Universities side that lost 17-3 to the All Blacks; two, Lawton and Huppel van Graan, were in the Transvaal XV that lost narrowly, 6-3; and two, Brink and the teenage Laurie Stewart, played for the Transvaal side that went down 13-3 to the tourists.
The 1950 season marked a significant turning point in the composition of Wits University rugby teams. Most of the older brigade of students, whose university careers had been delayed by the war, had graduated by the end of the 1940s. Dennis Oberholzer played 107 matches for Wits while Harry Small (91), Bruce Macdonald (70),
Mervyn Lawton (60), ‘Bull’ Ritson (59), Pat Craig (58) and Garrett Godden (53) were others who had enjoyed lengthy stints at the club. Their contribution to rugby during the immediate postwar period was invaluable because they had, as mature students, found it a little easier to hold their own in the local leagues. After their time on the war front, they also fully appreciated the opportunity to play sport and it was both an enjoyable and rewarding era for Wits rugby.
Harry Small, a Rhodes scholar, followed Newman into the England team when still an Oxford ‘fresher’. Like Newman, he also donned the famed black and white jersey of the Barbarians. Peter West wrote in the Playfair Rugby Annual, ‘What a pity that H.D. Small of Dundee (Natal), who won four English caps at flank and played a rousing game in the 1950 Varsity match, has withdrawn from international rugger. Small, I daresay, lacks weight by South African standards of the avoirdupois, but he is really a hard and skilful goer.’
Peter McDonald captained a young and relatively inexperienced Wits First XV in 1950. The side included a fine centre combination in Laurie Stewart and Huppel van Graan and hard, workmanlike tight forwards in Geoff Stark, Jock Plint, John Barlow, José Marcus and Tiny Steinhobel. The wings were both newcomers – Louis Leeb, a former Free State player who was soon in the Transvaal side, and Merril Pike who had experienced a meteoric rise from the ‘sevenths’.
The season was devoted to rebuilding the team and the results were therefore not viewed with the gloom and despair that they might have
been in different circumstances. A 12-8 win over Vereeniging was the side’s sole league success but the victories over the Natal University College (18-11) and Rhodes (14-5) were welcome achievements.
An eleventh-hour injury to the legendary Hennie Muller, saw Chick Henderson drafted into the Transvaal side early in the season for a most promising debut. After Eastern Transvaal had taken an 8-6 lead in the second half, the young Witsie initiated many fine movements to lead a strong fight-back and displayed a maturity far beyond his nineteen years of age. With time running out he took advantage of a short, sharp throw-in and barged over, bedecked with defenders, to score Transvaal’s only try and set up an eventual 12-8 victory.
Henderson captained Wits in 1951 and the team enjoyed a successful season, finishing sixth in the Pirates Grand Challenge. Three teams were locked together in third place, just one point ahead of Wits, and had the students not drawn three of their matches, they might have produced the club’s best position in the competition up to that time.
All four intervarsities were lost – against Pretoria (9-0), Stellenbosch (17-6), Rhodes (12-5) and the touring Oxford and Cambridge team. An overawed Wits side let their chance of defeating the Oxbridge tourists slip early on before 20 000 spectators at Ellis Park. In the first fifteen minutes the visitors scored eleven of their eventual fourteen points to win 14-9, with former Witsie, Harry Small, initiating the opening try by setting up England star, Brian Boobbyer, in the first minute. The visitors’ strength was
Laurie Stewart was chosen for Transvaal against the 1949 All Blacks when still a member of the Wits under 19 team.
The Wits First XV 1950 (left to right – back row): D. Plint, L. Stewart, I. Botha, J. Henderson, M. Pike and A. Revelas (middle row): M. Barrkman, H. van Graan, F. Herbst, W. Neethling, J. Barlow and J. Kirstein (seated): H. Musto, M Zimerman (coach), P. McDonald (captain), Dr B. Becker (president) and J. Marcus (in front): L. Leeb and B. van der Merwe.
Bruce Macdonald – Wits’s First XV captain in 1949 who represented Transvaal.
undoubtedly at centre where they had the English internationals, Boobbyer and Lewis Cannell, although Laurie Stewart did escape their clutches to make a fine second-half break which led to a try by fly-half, René Erasmus. Wits could have won the game, with Freddie Herbst booting over two penalties and Gerry Schilbach raking back possession ‘three-to-one’. Of the dramatic last few minutes, leading sportswriter, Paul Irwin, wrote ‘Chick Henderson, doing three men’s work, led a storming finish – one in which Mike Yachad, and Neill Freeman played up splendidly – but to no avail.’
Seven Witsies (Freddie Herbst, Merril Pike, René Erasmus, Bertie Musto, Gerry Schilbach, José Marcus and Chick Henderson) were selected for the combined Northern Universities team which lost 19-14 to the Oxford and Cambridge XV in one of the finest games of the season. Wits was also well represented in Transvaal sides. Freddie Herbst, Bertie Musto, Laurie Stewart, Gerry Schilbach and Neill Freeman all earned selection alongside Henderson who made up an outstanding back-row triumvirate with Springboks, Basie van Wyk and Hennie Muller. Henderson gained further honour by being selected for the Springbok trials but was injured on the opening day and lost his chance of being chosen for the highly successful 1951/52 Springboks on their tour of the British Isles and France.
the deeds of the three Springboks who played in one of the most exciting backlines ever seen in Transvaal club rugby. The refreshing fluidity of the Wits three-quarter play was an eye-opener. The likes of Clive Ulyate, Wilf Rosenberg and Joe Kaminer captivated Johannesburg crowds, playing with a dash and resource that was bewildering. Match reports not only lauded the deeds of the three men who were ultimately to play for South Africa but marvelled at the inexhaustible supply of talented players at the university. Yet Wits experienced an intriguing decade, a highly unpredictable side capable of brilliant play when things went right for them, but also of sub-standard performances.
Chick Henderson became the third Witsie to make his mark overseas. In his first season at Oxford he represented the British Barbarians, prompting the Scottish selectors to follow his progress with more than a passing interest. During their 1951/52 tour, the Springboks had thrashed Scotland 44-0 in the famous ‘Murrayfield Massacre’ and it was inevitable that attention should focus on a loose forward, who had been in contention for a place in that almost invincible touring side. Henderson represented Scotland on nine occasions, playing home and away against each of the other ‘Five Nations’ countries – England, Ireland, Wales and France. To crown his achievements, he was chosen for the match against the touring All Blacks in 1953/54 when the gallant Scots were beaten by a Bob Scott penalty in injury time.
Surprisingly, after their promising performance in 1951, Wits chose to play only one round of the Pirates Grand Challenge in 1952 and this affected progress. Obviously no one recalled the 1943 season, the previous time this arrangement had been implemented and with equally calamitous results. In effect, it meant that matches were regarded in some quarters as being ‘friendlies’ and the incentive of doing well in the competition was killed even though results did count in the final league tables. Ironically, Wits contributed towards putting the eventual runners-up, Wanderers, out of the running for the top spot by beating them 11-8.
‘Varsity Champions’
When reference is made to Wits University rugby during the 1950s, one invariably recalls
In 1953 it was agreed that Wits should be reinstated as a full-playing member of the Pirates Grand Challenge. A fifth place was a creditable achievement, but it was the breathtaking backline performances that were memorable. With sixty seconds to go against Wanderers at Ellis Park and play inside Wits’s half, the score was 12-12. The ball went loose … suddenly, fly-half Clive Ulyate swooped on it and with high knee-action, sped down the left flank. He flashed through a gap, drew a man and swung a superbly judged pass to Wilf Rosenberg. A burst of astonishing pace sent the tousle-haired centre clear of the cover defence and with only the full back to beat, he fed winger, Merril Pike. The long-striding speedster did the rest … Wits 15; Wanderers 12. There were so many great moments. A glorious 50-metre dash by Louis Fine to score a try in the dying minutes of the return match against Rand Leases gave Wits an 8-3 win. Joe Kaminer scored a dazzling hat-trick of tries against West Rand and Freddie Herbst contributed 20 points as Wits rattled up a 38-3 win. But the most exciting encounter of the season was against Police, who in those days, tried that bit harder when confronted by the students. The ‘cops’ led 18-11 with just five minutes left when Ulyate took over in dynamic fashion. He broke twice – the first time kicking ahead for Joe Kaminer to outpace the defence to the touchdown. It was converted. On the second occasion that Ulyate sliced through the defence, he threw out a pass to Kaminer who gave to Tev Pienaar and, finally, it was Mike Garms who beat his opposite number to crash over in the corner. Final score: Wits 19, Police 18.
As encouraging as the Pirate Grand Challenge performances often were, the season was best remembered for Wits’s exciting intervarsity campaign. Each season, the South African Rugby Annual rated the various university sides and in 1953 they headed the relevant section ‘Witwatersrand Varsity Champions’. It was generally accepted that Wits had the strongest side on view that year, having defeated Cape Town (14-13), Pretoria (13-9), Natal (21-6) and Rhodes (19-3), while Stellenbosch withdrew. Wits’s dramatic last-minute victory over Cape Town at Newlands came after the Ikeys had led 13-6 well into the second half. Former Witsie, Henry Joffe, was instrumental in setting up the lead for the home team, having had a hand in all three tries. But the Capetonians were caught
Chick Henderson, an outstanding loose-forward who represented Wits University, Transvaal, Scotland and the British Barbarians..
Wits and Transvaal wing Merril Pike in determined mood against Pirates.
on the wrong foot at the critical moment as they looked set to win. Ten minutes from the end, Freddie Herbst steered home a grand penalty from a difficult angle to put his side within striking distance. Then, a minute from the end, Clive Ulyate produced one of his magical touches. Breaking to the right before changing direction, he gave his backs a head start. Joe Kaminer and Brian Bowring carried on the good work and Emmanuel Zaloumis was given the overlap. The Wits winger darted over and sped round sufficiently close to the posts to give Freddie Herbst a good chance of converting which he did (14-13).
A month later, Wits gained a well-deserved 13-9 win over Pretoria University at Loftus Versfeld. Although Tukkies dominated at forward against their smaller opponents, Wits scrum half, Keith Brown, and livewire flanker, Neill Freeman, were prominent in effectively smothering any play around the scrums. When the ball did reach the Pretoria line, which included Springbok, Tjol Lategan, they were stopped in their tracks by the hard tackling of René Erasmus and Wilf Rosenberg.
At full back, Freddie Herbst was at his finest throughout and his skills impressed the record crowd for a Pretoria intervarsity of 24 000. He also goaled a penalty and converted the two tries that were scored by Mike Garms and Bertie Rosenberg.
Against Natal University College, Wits ran in five tries, all from the backs with front-ranker, Johan van der Linde, converting three. Mike Grams scored two and Alex Rifkin, who not long before had been a regular third-team centre, grabbed another after picking up a dropped pass and running forty metres. Merril Pike on the other wing was closely marked by former Natal player, Balfour Laing, but was given just two chances and scored two tries. Winning 21-6 was indeed a splendid effort.
Wits played Rhodes University College as a curtain-raiser to the Eastern Province match against the Wallabies at Port Elizabeth. Clive Ulyate was in brilliant form, tormenting his opponents with shrewd tactical kicking and combining well with his centres, René Erasmus and Joe Kaminer. Two men destined to become Rhodes Scholars – Ted Lombard, who deputised for Neill Freeman as captain, and Mike Garms –each scored twice.
A number of Witsies gained Transvaal representation in the course of the season – namely Freddie Herbst, Wilf Rosenberg, Clive Ulyate, Louis Fine and René Erasmus, with first team captain, Neill Freeman and Joe Kaminer selected as reserves. Most impressive was the fact that four students were chosen for the Transvaal XV that lost narrowly 20-18 to the Wallabies at Ellis Park before a crowd of 45 000. On that occasion, Erasmus and Ulyate both scored tries and Herbst booted over three penalties.
Surprisingly, only three Wits players were selected for the combined universities team to play against the Wallabies – Herbst, Wilf Rosenberg and Ulyate, with Pike a reserve –as opposed to Pretoria’s contribution of eight. That was the match which ended Rosenberg’s
rugby for the rest of the season and, indeed, for the whole of 1954 with a serious knee injury resulting from a late tackle.
Freddie Herbst was elected captain of the Wits First XV in 1954, a side that suffered several setbacks and was unable to reach the heights of the previous year. Wilf Rosenberg was unable to play at all, and Herbst and Kaminer were both heavily committed to representing Transvaal –each played in eleven out of twelve provincial fixtures that season. Mike Garms and Clive Ulyate served as Transvaal reserves on a few occasions and this inevitably interfered with the preparation of the Wits team. The season’s programme of 33 matches was also most demanding, with Johnny Meintjies (31) and Frank Lucas (27) coming closest to playing all the matches.
At Ellis Park, to a background of ‘songs and streamers’, Wits again beat Tukkies, but there was little to commend in the type of rugby played. It was a match spoilt by many infringements, bad handling and too much kicking but memorable for some fine defence by the Witsies. After they had established a 6-0 half-time lead through two penalties by Herbst, Wits scored two tries against the run of play in the second half. Ulyate and Mannie Zar combined well to set up both scoring opportunities and enable Wits to win 12-0.
There was also a narrow defeat against Cape Town and a comfortable 19-0 win over Natal under floodlights at Woodburn Stadium.
First XV coach, Jack Phelan, guided Wits in a successful spell during 1953-54. Sadly, a dramatic change of fortune followed and the club, bedevilled with problems, slipped badly in 1955 and 1956. In the course of two seasons, the First XV won just six and drew three out of the 59 matches played. Even their finest performance during this period ended in defeat – notably, a narrow 17-16 intervarsity loss at the hands of Pretoria in 1955 when Tom Espach almost pulled off a victory with a memorable
Above and below: Freddie Herbst came close to being chosen for the Springbok side on several occasions. Unfortunate not to be selected for the Tests against the 1953 Australians and 1955 British Lions, he was even more unlucky not to gain a place in the touring squad to Australia and New Zealand in 1956.
hat-trick of tries. In one dreadful spell in 1956, the team went through 27 successive matches without a victory.
The club chairman, Mark Lowenthal, blamed the dismal performances on the players not turning out to practices and not being fit. But there was also the problem of additional commitments mushrooming by way of provincial squad sessions, trials and selection for representative sides. It was a period in which two Witsies were selected for the Springbok team.
Clive Ulyate became the first Wits player since Henry Forrest in 1931/32 to be selected for the Springboks, when he was chosen to play in the first Test against the British Lions at Ellis Park in 1955. It was played in front of a world-record crowd of more than 90 000. Ulyate was selected for all four Tests of that series, giving a virtuoso display of fly-half skills in the final Test at Port Elizabeth. He was then chosen for the Springbok side that toured Australia and New Zealand in 1956. He played in the first three Tests against the All Blacks where the home team’s dominance at forward enabled them temporarily to end the Springboks’ supremacy in world rugby.
Wilf Rosenberg represented the Springboks in the second Test against the British Lions at Newlands. He scored a try on debut and played an important role in his team winning 25-9 to level the series 1-1. Despite a 40-pound disparity in weight, Rosenberg’s crash-tackling unsettled the touring side’s 202-pound Phil Davies, who had played havoc with opposing backlines up to that time. Two years later, Rosenberg joined Ulyate on the tour to Australia and New Zealand. He was hampered by injury throughout the trip but, when included in the side for the third Test against the All Blacks, he scored an outstanding try.
The Springbok tour to Australasia resulted in Rosenberg and Ulyate being away for virtually the entire 1956 season. No fewer than 52 players represented the Wits First XV that year, which was hardly conducive to team spirit and
understanding. Yet Wits players deservedly won representative honours. Apart from the two Springboks, a number of players were selected for Northern Universities during 1955/56: Kaminer, Espach (who was also chosen for the SAU XV against the 1955 Lions), Deryck Playford, John Meintjies, Frikkie Rademan (who also played for Transvaal), Bertie Rosenberg (who represented Wits on 95 occasions), Hugh ‘Oosie’ Snyder (who later played for the SAU against the touring French) and Chiz Smart. Kaminer was Wits’s sole representative on the SAU Sables tour of Britain and France at the end of 1956 and came in for special praise.
The 1957 season showed some improvement and Wits won six and drew three of their Pirates Grand Challenge matches. But their finest performance was undoubtedly the nail-biting 5-3 victory in the annual intervarsity against Pretoria. A crowd of 25 000 at Loftus Versfeld saw Wits take an early lead after just seven minutes play.
Joe Kaminer – Wits and Transvaal centre who represented the SAU ‘Sables’ in Britain in 1956 and the Springboks against France in 1958.
A famous student – Wilf Rosenberg – on the Great Hall steps.
The Wits First XV 1954 (left to right – back row): D. Wilkinson, F. Lucas, E. Abdinor, J. Charlsty, I. Cumming and M. Lowenthal (middle row): H. Lyell, L. Kaminer, J. Meintjies, E. Zar, J. Kaminer and T. Espach (front row): B. Rosenberg, T. Lombard, F. Herbst (captain), C. Ulyate and B. Powell.
Clive Ulyate was selected for South African Universities at cricket, hockey and golf; the Transvaal at cricket and the Springboks at rugby.
The Tukkies’ defence fumbled a high kick by Joe Kaminer on their own line and Hugh Snyder was up quickly to dot down for an opportunist try. Bill Clough added the extra points and Wits led 5-0 at half-time. With some judicious kicking by Clive Ulyate and hard forward work – Transvaal players, Snyder and Brian Zylstra were conspicuous –Tukkies were restricted to an unconverted try in the second half. It was a fine win and at the final whistle the ecstatic Wits supporters surged on to the field to acclaim their heroes and carry them shoulder-high to the change rooms.
The following season – 1958 – was one of mixed fortunes but those who saw the side play believed that it was far better than the results indicated. Only six matches were won in the Pirates Grand Challenge but ten of the twelve games that were lost were by a margin of six points or less. Wits, coached by the former Springbok Ferdie Bergh, caused possibly the biggest upset of the season when they defeated the fancied West Rand side 18-16. Their win was all the more remarkable because they played with only fourteen men for a good part of the game after Percy Jacobson, scorer of two early tries, had left the field with a broken collar bone.
Intervarsity defeats were suffered against Cape Town and Natal, but Potchefstroom and Pretoria were beaten. As always, the victory over Pretoria was a tense affair. At half-time, the sides were locked at 3-3 but shortly after the interval Egmond Liebenberg converted his second penalty. Then, fifteen minutes from the end, Frikkie Rademan managed to scramble the ball away from a loose melee on the halfway line. Wits fly-half, former Junior Springbok Henry Joffe – who was undoubtedly ‘man of the match’ – darted away to his left and threw a long pass to Percy Jacobson. The stocky wing clung on to the pass, swung cleverly infield as the Tuks defence fanned out to the touchline, and pounded through for a try.
Two Witsies represented the Springboks against the French in 1958. Rosenberg played in the opening international before travelling overseas to complete his dental studies and shock the rugby world by opting for the professional game. He was successful, achieving fame as a prolific try-scorer for Leeds (including his club’s record of 48 in a season) and became a legendary figure in the thirteen-a-side game.
Joe Kaminer also played for the Springboks against France in 1958. He had represented Wits and Transvaal alongside Wilf Rosenberg and Clive Ulyate. and was regarded as the best centre in the province during 1954. Paul Irwin of the Sunday Times was moved to write ‘there was a touch of genius to Kaminer’s football … he looked a world-class centre’. Unfortunately, he broke his collarbone just prior to the Springbok trials and his national aspirations were served a severe setback. He had to wait until 1958 to be called up; after helping the Junior Springbok side beat the touring French, he was chosen for the second Test.
Under the captaincy of scrum half, Tommy Bourquin, Wits enjoyed a successful season in 1959 and Die Transvaler went so far as to call it a ‘Gloriejaar vir Wits’. The First XV was third in the league, winning twelve matches,
losing five and drawing two. It was their bestever performance up to that time. There was also great optimism in the club in that the under 19 ‘A’ side won their Transvaal league under the guidance of coach, Syd Newman, and captain, Eddie Barlow. It was a very exciting team that included Alan Menter, who would later become a Springbok, and Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert, who would represent Western Province at rugby but became better known as the leader of the South African political opposition.
The only blemish on a memorable season was that the intervarsities against Cape Town and Tukkies were lost after Wits had led for the major part of both matches. Although Pretoria boasted a fine side, it was frustrating that Wits should lose this encounter 15-12. Ken Boonzaaier (who later switched to rugby league) scored all twelve points for Wits; Colin Liebenberg excelled in the line-outs and the tigerish flankers, Hennie Visser and Mike Wellsted, did much to neutralise the firepower of the potent Tukkies pack.
The Junior Springbok wing, Michel Antelme enrolled at Wits as a postgraduate student and turned out for the university’s second team in April 1959. He grabbed a hat-trick of tries on that occasion, played for the First XV against Randfontein the following weekend and was in the Transvaal side within a month. In 1960, he was chosen for the first Test against Wilson
The Wits First XV 1958 (left to right – back row): D. Welch, P. Jacobson, R. Lief, B. Zylstra, C. Smart and I. Hunter (middle row); E. Liebenberg, P. Gush, N. Hardie, J. Lombard, E. Scott, M. Bernstein and K. Viljoen (front row): H. Joffe, L. Fine, H. Snyder (captain), Dr B. Becker (president), W. Rosenberg (vice-captain), R. Rousell and F. Rademan.
The Wits First XV 1959 (left to right – back row): S. Temkin, R. Welch, R. Rousell, D. Viljoen, D. Benade and J. Kruger (middle row): C. Liebenberg, J. Heyns, H. Visser, N. Barlow, P. Young and K. Viljoen (front row): K. Boonzaaier, E. Scott, T. Bourquin (captain), M. Bernstein and C. Smart (insets): F. Bergh (coach) and M. Antelme.
The Wits under 19 ‘A’ XV 1959 –winners of the Transvaal under 19 ‘A’ league (left to right – back row): G. Freedman, G. Rosset, F. Lourens, J. Faber, J. Boa, M. Collins, G. Bishop and B. Glasspool (middle row): A. Marsh, G. Giles, P. Pleming, T. Cartwright, B. Hewitt, D. Mulinder, L. Neuberger and P. Enslin (seated): F. Van Zyl Slabbert, A. Menter, K. Babich (trainer), E. Barlow (captain), S. Newman (coach), B. Watt (vice-captain) and K. Light. Coached by Syd Newman, the Wits under 19s won their league for three successive seasons (1959-60-61).
Michel Antelme is pictured scoring the first try of the Springboks’ highly successful ‘grand slam’ overseas tour in 1960/61.
Soccer
The rapidly improving Wits football team earned promotion to the Southern Transvaal League first division for the 1940 season. They amply demonstrated their worth in better company by spending a good part of their campaign at the top of the league table, before slipping to fourth position. Skipper Sam Goodman, Horace Paynter, Hyman Neifeld, Reuben Joffe, Bobby Gaylis, Olaf Hansen, David Pelkowitz and Natie Flekser were prominent in a team that displayed a consistency hitherto unseen in the university’s soccer. Particularly memorable was the fine 2-1 win over the fancied Norwood team as a curtainraiser to the Currie Cup match, Transvaal versus Orange Free State.
Wits maintained a strong challenge for top honours over the next couple of years and in 1943 won the first division. They were boosted by a strong nucleus from the previous year’s side and maintained their position at the top throughout the season. Charlie Shubitz (who captained the side for several years), Charlie Schwartzel and Hymie Berelowitz were the outstanding players, but Wits Student pointed to the overall achievement being ‘made possible by the blending of the eleven players into one harmonious unit’.
Winning the first division remained the high point in Wits soccer for a long time, particularly as the club’s league performances slipped a little over the next few years. Emphasis appeared to switch to the intervarsity tournament that was established in 1948 and staged initially at Hartleyvale, Cape Town. Five universities – Wits, Cape Town, Rhodes, Natal and Stellenbosch – participated in the competition, which was played on a round-robin basis.
Wits began their programme against Rhodes on a high note. Their crack centre forward, James Robertson, scored the opening goal to put his team 1-0 ahead at half-time and by slotting home another two in the second half, he recorded the first intervarsity hat-trick. The Witsies won comfortably 4-1.
Whineray’s All Blacks and proved an instant success. In front of an Ellis Park crowd of 75 000 the Springboks scored two tries, both set up by the new cap, Antelme. Twice he came in from the blindside wing to join the line outside the flyhalf, Keith Oxlee, and each time he was able to breach the defence and create the vital overlap. The Springboks won 13-0 and the flying wing went on to play in each of the four Tests.
During 1960/61, Antelme accompanied Avril Malan’s Springbok side on a tour to Britain and France. He had a good start by collecting a hattrick of tries against Southern Counties in the opening fixture and went on to score 15 tries in 21 matches. It was to be an exceptionally wet winter overseas but by fully exploiting the forward power game to best advantage, the Springboks recorded thirty-one victories and two draws. A defeat in their last match in Britain – 6-0 against the Barbarians at Cardiff Arms Park – prevented an unbeaten tour.
The next fixture against Natal was played in muddy conditions and the Cape Times noted that ‘the small crowd was kept amused at the efforts of the players to keep their feet’. Wits beat their opponents 2-1 in a match that deteriorated uncontrollably in the second half but ultimately decided the destiny of the Malcolm Taylor Trophy.
Wits’s next two games provided few problems. By beating Stellenbosch 5-0 (Robertson scoring his second hat-trick) and Cape Town 3-0, the Johannesburg students became the first SAU champions. Further honour came the way of the winning captain Harry Abel, who was named to lead the first combined universities team. The side which included five other Witsies (C. Levine, B. Meyers, J. Robertson, L. Mitchell and A. Lapidos) played against Western Province. They lost 3-1; suffice to say that over the years SAU teams had to be assembled hastily with none of the recognised advantages of working a rapport. As a result, they tended to fare poorly against provincial combinations.
At Johannesburg in 1949, Wits continued where they had left off the previous year and again won all four matches, scoring 16 goals without conceding one. Such was their superiority that interest was focused on the runner-up spot – Natal retaining this position by unexpectedly defeating Cape Town 2-1. Five Witsies were chosen for the combined side (S. Sneech, H. Abel, J. Langhout, A. Luntz and A. Stein).
Wits won their third successive intervarsity tournament at Grahamstown in 1950 and maintained their unbeaten record. They gained a narrow 3-2 victory over Cape Town, thrashed Rhodes 5-0 (with the tournament’s star player, Gus Borok, scoring all five goals) and then pipped Natal 2-1. This time Wits supplied four players (G. Borok, P. Fahrenheim, A. Glocer and I. Stewart) to the combined team.
The club’s league results were not as impressive as the intervarsity record and this
was put down to an inability to field full-strength teams during examination and vacation periods, and the lack of practice time because of late lectures. The students, who, fielded four sides – first, second, under-21 and under-18 – were also badly affected by poor facilities. The club secretary wrote:
It does seem a pity that this club has not yet been provided with a turf field. It is a continual disadvantage when playing fixtures away from home to have to play on grass, a surface with which Wits players are not familiar. For the same reason, visiting teams express dissatisfaction with the hard surface of the Wits soccer field. In dry weather the ground is as solid as a rock lending no assistance to ball-control, while in wet weather, it is almost unplayable as the surface is of the consistency of treacle.
Without their quicksilver centre forward and inspiring captain, Gus Borok, Wits lost the deciding match of the intervarsity at Durban in 1951. The 3-2 loss to Cape Town was their first defeat in four tournaments. Then, in 1952 at Stellenbosch, it was Natal’s turn to take the honours. But, despite being relegated to the runner-up spot for two years, Witsies continued to dominate the SAU side. In 1951 there were six (C. Rachanis, J. Langhout, H. Kassel, I. Stewart, R. Marshall and D. Levy) and the following year seven players (I. Stewart, J. Langhout, H. Kassel, H. Schmuckler, A. Chaskalson, J. Rogers and A. Glocer) chosen for the combined team. At home in 1953, Wits regained the trophy, finishing the week unbeaten, scoring 26 goals in five games and conceding only four. They easily accounted for Cape Town (2-0), Stellenbosch (7-0), Rhodes (7-0) and Pretoria (7-2), and were only hard-pressed to beat Natal (3-2). Robert Richardson of Wits was chosen to captain the SAU team which included five other Witsies (H. Grisdale, A. Zuon, J. Clinton, A. Glocer and R. Bertram).
The future Rhodesian star, Tommy Ballantyne, scored twice for Natal and enabled his team to snatch a 2-2 draw with Wits at Cape Town in 1954. The Natalians scored their equalising goal two minutes from the end in unusual circumstances. Ballantyne, who was tripped in the penalty area, was awarded a penalty kick but shot wide. However, the referee ruled that the Wits goalkeeper had moved early and ordered the kick to be retaken. This time the keeper saved well but in parrying the ball away, Ballantyne was given a third chance and he made no mistake.
Natal, with seven points from four games, went on to win the Malcolm Taylor Trophy because the Witsies were held 1-1 by hosts, Cape Town. In between the two draws, Wits annihilated Pretoria (6-1) and Rhodes (10-0) and concluded the tournament with five players selected for the SAU team (G. Kotz, H. Grisdale, P. Elk, D. Levy and B. Elk).
In 1955, Cape Town won back the trophy they had first held four years before, and then in 1956, Pretoria astounded soccer followers by
demonstrating that their skills were not limited to rugby. They accounted for Wits 3-2 on the second day of the tournament and then beat Cape Town to become the new champions. The Witsies finished third, having begun so well by beating Natal 3-1.
At Durban in 1957, Natal were the favourites and it took a quality performance by the determined Wits side to beat them 2-1. Left wing and captain, Ernie Sabbagh, who represented Southern Transvaal that year, set up both goals either side of half-time. Although Wits dropped one point against Pretoria, a 3-0 win over Cape Town helped them become intervarsity champions once again. Not unexpectedly, Sabbagh led the combined SAU team, which included four other Witsies (D. Levin, C. Rachanis, L. Garb and J. Saitowitz).
The 1957 season proved most successful as Wits later finished second in the Southern Transvaal Division I (which was in fact the third Transvaal league), scoring no fewer than 129 goals while conceding 41. A report of the league season in the ITA Year Book noted:
The type of soccer played in this league is of an unduly robust nature and not very scientific and, unfortunately, we, who play a more subtle game, have suffered many casualties. We are indebted to Mr Lubbe Snoyman, our coach for introducing into our club the brand of soccer whose strategy lies in the type of game known as ‘the deep lying centre-forward’, which in no small measure was responsible for our successes. This showed ‘brains to be better than brawn’.
Wits was pipped at the post by Iscor that year and hopes of securing promotion in 1958 were quickly thwarted in that several stalwarts graduated, and the season was reduced to one of rebuilding. On a brighter note, Wits retained the Malcolm Taylor Trophy in 1958, with Chris
Chris Rachanis, a long-serving Wits footballer, captained the South African Universities team in 1958.
The Wits first soccer team 1957 (left to right – back row): I. Kotzen, R. Lurie, J. Saitowitz, M. Vinik and R. Gavin (middle row): J. Frankel, S. Sharp, G. Brown, S. Woolf and M. Lotzoff (chairman) (front row): L. Garb, A. Levy (vice-captain), E. Sabbagh (captain), C. Rachanis and D. Levin (insets): L. Snyman and M. Rivlin.
Rachanis named as captain of the SAU team, a side he had first represented in 1951. Also included in the team were his Wits team-mates, M. Vinik and N. Seeff.
Surprisingly, Wits lost the 1959 intervarsity to Natal at home, but this did not compare with the disappointment of being pipped at the post again in the Southern Transvaal Division I. The improvement in the Wits side during the season was nevertheless encouraging. It was partly illustrated by the fact that they lost 3-0 to Robinson Deep early on, a team that they would
Squash
A squash club was formed at the end of 1938. They used the three courts available at the Olympic Health Institute in Commercial House at 124 Fox Street. In order to obtain a specially reduced rate, Wits had to enrol forty members but their secretary Archie Halliday did not have too much trouble in securing this number. Squash rackets was becoming increasingly popular in Johannesburg and the students were able to arrange a varied programme of matches.
The first intervarsity was staged at the Olympic Health Institute between Rhodes and Wits in 1940. The more experienced Rhodes team won the contest comfortably by five games to one with Basil de Saxe being the only Witsie to win a match. Rhodes also won the return encounter at Grahamstown in 1941. The Wits squash club arranged other matches during the early 1940s against sides such as Wanderers, Country Club, Olympia, Iscor Steel Works and the various air schools.
Neil MacGillivray became the university’s first squash champion in 1940 and he was succeeded the following year by Basil de Saxe. The latter, who won a terrific 1941 final by beating Ian Coster 10-8, 9-6, 6-9, 6-9, 9-7, spearheaded a great improvement in Wits squash, which ultimately saw the university triumph over Rhodes in 1945 by four matches to one.
Prominent players at Wits during the 1940s were MacGillivray, de Saxe (who won the Wits championship again in 1943 and 1944), Ian Coster, ‘Goodie’ Kotze, Sid Cohen, George Warren, Donald Loon, Benjamin Cohen, C.B. Jeppe, Tony Williams, Victor Pollack (the 1945 Wits champion), and Peter ‘Kip’ Caswell. But no student of that time progressed quite as quickly as Syd Levy, a gifted ball player who later became a tennis Springbok. He arrived from nowhere to beat Basil de Saxe in the university’s 1942 final, although Wu’s Views reported that he had ‘to grimly fight every inch of the way to achieve his well-earned victory’.
After the war, Cape Town joined Rhodes and Wits in the formation of an annual tournament. It was fitting that Basil de Saxe, who had been instrumental in setting up Wits’s inaugural contest against Rhodes in 1940, should present a trophy for intervarsity squash. The competition was restricted to just three universities for the first seven years of its existence.
Wits won the 1947 intervarsity, the year Peter
hammer 8-1 at home in the return fixture.
The formation of the National Football League (NFL) in July 1959 was an important development in South African soccer because it heralded the arrival of the professional game. Its growth was to exceed all expectations and it was to be a necessary stepping stone towards breaking down political as well as football barriers. Wits’s progress towards a place in the NFL First Division was to be fraught with problems. That they succeeded seventeen years later was an admirable achievement.
Caswell became the recipient of the university’s first full blue award for squash. Cape Town, however dominated for some years, winning six of the first nine tournaments. The Johannesburg students had to wait until 1956 before they tasted success again. However, John Pratt-Johnson, David Whiting and Selwyn Price, amongst others, did well in the early 1950s. They were followed by two outstanding players; Paul Robinson, destined to become one of South Africa’s all-time greats, who took the SAU individual title in 1954, and Tony Lange, who succeeded him as champion in 1955 and won again in 1956.
An architectural student, Tony Lange was the leading figure in the university’s squash club for several years and was good enough to reach the last eight in the South African Championships in 1955 and contest the final against Dennis Callaghan in 1960. His sister, Diana, was the outstanding player in the women’s section. In 1953, the Wits women thrashed both Cape Town and Rhodes 5-0, and Diana Lange and Donna Airth were rated number one and two respectively in the SAU rankings. Diana’s progress was such that a year later, at the age of twenty, she became the South African champion, defeating Stella van Coller at Durban 9-3, 6-9, 0-9, 9-4, 9-0 in a match that fluctuated dramatically. It earned her the squash club’s first full blue cum laude
There were two major reasons for a noticeable improvement in the standard of squash at Wits during the 1950s. Firstly, new courts were built in 1951, although they did not become immediately available as the SRC frowned upon the lighting bill of three pounds per week. However, any fears that the courts might not be fully utilised were quickly allayed on their opening because the club’s membership more than doubled, soaring to 200 in 1953. A second important factor in the development of squash was the establishment of a league in the Transvaal. In 1952, a men’s competition was introduced, with Wits entering one team in the first league and two in the lower division. The students did very well to finish second in the first league behind the unbeaten Wanderers ‘C’ team. They played twelve matches, won nine and lost three, but were not to lift the Whitely Cup for some twelve years. Following the lead provided by the men, a women’s squash league was instituted in 1956 and Wits entered a strong team, which was
Members of the Wits squash team of the late 1940s – Don Loon (left) and Peter ‘Kip’ Caswell with (inset): Tony Williams.
The Wits squash team 1956 –winners of the Basil de Saxe trophy (left to right – back row): L. Cohen, G. Lowick and R. Wiggill (seated): M. Effren, A. Lange and M.S. Reid.
Diana Lange – South African champion in 1954 and Wits’s first squash full blue (cum laude); she also captained South African Universities at hockey.
captained by Rosemary Drewett and included her sister, Diana, who not long afterwards became the SAU champion.
In the latter part of the 1950s, a new star came on the scene in the form of Jeff Maisels. A tall, hard-hitting player, he teamed up with Len
Swimming
The 1940 intervarsity followed a similar pattern to that of the previous year with Wits (80 points) finishing comfortably ahead of Cape Town (60) and Pretoria (39). For the third year in succession, Mea Swierstra scored heavily for Wits and W.P. Stanford (four firsts) was once again responsible for a good proportion of Cape Town’s points. Rarely was there any drama in the latter’s races, his superiority being so effortless and inevitable.
Willem Bohlander built on his wonderful record in the men’s diving. When he arrived at Wits from Pretoria in 1937, he was already the intervarsity champion. He proceeded to win the title for Wits over the next four years (1938–41) and during this time became South Africa’s top diver. After a couple of years of finishing second, he won the South African championship in 1940. It was fitting that he should crown his career with victory that year because the national championships were discontinued for the duration of the war. The university recognised his achievement by awarding him swimming’s first full blue cum laude.
The 1941 intervarsity, which was held at the new Stellenbosch pool, was probably the most keenly contested up to that time, with there being a wider distribution of laurels amongst the universities. At the end of the first day the Pretoria students (25 points) were in front with Stellenbosch and Wits eight points behind. The second day was equally tense, and the result hung in the balance as Cape Town and Wits surged into the lead. In the end, no one seemed to know which university had won, but the Capetonians were announced as winners and the Roberts Trophy was formally presented to them by the Mayor. On the records being queried, it was then discovered that Wits had actually won the gala by two points and the Ikeys were obliged to return the ‘mermaid’. The struggle that the Witsies had faced in achieving their victory could be ascribed to their powerful women’s squad of previous years having left university. The new team was made up largely of freshers with Renatta Valentine being their only title winner. It was left to the men to save the day and it was thanks to Willem Bohlander, Gerald Tiley, Hugh Benjamin and South African breaststroke champion, Raymond Harcourt-Cooke, that the Roberts Trophy returned to Johannesburg.
Wits successfully defended their title at the Rosebank Baths, Cape Town, in 1942, defeating the host university by 99 points to 88. The highlight of the gala, which was limited to two universities because of the war, was Raymond Harcourt-Cooke’s new South African record in the 200-yards breaststroke. He lowered the old time by 0.2 seconds, clocking 2 minutes 40.4 seconds.
Cohen in 1958 to ensure the Basil de Saxe trophy returned to Wits and, thereafter, chalked up some impressive successes in the individual event. He began by winning the SAU championship for the first time in 1959, a title that he retained in 1960 and 1961.
The war brought a temporary end to the intervarsity, but Tom Ferguson’s training sessions continued during 1943/44 and Wits still held their own championships. When the intervarsity resumed at Grahamstown in 1945, they were able to assemble a new but talented side. The Witsies amassed a record 126 points and overwhelmed Cape Town (40) and Rhodes (35). Prominent Wits swimmers included Des Cohen, the South African 100 and 200-yards breaststroke champion and record-holder; Laurie Duncker, who was runner-up in the South African men’s diving championships; Johan Steytler, Micky Coetsee and Priscilla Kincaid-Smith. It was Wits’s thirteenth intervarsity triumph. Ruth Fouche, the national 220-yards freestyle champion, and Les Klenerman, the rising star of South African swimming, further strengthened the Wits side in 1946. Prior to that year’s intervarsity, the Rand Daily Mail commented:
Never before has the Witwatersrand University had such a fine crop of first-class swimmers available for the intervarsity championship. When the Wits team travel to Natal to compete in the championship on April 19 and 21 it will come as no surprise if they ‘sweep the board’ and win every event.
The Witsies did not quite win everything but they came desperately close. Fourteen first places, seven SAU records and Des Cohen’s national record in the 200-yards breaststroke (2 minutes 32.2 seconds) reflected Wits’s awesome swimming power. Apart from the diving events, a 4-2 defeat by Cape Town in the water polo, and a couple of second places, the rest was one-way traffic. Des Cohen, Les Klenerman, Ken Patterson, George Albertyn, Ruth Fouche, Micky Coetsee and Priscilla Kincaid-Smith were
Priscilla Kincaid-Smith won intervarsity swimming titles and toured overseas with the SAU hockey team.
The Wits swimming team 1941/42 – intervarsity champions (left to right – back row): H. Benjamin, K. Fairweather, J. Brink, D. Walker and G. Gioia (middle row): M. Junod, H. Goetsch, S. Raath, H. Kenhardt, L. Duncker, H. Gimkey and C. Nuttall (seated): R. Harcourt-Cooke, E. Kops, M. Rossouw (captain), T. Ferguson (coach), G. Albertyn, J. van Vliet and B. Haak (inset): J. van der Merwe.
Wits swimmers at the 1942 intervarsity included (left to right); H. Kenhardt, M. Junod and E. Kops.
The Wits swimming team 1949/50 – intervarsity champions and joint winners of the Johannesburg first league (left to right – back row): R. Jenkinson, G. Bremner, J. Ross, G. Basnett, S. Perry, G. Viller and D. Meyer (second row): D. Toerien, I. Wentzel, H. Selvey, P. Pirow, A. Siritsky, S. Katz and M. Rosenberg (seated): L. Baker, R. Noble, L. Klenerman (captain), T. Ferguson (coach), P. KincaidSmith, D. Goddard and B. Bortslap (in front): J. Kleinschmidt, J. Krohn, L. Elder and M. Coetsee.
the key figures in one of the strongest sides in the university’s history.
Les Klenerman was South Africa’s 100 (1947) and 220-yards (1947-49) freestyle champion.
Des Cohen represented South Africa at swimming at the 1948 London Olympic Games and at water polo at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games.
Wits (107 points) retained the Roberts Trophy at Pretoria in 1947, well ahead of Cape Town (62), Rhodes (16), Stellenbosch (9), Natal (9) and Pretoria (7). Priscilla Kincaid-Smith and Les Klenerman led the points race by amassing four and three titles respectively in what was to be another great year for Wits swimming.
At the beginning of the 1947/48 season, it was decided to enter a team in the Johannesburg swimming league. Little went wrong for the university as Wits Student recalled:
The Wits team swept everything before it and did not suffer a single defeat during the season, to top the league. Practically every Friday night one to three records were set up and credit for these performances goes mainly to Des Cohen, Les Klenerman, Priscilla Kincaid-Smith, Ruth Fouche and Micky Coetsee. These swimmers were the main points scorers in the league and were ably supported by Goddard, Walker, Albertyn, Reid, Bickley and Jarvis as well as Misses Ponting and Petersen
Another relentlessly efficient all-round display saw Wits dominate the 1948 intervarsity at Grahamstown. Priscilla Kincaid-Smith, Micky Coetsee, C. Maile, Des Cohen (who established a new SAU record in the 200-yards medley –2 minutes 29.8 seconds) and Eric Beare were Wits’s leading competitors. Cohen went on to become Wits’s first Springbok swimmer when he was chosen to compete in the 200-metres breaststroke in the London Olympic Games in 1948.
Wits’s swimming prowess seemed endless. In 1949, they recorded 91 points against nextbest Cape Town’s 26, with Rhodes (19) Pretoria (18), Stellenbosch (16) and Natal (13) trailing
behind. Priscilla Kincaid-Smith, Ruth Fouche, Micky Coetsee and Paddy Petersen dominated the women’s events, while Les Klenerman, Des Cohen and the exciting newcomer, Peter Pirow, were responsible for the bulk of the men’s tally.
Splendidly sustained by several of their longserving members, Fergy’s swimmers reaped further success at Bloemfontein in 1950, at Grahamstown in 1951 and at Cape Town in 1952. Les Klenerman set new SAU records for the 220 yards (2 minutes 20.4 seconds) and 440-yards freestyle (5 minutes 11.3 seconds) in 1951 to round off a successful swimming career at Wits. Peter Pirow, who went on to captain Oxford, succeeded Des Cohen as the leading breaststroker, and at the intervarsity in 1951 he beat his own national record over 220 yards in a new time of 2 minutes 50.5 seconds.
When the Wits medley relay team comprising Peter Pirow, George Krafft and Digby Meyer, broke an all-Africa record in 1951, there were only three strokes involved. It was not until the following year that records for breaststroke and butterfly were separated.
Peter Pirow captained the Wits team which visited Lourenço Marques in March 1952 and proceeded to smash eight Mozambique records. Times inside the Portuguese national mark were returned in four races as Wits went on to win the competition by 98 points to 27. Pat Watkins (100-metres breaststroke and freestyle), Micky Coetsee (100-metres breaststroke) and Peter Pirow (200-metres breaststroke) were the swimmers who bettered the Portuguese national times in an exhibition which delighted and enthralled the local crowd. To round off their efforts the university’s newly elected cheerleader, Dennis Hellman, gave a well-received display of comic diving, culminating in riding a bicycle off a 33-foot tower into space.
Micky Coetsee – a key member of the Wits swimming team during one of its strongest eras.
‘Mr
Mac’ takes over
…
When Victor Macfarlane arrived at Wits in April 1953, it was the beginning of an influential association with the university’s sport which would last more than thirty years. ‘Mr Mac’ as he was affectionately known to thousands of students, arrived from Scotland where he had been coaching at the Galashiels Club. A Scottish newspaper remarked on his departure: ‘He will be a big loss to Scottish swimming circles, where he is recognised as one of the foremost of our younger coaches.’
Under Mr Mac’s enthusiastic guidance, Wits continued to build on the wonderful platform which had been established during the Tom Ferguson era. The university’s most accomplished swimmer at that time was the South African 220-yards breaststroke champion during 1953/54, Ivan Schlapobersky, but it was the women, led by Pat Watkins, who set up the 1953 Roberts Trophy triumph.
Watkins was again to the fore when she scored a good slice of the points in Wits’s clear-cut win at Cape Town in 1954. A year later, it was Wits ‘fresher’ and the South African 220-yards breaststroke titleholder, Santa Pienaar, who was the star of the show as the Johannesburg students coasted to their twenty-first successive victory.
Wits continued to consolidate their position at the top of intervarsity swimming and at Grahamstown in 1956, nine first places were scored in a tally of 82½ points, against nextbest Natal (49) and Pretoria (48). It seemed unthinkable that Wits’s tremendous run of success could possibly end at Bloemfontein in 1957. But, despite winning both the men’s (Peter Hugo) and women’s (Myra Fassler) diving, and securing another useful haul in the swimming, the Johannesburg students were placed second behind the Natalians. There was an outcry, partly in jest, but it turned out to be justified. A day later, it was discovered that a mistake had been made when adding up the points and it was ruled that Natal would have to share first place with Wits.
After their narrow escape in 1957, Wits eventually relinquished their hold on the Roberts Trophy in 1958 to Cape Town. Cape Town’s success was all the more commendable because the Wits swimmers were experiencing a boom period, having won the Johannesburg league for the previous four seasons. In 1958, they boasted two teams in the Johannesburg first swimming league and two in the water polo first league – an unprecedented achievement. Outstanding club members included Eric le Roux (South African 100-yards backstroke champion), Robert Bull, Peter Byland, Laurence Rennie, Peter Hugo (South African record-holder in the 110-yards backstroke), Yendor Schrauwen (South African 220-yards breaststroke champion in 1955), Brian Stott, John White, Colin Benjamin, Wendy Almond (South Africa’s one-metre diving champion in 1959), Tommy Deacon and Gloria Williamson. Wits swimming team 1957-58
Successive committees worked hard to maintain Wits’s proud reputation in swimming circles
and Mr Mac recalled: ‘Chairman Shimmy Katz, captain Colin Benjamin and myself would carefully follow the performances of upand-coming swimmers. Like football scouts, we would make personal contact with the youngsters, invite them to our training sessions, and make sure that they studied at Wits.’
Colin Benjamin enjoyed the trips to Lourenço Marques where Wits competed against the local Groupo di Sportivo, and came up with the idea of putting on an Aquacade (pool show). He told Wits Review:
One of our swimmers was Teresa Ferreira [now Teresa Heinz Kerry], who came from LM. She and I drove there to negotiate everything that was necessary to produce the Aquacade ... [It] was a huge undertaking. We planned for two complete swimming teams, two water polo teams, divers, clown divers, synchronized swimmers, drum majorettes and a university rock band ... 60 Witsies descended on LM … The Aquacade was performed for two nights in front of capacity crowds who loved the Varsity spirit and joined in the fun. Jimmy Sofianos, was an amazing clown diver. He was extremely courageous and very funny on the board. He really was the star of the show.
Teresa Heinz Kerry (BA 1960, LLD honoris causa 2007) later worked as a United Nations’ interpreter and became a philanthropist and wife of United States’ presidential candidate Senator John Kerry. In 1959, Wits regained the Roberts Trophy from Cape Town by twelve points. They were back on track; between 1940 and 1959 they had been beaten only once at intervarsity. Even more impressive was their record 23 intervarsity wins in succession up to 1957, an achievement unlikely ever to be overtaken.
Victor Macfarlane – swimmingpool superintendent and sports organiser for more than thirty years.
The Wits swimming team 1957/58 –intervarsity and Johannesburg first league champions (left to right –back row): E. le Roux, H. Lipschitz, J. White, P. Hugo, L. Rennie and D. Hughes (middle row): K. Noble, A. Grant, H. Broadbent, M. Fassler, M. O’Gara, D. Labuschagne, and P. Maynier (front row): S. Katz (chairman), J. McKinnon, C. Benjamin (men’s captain), V. Macfarlane (coach), B. DuncanBrown (women’s captain), P. Byland and D. Collins (secretary).
Solveig Glietenberg played at Wimbledon and Roland Garros in 1950 before going on to win several southern African tournaments.
Tennis
One of Wits’s greatest-ever tennis players, Syd Levy, won the university’s singles title in 1942. His junior record was impressive, and he was the first boy to earn the George Demasius merit cup, having won the Southern Transvaal under-14, under-16 and under-18 championships. He also became the South African junior singles and doubles champion and then fulfilled his tremendous promise by obtaining Springbok colours when selected for the Davis Cup in 1949. His achievements also included a number two ranking in the country (behind Eric Sturgess) for three years, and the singles title of every major province. One of his finest victories was the defeat of England’s number one, Tony Mottram, at the British Hardcourt Championships in 1951.
Pixie Osler headed the women’s section at Wits. A cousin of the famous rugby Springboks, Bennie and Stanley, she was runner-up in the Southern Transvaal junior championships, prior to becoming the university champion for three years in succession, 1939 to 1941. Other useful players amongst the women included B. McKenzie, Betty Tobias (who succeeded Pixie Osler as the singles winner in 1942), Heather Duncan-Brown, Elizabeth Ogilvie, Janet Gorham and Hilda Bertin.
The introduction of the annual SAU tournament after the war proved extremely popular. Professor R.W. Willcocks of Stellenbosch presented a trophy for the winning university, which was initially restricted to a men’s competition.
The 1949 tournament at Johannesburg was a momentous occasion for the two Wits men’s sides as they finished first and second. Their achievement was especially commendable because there were some fine players amongst their adversaries, notably Tony Channock the Western Province player, Jackie du Toit the Orange Free State champion, and David Lurie from Rhodes.
The player of the tournament was undoubtedly Caesar Venter who was, surprisingly, in the Wits ‘B’ team. He hardly put a foot wrong in the course of the week and downed the best player from each of the other seven teams competing. Venter’s wonderful performance was largely responsible for the Wits ‘B’ team taking second position. He was also an automatic choice as the number one player for the SAU side which played Southern Transvaal.
Rounding off a highly successful tournament, the Wits women’s side won their inaugural competition by accounting for the other three teams which took part – Cape Town (7-6), Natal (13-2) and Rhodes (13-1). They were well led by the Southern Transvaal Under-18 champion, Solveig Glietenberg, and the talented all-rounder, Vivia Jones, who went on to win SAU colours for three successive years (1949–51).
The Wits tennis teams in 1949 – winners and runner-up at the intervarsity (left to right – back row): ‘B’ team – runners-up – J. Gardiner, J. Pratt-Johnson, N. Katzen, T. Gardi and C. Venter (seated): ‘A’ team – winners – D. Black, J. Hurry, B. Holding (captain) and B. Bilse.
Pretoria and Rhodes captured the major share of the laurels in the early intervarsities, but Wits, with such capable players as Brian Bilse, Caesar Venter, Peter Gordon-Smith, John Gardiner and Andre Doman, always gave a good account of themselves. The arrival of Brian Holding, Don Black, John Hurry, Stanley Davidson and the South African junior champion, Neville Katzen, then tipped the scales Wits’s way and the Johannesburg students proceeded to dominate the competition for some years.
The rivalry amongst the men at Wits was intense. Stanley Davidson, for example, became the club champion in 1950 but to do so he had to defeat John Hurry, Wits’s only representative in the SAU team during 1950/51, and Caesar Venter. Davidson’s victory over Venter in the final was an epic five-setter (8-6, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3) with each player winning 25 games.
In 1950 and 1951, Wits and Cape Town shared the men’s intervarsity title but for two years thereafter the Johannesburg students won on their own. At Grahamstown in 1952 they again achieved the distinction of winning both the men’s and women’s sections. On a tense last day, the two unbeaten universities, Wits and Cape
Syd Levy played tennis for South Africa during 1949-52 and was ranked number 2 in the country for three years.
Town, met to decide who would be taking home the various trophies. By scoring a convincing 5-1 victory in the men’s section and a 4-2 win in the women’s, Wits took both the Willcocks Cup and the Eikestad Trophy.
It was Wits’s turn to host the tournament in 1953 and their men’s side, which achieved a fifth successive intervarsity victory, was in devastating form. They dropped only one set in their entire programme and that was to their ‘B’ team. Crowning a happy week, two Witsies. Paul Robinson and Solveig Glietenberg (who had each won three titles in the club championships), were chosen to captain their respective SAU teams.
The SAU side toured Southern Rhodesia in 1953 during the Rhodes Centenary celebrations, playing matches in Salisbury, Bulawayo, Gwelo and Umtali. Apart from providing both captains, Wits supplied another two players to the touring team, namely Neville Katzen and V. Myburgh.
Wits was fast gaining a reputation for producing top calibre players. Amongst the women, Solveig Glietenberg fulfilled her early promise by winning the Western Province senior championships in 1952 and the Mozambique title at Lourenço Marques in 1954. Don Black went on to represent Rhodesia in the Davis Cup and John Hurry became one of South Africa’s leading players, being ranked as high as number six in the country. Hurry won seven provincial tournaments, reached the semi-final stage of the South African Championships before losing to Eric Sturgess, and with Gwendy Love took the national mixed doubles title in 1956.
Neville Katzen led both the Wits and SAU sides with distinction in 1954 and 1955. In the latter year at Pretoria, Wits (with Katzen and Les Bowring prominent) won the Willcocks Cup for the seventh successive time. The entire team (Katzen, Bowring, Goosen and Goldberg) were selected for the combined universities team to play against Northern Transvaal. The women also did well, finishing second to Rhodes, with Evelyn Puler and Joan Sinclair chosen for the SAU team.
Cape Town returned strongly to win the men’s section at Durban in 1956 and again at Bloemfontein a year later. During this period,
Water polo
An important milestone for the university’s water polo club was its participation in the Transvaal water polo league for the first time during the 1946/47 season. Two sides were entered, with the first team winning the second league, which comprised as many as eighteen teams. Promotion to the Transvaal first league was duly earned.
The side, which was ably captained by George Albertyn and coached by Wits graduate, Gerry Goddard, consisted of Dave Walker, Dennis Goddard, Des Cohen, Lofty Speyer, Hilton Selvey, Bruce Macdonald and George Siritsky.
Wits’s participation in league water polo ensured the team was better prepared for
the Johannesburg students’ sole success was a share of the women’s competition with Rhodes in 1956.
Ian Froman, who has since achieved fame as Israel’s tournament director and the man who founded their famous tennis centres, took over from Neville Katzen as Wits’s leading tennis personality. As chairman, captain and a regular member of the SAU side over the next few years, he saw to it that Wits remained at the forefront of intervarsity tennis. The Willcocks Cup was regained at Grahamstown in 1958 with Froman and Paul Koep prominent but was lost amidst controversy the following year. A problem arose in the deciding match of the tournament against Cape Town when one of the Wits players was unable to participate because of a septic hand. As the Capetonians refused to allow a hastily summonsed reserve to take part instead, the match had to be conceded and the intervarsity was lost.
Great interest surrounded the arrival at Wits in 1958 of one of the most exciting prospects in South African tennis – the tall, hard-serving Ray Weedon. A former head-boy of Christian Brothers College, Boksburg, he won the singles and doubles titles at the South African junior championships before enrolling at Wits. Two years later, he became the university’s first recipient of a tennis full blue cum laude, having been chosen for South Africa in the Davis Cup in 1959. He subsequently beat Norway’s number one, Gunnar Sjoewell 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 6-8, 7-5 in his very first international match.
The same year, Weedon came close to becoming the youngest player outside of Eric Sturgess to contest a national singles final on the centre court at Ellis Park. When the then customary ten-minute break was called between the third and fourth sets of his semi-final match with the number one seed, Gordon Forbes, Weedon was leading by two sets to one. He was playing superb tennis and had the crowd buzzing with anticipation of a shock upset because Forbes could win no more than two out of fourteen games in the second and third sets. The break, however, proved Weedon’s undoing and when he returned, he lost his touch, enabling the top seed to come back and win the match.
Ian Froman played at Wimbledon in 1955, reaching the third round in the singles. He later represented Israel in the Davis Cup before becoming one of the founders of the fourteen world-class Israel tennis centres.
intervarsity competitions. In 1949, they wrenched the Harry Getz trophy from Cape Town and achieved their first ‘hat-trick’ by winning again in 1950 and 1951. The Witsies beat their main rivals, Cape Town, 6-2 at Stellenbosch in 1949, 2-0 at Bloemfontein in 1950 and 5-0 at Grahamstown in 1951.
The first Springbok water polo team was chosen in 1952. Wits graduate, Gerry Goddard, who did so much to assist the student club as a coach over a long period, was named as captain of the South African team that travelled to Helsinki to participate in the Olympic Games. Also in the side was the Wits club’s great all-rounder, Des Cohen, who had earlier
Paul Robinson was the South African Universities’ tennis champion in 1953.
Ray Weedon represented South Africa in the Davis Cup in 1959.
Goddard
The Wits water polo team in 1952/53 – SAU champions (left to right – back row):
S. Abrams, A. Volcansky, L. Doppelt and A. Krawitz (seated): J. Hutton, H. Shapiro (captain) and L. Seimon.
participated in the London Olympic Games as a swimmer.
The South Africans did relatively well in their first international water polo competition. They did not manage to reach the quarter-final stage but brought credit to their country by defeating both Mexico (4-0) and Brazil (9-2), with Des Cohen scoring four goals in early-round matches.
Water polo reaped favourable publicity from their participation in the Games, but the Wits club was in the throes of one of those sudden crest–trough transformations that plague most university sports at some stage of their history. Wits lost the intervarsity to Cape Town in 1952 and not long afterwards the league team was relegated to the second division.
Under SAU captain, Harold Shapiro, Wits beat Cape Town 5-2 in 1953 to become intervarsity champions again but they had to wait three seasons for promotion to the Transvaal first league.
When promotion was earned at the end of the 1955/56 season, it was to be the beginning of a highly successful era for the club. Robbie Schwarz, a key figure in the rise of water polo at Wits, recounted that the students were
Other Sports
Victor Macfarlane was influential in setting up a number of new sports during the 1950s. He was responsible for the physical training of the mining students, whilst he also wanted to provide winter training for his swimmers.
A weightlifting club was formed in 1954, with Wits entering the intervarsity tournament the same year. Two years later, Wits emerged as intervarsity champions, the first of six successive SAU victories. The university produced some fine lifters during the 1950s: Andries ‘Boet’ van Niewenhuizen, Adrian Greenstein, Ronnie Bethlehem, Raymond Coll, Andy Hofmeyr, Clive Noble, Barry Sieff, Bert Selipsky, Paul Predecki, Kalman Smith and Ernie Robertson.
The table tennis club made an impressive start. There were 143 entries for the Wits championships
granted no favours when they came up against hardened campaigners. Some of their most uncompromising opponents, such as the wily Bill Lamont, soon taught the youngsters the tricks of the trade in a sport noted for producing more than its fair share of ‘meanies’.
Invariably the smallest player in the teams in which he played, Schwartz learnt to suffer a physical buffeting as a tough and fearless competitor. He made an immediate impression at Wits, where he registered in 1958 and became an integral part of a team that was to become the finest in the country. Indeed, the students were to win many honours over the next few years as they established their superiority at club and intervarsity level. Said Schwarz: ‘We adopted the theory that everyone’s the same size in the water and relished the opportunity to take on physically larger players.’
Three Wits students were to gain selection for South Africa – Robbie Schwartz, Roderick ‘Ginger’ Anderson and Hennie Pelser – and a number of others earned Transvaal and SAU colours. With an abundance of talent available, the club was duly honoured by having two sides in the Transvaal first league from the 1958/59 season.
Their list of achievements grew rapidly and in the 1959/60 season, Wits won the prestigious Hancock Trophy for the first time in its history. Sam Hancock, who was the mayor of Johannesburg and proprietor of Hancock Bakery, presented the Cup in 1922 and, in time, it became one of the most fiercely contested of all sporting competitions in the Transvaal.
The Witsies also won the annual SAU tournament in 1959, taking the Harry Getz trophy with almost arrogant ease. The intervarsity was held in Johannesburg and such was Wits’s dominance that six of their team of seven players (Rod Anderson, Robbie Schwartz, Stanley and Harry Lipschitz, Hennie Pelser and Victor Kabalin) were chosen for the SAU ‘Protea’ side. The Wits University yearbook (ITA) reported: ‘The seventh player, Peter Hugo, who won three swimming titles at intervarsity, would almost certainly have won his colours if he had not been so busy swimming and diving at the tournament.’
in 1951 and fierce competition for places in the team which took part in the first intervarsity the following year. The Wits team won their first seven intervarsities, and the ‘double’ – both men’s and women’s titles – was achieved in 1955 and 1956. The club boasted some fine players during this period, such as Bruno Kampel, C.A.L. Morris who became a Springbok, Sol Phitidis and Iris Resnick. The badminton club participated in intervarsity matches from 1954 onwards, and Maureen Tyghe was women’s champion in 1958.
Ice hockey began in style, with Wits winning the senior league in 1939/40, but ceased towards the end of the 1940s. The rifle club also operated in the 1940s, and with T.A. Robinson prominent, Wits finished third behind Cambridge and Aberdeen in the 1940 Empire intervarsity.
Gerry
captained the Springboks at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki.
C.A.L. Morris
1960–1973: A Golden Era for Sporting Achievement
Inevitably, the fashionable American universities were quick to offer Paul Nash athletic scholarships but after discussions with the parties concerned he decided against any move. By staying at Wits, he knew that he would have to work that much harder for a degree and that his athletic ability would have no bearing on his exam results, but the final outcome would be a fair and accurate assessment.
Wits Sport magazine, June 1985
All Sports Council
In March 1962, Charles Cohen presented a comprehensive report to the All Sports Council (ASC) following meetings he had with officials from all the university’s sporting clubs. He called upon the university authorities to recognise the grievances of the sporting community, representing close on 30 per cent of the entire student population. He asked the university to consider, for example:
• THAT there are over 200 students participating in gymnasium sports – WE HAVE NO GYMNASIUM.
• THAT there are over 300 students using our squash courts – we have only three courts.
• THAT there are 480 students who use the cricket pavilion and a further 1 200 who wish to use it – the pavilion can barely cope with 30 persons at a time.
• THAT there is voluminous correspondence passing between our clubs and outside bodies – we have no secretary.
A month later, a motion presented by Charles Cohen and Robbie Schwarz calling upon the ASC to refuse to accept the funds allocated to sports clubs by the SRC was carried unanimously. The rejection was aimed at drawing the attention of the university authorities to the ‘hopelessly inadequate financial resources which are placed at the disposal of sporting bodies’. A campaign that included a mass meeting was arranged to further emphasise the plight of the university’s sportsmen and women.
The clubs became bitter towards the SRC management, claiming that they were receiving a raw deal from the senior body. The view that a sports director would do a far better job than the SRC as controller of finances was put forward by members of the ASC. Complaints appeared in the national press that the SRC was not paying sufficient attention to sport and was holding back on resolving one of the oldest and deepseated grievances of all – the lack of sports facilities. It was also noted with interest that the Stellenbosch Rugby Club received an
annual grant of R11 500 – 46 times the amount allocated to the Wits Rugby Club!
In the 29 March 1968 issue of Wits Student, the bold headline appeared: ‘ASC Declares UDI’. The newspaper went on to say that ‘on Thursday night at 11.15pm., the All Sports Council passed a motion by 19 votes to three with one abstention … that the All Sports Council should break away from the Students’ Representative Council and approach the University authorities with regard to establishing a sports director’.
For several months, the ASC and the SRC argued over the ‘threatened’ breakaway. But, in spite of threats, the UDI did not materialise. There were nevertheless important changes in the structure of the administration of sport resulting from the conflict. The most far-reaching development was that the ASC treasurer became solely responsible for the administration of sports’ finances. The ASC also obtained representation on the students amenities committee through which it hoped to promote the running of sport on campus and accelerate the proposed improvement of sports facilities.
An ASC Sports Commission that included ASC chairman, Norman Wetterhahn, was set up under the chairmanship of Neville Curtis, deputy vicepresident of the SRC, ‘to do something really constructive for sport’. At a meeting between the commission and the university administration, chaired by the principal, Professor I.D. Macrone, it was agreed that a sum of R100 000 would be used to improve campus facilities as well as the new Marks Park development. In addition, the construction of an indoor sports centre would begin in 1968 and the building of additional squash courts would follow soon afterwards.
In the ensuing years, the ASC made every effort to improve its liaison with the university’s administration and the SRC. The ASC system of governance and its constitution were overhauled, the executive committee members were given specific duties and club constitutions were updated. The University Council was persuaded to separate the grant for the ASC from the general grant made to the SRC. It gave the ASC the Chapter 4
Cohen led
demand for a better deal during the early 1960s.
Charles
the ASC’s
The All Sports Council 1967 (left to right – back row): T. Nix (fencing), K. Rosenbaum (squash), R. Bickford (men’s hockey), E. Benjamin (cross country), P. Rich (athletics), W. Archbold (baseball), N. van Wezel (boat), K. Babich (rugby) and A. Goyns (weightlifting) (middle row): W. Hatfield (gymnastics), R. Koch (angling and skin diving), D. Pigott (karate), M. Dorfman (judo), P. Truda (wrestling), A. Schwarz (tennis), M. Glatt (SRC representative) and M. Kessler (golf) (front row): A. Kestner (women’s hockey), F. Fenwick (correspondence secretary), S. Cooperman (minutes secretary), M. Dane (vice-chairman), D. Wildman (chairman), I. Winslow (sports secretary), D. Reid (assistant treasurer) and R. Schloss (treasurer).
autonomy it sought and, according to Professor Bozzoli, ‘the amount granted was substantially greater than the ASC had been receiving’.
Plans to obtain the services of a sports director were shelved because fears were expressed that the position might increase the chain of communication with higher authority instead of shortening it as planned. The issue was brought up again at an ASC meeting in 1970. The worry existed of ‘sport’s director becoming sport’s dictator’.
Giulio Nardini was a prominent track athlete and cross-country runner at Wits over a number of years. He won Springbok colours in the 3 000 metres steeplechase, representing the country in 1963 and 1966.
It was a shortsighted attitude to adopt as there were increased academic demands on students, and those in the medical and engineering faculties – for so long the heart of Wits sport –were finding it impossible to devote time to club administration. By 1970, Wits boasted 28 sports clubs with a total membership of nearly 3 000 sportsmen and women. With the establishment
Athletics
Wits won the 1960 Dalrymple Cup at Durban to make it four in a row. It was a great day for the Johannesburg students despite the difficult track and weather conditions. Team captain Peter Thorburn had the previous week run the 440yards hurdles at the national championships in 52.0 seconds, the second fastest time (after Gert Potgieter) in the empire that season. But at the SAU, conditions were such that he was only able to equal his intervarsity record for the event in a time of 53.4 seconds. Jon Lang broke the SAU threemiles record in a time of 14 minutes 50.8 seconds; Pat Laurence won the mile and halfmile titles; Vic Essakow the javelin; John Garson the hop, step and jump; and Klaus Schiess the high jump, with a leap of 6 feet 2½ inches.
The meeting concluded a tremendous 1959/60 season for the athletics club – possibly the most successful in its history. In addition to retaining the Dalrymple Cup, Wits won the Southern Transvaal League, the Japie Kruger Relay, the Wanderers’ Interclub Shield, the northern
of the Old Mutual Sports Hall, the indoor clubs flourished. However, Wits lacked the administrative infrastructure.
The financial side had by this time been taken over by Ina Winslow, who was a steadying influence on the administration. Originally called upon by Terence Berkow in 1964 to assist the rugby club, Mrs Winslow took on many additional responsibilities as the demands of the sports clubs increased. She did receive assistance with her mounting secretarial commitments and at one stage two of the most famous names in South African sport – Winslow and Endean –looked after the Wits sports office.
In August 1971, Mel Siff began a lengthy stint as ASC chairman, and he worked towards overcoming the hitches involved in employing a full-time sports officer. In February 1974, the university’s first sports officer was appointed.
universities meeting and the university’s ‘Club of the Year’ award. Peter Thorburn, Klaus Schiess and Pat Laurence were awarded Springbok colours in competition against the Germans, and Vic Essakow, Jon Lang, John Garson and Tony Bloom represented Southern Transvaal during the season. It was therefore with some justification that the student newspaper claimed the Wits Athletics Club ‘was probably the strongest in South Africa’.
The 1960/61 season was almost as successful, with Wits dominant in the Southern Transvaal League. Neil Macdonald, Klauss Schiess, Danie Burger, Noel Good and John Garson excelled in their programme of relay meetings, interclub competitions and league fixtures. Unfortunately, the intervarsity was postponed from April to September and when Wits reassessed their strength after the winter break they discovered that a number of key athletes had either left or were unavailable. Despite Giulio Nardini’s win in the three miles and Vic Essakow returning after a year’s layoff to set a new record in the
javelin, Wits could not prevent Tukkies from securing the Dalrymple Cup.
From this point onwards, Wits athletes struggled to match the performances of leading Afrikaans universities. The club ended 1961 with a smaller side than usual, and the next few years saw brilliant individuals but a lack of depth to succeed in team competitions. The club report for 1961/62 stated:
The club spirit was good amongst the competing athletes, but there was generally a lack of interest in the club. Not one female student joined the club and the shocking number of two freshers signed up. It is perhaps a point to ponder that the Wits choir has many more active members than the athletics club.
Wits performed creditably to come second to Tukkies at Grahamstown in April 1962. This was due mainly to the fine achievement of Neil Macdonald in winning all three hurdles events. Frank Janks and Noel Good were first and second respectively in the halfmile, and Jon Lang (three miles) and Kenny Blake (120yards hurdles) provided valuable points in an encouraging performance by the university.
Neil Macdonald, who had arrived from Rhodes University, was a major asset. During his time at Wits, he won the national 440yards hurdles title in 1961 and 1962 and was selected for the SAU tour of England and Europe. It was on that trip that he achieved a best time of 51.9 seconds for the 440yards hurdles during the British Games. He capped an impressive athletics career by being chosen for the Springboks to compete against the touring Finns in 1963.
In order to boost enthusiasm in the club, a team of 18 athletes visited Lourenço Marques early in 1963 to compete against a combined Mozambique side. Despite several students being entered for events that they had hardly ever tried before (such as the polevault or hammer throw), Wits did well to go down narrowly to the combined side over the twoday meeting.
Efforts to improve the club’s depth were not rewarded and a disappointing fourth
place was recorded in the 1963 intervarsity at Bloemfontein. For a variety of reasons, several potential pointsscorers were unavailable in the men’s events, while the women did not score a point. The despairing club secretary wrote: ‘Come on all you female Witsies, set down your highlacquered hairstyles, don a pair of spikes and come down to the track.’
The highlight for the club in 1963 was the selection of two athletes for South Africa –Jon Lang and Giulio Nardini. An architectural student, Lang was at different times the SAU twomiles (1958), three miles (1959,1960 and 1963) and crosscountry (1959) champion. At national level he won the three miles in 1960, the six miles in 1963 and the marathon in 1963 and 1964. He achieved Springbok colours when chosen to compete in the Athens marathon in 1963 and ran superbly against a strong field to finish third.
Nardini spent a year concentrating on his studies before returning to Wits athletics. At the South African championships in March 1963, he won the 3 000 metres in 9 minutes 6.6 seconds and in the process beat the national allcomers’ record – set by the Swede Esko Siren – by six seconds. Nardini was chosen for the Springbok side that year against the touring Finns and was then reawarded his colours three years later
There were other top athletes at Wits in the early part of the 1960s. During 1961, Noel Good won the Western, Southern and Northern Transvaal halfmile titles, and earned a third place in the national championships. The following year, he was succeeded as provincial champion by teammate Frank Janks. Upandcoming middledistance runners Peter Whewell and Mike Coningham, who both represented Southern Transvaal on the track, later won Springbok colours for crosscountry. Provincial sprinter Trevor Schultz, shotput and discus thrower Allan Levin and middledistance runners Dave Collins and Allan Sherman were also prominent members of the club.
Danie Burger returned to Wits in 1963 as a postgraduate student. In the previous few
The Wits athletics team 1960 –Dalrymple Cup and Southern Transvaal League winners (left to right – back row): J. Garson, F. Solomon, G. Nardini, N. Macdonald, H. Solomon and M. Redfern (middle row): N. Good, S. Norman, G. Vrba, A. Levin, T. Schultz, M. Hawarden, M. Coningham and A. Teggin (seated): H. Meggitt, B. Hewitt, F. Janks, K. Schiess, A. Bloom (chairman), A. Barrow (captain), L. Hurry (secretary), J. Fisher, P. Christianson and H. Rijk.
Macdonald, who was the national 440-yards
Jon Lang won the South African three miles (1960), six miles (1963) and marathon (1963–64) titles. He received his Springbok colours when he finished third in the Athens Marathon in 1963.
Neil
hurdles champion in 1961 and 1962, represented South Africa against Finland in 1963.
years, he had been in Rhodesia, where he had qualified for that country’s team for the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia. The multitalented athlete, who had won the South African decathlon title in 1959, competed in the polevault and won a silver medal. He became the first South African-born athlete to clear 15 feet in the polevault and, on his return to Wits, he repeated the feat, clearing 15 feet 3¼ inches at the Northern Universities Championships.
In 1964, Wits finished third to Potchefstroom and Pretoria in the intervarsity at the Pilditch Stadium, Pretoria. Burger set up a new SAU record in the polevault – 14 feet 6 inches –which bettered the old record by 9½ inches. Other Witsies to shine included Peter Whewell, who took the mile convincingly in 4 minutes 15.2 seconds, with Dave Collins second, and Giulio Nardini, who won the three miles in 14 minutes 34.8 seconds, with Whewell second.
At the 1965 intervarsity at Coetzenburg, Peter Rich’s winning time of 52.9 seconds for the 440yards hurdles was one of the best performances on a wet clay track. As a result, the talented architectural student was selected in September of that year to tour Germany with the SAU team, alongside Danie Burger, Howard Roberts (Natal), Sep Serfontein (Pretoria) and Willie Coetzee (Potchefstroom).
At school, Peter Rich had received coaching from former Wits Springbok Elaine Winter, and succeeded Thorburn and Macdonald as a South African 440yards hurdle champion. He won the national event five times, over 440 yards in 1965 and 1967, and 400 metres in 1968, 1970 and 1973. The recipient of seven full blues at Wits (twice cum laude), he was also awarded Springbok colours in 1966, 1968 and 1970. But Rich, like Thorburn and Macdonald before him, continually faced comparison with South Africa’s world record holder for the 440yards hurdles, Gert Potgieter.
Wits, with 26 points, finished fifth at the 1966 intervarsity at Benoni behind Pretoria (55½), Stellenbosch (42), Potchefstroom (34½) and Free State (32). The Afrikaans universities had taken over and Rhodes (5), Cape Town (3) and Natal (2) were left languishing far behind. The most exciting competitor at the meeting was a Witsie – Paul Nash – who won the 100 yards in 9.6 seconds which equalled his own national junior record. The Wits 4 x 110yards relay team (Klasie Brummer, Peter Rich, William Stolzenburg and Paul Nash) then established a new SAU record. According to Wits Student, ‘Paul Nash again showed his speed on the last leg of this event when he came up from about ten yards behind to overhaul the Potch runner who was leading.’
During the 1966 off season, Nash visited Europe. At Mainz, he ran a South African record time for the 100 yards (9.3 seconds), at Kassel he clocked a bestever 20.6 seconds for the 200 metres, and then made the headlines by pulling off a sprint double (100 and 220 yards) at the British Amateur Athletics Association (AAA) championships.
At the South African championships at Cape Town’s Green Point Stadium in March 1967,
he clocked 9.2 seconds for the 100 yards, the first time 9.4 seconds had been broken in South Africa. A month later, he closed to within 0.1 seconds of the world 100metres record with a time of 10.1 seconds at Potchefstroom. His performance accompanied by a crowd urging him on with the chant of ‘Nash … Nash … Nash’ clearly signalled Nash’s capacity as a worldclass sprinter.
In the 1967 off season, Nash’s campaign in the United States was followed with unprecedented interest. He was up with the fastest men in the world in an invitation event at Los Angeles; gained two second places in bitterly cold conditions in San Diego; and took the sprint double in a Rosebowl meet at Pasadena, breaking and equalling championship records in the process.
In the big race – the AAU (American Athletic Union) 100-yards final at Bakersfield, California – there were three world record holders in the lineup, with Nash, the only white man, wearing South African green and gold. His third place was a fine achievement, but the fact that he was closing in on winner Jim Hines and secondplaced Charlie Green prompted speculation on the outcome of the race had it been over 100 metres.
Back in South Africa, Wits sent nine students to the December 1967 intervarsity at Cape Town and won four events out of a possible 17. The team finished fifth behind Pretoria, Stellenbosch, Potchefstroom and Cape Town. Nash won the sprint titles as expected with times of 10.5 and 21.1 for the 100 and 200 metres respectively, and Peter Rich was a comfortable winner in the 400metres hurdles.
Neil Symons – a former Hilton College victor ludorum – probably created the greatest interest, with a stunning performance in the 800 metres. During the previous season, he had set a new South African record for the distance, but he faced stiff competition against the local favourites at Cape Town. From the start, Symons tucked himself into a handy second place, allowing Stellenbosch’s ‘Div’ Lamprecht to set the pace. At the 400metre mark, Lamprecht led, followed by Symons, with Cape Town’s national champion Ted Warren right on their heels. As they neared the 500metre mark, the young Witsie – running with deceptive ease – increased his stride slightly to go into the lead, the favoured Warren close behind. Then, with 200 metres to go, Symons unleashed his powerful ‘kick’ to leave the rest of the field in his wake. He won by clear five metres, in a time of 1 minute 50.2 seconds.
Two nights later, Symons repeated the performance. Running for the SAU against Western Province, he stormed home in a time of 1 minute 49.4 seconds, the fastest time in South Africa that season.
Paul Nash – the ‘Wits Blitz’ – established himself as the world’s finest sprinter with sensational performances during March and April 1968. At Goudstad on 30 March he ran a windassisted 10second 100 metres. In further races at Krugersdorp (2 April) and Standerton (6 April), he became the first athlete in history to equal the 10second mark for the 100 metres twice in one day, and the first to have done it three times.
Peter Whewell represented Southern Transvaal at athletics and South Africa at cross-country.
Peter Rich was a national hurdles champion five times and received Springbok colours in 1966, 1968 and 1970.
At that stage there were seven other 10second men in the world – Armin Hary (Germany), Harry Jerome (Canada), Horacio Esteves (Venezuela), Bob Hayes (USA), Jim Hines (USA), Willie Turner (USA) and Enrique Figuerola (Cuba). Of the seven, Hines had the most distinguished record over 100 metres – he had twice run the distance in 10 seconds but was only able to better 10.2 on one other occasion up to that time.
Nash recorded another 10second 100 metres in July 1968. One of his greatest achievements came at the famous Zurich Athletics Club championships staged at the new allweather track of the Letzigrund Stadium. In less than an hour, while running into a slight headwind, Nash ran the 100 metres in 10.0 seconds and the 200 metres in 20.1 seconds for one of the most incredible ‘doubles’ in world athletics. Jan Barnard wrote in The Star:
In the 200 metres Nash ran even better. Generating power with every stride, he left the best of Europe struggling in his wake to win from the former Olympic champion Livio Berruti of Italy who clocked 20.7 seconds. Nash’s time is the fastest in the world this year and is also 0.1 seconds outside Tommy Smith’s world record and 0.3 seconds faster than the European record. Less than two weeks later, Nash won the 100 and 220 yards in the British AAA championships. He received his silver challenge trophies – both of which he had won previously in 1966 – from Queen Elizabeth, but politics prevented him from running in that year’s Olympic Games at Mexico City.
In 1968, Wits welcomed a promising female athlete in Sonja van Zyl (later Sonja Laxton) who was then primarily a 400metres runner. She competed as the university’s lone woman athlete in the SAU team that year, collecting a
third place in the 100 metres. In the following seasons, she moved on to the 800 metres and then to the 1 500 metres. Her involvement in middledistance and crosscountry running saw her gain three intervarsity victories (two for the 1 500 metres and one for crosscountry) and become a regular member of the SAU Protea team. Wits remained out of contention in the SAU team competition but there was individual success. Paul Nash set new SAU records in the 100 (10.3) and 200 (20.4) metre sprints in 1969 before a mysterious form of arthritis suddenly cut short his athletics career. John Andrews displayed outstanding form over the 1 500 metres in 1968 to 1969; Klasie Brummer showed much promise in the 800 metres and Peter Rich won the intervarsity quartermile hurdles again in 1969.
Sonja van Zyl (Laxton) won the national 1 500 metres in a new record time of 4 minutes 29.8 seconds at Pretoria in April 1971. She also won the South African crosscountry championship the same year, and by the time she graduated towards the end of 1971 with a Master of Science degree in biochemistry, she was well on her way to becoming one of South Africa’s greatest athletes. Her achievements at university form merely the start of an illustrious running career during which she made history by becoming the first woman runner to be chosen for Springbok teams in track, crosscountry and marathon. In all, she collected 70 national titles, on the track, on the road and in crosscountry. She set 28 senior national records, at one stage holding almost every record from the 1 500 metres to the marathon.
In 1972, Sonja finished sixteenth in the British crosscountry championships, but returned four years later to take fourth place. Amongst other noteworthy performances, she achieved a highly creditable second position behind Mary Stewart in
Paul Nash equalled the world record for the 100 metres five times (once wind assisted) in 1968. Christopher Brasher, a British Olympic gold medallist, wrote in the Observer, ‘Nash has that electric quality, possessed by all great sprinters, of seeming to rise above the ground, to be floating in the air, brushing the earth away from beneath him. He won as he liked.’
Neil Symons finished ahead of De Villiers Lamprecht and Ted Warren to win the 800 metres at the 1967 SAU meeting in Cape Town.
Paul Nash wins the 1967 British AAA 100-metre championship, well ahead of secondplaced Jan Warner of Poland.
the 1 500 metres at the British AAA championships in 1975. In 1980, she took part in the New York marathon, where she finished eleventh in the women’s race out of some 2 000 competitors. She returned the following year for the ten kilometre, womenonly, L’eggs Mini Marathon in Central Park and was twelfth out of a field of five thousand.
The leading personality in Wits University athletics during the seventies was the powerfully built sprint star Erich Essman. Quite apart from his impressive list of achievements on the track, he served the club each year in some capacity on the committee and was chairman for three years. He became one of the university’s most popular figures and the national sports pages warmed to the quietly spoken but fiercely determined engineering student. Headlines such as ‘The Wits Express strikes again’; ‘Erich blink uit’ (Erich shines); ‘Koning van die naellopers’ (King of the speedsters) and ‘No holding the Wits Express’ were commonplace.
Essman finished first or second in both the 100 and 200 metres at the Dalrymple Cup meeting every year, bar one, between 1971 and 1977. His best season was 1974/75 when he achieved the 100 and 200metres double at
Badminton
The undisputed star of the 1961 badminton SAU at Durban was the 23yearold engineering student from Wits, Dick Townsend. He won three titles – the singles, the men’s doubles (with Ian Hartshorne) and the mixed doubles (with Dale Dickinson). Wits Student reported: ‘Playing with great power and exhibiting fine courtcraft, he swept Rodney Lansdown (UCT) off the court in the men’s single final to the tune of 15-11, 15-4.’
Despite Townsend’s domination in 1961, Wits still could not dislodge Cape Town as intervarsity champions, the pattern continuing for another few years. In 1962, Dinky Grup, Ian Hartshorne (both chosen for the SAU teams), Clive Allen (a newcomer who was a former first league player) and Carol Taylor all played well, but Cape Town’s Springbok, Brian Brownlee, set up another victory for his team by winning all three titles.
Cape Town remained as invincible as ever at home in 1963 to record their tenth successive victory – 38 points as against Wits’s 31, Natal 22, Stellenbosch 13 and Rhodes 1. Three Witsies – Ian Hartshorne (winner of the men’s singles) and Dinky Grup and Carol Taylor (winners of the ladies’ doubles) – were chosen for the Proteas.
Ian Hartshorne retained his men’s singles title at Stellenbosch in 1964 when he beat Rick Schoeman of Pretoria 158, 1814,
Baseball
the intervarsity at Cape Town and then repeated the performance in the national championships. Essman’s preparations for the latter were aided by international meetings at which he proved his class in competition against the Spanish champion Jose Carbonell and the Hollander Raymond Jeerenveer. He won the national 100 metres at Cape Town (with Carbonell second) in 10.2 seconds – only Paul Nash had a faster time amongst all other South African sprinters –and then secured the 200 metres in 20.9 seconds. Springbok honours followed in 1978 and 1979. The ‘Essman Era’ was not entirely a oneman show. In 1972, Wits supplied five representatives to the Southern Transvaal side for the national championships – Essman, Martin Haak, Clyde de Marigny, Kevin Weitz and Brian Chamberlain. Haak, who was Wits’s athletics’ captain for three years prior to being awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, won the 400 metres easily in 46.8 seconds at the 1972 Dalrymple Cup meeting at Potchefstroom. De Marigny was also a leading figure in the club and gained several top intervarsity placings during the early seventies. In 1972, he won the national 400 metres in 47.4 seconds.
while Joe de Beer and Frances Hobbs won the mixed doubles final for Wits. The year was described by Wits Student as being one of reconstruction, and greater deeds were to follow.
Wits finally ended Cape Town’s run of 11 consecutive intervarsity triumphs at Pretoria in 1965. The Johannesburg students, led by the Allen brothers, Clive and ‘Porky’, and the talented Jennifer McNamaraSmith, started off well with decisive wins over Natal 1411, Rhodes 132 and Stellenbosch 123. Their campaign gathered pace when they thrashed the champions, Cape Town, 114 and then accounted for Pretoria 105 and Potchefstroom 150. Jennifer McNamaraSmith became a triple titleholder by winning the women’s singles final 11-1, 11-4 against Alison Davidson (Cape Town), the women’s doubles with Frances Hobbs and the mixed doubles with Clive Allen. The Allen brothers contested the men’s final; the only blot on an impressive record occurred in the men’s doubles where the favoured Wits pairings were both eliminated in the semi-finals.
During the next few years, Wits fielded a number of very good players (Owen Kerr, Cynthia Stroud, Colleen Carey, Mark Eland, Lynda von Ehrenberg, Brian Wedgwood and Peter Brown) but a second intervarsity triumph remained elusive.
In the 1960 season, the club was able to field four teams of which three were entered in the league. Lack of experience was the university’s greatest problem, although there were quality players in Brian Buckham, Julian Senior, Peter Kingsley, Johnny Taylor and Unky Zangwell.
It all came together in the 1961 season. The greatly improved first team won the Chester Jones baseball trophy for winning the senior reserve ‘A’ league. The team played 14 matches, winning 12, losing one and drawing one – 130 runs were scored by the side, with 50 against. Wits were not as successful at the SAU
tournament. They were narrowly defeated 1413 by Natal and 1514 by Stellenbosch before going down to Cape Town 2115. It was to be a similar story the following year, when Wits again finished last. Suffice to say that amidst a disappointing performance, Peter Wilkes played his usual hardhitting game to good effect and justified his selection for the SAU side that played Northern Transvaal.
Despite the club’s success in gaining promotion to the second tier of the promotion league, little support was forthcoming from the university. The ASC chairman Charles Cohen
Ronnie Jack – baseball’s first full blue.
Sonja Laxton became only the third athlete to be awarded Springbok colours for track, cross-country and marathon.
wrote in his report to the university’s authorities: ‘The facilities of the club were described as “disgusting” and, hardened as I am at this stage to complaints about facilities, I’m afraid that this was not too strongly put.’
There was a falloff in numbers but good work on the part of the club’s administrators saw the first team being relatively unhindered in its onward march towards the Transvaal major league. They received excellent coaching from Stan Abrams and Peter Leibrandt in the early 1960s, and then Dennis Grenfell took over to great effect. Of the players, the arrival of Derek Franks in 1961 was of particular importance, while Lionel Hope, Len Davis, Johnny Taylor, Dave Tooch, Ivan Socher, Jon Lang, Bill Archbold, Neville Kourie and Mike McDonnell, a fine captain, all featured prominently in baseball reports from the early 1960s.
For several years, the Witsies challenged strongly for the honours in the promotion league, but somehow the top spot remained elusive. The first team had to wait until 1966 before they gained promotion.
When Dennis Grenfell, who had been baseball coach to Johannesburg’s top team, Crown Mines Giants, decided to join Wits, he was followed by one of his former players Gerrie Booyzen. The latter provided impetus to student efforts to earn promotion in 1966. They beat Wanderers 97 in an illtempered match at Kent Park, and their nearest rivals, Pirates, were accounted for at home 86 and away 103. The rest of the programme was plain sailing.
Perhaps the most outstanding achievement of the 1966 season was Peter Monis’s pitching against Dodgers. He had his opponents baffled as he pitched eight frames without having a hit marked against him. Wits Student commented at the time: ‘This is a Wits record and in fact has only been done about seven times in the history of the Transvaal Baseball Union.’
Newly promoted Wits made their major league debut in 1967 against the wily Transvaal pitcher ‘Gooks’ van der Walt and his wellestablished Wanderers side. Victory eluded the students that day after they had led 53 at the end of the seventh frame and they had to wait until their encounter with Bears, several games later, for their first win. In what was a testing season, victories were few and far between. One of the most exciting clashes of the major league programme was Wits’s defeat of Condors 1413 after being down 80.
For many years, the league organisers persevered with the idea of a doubleheader that saw sides playing one another twice in the course of an afternoon. An enforced change in pitchers invariably brought surprise results and Wits’s doubleheader against Wanderers in 1967 was a good example. The students won the opening encounter 75 with Ronnie Jack, Bill Archbold, Dennis Grenfell, Mike McDonnell, Derek Franks and Richard Walker in fine form. But when Franks was rested in the second match, Wanderers stormed back to register a devastating 182 victory.
Wits caused some of the biggest upsets of
1967 in the matches leading up to the knockout cup final. They accounted for Pirates and Old Edwardians, but were beaten 5-2 in the final by ace pitcher Dave Lowery and his Giants team. By virtue of their fine achievement in reaching the final of a major competition, much was expected in 1968. But Wits needed another year in the big league in which to find their feet, and for a time the threat of relegation hung over them. Late wins over Wanderers and Pirates and two resounding victories (102 and 91) in a doubleheader against Condors enabled Wits to creep up to third from bottom.
Despite the indifferent season, a fine team was gathering that included the outstanding Transvaal shortstop Ronnie Jack; the often spectacular first baseman and catch Richard Walker; two of the best outfielders in the province in Neville Kourie and Rowan Dent; and able pitchers in Jimmy Starkey and newcomer Johnny Peer. There was a formidable array of batters, good enough to confront the best pitching battery, and in this regard Peer, Kourie, Jack, Bobby Fiore, Ted Nichols and Dave Starkey were conspicuous. In 1969, the Witsies came into their own and for the first time in many years a team other than Crown Mines Giants led the league. A tremendous run of 15 wins in 16 games enabled Wits to oust Giants from top position but the lead could not be maintained.
The key man in Wits’s success was undoubtedly pitcher Johnny Peer, who went on to win his Springbok colours. He was the side’s inspiration, while a welcome asset was new coach Walter Albano, father of the American baseman Tom Albano. Albano senior brought a more positive approach to the Wits game in the running, stealing and doordie tactics. He did much for the spirit of the team, a vital ingredient in its success. Said Wits Student: ‘Full turnouts at practices, goodnatured clowning and bantering indicate the keenness and camaraderie of the side.’
Baseball was booming and in 1970, Gerrie Booyzen captained a combined student team on tour to Europe. It was a most successful trip, with the highlight being memorable victories over a powerful American team – playing under the name of Pschorr Breweries – in Munich. Booyzen recalled: ‘They were largely made up of players with professional experience in the United States who were attending German universities as a Vietnam draftdodge. We astounded them by winning 32 on a Saturday afternoon, and when they informed us that they had never lost on a Sunday, we promptly beat them 43.’
The first intervarsity for six years was held at Cape Town in 1970. Wits did not fare well, losing to Cape Town and the eventual winners Natal, but there was a consolation win over Rhodes. They fared better in competitions at home, again reaching the final of the knockout competition, and defeating Giants 149 in a memorable league encounter.
To beat Giants, with their formidable list of Springboks, was always a near impossible task. In Dave Lowery, they boasted the only South
Agony for Rowan Dent
Johnny Peer
Basketball
A men’s basketball team was established in 1959 even though it was to be a couple of years before an allweather surface court was constructed. This, in fact, resulted from an approach that the ASC had made to the registrar ‘recommending the use of the examination hall for basketball practices or failing that, that an openair court be built.’
The club received a boost in 1960 with the arrival of Bill Thompson. Popularly known as the ‘Yankee at Wits’, he had played for Brown University in the Ivy League and was quickly snapped up by the Transvaal side. He also received the first full blue for basketball at Wits and was able to bring out the best in promising players such as Dirk Desmet and Johnny Moynhos.
In 1961, Thompson was joined in the provincial team by Brian White, an engineering student who won a full blue for three successive seasons. Both were chosen to play for Transvaal against the touring Greek champions Panathinaicos. White later became a regular fixture in the Springbok side, playing a number
African pitcher to have made the grade in the professional game in the United States. But Wits stood up well to the challenge and over a lengthy period could justifiably claim to be Giants’ greatest rivals.
Wits fielded three teams plus bench players in 1971 and although no trophies were won, there was much to commend in the game’s increased popularity on campus. Gerrie Booyzen typified the enthusiasm that prevailed in the club. Early in the 1971 season, he misjudged a skied ball to the outfield and was hit above the eye. The incident –which received pictorial coverage in Rooi Rose –resulted in Booyzen receiving 14 stitches, but he was back in action in only a matter of days, pitching Wits to a 235 victory over Old Edwardians.
Success deservedly came in 1972 and 1973 when Wits won the intervarsity competition. Padraig Culligan, Richard Walker, Clive Granville, Chris Marais, Tim Gane, Jonty Kirkman and Tom Albano showed up well in an important breakthrough for Wits baseball. Booyzen was selected as coach for the combined SAU team, a position he was to hold for many years.
A.
of internationals at home as well as on tour to Lourenço Marques and Rhodesia.
The first intervarsity tournament was held at Durban in 1961. It was not until 1966 that Wits won the Stefanutto Floating Trophy but several of their players excelled during the intervening years: Bill Thompson (as captain) and Brian White were chosen for the first combined universities side, while Aristo Moschoudis (who was topscorer with 78 points at the 1963 tournament), Barry Robson, Roy Gandy, Ray
The Wits baseball team that played in the 1970 intervarsity at Cape Town (left to right –back row): S. Goldbaum, R. Dent, J. Kirkman, C. Stanley, M. Nicholls, P. Culligan and R. Kable (front row): R. Jack, T. Albano, W. Albano (manager), T. Gane and D. Sharp.
The Wits basketball team 1959 (left to right – back row):
Dimopoulous (secretary), H. Lipschitz, D. Israelstam, C. Gazides, N. Nestorides, S. Solomon and M. Helig (chairman) (in front): D. Desmet, P. Mantis and J. Moynhos (captain/ coach).
Brian White (number 9) in action for Transvaal.
Chris Jonker – a 1969 Springbok.
Lock, Norman Yenson and Nick Lozides all showed up well and received Protea colours.
When Wits won their first intervarsity at home in 1966, four of the team achieved selection for the Protea team that lost 7943 to a Transvaal team bolstered by eight Springboks. Roy Gandy, chosen for the SAU side for the fifth successive year, was named as Protea captain, with Brian White, Nick Loizides and Dick White also receiving their colours.
In 1966, the Wits students were referred to as ‘the young giants’ of the Transvaal League. They had been promoted to the first division that year and they finished in a creditable third place. They also continued to do well in the intervarsity, emerging unbeaten in 1967 at Grahamstown and retaining the Stefanutto Trophy in 1968 by thrashing Natal 80-47 in the final.
There were two main reasons for the successes achieved by the basketball club. Firstly, the installation of floodlights at the court enabled the club to organise evening practices and matches, resulting in increased participation in the sport. Secondly, the influx of Greeks into the club saw the standard of the game improve tremendously. Nick Loizides, who won his full blue in 1965, was followed by outstanding players such as Nick Valasis, Vaios Kokkoris, Johnny Paidoussi and Costa Conidaris. The last three of these had a lengthy association with the club and were still playing for the old boys’ team 20 years later. Valasis as captain, Kokkoris, Paidoussi and Conidaris were all chosen for the 1967 SAU team.
Vaios Kokkoris, a law student, first represented Transvaal in July 1969, and a couple of months later was chosen for the national side that visited Lourenço Marques. He was named as one of the five all-star awards at that year’s national championships, and selected for Springbok teams to play against Rhodesia at Cape Town, and for a tour to the United States that was cancelled.
Another Wits player good enough to make the Springbok team was Chris Jonker. A PhD student in engineering, he had represented the Netherlands under18 team in the 1958 European championships prior to moving to South Africa. He played all his internationals for the Springboks in 1969, touring Rhodesia and Lourenço Marques and representing South Africa against Rhodesia at Cape Town.
The women’s section of the club was formed in 1962 and enjoyed much success in the sixties. Coached initially by Maurice Schachman, they improved rapidly and won their first intervarsity tournament at Cape Town in 1963. Lucille Lakier, who was the tournament’s topscorer with 47 points, was chosen as Protea captain, and four other Witsies were included in the side – Heather Robertson, Heather Rosenberg, Lynne Stewart and Denise Taylor.
The women continued to do well, winning the tournament in 1964 and 1965, finishing second to Rhodes in 1966 and 1967 and then regaining the title in 1968. Unfortunately, the competition did not always receive the full support of the other universities and in 1965, for example, Wits and Cape Town were the only two contestants.
Each year, Wits featured prominently in the selection of SAU teams – some unofficial – that played against provincial teams. Denise Taylor, Gail Baron, Janice Levensohn, Etienne Joffe, Melanie Levensohn, Sharon Cooperman, Anne Hofman, Tziona Miller, Lorraine Stern, S. Berger, Beverley Gelb and Ann Hochfeld were chosen at various stages. The last two named were also selected for Transvaal and awarded full blues, while Hochfeld received the Terence Berkow trophy as Wits’s Sportswoman of the Year in 1967.
In 1970, the men’s section was chosen to participate in the newly formed nineteam national league and fielded a strong side under the captaincy of Chris Jonker. At times during the 1970s the university was forced to rely on graduates and guest players in order to hold their own. Of the students who participated, Don Murchison (who captained the SAU side), Roger Shoon Shiong, Lawrence Tong, Gavin Julyan and Carlos Ahrens were prominent, but Wits’s performances at the SAU tournaments were somewhat modest.
Vaios Kokkoris returned to the forefront of South African basketball in 1973 when he won another allstar award and was rated the outstanding Springbok in the national side that played in that year’s South African Games against West Florida, Portugal and Rhodesia. He was a key player in Springbok sides throughout a decade in which Tests were played on a regular basis.
The women’s section also relied on graduates and nonstudents during the early 1970s and for several years they were unable to make an official appearance in the SAU tournament. The leading student player during an erratic period in the club’s history was Diane Mitchell, who became one of South Africa’s greatest basketball players.
Vaios Kokkoris – the long-serving Springbok star – in command.
The Wits team that won the 1967 intervarsity at Grahamstown (left to right – back row): George Bylos, Vaios Kokkoris, Philip Park, ‘Fish’ Fisher, Johnny Paidoussi and Costa Conidaris (front row); Nick Valasis, Terry Pretoritis (coach) and Theo Johannides
Boxing
Chairman Dan Ellis and trainer Bill Hunter worked assiduously towards preparing the Wits side for 1960 and particularly the intervarsity that was held in Pretoria. Lack of experience was the greatest weakness and only Don Klopper was chosen for the SAU team, although James Lindsay and Phil Goldstein shaped up well.
A disappointing performance in 1961 from a team consisting of only three members reflected the dwindling interest of students in the sport. The club’s secretary, Charles Cohen, who was also chairman of the ASC, wrote early in 1962:
The club’s activities are much in the doldrums due primarily to inefficient organisation on the part of the committee and also to a paucity of facilities which deter potential members from joining. It is wellnigh impossible to organise tournaments or championships on the campus … amongst other things, it lowers [the club’s] standing and prestige in the eyes of the other universities.
There was very little activity in the boxing club during 1962 and Wits Student announced that ‘the club seems to have died a quiet death’. Wits’s only entry at the intervarsity at Bloemfontein was Cecil McLaren who travelled down at his own expense and fought in the middleweight division. He lost to his Stellenbosch counterpart; for the first two rounds he was ahead on points but in the last round left an opening for his opponent and was knocked out.
A small team was sent to the 1963 intervarsity but Dennis de Necker was the only Witsie to reach the final of any of the divisions. As captain of the side, he was to do even better at the Grahamstown intervarsity in 1964 by winning the welterweight title.
There had been an encouraging increase in membership from eight in 1963 to 21 in 1964, although the club’s dismal record of the previous few years militated against any chance they had of obtaining the services of a trainer on a regular basis. As a result, the team was unfit and, despite entering the largest team in 1964, could only manage fourth place out of the eight universities on show. Brian Abrahams was selected for the
SAU team but had clearly given himself no chance of being included as he had already departed for Johannesburg.
No doubt annoyed at missing out on the chance to represent the Protea team, Abrahams returned with a vengeance in 1965 and was the most outstanding fighter at that year’s intervarsity. He defeated Stellenbosch’s 1964 light heavyweight champion in the semi-final and then took the final convincingly through a first-round TKO. His lethal left hook paved the way in a superb performance that saw Abrahams gain automatic selection for the SAU team this time.
After the 1966 tournament, an SAU team was selected to tour England and Ireland during the Christmas vacation. The side, which included three Witsies – Ian Brummer (the team captain), Brian Abrahams and Stephan van Heerden –enjoyed a most successful venture and produced a pleasing tour record that included winning all three tournaments against university sides and only losing to London’s Belsize Boxing Club, the oldest in the world.
In 1967 at Pretoria, the small Wits team achieved the distinction of all four members reaching the finals of their respective weight divisions. Stuart Howes cleverly boxed his way into the final of the light welterweight division where he beat his muchfancied opponent from Cape Town on points. Willie Rautenbach won the light middleweight division through a knockout and the final of the middleweight division was an allWits affair between Ian Brummer and James Lindsay. Both boxers had won their semifinal bouts with second-round knockouts and, in one of the best finals of the evening, Brummer emerged a close points winner.
From that time onwards, Wits boxing suffered through lack of depth, although Willie Toweel was a great asset as club coach and boxers often excelled at the annual intervarsity. A fifth place in 1970, for example, was due to Stuart Howes’s superb performance in the light welterweight division. He was deservedly awarded the E.G. Levitan Trophy for the best boxer of the tournament. Said Ian Brummer: ‘It was possibly the finest performance I saw by any boxer at an intervarsity tournament – Stuart certainly had the most educated left seen for many a year.’
An improved third position was achieved in 1972 with Chris Leach and Jomo King being good enough to win selection for the SAU team. The most exciting contest of the intervarsity involved King, who defeated Pretoria’s Piet de Lange through a thirdround TKO. It was a brutal clash, with one newspaper commenting: ‘It was obvious from the beginning that the fight could end at any moment, so hard did they climb into each other. The only question was who would land the deciding punch.’
Leach won the light welterweight division again in 1973, but thereafter the fortunes of the club were largely based on the deeds of Adam van Tonder, widely regarded as the hardest puncher in the country, pound for pound, during the mid1970s.
Members of the 1967 Protea touring team on the RMS Edinburgh Castle (left to right): Brian Abrahams (Wits), Norman du Plessis (Natal), Stephan van Heerden (Wits) and Ian Brummer (Wits).
Stuart Howes received the E.G. Levitan Trophy for the ‘best boxer’ at the 1970 SAU tournament.
The Wits boxing team 1972 (left to right – back row): Jomo King, Owen Thomas and Dennis Opperman (front row): Chris Leach, Willie Toweel (coach) and Tony Beslowitz.
Cricket
Eddie Barlow underlined his great promise early in the 1959/60 season, scoring 100 against Pirates and then 107 not out in the university’s total of 172 against Southern Suburbs. He might not have maintained the same momentum throughout the season, but still topped Wits’s batting averages again (733 runs – average 29.32) and was selected for Transvaal and the SAU team. He had kept wicket for some time – once stumping the Springbok keeper Johnny Waite for a duck in a WitsWanderers clash – but had since turned to bowling.
The highlight for Wits in 1959/60 was their second place in the Premier League. The students finished with 43 points – 23 behind Wanderers A’s 66 – but it did reflect the progress made by a wellbalanced combination under skipper Warwick Barnes. The unavailability of Colin Eagle was partially offset by the arrival of Raymond White. A stylish young batsman, White was second to Barlow in the Wits’ averages with 411 runs (average 25.69) and a best knock of 100 not out against Old Parktonians.
Future rugby Springbok Michel Antelme formed a good opening bowling partnership with Graham Bunyard. The backup quartet of Warwick Barnes, Robin Hoare, Eddie Barlow (who obtained a hattrick against Balfour Guild) and Sid Stanley, helped give Wits a formidable attack. Bunyard captured 68 wickets (average 14.48), while Stanley sprung to the forefront of Transvaal cricket in remarkable fashion. The selectors were interested in his legspinners, sliced with googlies. He was drafted into the Transvaal team and responded by recording a match analysis of ten wickets for 172 runs against Western Province. Hailed as a ‘matchwinner’, he immediately became a prospect for South Africa’s tour to England in 1960. He and Bunyard took part in the Springbok trials but neither was selected for the final side.
The 1959/60 season was one of both sen
sational and unusual incidents. There was a disastrous innings of 27 (Alan Menter 14) against Wanderers; instead of delivering the ball, a Pirates’ bowler ran out a Wits batsman at the nonstriker’s end to enable his side to win a match by 9 runs; 50yearold Eric Rowan and his brother Athol shared a partnership of 122 in almost even time for Jeppe against Wits; and when the official umpire had to leave the field in a match against Old Johannians, Wits’s Robin Hoare was not only called upon to substitute, but had to turn down an appeal for bad light, to the detriment of the students who were 38/9.
For the 1960/61 season, Wits lost Robin Hoare, who moved across to Old Parktonians, and Michel Antelme, who was touring the British Isles and France with the Springbok rugby side. But they were still able to put together a wellbalanced attack. It was their batting that initially let them down and it became commonplace for the side to be dismissed for under 100. The batsmen just could not score enough runs to give the bowlers a target to work against and prior to intervarsity, all six Transvaal League and three Lionel Phillips matches had been lost.
The turning point during the season came on the second day of the intervarsity tournament at Cape Town. In their opening match, Wits had been routed for 137 on an easypaced Newlands track with only Rowland Rex (60 not out) and Alan Menter (29) offering any resistance. However, Eddie Barlow, who had been on Currie Cup duty for Transvaal, returned that evening and spearheaded a batting revival the following day as Wits overhauled Natal’s total of 195 with only five wickets down (Barlow 70). Victories followed over Potchefstroom and Rhodes and Wits had slightly the better of a drawn encounter with Cape Town.
On returning home, Wits lost only one match in the second half of the season, soaring off the bottom of the log and an aura of no hope to move
Louis Duffus, the doyen of South African cricket writers, said of Eddie Barlow: ‘I am inclined to contend that he had more influence over South African cricket than any single player I know.’
Ray White represented Wits and Cambridge universities, and later Gloucestershire and Transvaal.
The Wits First XI 1959/60 (left to right – back row): Chris Huddy, Rowland Rex, Alan Menter, Mike Antelme, Rob Kinsley, Malcolm Bunyard and John Landau (scorer) (front row): Robin Hoare, Eddie Barlow (vice-captain), Warwick Barnes (captain), Dr Mervyn Shear (chairman), Graham Bunyard and Roy Hurd.
Graham Bunyard was selected as a Springbok trialist and represented the 1961 Fezelas in England.
up to fifth place in the Lionel Phillips competition and seventh in the Transvaal League.
During the off season, Barlow and Bunyard accompanied the highly successful Fezelas – a team comprising some of South Africa’s most promising young players and captained by Test star Roy McLean – on a tour to England. The tour was designed to provide potential Springboks with invaluable overseas experience.
The 1961/62 season was not a happy one for Wits. The club was in the throes of rebuilding its First XI, having lost players of the calibre of Barnes, Bunyard and Stanley, while Barlow was heavily committed to provincial and Test duties. As a result, Wits finished tenth out of twelve teams in the Premier League, eleventh out of twelve in the Transvaal League and fourth in the intervarsity at Pretoria.
On the bright side, the club was fortunate to acquire the services of Don MackayCoghill. He had represented Rhodes University primarily as a batsman, although he was known to bowl leftarm spin. On deciding to switch his degree course, he transferred to Wits and ended up as the leading run scorer for the Johannesburg students in his first season.
At the outset of 1962/63, MackayCoghill was entrusted with the captaincy. A successful preseason tour to Natal augured well for the side, but once again Wits finished well down the Premier League log. There was one significant development in the course of the season and that was the transformation of MackayCoghill into a seam bowler. Although he bowled occasionally until the third day of the 1962 intervarsity at Port Elizabeth, he found himself opening the bowling for the SAU XI against the host province.
Many fine provincial performances followed as Don MackayCoghill became one of the most feared bowlers in the Currie Cup. But his greatest achievement for Wits was leading the university to the 1963/64 Premier League title. The season was the most successful that the cricket club had experienced up to that time as they also shared first place at the rain-affected intervarsity at Potchefstroom.
Wits started their last Premier League game of the season three points behind Jeppe Old Boys in the title race. But with Jeppe fighting a losing battle for first-innings points against Old Edwardians at Houghton, Wits scored a fine outright win over Old Maristonians at Bergvlei for five valuable points and the championship. The students scored a massive 2945 declared in two hours and forty minutes before bowling out Old Marists for 124 and 270. Left to get 101 in two hours, they managed their target in an hour with Harold Hester celebrating the achievement by scoring the winning runs with a straightdriven six.
At the end of the season, Don MackayCoghill received the Norbert Erleigh bat for the outstanding performance by an allrounder, scoring 807 runs (average 33.62) and taking 58 wickets (average 16.91). Tony Vorster was the outstanding Wits batsman, accumulating 790 runs (average 46.7); and Wilfred ‘Goofy’ Reich was the leading Wits wickettaker with 60 (average 17.37).
Sharing first place in the SAU week completed the season’s success. The Witsies were unbeaten, defeating Natal and the Orange Free State and drawing with Cape Town, Pretoria and Rhodes. Don MackayCoghill (as captain), Harold Hester and Elton Chatterton were chosen for the strong SAU eleven that beat Ali Bacher’s Transvaal team outright in two days at Stilfontein.
Wits cricket was riding the crest of the wave and the First XI narrowly missed winning the Premier League for the second successive season in 1964/65. They finished second behind Wanderers, with Don MackayCoghill making another significant contribution as an all-rounder, Des Sacco heading the side’s runscoring and Goofy Reich and Derek Esterhuizen continuing to take wickets in an effective attack.
The most exciting match of the season was probably the victory over West Rand, with Wits declaring at 3114 after four hours’ play, hoping to obtain an outright victory. However, West Rand batted determinedly and at the start of the last over were 305/9. Tony Vorster’s first ball was a long hop that was hooked for two runs; the next
The Wits First XI 1963/64 – winners of the Transvaal Premier League, the Senator W.J. O’Brien Intervarsity Shield and Wits’s ‘Club of the Year’ (left to right – back row): H. Hester, R. Farrer, D. Esterhuizen, W. Reich, L. Rael, M. Christie and J. Breet (front row): W.H. Milton (president), E. Chatterton, D. Sacco (vice-captain), D. Mackay-Coghill (captain), K.G. Suttle (coach), A. Vorster and J. Landau (chairman).
Sid Stanley played for Transvaal and participated in Springbok trials.
was a full toss that was mishit, and the third saw the batsman spoon the ball back to the bowler, enabling Wits to win narrowly by four runs.
It is always pernicious to refer to any side as a oneman team and between 1964 and 1977, Wits produced a number of notable performers. However, there were times when one wondered where the university would have been without the multifaceted talents of Peter de Vaal. For 12 seasons the quintessence of Wits cricket, de Vaal was chosen for the illfated Springbok tour of Australia in 1971/72 and represented the SAU on no fewer than seven occasions, three times as captain. A fine left-handed batsman who often opened the innings at provincial level, he was also a highly successful leftarm spin bowler.
De Vaal was brought up in the Western Transvaal where coaching facilities were practically nonexistent and he was forced to turn to league cricket from an early age in order to develop his game. At Wits, his cricket flourished from the outset and he was chosen for the SAU side that defeated Western Province by 40 runs in 1965. He bowled superbly to take 3 for 13 in 16 overs, an auspicious start to some outstanding performances at the intervarsity week by the longserving allrounder. During his stay at the university, Wits won the William O’Brien Shield on four occasions, twice outright.
In league cricket, the De Vaal era saw the Witsies come close to winning the Premier League several times, but successful years were dissected by seasons of transition when circumstances rather mounted up against them. The students were predictable only insofar as they usually started badly because of exam commitments but finished strongly. Generally, Wits did not benefit from the league’s system whereby sides were divided into ‘A’ and ‘B’ sections according to their positions at the halfway stage of a season.
The 1965/66 season demonstrated that the university was penalised by such an arrangement. Up until Christmas of that year, the disrupted Wits side was lying fourth from the bottom and found themselves in the ‘B’ section of the Premier League. But under the captaincy of Roger Farrer, they proved that they were worthy of a place in the senior division by emerging clear winners of the lower section.
During 1966/67, Wits qualified for the top section of the Premier League, but it took the side a while to move into top gear. In a divided league programme, Wits finished fifth out of seven in the ‘A’ section of the Premier League, tenth out of 14 in the Sunday league and sixth out of seven in the ‘B’ section of the Saturday league. The sensational last couple of weeks when they dismissed Old Parktonians for 28 and then mowed down Jeppe for 22, left supporters wondering whether the university had been operating at halfpace for most of the season.
The outstanding bowler throughout the league campaign was the accurate seamer Derek Esterhuizen in his last season for Wits. Particularly memorable was his achievement of 8 for 14 against Old Edwardians, while he also led the devastation of Jeppe with a match analysis of 12 for 40. At a higher level, Esterhuizen bowled well for Transvaal B and was subsequently chosen for the senior side against Bobby Simpson’s 1966/67 Australians.
Two young Witsies – Pat Flanagan and Albie During – were selected for the SAU team that played against the Australians. During was chosen after a successful week that saw him record scores of 72, 73, 31, 99 and 62 not out. Then, in the winter of 1967, Flanagan and During were chosen for the SAU side on a 21match tour of England. Two first-class fixtures were played – a drawn encounter with Cambridge University
Pat Flanagan captained both Wits and the South African Universities. He also represented Transvaal and is one of few players to have scored 100 runs and taken 10 wickets in a South African first-class match.
Don Mackay-Coghill led Wits in their highly successful 1963/64 season.
Peter de Vaal was selected for the cancelled Springbok cricket tour to Australia in 1971/72.
Albie During captained the SAU XI and represented Transvaal.
and a convincing innings victory over Oxford. Both Witsies enjoyed a fair measure of success. Flanagan was the leading wickettaker on the tour with 52 at an excellent average of 14.82 and also contributed 297 runs at 24.75. During, who captained the SAU side the following year, scored 447 runs, average 26.29, with a highest score of 76.
Flanagan, a former South African Schools player, was a mediumfast bowler and sound middleorder batsman, good enough to perform the rare feat of scoring 100 runs and taking ten wickets in a match – against Natal B – during the 1968/69 season. He played representative cricket for Transvaal for more than a decade, with his impressive strike rate making him a feared bowler.
Wits on the first innings filled the bottom three places in the league log – Jeppe, Old Parktonians and Southern Suburbs. In contrast, the university defeated Old Johannians for the first time in several seasons and then Wanderers, the eventual champions. The latter encounter was a battle of fluctuating fortunes and finished amidst great tension. Pat Flanagan took 6 for 57 to reduce Wanderers to 184 and Wits overhauled this total with nine wickets down thanks to Peter de Vaal (70), Ian Jackson (44) and dogged tailend efforts from Neill Edwards and John Argyle.
The third place in the Premier League for the second successive season was overshadowed by a terrific performance at the annual intervarsity week. Rarely had any side dominated the cricket to the extent that Wits did at the 1970 competition. Seeded third behind Natal and Cape Town, they proceeded to win all five matches and thereby obtained maximum points.
Astutely led by Pat Flanagan, Wits earned a reputation during the week for being the best fielding side to have participated in the competition. An abiding memory was their unimpeachable catching, and against the favourites Natal, for example, the match was won by four brilliant catches in the arc between gulley and leg slip, two of which were snapped up by Andy Ellis.
In Johannesburg club cricket, Wits experienced erratic performances for a number of years. With Peter de Vaal amassing 1 000 runs, they improved to fourth position in the 1967/68 Premier League behind Old Johannians, Balfour Park and Wanderers. The following year, they did not qualify for the seventeam ‘A’ section and languished in the lower division. They did save some face by winning this competition by seven points.
In 1969/70, Wits came back strongly to finish third in the ‘A’ section behind the two sides from the Wanderers. Wits could have won the league but were inconsistent on the home stretch. They beat the champions, Wanderers A, in a tremendous performance after collapsing at the hands of Transvaal pace bowler Gary Watson to be all out for a modest 132 (John Cheetham 54). The Witsies proceeded to demolish their visitors for 82. Richard Rice, a fast bowler who proved a great acquisition, took 5 for 21 and was ably backed by Pat Flanagan and mediumpacer Rob Train.
The 1970/71 season was successful, although Wits was disappointed not to win the Premier League. Their programme began well with a second place in the Transvaal League, which had become a tournament for the top six sides of the previous season. The good early season showing boosted their hopes for the Premier League. In an absorbing season, the Witsies were excitingly unpredictable. Three of the four sides to beat
Although reluctant to single out any players in the side, coach Gerald Ritchie commented: ‘If I have to make special mention it is for Robert Cheetham who has matured as a batsman (he scored 462 runs at an average of 231.00 for the week). He hit the ball with tremendous power. His 203 not out against Stellenbosch was outstanding.’
An explosive opening batsman who hit powerfully off the front foot, Robert Cheetham’s achievement of scoring a double century before lunch was sensational at any level of the game. But while the stage was indubitably his, the selectors showed their high regard for the Wits team when they included four of the side in the SAU XI to play against NorthEastern Transvaal – Cheetham, Pat Flanagan as captain, Peter de Vaal and Anton Joubert.
For De Vaal, his finest performance at the SAU was to occur the following year – at Cape Town in 1971 – when Wits finished second. He scored 334 runs (average 83.6) and captured 20 wickets (average 9.0). He struck an unbeaten 118 against Natal – one of three centuries that he compiled at intervarsity weeks – and mesmerised sides with the ball.
After two seasons in which Wits challenged strongly for league honours, their downward spiral in 1971/72 was a setback. It was not entirely unexpected, as they had lost several key players, including Pat Flanagan, but a lowly tenth position out of twelve teams was cause for some alarm. However, suddenly, in 1972/73, they were dragged from the dosshouse to the palace steps. With two matches to go, Wits were six points off the pace. They then came unstuck against Old Edwardians when Wits alumnus Pat Flanagan wrecked their hopes by taking 8 for 34 (including a hattrick) in a meagre score of 60.
The Wits First XI 1967/68 (left to right – back row): G. Sanders, J. Frith, R. Cheetham, A. Ellis, J. Cheetham. J. Haswell and R. Train (front row): P. de Vaal, A. During (vice-captain), L. van Vught (captain), P. Flanagan and S. Trollip.
Robert Cheetham scored 462 runs (average 231.00) in the triumphant 1970 intervarsity week at Pretoria.
Cross-Country
Wits won the intervarsity crosscountry at Pretoria in 1960. One of Wits’s finest runners and the reigning champion, Jon Lang, was second. The team competition was lost at Cape Town in 1961, but Mike Coningham excelled in winning the individual event at Stellenbosch in 1962, surprising the favoured Cape runners, Roffey, Walters and Lamprecht. His victory came on a course rendered difficult by the muddy conditions after two weeks of continuous rain.
Jon Lang returned to the fore at Johannesburg in 1963 to finish second to the Pretoria Springbok Charles Minaar, with Peter Whewell third. Wits won the team event comfortably and no fewer than four (Lang, Whewell, Allan Sherman and Dave Collins) were chosen for the SAU team that competed against Southern Transvaal.
Wits’s Peter Whewell (a Protea for three successive years) crowned his intervarsity running career by winning the 1964 meeting, finishing well ahead of Cape Town’s Olaf Holtung and thirdplaced Witsie, Peter Hunter. The Capetonians (59 points) nevertheless defeated reigning champions Wits (65 points) in a race marred by drama. As the runners wound their way through the trees on the slopes of Devil’s Peak, the leading competitor, Henk Altmann, running on his home course, inexplicably missed a turning. Wits’s Giulio Nardini, hard on his heels, followed him and it was only after these two runners had gone about one hundred metres off course that the mistake was realised.
Peter Hunter won the SAU individual title in 1965 and was also chosen for Southern Transvaal alongside two former Witsies, Peter Whewell and Giulio Nardini. Then, in 1966 at Potchefstroom, Hunter led Wits to their eleventh victory in 15 years. Out of the 70 runners competing, the Johannesburg students had no fewer than six of the first 11 runners home. This gave them one of their most decisive victories with 45 points against Natal’s 78 and Stellenbosch’s 85. Four Witsies – Peter Hunter (who had come third), Errol Benjamin, Peter Roberts and Neil Coville
Wits cross-country 1963 – intervarsity champions (left to right – back
Smith, D. Schaeffer, K. Goulding, G. Lindop, F. van Zyl and J.
Nardini, A. Sherman, P. Whewell (captain), J. Lang and D. Colin.
– were chosen for the SAU team.
At Pretoria in 1967, Wits finished third behind Natal and Potchefstroom and contributed only one runner (Neil Coville) to the Protea side. The following year, they slipped to fourth and in 1969 it was a worst-ever fifth position. Adding to their misfortune, they came last in the 1969 league, although they managed to avoid demotion in a promotion/ relegation meeting against Wanderers and Germiston Sports Club.
Suddenly in 1970, the cross country team made a comeback. At Grahamstown, nobody considered Wits to be a threat to Potchefstroom or Stellenbosch, let alone Natal – the South African interclub champions. A dramatic development occurred with six miles of the 7½mile race having been completed. As the Natal runners faded, so the Witsies ran like men possessed – Natal first, second … Wits sixth (Brian Chamberlain),
Wits cross-country 1970 – intervarsity champions (left to right – back row): T. Parry, M. Hill (manager), T. Pohl, I. Marais, A. Hauptfleisch and B. Chamberlain (front row): J. Greensmith, R. Gardner, S. van Zyl, D. Gear (captain) and D. Levick.
row): R. Wodley-
Swart (mascot) (seated): G.
Mike Coningham represented South Africa at cross-country in 1967.
eighth (Ivan Marais) … Natal tenth, twelfth … Wits thirteenth (Dave Levick), fifteenth (Trevor Parry), sixteenth (Dave Gear), twentieth (Andy Hauptfleisch) … Natal twenty-fourth. To tie first, Natal needed twenty-ninth place, but another Witsie battled through to push his rival back into thirtieth. Wits (78) achieved a highly commendable victory over favourites Natal (79) with Potchefstroom (95) third.
Further success for Wits at the 1970 intervarsity came in the women’s event. It had been instituted the previous year when Sonja van Zyl was second to Potchefstroom’s Bea Marais. In 1971, Van Zyl won the event, but it was not until 1974 that Wits entered a team (Christine and Therese Laegme, Ruth Factor and Margie Heddon).
The club’s stunning improvement in the men’s
Fencing
One of the most exciting of all fencing intervarsities was held at Cape Town in 1960. Both Wits and Cape Town were unbeaten when they came up against each other on the last day. The Johannesburg students, ironically strengthened by their acquisition from Cape Town, Gill Couzyn, beat their old rivals 54 in a tense women’s section decider. In the men’s competition, Wits – led by Rudolf Berger – beat Cape Town 54 in the foil, but the latter pulled back to win the épée 54 and thereby even the contest at 99. It was left to Berger to settle the issue by winning his second individual title giving Wits the sabre 63 and the overall trophy.
Wits retained both the men’s and women’s championships in 1961, when they took their turn to host the intervarsity. Richard Koch and Dale Dickinson won the respective ‘best fencer’ awards to ensure that Wits made a clean sweep of all the major trophies on offer.
The women continued their good form at Pietermaritzburg in 1962 by winning the event yet again, but the men were not as successful, finishing sixth out of nine teams. A high point of the season, nevertheless, belonged to Lutz Klingmann as he finished second in the national épée competition and was chosen for South Africa in an international match against Rhodesia.
Another member of the Berger family made an impact on South African fencing during the early 1960s. Younger sister Brunhilde Berger took part in the World Junior [Under 20] Fencing Championships in Cairo in 1962 but was eliminated before reaching the final stages. However, she returned the following year to the same competition held at Ghent, Belgium. She tied for first place but was beaten in the extra bout and had to settle for a silver medal. It is regarded by the Fencing Federation of South Africa as one of the country’s finest achievements.
Brunhilde was then chosen for the Springbok team to compete in the World [Senior] Championships with fellow Witsies, brother Rudolf and Gill GlynJones (formerly Gill Couzyn). The fourth member of the Springbok team was Adolf Veenstra, who had also studied at Wits and
intervarsity in 1970 was carried over to the Southern Transvaal interclub championships, where Wits staggered followers of the sport by ending Diggers’ 11year reign of supremacy. Greater depth in the club’s ranks also saw a team entered in the ‘B’ league. Their efforts exceeded all expectations as the side was good enough to win the competition for two successive years, crush Wanderers in a promotionrelegation match and enter the ‘A’ league.
In 1971, Potchefstroom fielded a near Springbok team at the intervarsity, and beat Wits into second place by an astonishing margin of 38 to 101. A Wits Student report commented: ‘It brought to an end an era of dominance by the “social” sides of Wits and Natal.’
was for several years a coach at the university.
During the mid1960s, the club experienced a period of rebuilding. The talented Peter Knothe headed the programme and for a couple of years was Wits’s sole representative in the SAU side. But when a second Protea team was chosen to travel overseas in 1966, he was joined in the side by Jill Rogers and Justin Wilkinson.
With Knothe unavailable, Justin Wilkinson was adjudged the best fencer at the 1967 intervarsity. Wits finished in fourth place in both the men’s and women’s events but improved over the next two years. In 1968, the men finished a close second to Cape Town when the tournament was held in Johannesburg and four Witsies were chosen for the Protea team – Peter Knothe, Justin and Rodney Wilkinson, and Morris Sherman.
Surprisingly, it was the women (fourth in 1968) who won the first intervarsity for Wits in a number of years. They emerged as champions at Cape Town in 1969, with their male counterparts second again, despite Rodney Wilkinson winning the ‘best manatarms’ title. The Wits women’s team (Helen Duke, Leora Segay and Mariette van der Ploeg) beat Cape Town 72 and lost only one match in the course of the week – to their ‘B’ team (Marguerite Langton, Linda Franklin and Pam Duke)!
Peter Knothe won his Springbok colours in April 1969, when he was chosen to compete against the visiting British team. In 1972, he was named Wits’s Sportsman of the Year – the same year he was the recipient of the ‘best manatarms’ award at the national championships in Cape Town. Knothe was reawarded Springbok colours in 1973 on tour to Argentina, and was joined in the national team by Rodney Wilkinson.
The men eventually recaptured the SAU title in 1970 at a tournament that was memorable because Wits won every possible competition – the men’s and women’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ sections. The star performer on this occasion was Vincent Bonfil who won the ‘best man-at-arms’ award after carrying away the gold medals and floating trophies in the sabre and épée events.
Tragically, a year later, Bonfil was killed in a freak fencing accident in the Old Mutual Sports
Gill Couzyn photographed during the SAU overseas tour in 1958.
Brunhilde Berger was placed second in the World Junior Fencing Championships at Ghent, Belgium, in 1963.
Adolf Veenstra – Springbok 1963–69
Hall when an opponent’s blade snapped off and penetrated his body. A postgraduate student in the metallurgy department, he was a fencer of outstanding ability, having represented England in international competitions.
In the early 1970s, Wits once again boasted an extremely powerful fencing club. Six Witsies were chosen for the SAU side on their 1970/71 tour of Europe: Morris Sherman, Rodney Wilkinson (who again won the national ‘best manatarms’ award in 1971), Helen Duke (ladies’ captain), Pam Duke, Marguerite Langton and Mariette van der Ploeg.
The 1970/71 tour encompassed Britain, Holland, France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany, with 16 matches fought of which six were won. The Proteas beat three of the six student teams that opposed them – Cambridge and Rome Universities and the Théâtre de la Musique of Paris.
A fourth Protea tour was arranged in 1973/74 that took in France, England, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The opposition often featured Olympic fencers, but the tourists invariably held their own. Once again notable victories were achieved against student sides – London and Vienna Universities – with a draw registered against Zurich University.
Golf
Wits retained the SmeathThomas trophy at the Pietermaritzburg Country Club in 1960. Angus Mathieson had every reason to be regarded as the ‘player of the tournament’ even though Pretoria’s Selwyn Schewitz won the individual title. The Wits skipper that year, he was unbeaten in the match play section and ended the week by defeating the Springbok Jannie le Roux 3 and 2 in the SAU match against Natal.
The 1961 tournament at Parkview, Johannesburg, saw Wits very nearly beaten after a dramatic tussle with Pretoria University. Both teams were defeated on the first day (Wits going down to Rhodes) but they lifted their games to be in a winning position on the final day. Determined as they were to pull off their first intervarsity success, Tukkies were thwarted in the end by a mere two games.
Peter Nel, who finished second to Schewitz in the 1961 intervarsity, was chosen the following year with Alan Hoffman for the extremely strong Transvaal side. The two players also headed Wits’s remarkable performance at Grahamstown in the 1962 intervarsity when Wits A won the tournament and Wits B finished as runners-up.
After seven successive wins at the intervarsity championships, Wits finally succumbed to Cape Town at their Westlake golf course in 1963. After an absorbing tournament, the host university came from behind to snatch victory late on the last afternoon. But once again, the Witsies did not return emptyhanded and Alan Hoffman won the individual event (77, 73, 74 and 75 for a total of 299), ten shots ahead of teammate Dave Mee. Thirdplaced Brian Josselsohn, also of Wits, had further reason to celebrate by recording a hole
The flow of outstanding fencers to Wits seemed endless. It reached the stage where Peter Knothe and Morris Sherman decided against competing in the individual events at the 1972 intervarsity in order to give other competitors a sporting chance. A new champion emerged in Witsie Michael Greeff, who deservedly won the ‘best manat arms’. A medical student, he was to fulfil his great promise in later years.
Past and present Wits students also continued to excel in the women’s national foil championships. Gill GlynJones won the women’s foil for three years (1961, 1962 and 1963) and Andrée Sacco (later Andrée Johnstone) took the title for the fifth time in 1966. Brunhilde Berger was champion on four occasions (1965, 1967,1968 and 1969); thereafter Mariette van der Ploeg won in 1971 and 1972 and Cathy Kay for the first time in 1973.
Cathy Kay, a member of the 1970/71 Protea team as an Orange Free State University student, transferred to Wits shortly afterwards. For her, 1973 was an outstanding year because she followed up her success in the national championships by winning a gold medal in the South African Games and subsequently received Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ trophy.
inone in the third round of the competition. It was Dave Mee’s turn to become intervarsity champion in 1964. At Potchefstroom he recorded a four-round 300 to finish six strokes better than Alan Hoffman (who was named reserve for the Springbok side). Wits also regained the SmeathThomas trophy and provided five players –with Robin Beek as captain – to the SAU side that defeated Western Transvaal. A further five Witsies represented the SAU B team. Ironically, the formidable depth of Wits’s golf was to create a major shock in the 1965 tournament at Bloemfontein. The Wits B team
Peter Knothe – Springbok 1969–73
The Wits golf team 1961 (left to right – back row): P. Skoufes, B. Josselsohn, R. Sourey, L. Danilowitz and H. Street (middle row): A. Goldman, A. Gorley, A. Mathieson, P. Nel and C. Stein (in front): A. Hoffman and W. Pitman.
Cathy Kay: six-time South African foil champion and Springbok 1977-79.
not only won the tournament but their captain Tony Thomas took the individual title and the team registered second (Spike Holliday), fifth (Norman Wetterhahn), sixth (John Clark) and seventh (Rael Meyers) places. Not bad against their senior squad that included reigning champion Dave Mee, the highly promising Hugh Baiocchi, former South African junior champion Mervyn Kessler, Ian van der Spuy, Arthur Garner and Tony Schweitzer who had been Cape Town university’s top player.
By finishing runner-up in the Transvaal Amateur in 1965, Hugh Baiocchi gave warning of his undoubted talent and he proceeded to dominate the intervarsity tournaments for the next three years (196668). He won the individual title each time as Wits continued to win the team event. In 1967, Wits lost only four games out of 45 but the 1968 tournament was effectively won by Baiocchi. His
Gymnastics
On 6 October 1960, the gymnastics club was officially recognised by the ASC. Members met on Monday, Wednesday and Friday lunch hours on the lawn below the swimming baths and Winston Miller wrote at the time that the gymnasts actually boasted several items of equipment: ‘Even and uneven parallel bars, a horizontal bar, rings and a pommel horse dating back to 1800!’
In that opening year, the club participated in the SAU competition and did well. The ITA Year Book recorded: ‘Wendy Almond gracefully walked away with the first place in the women’s section of the intervarsity. Winston Miller was runnerup in the men’s section and the team gained second place. Later, in a friendly competition with Tuks, Thomas Kerrich, Winston Miller and Monty Brett filled the first three places for men.’
victory that year at Durban was by a massive 19 strokes. Over the four rounds, he scored 288 (70747371) to set an intervarsity record.
Hugh Baiocchi became the first Witsie to earn Springbok colours while still a student when he was drafted into the 1967 side to replace Bobby Cole who had turned professional. Baiocchi was unbeaten in the Commonwealth tournament and was reawarded Springbok colours in 1968. He was also credited in the press as having broken an ‘amateur world record’ by completing four rounds under 70. He recorded a total of270 at the Windsor Golf Course (later Rand Park) during a Transvaal match play tournament, although he pointed to the fact that Jack Nicklaus had supposedly achieved the feat some years before.
Wits’s fastrising golf star received his full blue for three successive years (196668) and on the last occasion became the first player to receive the award cum laude. Wits Student commented: Hugh Baiocchi set himself up on a golfing pedestal and buttressed its base with course records and silver salvers – AND still remained “Hughie” to all.’
Wits continued their dominance of intervarsity golf when they won the team event at Stellenbosch in 1969 by twenty strokes. It was the university’s sixth successive victory and their seventeenth in 19 tournaments since 1951. The fact that Arthur Garner and Howard Sacks finished as joint leaders in the individual competition maintained another impressive club record of attaining either a first or second place at the SAU every year since 1947.
The seventies began badly, with the Witsies failing dismally at Grahamstown in 1970. They finished fifth with only one victory (over Pretoria) but a year later stormed back to win the tournament with ease. They defeated Natal 63, Port Elizabeth 72, Rhodes 63, Potchefstroom 7½1½ Pretoria 72 and Cape Town 6½2½.
Playing at home was usually an advantage and this, perhaps, was one of the reasons that Wits waited until 1975 for their next success. A strong challenge was nevertheless maintained with Wits third in 1972 and second in 1973.
In 1961, Wits again achieved second place (out of five) at the SAU competition held at Stellenbosch. Winston Miller and Regina Santos (the women’s champion) were chosen for the combined universities team and then these two, together with MaryRose Perks, Anina Conradie and Julian McLeodSmith gained places in the Southern Transvaal team.
As the university was without an instructor, the better club members trained under Brian Wilson at the Wanderers. The club also received encouragement from their president Gerry Goddard who donated floating trophies for the ‘most improved gymnasts’. In 1961 they were awarded to Charles Krog and Anina Conradie.
The club benefited enormously from Neville Graham’s arrival in 1962. An architectural
The Wits golf team 1963 (left to right – back row): S. Holliday, I. Weinberg and N. Caplan (middle row): R. Meyers, D. Mee, T. Thomas, T. Anderson and S. Moss (front row): T. Murray, P. Bader, R. Beek, A. Hoffman and B. Josselsohn. Three members of this team went on to win the individual title at the SAU tournament – Alan Hoffman (1963), Dave Mee (1964) and Tony Thomas (1965).
Hugh Baiocchi won the intervarsity individual title on three successive occasions, including a massive 19-stroke victory in the 1968 tournament.
Wits gymnastics team that participated in the 1961
student, he had represented Southern Transvaal since 1958 and had been coached by Olle Areborn, the ‘father’ of artistic gymnastics in South Africa. A Swedish coach, Areborn had been brought to South Africa by the Wanderers Club and it was under his guidance that Graham became one of the best gymnasts South Africa has known.
Graham was chosen for the Springbok side in Tests against the visiting Japanese who were to lead world gymnastics for more than a decade. Their tour had an influence on the Wits gymnastics club with membership increasing from 65 in 1961 to nearly 100 in 1962. But Wits gymnast Mike Tindall warned: ‘the Japanese practise three hours a day and make gymnastics their life. We have neither the time nor the facilities to reach their class.’
With Neville Graham setting a great example and helping coach new members, the club flourished. Winston Miller, Mike Tindall, Brian Wilson, Monty Brett, Ken Torr and the Hatfield brothers, John, Richard and William, were prominent amongst male gymnasts during the early 1960s. The women’s section was also strong with Anina Conradie (who helped with the coaching), Regina Santos, Juliet Coxen and MaryRose Perks showing up well.
Neville Graham’s selection as South Africa’s sole representative at the World championships in Prague in July 1962, prevented him from attending that year’s intervarsity at Stellenbosch, but the Wits men still acquitted themselves well enough to finish second while the women won their section. Juliet Coxen (the individual champion), Anina Conradie, Regina Santos and Brian Wilson were all chosen for the combined team following their fine achievement.
Soon afterwards, Juliet Coxen, who was one
to
of the country’s top gymnasts, left for the United States on an AFS scholarship. As a result, she missed the 1963 intervarsity held at Wits. On that occasion, the Johannesburg students were placed second in both the men’s and women’s sections, sufficient to give them first place overall. Neville Graham began his reign as the men’s individual champion with fellow Witsie Brian Wilson third. There was disappointment in 1964 for Graham after gaining selection for the Springbok team to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games. He was notified a matter of weeks before the side was scheduled to depart that the South Africans would not be accepted. The last time that South Africa was accepted at a major international gymnastics gathering was at the 1966 World championships. They were held at Dortmund, Germany, and Graham was again chosen for the Springbok team.
National champion on six occasions, Neville Graham was a regular member of South African teams at home and abroad. Together with clubmate Pierre Sourier, he was also chosen for the SAU side to compete in the World Student Games at Budapest in 1965. But politics intervened and the South Africans were unable to attend.
Once Graham graduated, the university’s gymnastics club struggled. However, the gymnast who had done so much to promote the sport as a student was also indirectly responsible for its later resurgence in popularity. Graham coached at the Wanderers during the early 1970s and followed the fortunes of his leading pupils through to university level. Martin Cowper, Raymond Kelly, Steven Lapinsky and Morris Levine all came under his instruction from an early age and, in time, developed into leading South African gymnasts.
Neville Graham was the South African champion on six occasions – 1962,’63,’64,’65, ’67 & 1968 – and a long-serving Springbok. He is pictured training on the lawn next to the swimming pool, prior to the advent of the Old Mutual Sports Hall.
The
intervarsity at Stellenbosch (left
right –back row): A. Davey, M. Russell, M. Tindall, M. Perks and J. McLeod-Smith (front row): C. Krog, A. Conradie, W. Miller, M. Brett, R. Santos and D. von Broembsen
Pithey represented South
Roger Bickford was one of the early group of outstanding Wits players to represent South Africa.
The Wits first hockey team 1961 (left to right – back row): W. Fraser, A. Milne, C. Nunns, W. Griffin, J. Parkes and D. Christie (middle row): J. Anderson, E. Rodd, F. Miot (manager), L. Hall (captain), W.H. Milton (president), P. Burns (vicecaptain) and P. Croxon (front row): T. Davidson, G. Rosset and R. Hurd.
Men’s Hockey
Wits entered a record eight teams into league competitions during 1960, which was two more than the previous season. Unfortunately, the First XI underwent a disastrous period, finishing last in the Transvaal League and losing the promotionrelegation match to Balfour Park 31. It was a sad way to begin the 1960s but there was to be a change of fortune over the next few years and before the end of the decade Wits possessed the finest team in the Transvaal.
Like their rugby counterparts, Wits’s hockey players began their rebuilding programme in 1961 and it is notable that the two sports progressed along strikingly similar lines. Playing in the Transvaal reserve league, the first hockey side showed that it should never have allowed itself to be demoted. Captained by Len Hall and benefitting from the astute coaching of Froggy Miot, the students displayed ‘better tactics, superior stickwork and a great team spirit’ to win their way back to the Transvaal League.
An influential factor in Wits’s improved approach to the game was the tour of the combined Oxford and Cambridge ‘Swallows’. For the best part of two weeks, they stayed in Johannesburg and were entertained by the Wits Hockey Club. During that time, they thrashed the Witsies 62 before a massive crowd and emphasised the importance of fitness and teamwork. In no match was this more apparent than against a South African XI when the Swallows, 14 down with ten minutes to go, fought back to draw the game 44. The determination displayed by the tourists seemed to rub off on the Witsies. There was a heartening resurgence in their performances although this was also due to the acquisition of several outstanding players.
Barry Pithey, who graduated from Potchefstroom University at the end of 1961, registered at Wits as a Master of Science student and made an immediate impact in hockey circles. He was chosen as captain of the SAU team after the 1962 tournament at Durban and, a month later,
was selected as right half for the Springbok side on their tour of the then Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The following year, Pithey was joined in the Springbok team by fellow Witsie and former Stellenbosch University player, Steve Kossuth. In addition, Pat Burns who had represented Wits since 1958 was playing impressively for Southern Transvaal and knocking at the door of the national side. Burns was chosen for a South African Invitation XI in 1963 against the touring Dutch side, Der Batavieren, and a year later was a fully fledged Springbok.
Apart from the national stars, Wits had several other players of good provincial standard. Wigs Griffin, who was vice-captain of the SAU team in 1962, Mike Nicol, Cyril Nunns, Guy Rosset, Des Sacco, Ian Bolton, Harold Hester, Tony Hedley, Don Mingay, Anthony Milne and Bill Christie were prominent in the sides of 196264. Not only did the first team enjoy unprecedented success in the Transvaal League during 1963 when they finished second but they won the intervarsity in 1964.
The surprising feature of Wits’s intervarsity triumph at Pretoria was that of the squad of 13, only six were regular first team representatives. For a variety of reasons, several key players had withdrawn and when Wits was thrashed 71 by Natal in their opening match the worst was anticipated. But, under manager Anthony Coombe and skipper Harold Hester, the team rallied well to win their next six fixtures. Barry Pithey arrived for the last two matches and with Mike Nicol, Tony Hedley, Keith Wimble, Ian Bolton and John Barrow in great form, they pulled off the impossible.
The intervarsity success also inspired the Witsies to solve a league crisis. The students occupied last place well into their programme and relegation appeared imminent in that their remaining matches were against the top four clubs in the league. At that point, Wits suddenly clicked and scored unexpected victories over the eventual runnersup Wanderers (31) and Pretoria High School Old Boys 10. Despite losing to the champions Old Johannians, a draw with Old Edwardians gained them another valuable point and they moved into a safe eighth position out of ten teams.
The next two years witnessed a vast improvement in their league placing. Third in 1965 and fifth in 1966, the young Wits side revealed much promise. Prominent in the team were Brian Heeley and Roger Bickford, both destined to become Springboks.
Since regaining their first league status in 1961, the university had been successful in consolidating its position. No side, however, looked capable of knocking highriding Old Johannians off their pedestal as Southern Transvaal champions. Each season, the Linksfield club would emerge clear leaders long before they had concluded their programme, with other sides fighting over the runner-up spot.
Barry
Africa in ten internationals, captaining the side three times.
Neville Berman inspires Wits
The tenyear period 1967 to 1976 can be regarded as the most successful era in Wits University’s hockey history. During this time, the first team won the Southern Transvaal Premier League on five occasions, the SAU tournament five times and produced no fewer than nine Springboks. The team also organised a highly successful overseas tour, featured prominently in Protea sides and paved the way for the introduction of the indoor game in the Transvaal.
The start of this prosperous period coincided with the arrival of Neville Berman, destined to become one of South Africa’s greatest players. Berman showed a rare talent for hockey from an early age and in 1965, his last year at Parktown Boys’ High School, he not only played for the South African Schools XI but was chosen for Southern Transvaal. Then, in 1966, when completing his national service, he was selected as a reserve for the South African team. By the time he enrolled at Wits in 1967 for a Bachelor of Commerce degree, he was well known in hockey circles, a brilliant player with outstanding ball control and a devastating shot.
In 1967, Berman achieved Springbok colours for the first time, joining fellow Witsie Roger Bickford in the side. Their selection began a remarkable development in South African hockey. Berman recalled:
By a stroke of good fortune I was lucky enough to be at Wits at the same time as an extremely large number of extraordinarily enthusiastic, dedicated and talented sportsmen. Within a few years Ponky Firer, Alistair Forbes, Brian Elliott, Steve Jaspan, Neill Edwards, Ron Street and Noel Day achieved national honours. But for his untimely death, Andy Ellis would also have gained Springbok colours. Wits became the breeding ground for the national team.
Berman’s first season at Wits in 1967 hinted at better things to follow, with the side displaying a welcome purpose and authority to their game. A fine win was recorded early on over Old Johannians who lost their first match in three years and 56 games. In a thrilling encounter, Berman, Tony van der Veen and Tony Hedley scored the goals, and to prove it was no fluke Wits beat Old Johannians again later in the season. The first team was in with a chance, albeit an outside one, of winning the league right up until the last match of the season. Indeed, they might well have topped the log had their star forward not missed several matches through Springbok selection in the Test series against Spain.
The rise of Wits University hockey had been set in motion but its ultimate success involved much hard work. The raw talent was there but it had to be moulded into a team. Berman explained:
Players soon became buddies off the field and celebrations and parties were held to improve morale. A supporters’ club was successfully established. Within one season, hockey was transformed from a twiceaweek activity to a professional approach
of squad training, daily practices and matches followed by postmortems. In order to prevent mistakes from repeating themselves, every goal scored against Wits was analysed. Players found guilty of errors were fined five cents. Team spirit and camaraderie rose to new heights. Players began to turn out to practise a half hour before the official time. The pure enjoyment of playing good hockey, the sense of accomplishment and the satisfaction of winning were the rewards. Friendships were built and strengthened on the Wits playing fields. Wits hockey became a model of all that is good and wholesome in amateur sport. A healthy mind in a healthy body was the club motto.
The Witsies were keen to learn and over the next few years they were to draw much from the tactics employed by European teams. Two men’s hockey sides visited South Africa in 1967 – RotWeiss of Cologne and the highly rated Spanish international side. At most centres, the Germans played curtainraiser matches with the main billing involving the Spaniards. In this way, a good number of Wits students were given an opportunity of playing against the tourists. One such occasion was when RotWeiss beat a northern universities’ team 60 at Wits as a curtainraiser to the combined universities versus Spain match which was drawn 11 – Neville Berman scoring a superb opportunistic goal. The Germans taught South Africa a great deal about the game even though they played a support role and their matches were against comparatively weaker opposition. In time, their direct and open style of play influenced South African hockey. One of the RotWeiss stars, German international Horst Wein, returned to coach the Wanderers in early 1968 and was then ‘lent’ to the Southern Transvaal Hockey Association for the players and the schools under their jurisdiction. He, in turn, wasted no time in introducing the new German pattern and when the hockey season opened in April of that year, two of the Southern Transvaal senior clubs, Wanderers and Wits, began applying the system. According to the Wits club chairman, Tony van der Veen, the adoption of the new formation ‘was a very bold step indeed, which entailed many hours of arguing in front of a blackboard, and many hours of often depressing practices. But the team’s perseverance was fully rewarded.’
After six games, during which time Wits made a thorough study of the system, the students were unbeaten and led the league with a goal tally of 134. They appeared to have grasped the system better than Wanderers and beat the Kent Park side 3-1 in their first encounter.
There were in later matches a few hiccups. Losing to Old Johannians was a setback but a 21 defeat at the hands of Rand Leases in early August was certainly an unexpected blow. In the final run-in for the title. Wits momentarily lost touch with their effective German style of play and over one weekend faltered slightly by drawing matches against Wanderers and Old Johannians.
But such was their domination in the course of the season that they needed just one point from
Berman represented South Africa in 43 internationals, captaining the side 17 times. He led the Springboks in one of their most important achievements – victory over the Olympic champions West Germany in the Eight Nations tournament at the Wanderers in 1974.
Springboks Steve Kossuth (left) and Pat Burns both received full blues (cum laude) at Wits.
Neville
their last two matches, both against Southern Suburbs. Without Springboks Berman and Bickford in the first encounter, Wits trailed by one goal with a bare eight minutes left to play. However, Andy Ellis and Tony van der Veen were on hand to score two lastminute goals and the championship title was secure.
It was the first time that Wits had won the Southern Transvaal Premier League and, to crown a great season, they also won the intervarsity. Much of their success could be attributed to captain Berman and his ability to teach the intricacies of the German 4231. He set a fine example and when he opened the scoring against Southern Suburbs in the last match of the league programme, he notched his fiftieth goal of the season in all matches. He scored approximately half the goals of any side he played for during the season: Wits 29; Southern Transvaal 15, and the Springboks 6.
In analysing the reasons behind Wits’s newfound success, Berman attached great importance to the opposition that the second team provided during practices. He noted that:
All the players in the second side could have played premier league for half a dozen less illustrious clubs. However, not one player would give up the job of participating in the reserve league for Wits in order to play in the top division for another club. The success of Wits hockey spread throughout the club with the lowest teams playing their part in propping up the senior section of the club.
In all, four league titles came Wits’s way in 1968. It was an impressive record for a club of seven teams that the ‘B’, ‘E’ and ‘F’ sides should join the first team as winners of their respective leagues. The ‘E’ players known as the bombers were a particularly colourful bunch as was emphasised in the chairman’s report: ‘Unconventional tactics, high spirits and plenty of noise destroyed all in their path to the top of the league. Congratulations to all eleven captains.’
Neville Berman had an exciting start to the 1969 season as he was chosen for the Springbok tour to Europe, but his club team, the new champions of Southern Transvaal hockey, began their league programme somewhat inauspiciously with successive draws against Wanderers and Jeppe Old Boys. However, in their very next game, they pulled together in a convincing display to thrash a hapless Old Eds 83. Berman returned to score a hattrick, Bruce Lund and Neill Edwards each scored twice and Alistair Forbes added the remaining goal.
By June, the Witsies were entrenched at the top of the league log, but towards the end of the season several drawn matches (including an inexplicable goalless draw against Old Eds) allowed Wanderers to snatch the lead. In fact, the trophy cabinet was bare in 1969 because the second place in the league followed the runnerup spot at intervarsity. An abiding memory of the season was the fine 1-0 victory over the powerful British side, the Dominoes, in one of the most exciting and closely fought encounters seen in
Johannesburg. Unbeaten in ten matches, the Dominoes started as slight favourites but they were thwarted by a solid defence with Ponky Firer courageous in goal. Wits scored the only goal of the match from a long corner via Berman, midway through the second half.
Wits regained their Southern Transvaal Premier League and SAU titles in 1970. The former competition only reached a conclusion in the last match of the season when Wits placed against Wanderers before a record crowd for an interclub match. The students won 20 to give themselves a clear threepoint lead over Wanderers in the league table. It was a great swansong for Neville Berman in his last league game for Wits as he scored both goals. His second was a brilliant effort because he beat three defenders before drawing the goalkeeper and flicking the ball into the far corner of the net. It was a convincing performance and the side’s dominance of Southern Transvaal hockey could be reflected in the fact that Ponky Firer ended the season with the rare distinction of conceding only five goals throughout the 18match programme.
As if to emphasise the strength of the university’s hockey, the second team (Wits A) convincingly took their league without losing a game. They won on 15 occasions and drew three times, giving them a total of 33 points out of a possible 36. Secondplaced Old Parktonians finished no fewer than eight points behind what was a very strong side.
The ASC was well aware of the great honour that the men’s hockey section had brought to the university and for two successive years elected them ‘Club of the Year’. Bringing additional recognition to hockey was the presentation of the Sportsman of the Year trophy to Neville Berman for the same two years. It was a fitting tribute to a great sportsman who decided at the end of the 1970 season to move on from Wits in order to make way for a younger student player in the first team.
Under the captaincy of Alistair Forbes, the Witsies began the 1971 season where they had left off the previous year. The first team was at the top of the league at the halfway stage but then slumped badly and picked up only three points out of a possible 14. They partially recovered to finish third which was in itself a creditable performance. The side also lost their intervarsity title, going down 10 to Natal in torrential rain. Wits beat Stellenbosch 20, drew with Rhodes 11, beat Tukkies 41 and thrashed Cape Town 50, but Natal remained unbeaten and deservedly won the tournament.
During the 1971/72 summer vacation, Wits set out on an ambitious tour of Europe that involved five strong hockey-playing countries. The side, an entirely bona fide student combination, was led by Neville Berman who was by this stage the Springbok skipper. On a testing trip, the Witsies were fortunate to have their greatest player at the helm.
Wits had been playing indoor hockey for just four days prior to a tournament at Huerth near Cologne. They finished third out of five
Neill Edwards was selected for the Springbok team in 1975.
Brian Elliott was selected for the Springbok team in 1971/72.
Alistair Forbes, who succeeded Neville Berman as captain of the Wits side, represented South Africa from 1971 to 1974.
Ron Street was selected for South Africa during 1973-76.
teams in the ‘A’ pool behind RotWeiss Cologne and Frankfurt SC 80, the eventual winners and runnersup, respectively. In France Wits defeated Montrouge 30 – Hugh Cameron, Neville Berman and Mike Smith scoring goals –before moving on to England. There, they began on an unsuccessful note, going down 21 to the London league champions Tulse Hill but against stronger opposition drew with Dominoes, a side that fielded ten internationals. Wits should have won but were prevented from doing so by a combination of the brilliance in goal of Great Britain player Roger Flood and poor execution of short corners.
Two further defeats were suffered, making the side’s English record a little disappointing after four matches with only one goal having been scored. Ironically, it took a decisive change in the weather – from clear skies to a heavy fall of snow – for Wits to produce their best form. At Esher in Surrey they beat a fellow touring team, ‘The Travellers’, comprising past and present Oxford and Cambridge blues, 30 to record a muchneeded win.
In Spain, the Witsies beat Athletico 10 at Tarrasa on a lush pitch that had been the venue of several matches in a recent world tournament. Two drawn games followed. Neville Berman scored for Wits in the 11 draw against Tarrasa when effective reversestick tackling by the Spaniards kept them at bay. The second draw was spectacular in comparison. Wits led Egara –champions of Spain since 1966 and of Europe in 1969 and 1970 – from the twentythird minute. Following a good run from Mike Smith, Neill Edwards’s shot was parried away by an Egara defender, but Neville Berman was on hand to score on the rebound. It was well deserved as Wits had much the better of proceedings and might have increased their lead. Instead, with time running out, Egara made a brief foray upfield and from a short corner, a bullet-like shot brought them relief.
The results of the tour demonstrated that Wits could hold their own against the strongest club sides. The Johannesburg students had come a long way under Berman and they continued to build on this platform.
Wits shared first place in the Premier League in 1972 and in a fine ‘double’ came out top during the SAU week at Pietermaritzburg – six Witsies (Ponky Firer, Bob Freeman, Ron Street, Alistair Forbes, Steve Jaspan and Graham Knight) winning Protea colours. The students once again played more hockey than the other clubs in Johannesburg and it was generally acknowledged that their exhausting programme probably robbed them of undisputed supremacy in the league. In the final log, Wits and Wanderers were level on 27 points from 18 matches, but the university should never have dropped a vital point in their last match of the season. A goal ahead against Jeppe and poised for the kill, Wits just could not capitalise on their lead and in the end it was Jeppe who scored the equaliser.
Although Wits finished in a disappointing fourth position during 1973, they boasted an exceptionally powerful side. In the final Southern
Transvaal team selected that year, there were no fewer than six Witsies – Ponky Firer, Ron Street, Steve Jaspan, Graham Knight, Noel Day and the Rhodesian international Bob Freeman. Three players – Firer, Street and Jaspan – were thereafter chosen for the Springbok squad to take part in the South African Games.
The Springboks underwent intensive preparation for the Games and this paid off in early victories over Malawi, Rhodesia and the winners of the most recent Seven Nations tournament in Europe, Ireland. All South Africa needed was a draw against West Germany to win the gold medal. They came remarkably close to achieving this feat with Neville Berman scoring an early goal, but the Germans held on to a 21 lead to win the tournament.
A busy year for the hockey players ended with
The Wits hockey first team that won the Southern Transvaal Premier League and SAU tournament in 1970 (left to right – back row): A. Gear, P. Bridges, M. de Jager, N. Edwards, S. Jaspan and L. Ingles (seated): B. Elliott, A. Forbes, N. Berman (captain), S. Smythe (chairman), M. Dane (vice-captain), A. Ellis and M. Martin (in front): P. Firer. Six members of this side won Springbok colours (Berman, Edwards, Jaspan, Elliott, Forbes and Firer) whilst Mike Dane captained the SAU side on an overseas tour.
Ponky Firer, Wits’s goalkeeper, who represented South Africa in ten internationals.
an SAU touring party of 35 visiting Europe. Seven Wits men were selected: Steve Jaspan (captain), Ponky Firer, Martin Trope, Mike Betts, Graham Knight, Noel Day and Bob Freeman. The team initially travelled to Germany for 17 days where they played indoor hockey. This necessitated a few days of training under the West German captain Fritz Schultz. It enabled the touring party
Women’s Hockey
The early 1960s were taken up with the Wits women’s hockey section aiming to return to the first league. The 1961 Wits second team very nearly managed to leapfrog over their senior side into earning a place in the top division. It came about as a result of the students’ ‘second string’ scoring three goals in a sensational last five minutes of their game against Old Johannians to win the match 54 and thereby move into top spot in the reserve league ‘B’. They then took on the winners of the reserve league ‘A’, Jeppe, with promotion to the first league at stake. The fact that Jeppe won this duel saved any great embarrassment, although the university’s second team did join their first team in reserve league ‘A’.
Wits obtained promotion to the first league at the end of the 1962 campaign with the achievement heralded by Maria McEvilly striking home the most important goal of the season. It came in the eleventh hour in the vital promotionrelegation match against Iscor when, with scores level at full time, an extra ten minutes were arranged in order to create a result. Wits’s alert centre forward did the rest.
Wits celebrated their return to the first league in 1963 by thumping the University Past Students 5-2. It was a significant victory in that their victims had ended the previous year well up in the first league. It was also a remarkable match because Jenny Hawkins scored all five goals. Unfortunately, Wits could not keep up the pace and the season developed into a grim battle for survival. They were eventually relegated and replaced by Iscor after just one season.
This time the university was banished to the reserve league for seven long seasons. Ironically, the period saw Wits produce some of their best performances at the intervarsity. When they finished third at the 1967 tournament at Grahamstown, they supplied the most players to the SAU side – three, Denise Westwood, Claire van Lingen and Nina Potash. There were other key players over the years such as Anita Painting (who was chosen for the SAU overseas tour in 1965), Carol Pearson, Zela Weeber, Sya Beaton and the longserving Lynda Blesovsky who did much to build club spirit.
The return to the higher echelons of Southern Transvaal hockey in 1971 created tremendous enthusiasm for the game on campus. This was not surprising in that there were no students left over from the last Wits team to play in the first league. Wits Student recorded that more than one hundred girls turned up for the trials under the keen eye of the selectors and coach Al Forbes
to hold their own against powerful opposition. From Germany they went to England for 18 days and embarked on an itinerary that had been kept secret. There were no disruptions and only one match was lost – to the champion English club Southgate. The tour ended with matches in Spain where club hockey was of a traditionally high standard.
‘who sat perched on the clubhouse roof making like Henry VIII’.
The team made a poor start. It was disappointing, albeit expected, that they should lose 20 to the strong Wanderers I side in the opening match. But it was embarrassing that the team should then be defeated by Jeppe Old Girls III in their second encounter.
It was in their game against Jeppe Old Girls’ first team – a side that included Springboks Ingrid Stephens and Hazel Hinder – that Wits first made an impression. Reputations were ignored as the young student side, spurred on by their enthusiastic supporters, played attacking hockey from the outset. With Val Tienghi scoring twice and squash star Kathy Malan once, Wits tenaciously held on to record an upset 32 victory.
The win gave the students enormous confidence and the side went from strength to strength. Wits became the first women’s team in the province to attempt ‘systems’ hockey and under their expert coaches from the men’s section of the club, the girls were most successful. Wits Student commented proudly in its endofseason report: ‘Wits’s first season of first league hockey improved with every game and the team ended up quite high in the log (fifth) – it will not be long before this league is won by Wits.’
It was a rather optimistic conclusion to reach although the girls did continue to do well in 1972 and again finished fifth. With Helen Katakuzinos who was chosen for the Witwatersrand team, and the skipper Siya Beaton enjoying outstanding seasons, Wits’s defence was one of the best in the first league. The greatest problem was a lack of penetration in the forward line, a feature that was reflected in the end-of-season statistics. Wits scored only 23 goals in their 18 matches but then they conceded even less – 19.
At Potchefstroom, Wits also enjoyed their most successful intervarsity for a number of years, finishing third. Again, a few more goals would have improved their position as the team was hindered by some goalless draws. The Witsies were represented in the SAU team by their two leading players, Helen Katakuzinos (for the second year) and Jill Forbes.
Helen Katakuzinos, who married Peter Bridges from the men’s first team, stopped playing hockey after the 1972 season in order to start a family. But when she decided to take up the game again seven years later, she quickly demonstrated that she had lost none of her skills. She claimed her place in the Witwatersrand team and after a fine display at the interprovincial
Steve Jaspan represented South Africa at every possible level –Schools (1967), Defence (1968), Country Districts (1969), Maccabi and Universities (1970) – before being chosen for the Springbok side that toured Rhodesia in 1972. He experienced a sensational debut on the tour by scoring four goals against Midlands before half-time.
Helen Bridges made a remarkable comeback to hockey and was selected for the Springbok side in 1983 and 1984.
tournament was chosen for the South African team that was scheduled to participate in the IFWHA tournament at Vancouver, Canada. When the South Africans were barred from entering, they travelled incognito to Rhodesia as ‘The Nomads’ but were not awarded Springbok colours. However, Helen’s chance was to come again and she duly received her Springbok colours in 1983 and 1984.
Jill Forbes, who represented Southern Transvaal, led Wits in 1973. In finishing fifth for the third year running, the students once again demonstrated a superb defence, conceding just 14 goals in 18 matches. Even the champions,
Judo
Wits did reasonably well in the early intervarsities and on occasion finished runners-up to Pretoria. Top judokas in the club included Trian Fundudis, Andrew Kok, Bob Heimann, Ronald Hunt, Emil Iglauer and Solly Margolias. The ‘most scientific judoka’ trophy at the annual intervarsity was awarded to Heimann in 1961 and Margolias in 1963.
One of the club’s keenest members was Roderick Conacher (later Professor Conacher – Rector of the Johannesburg College of Education) who achieved a second place at the national championships in 1966. Although eligible for the under 74kilogram division, he often found himself in the heavyweight section and remembered one memorable fight against Pretoria University’s Eddie Dorey. On that occasion, a sympathetic Wits team convinced their worried candidate that he could defeat Dorey with an ‘invincible tactic’ that they had worked out for him. Unfortunately, in his hour of need, the tactic came unstuck and Conacher recalled: ‘I attacked Eddie with a shoulder throw only to be stopped dead as if I had just hit a brick wall. I was then lifted up into the air and dropped at Eddie’s feet before being sent somersaulting through the air with a hip throw.’
The fight was filmed by the African Mirror crew and the cameras would zoom in on the young Witsie’s bewildered expression. Dorey, who became well known in the karate world, assisted the film crew by ensuring that the fight kept going, and would loom menacingly over his opponent with the remark ‘staan op’, before carrying on the fight in ‘a noble, gentlemanly’ way.
Another important judo personality during the early sixties was Terry Berkow who had become involved in the art at the age of 13, gaining a green belt at the Kodokan Judo Club before leaving for England. In London, Berkow, who was instructed by the Japanese world champion Kenshiron Abbe, represented London University and was a member of the Budokwai team. The latter club was recognised at the time as being the finest in the western world.
In 1963, Terry Berkow took over as chairman of the judo club and the following year was elected chairman of the ASC. On his retirement
Wanderers I, were held to a goalless draw with their strikers Wendy Cooke and Joan Waterson being marked out of the game. Wits also enjoyed a successful intervarsity, losing the final to Natal 2-0. Jill Forbes was subsequently named as vicecaptain of the Protea team that toured Europe during the 1973/74 vacation. Wits was also represented by Jenny Malan and Lynda Blesovsky in the touring team that enjoyed an excellent record – losing only three of their 15 outdoor matches and just one of their 13 indoor games. Jenny Malan also represented the Proteas at home against the touring Americans in 1975.
from the latter in 1964, he presented the ASC with a floating trophy that has since been awarded annually to the Sportswoman of the Year.
The women became involved in the judo club virtually from the outset but the inauguration of women’s events at the annual intervarsity took a few years longer. Early intervarsity results were somewhat modest but Ann Hochfeld proved a great asset and was awarded a full blue in 1966. Because of her allround prowess in both judo and basketball, she was named Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 1967.
The judo club was an active one throughout the sixties and was assisted by outside coaches such as George Forrester, several times South African champion in his weight division. Malcolm Dorfman prior to switching to karate, Ian Schapkaitz, Eddie Campbell, Robbie May, Pierre Biagio, Murray Alexander, Gordon Prahm and Nick Munnikhus were prominent figures in the club during the period 196668.
A student Mervyn Messias took over instruction of the club between 1969 and 1973 and he and fellow first dan, Geoff Kahn, were able to provide first-rate tuition. Messias was also elected chairman and he set about improving the administration of the club by building up a fully organised executive committee. He then launched a programme ‘to create enthusiasm and enlargement of membership’ and the club quickly attracted several notable judokas. Practices were conducted in hut T17 up until 1971 but, as with all outdoor sports, the building of the Old Mutual Sports Hall was a great boost.
After a lapse of several years, the intervarsity was resumed at Wits in July 1973. Jan Croeser, who was largely responsible for reviving the competition was also the star performer, winning the award of ‘best overall judoka’ and almost leading the Witsies to first place in the team event. In 1974, he became the first member of the judo club to receive his full blue cum laude after an outstanding year. Highlights included receiving his Springbok colours against Rhodesia in October 1973, winning his weight division at the South African championships and being named ‘most scientific judoka’ at the 1974 intervarsity.
The Wits judo team 1964 (left to right – back row): Rod Conacher and Terence Berkow (seated): Solly Margolias, Trian Fundudis and Selwyn Levitan.
Ann Hochfeld – South African champion and Wits’s Sportswoman of the Year in 1967.
Karate
Karate (JKA style) began at Wits in the era prior to the advent of the Old Mutual Sports Hall and owes its existence primarily to three men who played different but influential roles at that time.
It started with Victor Macfarlane (‘Mr Mac’), then physical training instructor at Wits taking an interest in the new karate school that was opened up in the early 1960s at Orange Grove by Sensei Stan Schmidt. In turn, Sensei Schmidt recognised the benefits that could accrue by the involvement of the university in the future of karate in Johannesburg, and he welcomed Mr Mac to his training centre.
Hence, when Don Pigott, a civil engineering student at Wits, asked Mr Mac whether there was any possibility of starting a karate club, the latter jumped at the idea. Pigott, a green belt at the time, proceeded to invite his instructor – Sensei Schmidt – to Wits’s training centre that was on the lawn below the swimming pool. Schmidt was the first westerner to win a gold medal at the All Japan championships and became the highest graded westerner in the world of the Japanese Karate Association (JKA) style.
So began the karate club – a few students initially under the guidance of Sensei Schmidt and Sensei Ken Wittstock, but numbers quickly increased. The fact that the training sessions were carried out in an open area inevitably caused passing students to stop and watch the strange antics with bemused curiosity.
Don Pigott was the early student motivator and in October 1965, he obtained official recognition for the club when the ASC agreed to accept their proposed constitution. At that stage, the greatest problem facing karate was the lack of a permanent venue for practices in the winter. For several years, the club trained in the upstairs concourse of the old canteen, but as this facility
was not always available, Sensei Wittstock was sometimes forced to conduct practice sessions on the snowcovered lawns during the icy spells of the mid1960s. Humble beginnings, but karate was to gain quickly in stature at the university.
Two of the most outstanding of the early karateka were Brian Rabinowitz (the 1967 South African JKA champion) and Harvey Sapire, while a particularly exciting prospect to emerge during the 1960s was Malcolm Dorfman, certainly one of Mr Mac’s most illustrious ‘beginners’. He had earned his judo team award in 1966 and 1967 before making the switch to karate.
Dorfman’s progress was such that it was not long before he joined Sensei Schmidt’s school. He received Transvaal colours in 1968 and a Wits full blue in 1969 and 1970. Springbok honours followed as early as 1970 when he and fellow Witsie Dave Friend represented the national side in Italy. Dorfman became South Africa’s grand champion while still a student in 1971.
At Wits, Dorfman acted as a ‘resident’ instructor, taking classes virtually every day and using the canteen as his ‘office’ in order to register students for the club. It was not long before Wits possessed one of the strongest competitive karate clubs in the country.
The club distinguished itself by winning eight of the first nine intervarsity tournaments, finishing a close second in the remaining competition in 1972. Apart from Malcolm Dorfman and Dave Friend (awarded a Wits full blue in 1970), other outstanding performers included Anthony and Gavin Gill, Brian Trappler, Rob Kanarek, Paul Bentel, Roger Finn, Ivan Hellmann, Alan Abrahamson (a very talented prospect who was the South African JKA kata champion in 1974 and 1975), Mike Bolus, Alberto Portiggia, Hans Groess and Keith Geyer.
Stan Schmidt (extreme left) and Don Pigott directing a Wits University karate training session during the mid-1960s Each year Sensei Schmidt’s dojo (club) raised funds to send a squad overseas so that local karateka could raise the standard of karate. A number of Witsies benefited from the innovation. The ASC paid tribute to Sensei Schmidt for the support he had given the university be presenting him with a Meritorious Service Award in 1974.
Malcolm Dorfman became South Africa’s Grand Champion in 1971 whilst a student at Wits.
Dave Friend was awarded Springbok karate colours in 1970.
Marathon
According to the CrossCountry and Marathon Club records, efforts towards forming a marathon section began in 1969 when 14 members took part in the Comrades Marathon and eight ran the Matopos 33miler. The following year, the renamed club officially came into being at a meeting of the ASC, with the motion proposed by the club’s representative Dave Gear.
It would be somewhat remiss, however, to begin an account of the marathon section without reference to Jon Lang. He was twice South African marathon champion and won Springbok colours when he competed in the Athens Marathon in 1963. He was third in the famous event, finishing behind Edelen of the United States and Stephen of Tanganyika. He had started at the back and worked his way up the field to finish four minutes behind the winner. His time of 2:28 was considered excellent in the wet and slippery conditions.
Eight years later, in 1971, it was decided that the SAU Marathon should be held in conjunction with the South African championships at East London, and not as part of the Dalrymple Cup meeting. Wits won the team honours by a clear margin, with their leading runner, Dave Levick, the first student home. In proudly acclaiming the ‘strongest club side in the country’, a Wits Student reporter wrote: ‘With Levick, Parry and Gardner running in the London to Brighton race, who knows, Wits may be able to claim numberone spot in world ultradistance rankings in September!’
Funds were raised on campus to help send the university’s three longdistance stars to compete in one of the world’s most famous ultramarathons. As a result, there was a great deal of interest, but not even the most optimistic supporter could have anticipated the sensational outcome of the competition. Dave Levick was first, Trevor Parry second and Rob Gardner fourth, providing every reason to believe that the Witsies were the best in the world.
Another intervarsity competition – for the Natal University Athletics Club Shield – was
held as part of the Comrades Marathon. The first competition was held in 1968, when Witsies failed dismally as only one of their four runners (Byron Stewart – 9:33) managed to finish the race within 11 hours. Natal, with about 40 finishers, won easily, followed by Cape Town. In 1969, Natal (136) were some distance ahead of Cape Town (804) and Wits (857).
From all accounts, the Johannesburg students were determined to atone for their inferior showing and a marked improvement was displayed in 1970. In a field of 636, Rob Gardner, already an experienced Comrades campaigner, was seventh. Dave Levick, who won the best novice prize, was eighth, Trevor Parry twentysixth and John Greensmith thirty-first to enable Wits to win the intervarsity shield with comfort.
There was an even better performance in 1971 and Wits not only won the intervarsity but were awarded the Arthur Newton Trophy for being the second club home in the prestigious Gunga Din contest. Dave Levick ran a superb race in the misty, wet and bitterly cold conditions. He became the secondfastest man in the history of the Comrades, finishing behind Dave Bagshaw in a creditable 5:48:53. Making it a day to remember for Wits, Trevor Parry came in sixth and Rob Gardner seventh, and for a while it looked as though the Gunga Din Shield might be won. Unfortunately Wits’s fourth man was beaten by the third and fourth runners of the Savages team.
The Capetonians upset Wits in 1972 and appeared certain to do so again in 1973. Dave Levick, who missed the 1972 Comrades through injury, joined the ranks of the Ikeys the following year and provided them with a priceless first place. Levick won the downhill run in record time (5:38:9) but Wits’s hopes soared with Trevor Parry (seventh – 5:32) and Rob Gardner (ninth – 5:56) earning gold medals. Dave Wright (twentyeighth), Dave Hodgskiss (thirtythird), Pete Gordon (thirtyseventh) and John Bush (thirty-ninth) all finished well in the field of 1 531 runners, to give Wits the shield for the third time.
Brian Chamberlain won the South African Marathon title and was a two-time winner of the Two Oceans in a successful road-running career.
Running for Wits, Dave Levick finished second in the 1971 Comrades Marathon and, a few months later won the London to Brighton marathon. Trevor Parry (right) was second in the London to Brighton marathon and a third Witsie, Rob Gardner, was fourth.
John Bush and Dave Hodgskiss were leading members of the cross country and marathon clubs during the 1970s.
Mountaineering
Kevin Kruger
The Wits University Mountain Club (WUMC) began in 1959 when Mark Bell and Nicky Segal carried out the preliminary work of drawing up a constitution, arousing enthusiasm and obtaining assistance from more senior people. It was intended that the club should interest itself in all forms of outdoor activities such as mountaineering, spelunking, canoeing and angling, but after a year it was realised that a club of such a nature was terribly unwieldy and besides, the ruling passion was for mountaineering. Hence in February 1960, the committee resolved to confine its matters ‘only to mountaineering and closely allied activities’.
The year 1960 started with only three real leaders (the leader who climbs first in a party is more at risk than any other climber, and consequently needs to be more experienced than the rest of the party). In May, Bell, Ken Bennetts and Tom Kerrich were taken up the climb Black Eagle at Kranzberg by some Transvaal Mountain Club of South Africa (MCSA) members. It was noted to be one of the finest F-grade climbs in the Transvaal (all climbs are graded according to their difficulty: A – walking; C – scrambling; no rope work necessary; F – severe rock work; H – extremely difficult rock work).
In September, John Hyslop, Bell, Bennetts and Kerrich climbed the 1 000foot Prow, near Hanglip in the Northern Transvaal. This Fgrade climb required ten hours to complete, and their ascent was made outstanding by the fact that none of the climbers had been climbing for more than a year. Even in these days of modern equipment such as better ropes, footgear, harnesses and protection, this would be a significant achievement for beginner climbers.
In January 1961, the club suffered a severe setback when Mark Bell, who was chairman, was killed whilst abseiling in the Magaliesberg. It was mainly due to the efforts of the club president Professor Jennings, and Dr Revil Mason that the club carried on despite some discouragement from the university authorities. A memorial book collection was instituted in the earth sciences library, but later was moved to the main library. Judging from wear on most of these books, many climbers have appreciated this now vast collection.
Wits climbers started making a name for themselves when, in 1962, climbs such as Chukamisa (Bennetts, Kerrich) at Kranzberg and Prelude in F (Spike Cramphorn, Lutz Klingmann, Bennetts, Kerrich) on the Prow were opened. During 1964, the climbing area known as the ‘Hell’ was opened, mainly due to the efforts of Kerrich and Bennetts. These two opened climbs that required a 100metre swim (with equipment) through icy water to reach the cliffs, since they had camped on the wrong side of the river. The Hell was to provide a popular climbing area for the next few years, despite the heat and crocodiles. Wits members also did the second ascent of Swadeni, a twoday route at Blyde River, whilst Kerrich led part of the
fifth ascent of the notorious Devil’s Tooth in the Drakensberg.
During 1963, the club had its first of many visits to Blouberg, near Pietersburg in the Northern Transvaal. It was then that Paul Fatti had his first view of the sheer 1 200-foot North Face. At that time, not one route existed there. In time, nine routes would be established on the face, six of which were to his credit. The first to be opened was Moonlight in 1966 by Fatti and Tony Chinery. The route involved 21 pitches up to G2 standard and required oneandaquarter days to complete – a magnificent achievement. Supper on a small ledge on the face for the two consisted of raisins and dried peaches. The peaches were soon polished off, but because cakemix raisins were taken by mistake, they lasted much longer.
Other good climbers between 1963 and 1965 included Matt Makowski, who opened the crux pitch of Barry’s Route on Monk’s Cowl in the Drakensberg, John Anderson and Paul Venter. Classic routes opened by these climbers included Tom Tom and Rumdoodle at Kranzberg, and No Vibrams and Jelly Beans in the Magaliesberg.
Trips further afield included two weeks in the Richtersveld in the remote northern Cape during 1963 and two weeks in the Cape Cedarberg in 1964 when 13 members travelled by rail to Cape Town and then hitchhiked the 200kilometres to the Cedarberg – that’s what you call keenness. During 1966, the WUMC was fortunate to buy a oneandthreequarter ton Toyopet truck that enabled seven members to visit the Mlange Mountains in Malawi. The July expedition to South West Africa came to an end when the (finally paid for) truck rolled three days travelling from Johannesburg. Another Land Rover was acquired, named Mildred (‘Mildy’) and stayed with the club for ten years. During 1968, the committee discussed the possibility of having a climbing wall built for training. The SRC informed the club that one of the walls of the new gymnasium would be built according to the club’s requirement. This wall would be utilised by every standard of
The Mountain Club committee 1959 (left to right – back row): K.R. Lechmere-Oertel, D. Jack and D. Smith (front row): J. McKay, M.A.Q. Bell (chairman) and N. S. Segal (secretary).
Tom Kerrich climbing in the Magaliesberg.
Dr Paul Fatti, one of South Africa’s finest mountaineers.
climber from the nervous, distrustful and clumsy beginners to the more serious, nonchalant and experienced member, bent on being fit to do the next route in superb style.
New standards were attained in the seventies. At one stage, Fatti was probably South Africa’s most famous and experienced mountaineer. He led a successful expedition to climb the Sword in the Patagonian Andes in 1971/72. He went back to the region in 1974 to lead the successful first ascent of the East Face of Central Tower of Paine – a 4000foot rock face that required just under a month of climbing to conquer. Later, he led the Jugal Himal expedition in the Himalayas and the fourman team that tackled the southeast ridge of San Lorenzo in Argentina.
After the departure of Anderson, Venter and Fatti, the hard climbing by members was done with the the visiting Briton, Tony Barley. Classic climbs opened with him included Sunday Driver (G3), Adrenalin (G2), Gaboom (G2), Revolver (G1) and Tarantula (G2 at Hanglip). Possibly the best route opened by Witsies at that time was Boggle by Ian McLaglan and Makowski. At G1, it’s fearsome looking final pitch consisting of a long overhang crack recess is not easily
Rowing
With Rand Leases silting up and no finance available, the boat club moved to Wemmer Pan early in 1962. The standard of rowing was maintained and in 1963 the Wits crew won the storm-tossed Buffalo Regatta – the first time the Grand Challenge trophy had been won since 1937. In the dreadful weather conditions – eleven boats were sunk in the regatta and two in the fours event itself – the Wits foursome of Tony Tasker, Jock Allen, Alan Tucker and Humphrey Nicholls, crossed the line threequarters of a length ahead of Wemmer Pan.
Several Witsies obtained representative honours during the 1960s. A former club president Bruce Jackson was chosen to represent Cambridge in the famous Boat Race in 1963. It was a contest in which Cambridge had the quicker start but Oxford won by five lengths. Humphrey Nicholls, later a Rhodes Scholar to Oxford, was selected to stroke the coxswainless four nominated to represent South Africa at the
forgotten by anyone who has done it, no matter how much one might want to.
Around 1973, members started to appreciate the excellent climbing opportunities in the Cape, especially the longer country routes. Earlier in 1962, the ascent of Africa Crag (F1) on Table Mountain was the most serious route done in the Cape. However, over the years Witsies made their mark in this region. Fatti opened several classic country routes. Phil Dawson opened a route on the Pillar Box in 1973, and also credited climbs such as North West Frontal, Via Centrale and Thunderbolt. This was the beginning of more serious ‘route bagging’ in the Cape.
In 1973, Terry Hoy and Owen Wood opened Holy Wall on the Old Convent, on campus. In the writeup of the route description, comments included – ‘(1) the danger of the dreaded watchmen is minimal (2) the grading (E3½) may be a bit out since the opening party were not entirely sober at the time – 11.45pm’. The Wartenweiler North Face remained a classic climb for a few years – the crux of the climbing was getting past the nightwatchmen. ‘Buildeneering’ finally came to an end in 1978 when the vicechancellor banned it on campus.
Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964. The Springboks were barred from entering but compensation came in the form of a tour by a worldclass West German side and Nicholls led the Wits crew that fared so creditably against their illustrious visitors.
In 1966, two Witsies – Bob Tucker and Herbert Freecks – were chosen for the composite crew that competed at Henley. Three years later in the rowing events of the South African Games at Wagondrift Dam, Estcourt, Jerry Redding, Ian Tucker and Ken Goodenough were chosen for the Trident ‘A’ team and Terry Munton and Jopie von Honschoten for the ‘B’ team. The two sides competed against the touring British Nautilus crew with Redding and Tucker going on to represent the Tridents in Europe.
Wits’s domination of the intervarsity was reflected by the fact that they were defeated only once during the seventies. They were ready to send a team overseas in 1975.
‘Mildy’, the mountain club’s Land Rover was sold in 1975 after tenyear’s sterling service and 87 000 miles. Wits Student commented: ‘She is the sweetest Land Rover you ever did see and for any keen “landy lover” she’s going for R600 or nearest offer.’
Wits University rowers chosen for Trident teams in 1969 (left to right –standing): Ian Tucker, Jerry Redding, Jopie von Honschooten and Terry Munton (in front): Ken Goodenough.
Paul Fatti climbing the Central Tower of Paine.
The boat club – winners of the Buffalo Grand Challenge in 1963 (left to right): H. Nicholls, A. Tucker, M. Allen and A. Tasker.
Rugby
Wits began the 1960 season with three successive defeats. However, they did settle down to play attractive, winning rugby and a clear indication of the quality of their game was that they were asked to play seven of their ten home matches at Ellis Park. The First XV finished in a commendable third position in the Pirates Grand Challenge for the second successive year. Twice they lost in the dying seconds to Chick Henderson’s Wanderers team, but these were terrific games. In contrast, Simmer and Jack were beaten twice by a threepoint margin after hard, uncompromising clashes.
In his report for the season, the chairman Ken Viljoen wrote: ‘Undoubtedly the finest victory of the season was that over Westfield … in our first encounter we drew 88 after being down 08 at half time. But in the return fixture we succeeded where even the mighty Diggers had failed, for in their five years of existence Westfield had never before been beaten on their home ground. The final score was 17-13 in which left wing Ken Boonzaaier featured very prominently.
Boonzaaier had another great game against the University of Cape Town and scored a hattrick of tries in the 1111 draw. The Witsies were decidedly unlucky not to win this match, especially as they lost their fine flank forward Hennie Visser through an injury just before half time. They also played the more enterprising rugby with Dickie Viljoen and Eddie Barlow displaying speed and initiative at centre.
individual performances, most notably Mike Antelme’s selection for the Springboks against the touring All Blacks. He was also chosen –alongside Ken Boonzaaier, J. Lloyd Smith, Foxy Bernstein and Errol Scott – for the northern universities side that played the tourists at Potchefstroom’s Olen Park. One report stated of this match: ‘The pick of the students’ beaten pack was lock forward Scott of Wits ... A firm favourite with the crowd, Scott showed that the All Blacks are not invincible.’
Eddie Barlow was chosen for Transvaal against the All Blacks at Ellis Park in front of a record South African audience for a provincial fixture of 60 000. There were 12 Springboks in the Transvaal side but they disappointed and the All Blacks were rarely extended in winning 193. A better showing was made by Transvaal XV that included Ken Boonzaaier. They went down 93 to the tourists.
There was much to praise in Wits rugby during the 1959 and 1960 seasons. They achieved good results and there was little doubt that they played the most attractive rugby in the Transvaal. Yet they hadn’t won the Pirates Grand Challenge and were keen to shrug off the unwanted label of being an ‘also ran’. Louis Duffus wrote: ‘To the casual observer, following Wits rugby is as frustrating as watching scenery from a train passing through a succession of tunnels. One moment it looks beautiful and then …’
The Wits First XV 1961 (left to right – back row): E. Liebenberg, M. Wellsted, D. Froneman, J. Samuels, E. Barlow and V. Sachs (middle row): C. Smart, R. Mee, J. Heyns, E. Scott, A. Marsh, M. Bernstein and J. Faber (seated): J. Lombard, F. Rademan, S. Newman (coach), A. Menter (captain), K. Viljoen and R. Rathgeber (in front): D. Benade and M. Collins.
Springbok wing Mike Antelme was given no opportunities to show his skills against Cape Town but scored the try of the season against Potchefstroom. The Witsies were down 314 fifteen minutes from time, but went on to beat Pukke 1914 thanks to a brilliant lastminute effort by their Springbok wing who outstripped the defence to score under the posts after a run from virtually his own 25yard line.
These were some of the team’s highlights in 1960. There were also a series of memorable
The nine-year plan
In 1961, the club embarked on a nineyear plan in which the prime aim was to take Wits to the top of the Pirates Grand Challenge. The way the plan unfurled is not always clear, especially during the first three or four years when the administrators probed for new methods in which to bolster the club’s rugby strength. There were also setbacks and the loss of Syd Newman as coach, for example, was seen to retard the plan by possibly a year or two. But the end result was immensely satisfying because Wits attained all the ‘masterplan’ had set out to do.
There were several major figures involved in the implementation of the nineyear plan. Club chairman Kosta Babich led the administration effectively and conscientiously during the period 1962 to 1968. An avid follower of the game in all its aspects, he was always prepared to help out with the coaching, but it was as a progressive and successful administrator that he was best known. As the club’s representative on the ASC, he was respected but controversial, so determined was he that rugby should get a better deal.
Dr Norman Helfand was responsible for moulding together the side that brought glory to Wits in the late 1960s. His long association with the club gave him a deep understanding of university rugby and, together with his unrivalled enthusiasm for the game made him the ideal man to coach the Wits First XV. Alan Menter said of Wits rugby: ‘It is not an easy club to coach. Most of the fellows have a highly developed sense of individuality and to mould players like these
Kosta Babich – chairman of the Wits University Rugby Club 1962–68.
into a team often needs plenty of tact and a bit of psychology.’
The side was fortunate to have Menter as their captain. He was one of the finest fly halves in the country and a brilliant tactician who commanded enormous respect from his players. Clear thinking, calmness under pressure and decisiveness were Menter’s major qualities on the field. He demanded the best from his players and they responded willingly, practising an extra two or three days a week in their quest to become the best side in the province if not the country.
When Menter became Wits’s First XV captain in 1961, he was 20 years old. The previous year, he had led the under19 side that had retained top spot in their Transvaal League and his leadership qualities were further recognised when he was chosen to captain the junior provincial team. He was also a player of vast potential and together with fellow Witsies, Eddie Barlow and Egmond Liebenberg, he was chosen for the senior Transvaal team in his first year in the open level.
In 1961, Wits was once again the side that the crowds flocked to watch and the students were chosen to play seven of their eight home games at Ellis Park. It was naturally cause for concern that Wits lost more games than they won, but inexperience counted against them and several fixtures were lost by the odd one or two points. The surest indication of this team’s potential came in midseason when ‘Menter’s merry men teased, tormented and all but beat the champion rugby side Diggers at rugby’s headquarters, Ellis Park’.
Could Wits win the 1961 intervarsity at Loftus Versfeld? Thousands of Wits students converged on the capital city. They had spent the previous weeks thoroughly preparing their singsongs under cheerleaders, Brian Watt and Bill Archbold. Many a night they had braved the icy winter spell – hardy supporters muffled up in duffle coats and balaclavas (with holes left open for pipes) sitting through a ‘winter wind that is not so unkind as man’s ingratitude’.
On the day, Watt and Archbold were in superb form, spurring the Witsies on to the accompaniment of ‘the big brass band’. And on the field of play, Alan Menter lived up to his prematch billing, inspiring his chargedup team to new heights. It was also a wonderful twenty-first birthday present for Wits University’s ace centre Eddie Barlow. He had spent a good part of the rugby season on a cricket tour of Britain with the Fezelas, but returned in time to play a key role in a great victory. The Sunday Times recorded:
From the very first minute when Des Froneman, who played an inspired game at full back, kicked a penalty awarded for offside, Wits dominated the game. They were superior in all departments and led 110 at halftime. Against all expectations, the Wits pack excelled with Johan Lombard and Errol Scott matching the lineout stars of Pretoria. However, Wits dominated the loose play with Joe Samuels, the flanker, playing a storming game. He was well supported by Ken Viljoen the eighthman. The Wits backline had a splendid match. Alan Menter repeatedly outsmarted the Pretoria looseforwards. Barlow ran straight and strongly and was too elusive for his opponents who
at times seemed to be mesmerised by the backing up of the Witsies. In the fifteenth minute Samuels scored Wits’s try after a break by Barlow. In the twenty-fifth minute the best try of the match was scored after seven Wits players had handled the ball. Mike Collins, the centre, went over in the corner. Froneman converted. Tuks attacked after the interval and in the fifth minute Mac van Niekerk at centre broke following a set scrum to score near the posts. Gideon Steyn converted. Samuels scored the second try for Wits after Tony Marsh, the left wing, had beaten his man. Froneman converted.
The final score: Wits 16, Pretoria 5. The 1962 Pirates Grand Challenge was dominated by a rampant Diggers side. Wits began the season well, winning all five of their preseason friendlies, but disappointed in the latter stages of their programme and dropped out of the running for top honours. Their most impressive performance was the 1311 win over Johan Claassen’s Potchefstroom side at Ellis Park. Wits Student commented:
Ellis Park rose to the brilliant Witsies last Saturday and was ready to admit that the ‘Golden Age of Wits Rugby’ has definitely arrived. Bustling Eddie Barlow with ten scintillating points, Alan Menter fending off the Potch defenders with the nonchalant skill of a matador, slightly built Mike Adcock foiling his opponents time and again, Derek Esterhuizen limping on one leg and finding touch with the other, ebullient Joe Samuels here, there and everywhere, mighty Johan Lombard beating the Springbok captain in the lineouts, hottempered Rob Rathgeber giving more than he got, athletic Ken Viljoen versatile and enterprising, tough Derek Benade hooking the ball with only six forwards to support him – all of these and every other man of the team deserves the highest commendation.
The intervarsity against Pretoria was lost at Ellis Park but Wits had only themselves to blame. An Eddie Barlow penalty and two drop goals by Alan Menter put the home team ahead 96 twenty
In their report of Wits’s 1961 intervarsity victory, Pretoria’s newspaper Die Perdeby included illustrations of Phineas overcoming the Tukkies’ mascot, Oom Gert.
Eddie Barlow played against the All Blacks (1960) and British Lions (1962).
Alan Menter clears for Wits under pressure from Pretoria University’s ‘Oupa’ du Piesanie.
Wits First XV 1967 – winners of the Pirates Grand Challenge (left to right – back row): D. Smollan, G. Faber, A. Richards, J. Burger, D. Bell, M. Watson and J. Faber (middle row): B. Bruwer, N. Tickton, B. Grace, R. Menter, M. Rudolph, D. Lindsay-Smith and R. Smyth (seated): K. Resnick, A. Levin (vicecaptain), K. Babich (chairman), A. Menter (captain), Dr N. Helfand (coach), K. Vermaak and J. Verster.
five minutes into the second half. However, a penalty allowed Pretoria to draw level and some atrocious tackling enabled the visitors to score the only try of the match and record a 129 win.
There was fierce competition for places in the northern universities team to play against the British Lions at Springs in 1962. Wits was well represented with seven players in the team that drew 66. Eddie Barlow, Dickie Viljoen, Alan Menter, ‘Bull’ Heyns Johan Lombard, Derek Benade and Tuttie Faber played splendidly for the student team that should have won this encounter. They gained 65 per cent of the possession but were let down by poor finishing and the fact that they missed three easy penalties.
An SAU team, the Proteas, was chosen to tour Rhodesia during July. Alan Menter, Johan Lombard and Eddie Barlow were included although Barlow withdrew from the side that went on to beat Rhodesia, with the famed Stellenbosch wing Jannie Engelbrecht scoring the winning try.
Five Witsies represented Transvaal in an extremely busy year – Barlow, Faber, Menter, Lombard and Viljoen all gained selection at different stages. But only Barlow played in the ‘glamour’ match against the British Lions when the Transvalers were humbled 243.
The 1963 season was marred by the tragic death of Dr Michael ‘Foxy’ Bernstein following an injury sustained in a match against West Rand. He had represented the Wits first team since 1955 and was said to have broken the record for being Transvaal’s travelling reserve.
Early on in the season, Wits achieved a welcome 83 win over Diggers and in the course of a successful first round won eight out of nine matches, including West Rand. The most exciting match was against Simmer and Jack who led 133 with ten minutes to go before tries by Rob Jeffrey, Mike Collins and Tuttie Faber, backed up by the boot of Chris Herbst, gave Wits a 2113 win. Ten points came in the last two minutes.
Wits could not reproduce the same form in the second round, faltering badly on the home stretch. They also lost the intervarsity against Pretoria at
Loftus Versfeld and, as a consequence, fewer Witsies than expected represented northern universities against touring teams. Alan Menter, Dickie Viljoen and Rob Jeffrey were in the side that lost 612 to Oxbridge and Viljoen, Derek Benade and Tuttie Faber enjoyed being part of the 159 victory over the Wallabies.
Gert Dannhauser, who had toured overseas with the legendary 1951/52 Springboks, took over from Syd Newman as the First XV coach in 1964. His first year was disappointing in that his side promised so much by winning all their preseason friendlies but were unable to maintain their form in league matches. They also lost the intervarsity against Tukkies by a 223 margin. While the Wits committee were faced with a seemingly tough task of boosting the club’s strength, the answer was simple. Tukkies had fielded seven past students in the intervarsity. The outcome was that Wits persuaded the university authorities to reconsider the ruling that was in force and to allow graduates to represent the rugby club. It was a crucial development.
The Wits first team experienced a number of problems during 1965, not least being the unavailability of Gert Dannhauser to continue coaching and he resigned from the post in midseason. Doc Helfand and Kosta Babich took over for the remainder of the league programme under trying conditions. Despite determined efforts to get back on track, Wits had lost valuable ground in their quest to improve their standing in the Pirates Grand Challenge. Five years of the nineyear plan were up and a quick glance at the results’ sheet revealed little progress towards the desired goal.
In April 1966, Wits beat Diggers 93, an encouraging indication that they meant business. Three penalties by Chris Herbst won the day but most impressive was the Witsies’ fierce determination in defence. Four months later in August, Wits headed the Pirates Grand Challenge with only two defeats detracting from an impressive record. Diggers, however, had a couple of matches in hand which meant that the final outcome would depend on the very last match. It was at this late stage that Wits shocked rugby circles when they decided not to fulfil their last fixture against third-placed Vereeniging. The chief objection was that they had been informed by the Transvaal RFU that their programme would be finished by 5 September.
As a result, Wits forfeited the points and settled for third place. Diggers won their remaining matches to emerge top of the 17team league in a conclusion to the season that was both unsatisfactory and an anticlimax. A positive factor was that Wits were within striking distance of their target. They were also unlucky to lose a tensionpacked intervarsity to Pretoria 119, the result hanging in the balance until the very end. In another intervarsity, Wits beat Potchefstroom 9-3 and contributed five players – Mervyn Fogelman, Alan Menter, Denis Rein, Allan Levin and Ken Resnick to the northern universities’ team that lost 2211 to London Harlequins.
The
Coke Bayvel was one of the four outstanding rugby-playing brothers to represent Wits.
Champions
Everyone looked forward to 1967 with keen anticipation. The season began well enough with five straight victories before the side suffered a slight hiccup in losing 93 to ERPM. Thereafter, it was almost plain sailing as one win after another was recorded. When Wits played Diggers in their last match of the season before a crowd of 10 000 at Ellis Park, they knew that victory would bring them first place in the final league log. They lost and had to wait in suspense for an agonising decider between Police and Diggers. A month before, Wits had accounted for Police 146 in a hard, bruising night encounter, but the ‘cops’ did the students the greatest of all favours by defeating Diggers 2319.
Wits with 28 points from their 16 matches – won 14, lost 2, points for 309, against 146 – finished ahead of Diggers (27) and West Rand (21). After seven years of rebuilding and replanning, Wits’s first success in the Pirates Grand Challenge was a priceless reward. It was no fluke because they had challenged strongly for top honours in the preceding year. The season was a major triumph for Kosta Babich and his hardworking executive committee and for coach Doc Helfand.
The side enjoyed a number of other successes in 1967. Even without Menter, Wits had an impressive tour of Rhodesia, winning all five of their matches in different parts of the country, scoring 198 points with only 33 against. Allan Levin led the team on tour and then again on their return in an intervarsity match against Natal. Wits earned a lastminute 1513 victory in the intervarsity, having been 133 behind with 11 minutes to play. Braam Bruwer, Duncan Bell and Reg Haswell scored tries that day before Duncan LindsaySmith won the match with a 35yard penalty.
The annual intervarsity against Pretoria at Loftus Versfeld was a thriller, with the Wits forwards, despite Doug Smollan being injured, holding their opponents until the bitter end. It was hard, tense rugby with no quarter being given as Pretoria edged home 1312 through a highly controversial try in the last sixty seconds of play. It was heartbreak for the Witsies as giant Tukkies lock Johan Spies crashed over for the decisive score in one of the greatest of all matches between the two universities.
Early on in the 1968 season, the new Transvaal champions were put on trial against the most feared club side in South African rugby and came through with flying colours. The Easter encounter at Ellis Park against Stellenbosch University was described as being ‘one of the finest club matches seen in Johannesburg for many years’. Roger Smyth, deputising for Alan Menter at fly half, had a stormer as Wits beat the powerful Matie combination – liberally sprinkled with past, present and future Springboks – 1713. Everything the Witsies did on that epochmaking occasion had the hallmark of quality, right up to a tremendous 65yard penalty kicked by Allan Levin.
Little more than a week later, Wits tackled
Pretoria. Some critics put it down to ‘now or never’ because Wits fielded, collectively, their finest side in memory, good enough to play their great find at centre, Duncan Skewis, on the wing. They were most certainly blessed with a fine pack that day, well equipped for the exacting task ahead – front row, Johan van Schalkwyk, Ken Resnick and ‘Bull’ Heyns, the loose trio of Gunther Faber, Duncan Bell and Kobus Vermaak, and locks Doug Smollan and Allan Levin.
Great excitement built up as the Wits Second XV (83) and Third XV (86) won their matches on a day that Wits fielded 25 sides. From the start of the gripping first-team contest, the crowd of 21 000 were made aware that Wits’s watchword would be attack. Alan Menter was again the scourge of Pretoria’s loose forwards and it was often his uncanny ability to evade the backrow screen that gave his threequarters the initial impetus. Mike Shafto wrote of the opening session:
Amid tension and a shock wave of sound rivalled only by a Test match, Wits, using their backs at every opportunity, opened the scoring with a classic try near the posts, when Menter skipped out Smyth and sent the ball straight to Grace at second centre and he burst through the gap to score.
The match was packed with incidents and drama from that moment onwards. Levin’s attempt at a conversion appeared to sail high between the posts but when the linesmen could not agree the referee ruled that it had missed. So the five points that had gone on to the scoreboard beside Wits’s name were reduced to three.
Pretoria rallied furiously and towards the end of the first half began to gain the upper hand. With the tide of the battle running against them, the Witsies were severely tested. Two penalties in quick succession by full back Jan van Deventer relieved the pressure and enabled them to go ahead 98. A tremendous roar greeted what seemed to be a try from a lineout by Ken Resnick but the referee ruled a scrum. As time ran out, Pretoria retaliated with lastditch efforts but were held up on the line. An explosive roar from the Wits stand greeted the final whistle as the unbearable tension of the closing minutes finally snapped.
The two great intervarsity victories overshadowed the remainder of the season. The injury bogey manifested itself at crucial stages as the team slipped to fifth position in the final league log. Yet it was not the standard of rugby, nor the enthusiasm that presented a problem to Wits’s rugby authorities at that time but rather the poor facilities. When the club trials were held, there were 130 players using one field as the other had been taken by a soccer section. With the first team continuing to attract large crowds, the club received criticism of their facilities in the national press. After a night match against Wanderers that attracted 4 000 spectators, standing four deep and spilling over the grandstand, Mike Shafto wrote: ‘The University of the Witwatersrand should be ashamed of the
David Attwood-Smith represented Wits and Transvaal at fly-half.
Mike Rudolph
Paul Bayvel played in ten internationals for the Springboks against the British Lions, France and the All Blacks.
The Wits rugby touring team to Europe in 1970/71 (left to right – back row): J. van Schalkwyk, J. Carty, R. Hutchison, M. Turner, L. van Vught, D. Wessels, D. Smollan and D. Bell (third row): J. Dittberner, J. Terbrugge, J. Gray, N. Hermer, M. Wallace, B. Freeman and B. Grace (second row): P. Bayvel, M. Macfarlane, P. Waterson, A. Botes, J. King, A. Polatinsky, I. Fitz and W. Buckingham (seated): A. Miller, D. Attwood-Smith (vice-captain), Dr N. Helfand (coach/ assistant manager), A. Norman (manager), G. Goldin (assistant manager/administration), K. Resnick (captain) and R. Menter.
Doug Smollan and Ken Resnick battling to keep the mighty Pretoria University forwards at bay. Duncan Skewis
poor facilities it affords its players (the Pirates Grand Challenge champions) and spectators … the worst at any university in the country’.
The playing ability of the side attracted favourable press coverage. Three Wits players were invited to the Springbok trials – Alan Menter, Duncan Skewis and Bobby Grace. These three, together with Duncan Bell, Coke Bayvel and Jan van Deventer, were selected for Transvaal, while Allan Levin captained Transvaal B. Nine Witsies were selected for northern universities: Grace, Van Deventer, Bell, Bayvel, Levin, Roger Smyth, Johan van Schalkwyk, Kobus Vermaak and Bull Heyns.
Alan Menter made a dramatic switch to ‘Blue Bull’ territory in time for the 1968 Currie Cup final and played a major role in Northern Transvaal’s 163 win over Transvaal. To crown a wonderful season, he was then chosen for the Springbok tour of France.
Wits continued to be a force in Transvaal rugby in 1969 by virtue of the fact that the First XV again finished fifth in the Pirates Grand Challenge and both the ‘Seconds’ and unbeaten ‘Disciples’ (third team) won their sections. Equally important was their ability to maintain their attacking brand of rugby. The senior team’s ‘points for’ showed an average of 22 per game which was indicative of the type of running rugby that they played throughout the season and the crowds flocked to watch them in action.
David Attwood-Smith, who first donned the red and white jersey of Transvaal in May 1969, just two days after his twenty-first birthday, was a great success as a running fly half.
The outstanding player of the 1969 season was centre Bobby Grace, who gained numerous honours. Fine performances for Transvaal and northern universities saw him represent the Gazelles (the national under 24 side) and the South African ‘B’ team.
A period of great promise
The 1970s began well, promised much and produced many great moments. The decade was also to provide its fair share of disappointments with there being a gradual decline in the standard of Wits rugby. A major reason behind this downward trend was that potential stars, who would normally have registered at Wits, were enticed away to other universities. The introduction of rugby bursaries at these universities, the establishment of the Rand Afrikaans University and the setting up of medical faculties at other universities around the country caused many rugbyplaying students to look elsewhere. To the consternation of the Wits club, Johannesburg schools were suddenly no longer providing effective nurseries for their rugby.
No one who participated in the club during the 1970 season could have anticipated that Wits would gradually lose ground from that point onwards. The 1970 season was highly successful with the first team improving from fifth to third position. The university’s lowest placing in any of the nine divisions was fifth, and with the marked progress in the under20 section – the ‘A’ team advanced from eighth to second – the future appeared bright.
The First XV was a wellbalanced combination, winning 13 of their 16 matches. The club was honoured by various representative honours with pride of place going to David AttwoodSmith and Bobby Grace who were chosen to participate in the Springbok trials. A popular selection was that of Doug Smollan for Transvaal while Ken Resnick (as captain), Paul Bayvel, Adi Botes, Duncan Bell and Nevil Hermer represented the provincial ‘B’ side. In addition, Bayvel, Botes, Grace, Hermer, Resnick and Daan Wessels played for northern universities.
A highlight of the season was a notable 1411 victory over Paris University at Ellis Park. The French troubled the home team through their unorthodox play and led narrowly for almost the entire first half. It was only a good movement involving Alan Miller, Bobby Grace and try
scorer David AttwoodSmith, allied to two kicks by Nevil Hermer, that gave Wits an 85 lead at the interval.
In the second half, Paul Bayvel scored an opportunistic try but the French responded with a penalty and try in quick succession to draw level at 1111. For the next 15 minutes both sides strove mightily to gain the upper hand and it was a moment of rash irresponsibility by Paris University that allowed Wits to regain the lead.
Paul Bayvel was deliberately tripped and Nevil Hermer goaled the kick 1411. That remained the final score although it did require a magnificent tackle from Bernie Freeman to prevent Paris scoring after a 50metre handling movement.
More than anything else, the 1970 season is remembered for the overseas tour, which was an important milestone in the history of the club. An amount of R30 000 was raised and 27 players departed for Europe to play eight matches in Holland, Germany, France, Spain and Portugal.
The tour began with a match against a combined universities team at The Hague. It took the Witsies time to adapt to the muddy, cold conditions but they ultimately achieved a 300 victory. Conditions in Frankfurt were worse but two victories were earned over Eintracht Club, 453 and combined Eintracht/ Frankfurt 1800, 456. The team then took a coach tour through Switzerland and Northern Italy to France where they played and beat Racing Club of Nice 183.
Tougher opposition followed when Wits travelled to Toulouse – the heart of French rugby – to play the Pyrenees XV. The tourists trailed 35 for most of the match and only succeeded in taking control during the last ten minutes. They were relieved to scrape home 95 against a side that included several French internationals.
Surprise was expressed at the enthusiasm for the game in Spain and Portugal. At Madrid, Wits struggled at times to overcome the national champions, Canoe Club, 190. The next game at Barcelona against an Invitation XV was a little easier – Wits winning 205 – prior to the team making their way to the Benfica Club in Lisbon. A convincing 323 win concluded a most enjoyable venture for the touring team.
The 1971 Pirates Grand Challenge was divided into strength versus strength divisions. Wits began well, thrashing Pretoria Harlequins 3710, and it appeared as if their supporters would be treated to some champagne rugby during the season. It was not to be and there were a string of early defeats. Amongst the losses was the 169 defeat at the hands of Vereeniging at Ellis Park when three Witsies were carried off after they had been assaulted. The crowd erupted as Vereeniging’s hitmen were allowed to get away with the most filthy tactics ever seen at Transvaal rugby’s headquarters. Spectators called for the match to be abandoned but this was refused.
One occasion when the students lived up to their early season expectations was the match against Police. Down 813 at halftime, Wits staged a terrific fightback to score 29 points after the interval. Running the ball at every opportunity, they bewildered their opponents to win 3719.
In 1972, the Pirates Grand Challenge was again divided into two sections. Wits finished fifth behind Diggers, Vereeniging, Iscor and Wanderers but ahead of Germiston Simmer, Police and Alberton. In a season of ups and downs, Wits won six of their 14 matches. They were disappointed to go down narrowly to Wanderers (1014) and Iscor (1217 and 1013), but there were comfortable victories over the teams below them. Perhaps the best performance was the return encounter against Wanderers when youthful full back Ian Fitz set up a 2912 victory.
The 1973 Pirates Grand Challenge was frustrating considering the side’s capabilities. They started unsteadily, losing all their preseason matches, and ended badly, but played some marvellous rugby in between and bumper crowds turned out to watch them. Wits beat Cape Town 1613 in a dramacharged intervarsity and outclassed Vereeniging 204 in a satisfying league performance. They were also denied a sensational victory over Diggers in the last minute of an absorbing encounter.
Star player in the team was scrum half Norman Picker who began to fulfil the great promise he showed as an under 20 by becoming a regular in the Transvaal team. He was joined in the provincial squad by Ken Resnick for a tour of France, while Ian Fitz and Bobby Grace were selected for Transvaal later in the season.
Wits suffered through injury and at one stage, 25 players were sidelined at the same time. They never recovered and in the latter part of the season, the first team managed to win just one game, a scratchy 2314 effort against lowly Wanderers. Club chairman Rob Menter commented:
The level to which their performances had sunk was reflected in their unbelievably poor display against Iscor in the last game of the season. Watching that match, one would never have guessed that a victory would have given Wits fourth position in the league instead of sixth.
Duncan Bell
Norman Picker
Peter Waterson
Alan Polatinsky – his head swathed in bandages – peers from a loose scrum during the 16-13 intervarsity victory against Cape Town in 1973.
Bobby Grace in action against the University of Cape Town.
Soccer
With changes in the structure of the leagues taking place, the university found itself in the Transvaal first division (amateur league) in 1960 and made a wonderful start. The first 19 games were played without defeat but then five matches were lost in a row which meant that the team dropped to fifth place out of 25 teams.
There were no lapses, however, at the intervarsity tournament in Pietermaritzburg. The Witsies were unbeaten and great surprise was expressed that only two of their players were chosen for the SAU team – Leon Hacker (who with Des Levin had accompanied the Protea team to Rhodesia during the previous year) –and Robert Wiseman. The fact that Wits should lose the Abe Katz trophy to Pretoria University in a thrilling encounter a month later served to emphasise the unpredictability of the team.
It was a big step for the Witsies to leave the amateur ranks and gain promotion to the National Football League (NFL) at the outset of the 1961 season. They were placed in the second division of the NFL, and throughout the first round kept within touch of the log leaders. Hopes were even raised that Wits might gain promotion to the NFL first division. Unfortunately, problems set in and the second round was not as successful. Once winter approached, the days became shorter, practices became pointless and the side started losing matches. Most of the difficulties stemmed from the poor training facilities, resulting in what ASC chairman Charles Cohen described as ‘a steady decline in fitness and consequent decline in fortune’.
Amidst the many difficulties that confronted the team, the Witsies won the intervarsity at Stellenbosch. It was a gritty performance because they came from behind to steal the Malcolm Taylor trophy from under the noses of the more favoured sides. Wits drew with Natal 22 on the opening day and then lost to Stellenbosch 23. They clawed their way back into the competition with fighting victories over Rhodes 10 and Pretoria 20, and met Cape Town in the ‘decider’. The Capetonians were unbeaten at that stage – although they had drawn twice – and needed only a draw against Wits to clinch the trophy. However, Allan Levin and his Wits team had other ideas. Levin scored twice to inspire an upset 21 victory and create an exciting conclusion to the tournament.
The achievements in the NFL and the intervarsity victory were remarkable in the context of the university’s lack of support. Wits fielded two open and one under 21 side but any hopes of real expansion were hindered by the fact that there was only one field. The training facilities on campus were described by Charles Cohen as being ‘pathetic’. With no floodlights, practices were rendered virtually impossible for the majority of the students. There were other problems. Cohen noted:
I was given to understand that the quality of footballs bought for the club was very poor indeed. In fact, some burst during matches. The goalposts
and the nets are in shocking condition and referees frequently complained of this. In addition, the groundsman failed to put up flags for many matches.
Cohen announced his findings in the course of a comprehensive investigation into sport at the university. With regard to the soccer club he drew the following somewhat dismal conclusion:
My impression is that we are witnessing the twilight of soccer on the campus. With the advent of professionalism, the whole complexion of soccer in the country has changed. Competition has become intense and unless our club can meet the challenge it will disintegrate.
It was not a case of the ASC chairman being unjustly pessimistic. The lack of an official coach, the exodus of a number of experienced players and a financially disastrous 1961 left the club in dire straits in 1962. The registrar was asked to contact the NFL in the hope of reducing their financial demands on the SRC.
Professor Ronnie Schloss, then a young quantity surveying student, recalled the infamous 1962 season: ‘It was so bad that when we took on Bloemfontein Celtic in an away match we had to drag chaps out of the canteen to play for us. We fulfilled the fixture and prevented a fine but the game was a shambles.’ The team pitched up in a variety of footwear and was soundly thrashed 170.
The 1963 season marked the beginning of Wits’s bid to become a force in South African soccer. They had been relegated to the third division, but there was a glimmer of hope insofar as the colts team boasted promising players. In the course of an exciting season, the freescoring Dave Mill and Alan Levin accumulated more than eighty goals between them and spearheaded the team’s success in forcing its way to the top of the third division. A 12-0 victory over Coalfields – Mill five goals, Levin four – at the end of the season confirmed the side was far too strong for their opponents.
A sobering thought for the students was that Klerksdorp Town had dominated the third division in similar style during the previous year, but had then found themselves on the bottom rung of the second division. The Witsies were not overawed, marking their arrival by thrashing the reigning champions Vereeniging 61 – Levin four goals.
The upsurge in fortune continued well into 1964. The coaching of former Springbok Gordon Falconer was an important factor. He worked well with new captain Dave Mill and in midMay, the team was lying second in the league. They ultimately dropped to seventh but did enough to demonstrate that they would become a force in future seasons. The erection of floodlights during the year was a big step forward and enabled the club to hold properly organised practices.
Wits won the 1965 intervarsity at Cape Town – their first win since 1961. They lost to
Professor Ronnie Schloss – his influence as secretary, chairman and then president was the driving force behind the incredible development of Wits soccer.
Dave Mill, an inspirational figure and prolific goal-scorer in Wits soccer.
Pretoria but it was a defeat suffered in unusual circumstances. Adverse weather conditions interrupted the match on the opening day, with Wits leading Pretoria 10. Then, not knowing that the match would be replayed shortly after breakfast the next morning, the Johannesburg students had an enjoyable night on the town. The result was a 31 defeat. But, with Mill scoring ten goals in the tournament, Wits won their remaining matches against Stellenbosch 21, Natal 31, Rhodes 20, Potchefstroom 90 and Cape Town 21 to head the table.
Wits repeated their intervarsity success in 1967 when they won all their games, scoring 15 goals (Jeff Sacks six, Dave Mill five) and conceded only one. Barry Myers, Phil Eagar, Dave Mill and Joe Magua were chosen for the SAU that year in what was to be Wits’s last intervarsity success for seven years. League commitments meant that the Witsies invariably sent weakened combinations, whilst there was a period when the club was suspended from participating. The suspension came after a particularly ribald evening in Bloemfontein which ended up with the mayor’s wife being kissed, the mayor’s chain taken and the incident making the front page of the Sunday Times.
Between 1965 and 1968, Wits consolidated their position in the second division, proving to be a good middleofthetable side. There were some highlights. In 1966, Wits finished third in the North Cup and in 1968 they lost to Bloemfontein City 2-0 in the final of the Alitalia Cup (minor leagues) before a massive crowd at Springbok Park. One of Wits’s finest displays in the late 1960s was a 22 draw with the highly rated Rangers during a Castle Cup secondround encounter in 1967. It was a great performance: Barry Myers was superb in goal; Hilly Chimes and Bernard Cohen outstanding in a rocklike defence; Joe Magua thrilling the crowd with dazzling dribbling runs; quality play from Leon Hacker and Tony Gordon; and then the ‘man of the match’ Dave Mill scoring two superb goals.
In ‘friendly’ encounters, Wits showed that they were capable of matching first division sides and an element of frustration skirted the club’s inability to secure promotion. At one stage they even turned to resident bonethrower Jackson Phosa. A chef at the university, he was able to ward off the evil spirits of opposition sides but did have the disconcerting habit of warning the students of impending defeat.
The most important feature at this time was the fact that soccer was booming on campus. By 1967 the club fielded 14 sides and a year later the number had risen to 25. The interfaculty section was flourishing, and high-spirited students were supporting the league teams in droves.
The only factor stifling progress was that the facilities were totally inadequate and when the soccer field was condemned in 1968 until major improvements were carried out, the club was forced to play home matches away. Great pressure was placed on the university authorities, resulting in the Marks Park scheme being brought into operation to provide much needed additional facilities.
Wits entered the restructured national second division when it was formed in 1969, finishing fourth that year, seventh in 1970, fifth in 1971 and fourth in 1972. Despite the higher standard of football at national level, the same burning desire of being granted first division status remained.
For many years, Wits faced the problem of top student players representing outside teams and at one stage, club officials tried to persuade the NFL to introduce legislation whereby all student players would have to play for their university or turn professional. Fortunately, the deeds of the club reached a point by the 1970s that such a ruling was unnecessary in that students were clamouring to play for the university. This in itself was testimony to the efforts over the years of players such as Alan Levin, Dave Mill, Bernard Cohen, Jeff Sacks, Joe Magua, Michael and Pierre Bill, Leon Hacker, Hilly Chimes, Tony Gordon, John Lavies, Brian Rabinowitz, Richard Gabriel, George Frantzeskou, Ean Chain and Barry Myers who was the best goalkeeper in the division. The club prided itself on its amateur basis and when a player moved across to the professional ranks, the sports editor of Wits Student was horrified:
It is sad and distressing, not only for the Wits Soccer Club but also for sport as a whole when an essentially amateur player abandons his club for the money offered to him by the bigtime First league. I say essentially amateur because why would a player go to varsity if he thought his career lay on the sports field?
The 1970s witnessed many changes. The composition of the team also altered – Mark Cvitanich added tremendous punch to the side’s striking ability, combining well with the skilful Dave Mill and the clever ballwork of Joe Magua. Then came Nick Mavrodaris, a former Powerlines player who was earmarked for great things from an early age and showed real class. Promising youngsters flocked to join the club, two of the most notable being Trevor Ternent and
Leon Hacker excelled at both soccer and athletics during his student years. Later, he played an important role in the development of Wits soccer as trainer to Eddie Lewis’s highly successful side of the 1970s.
The Wits first soccer team that won the NFL third division in 1963 (left to right – back row): M. Uria, D. Mill, P. Bill, G. Falconer (coach), M. Bill, F. Strathern, I. Wallace and B. Myers (in front): L. Gerber, J. Sacks, C. Baskind, E. Miller (captain), H. Kagan and A. Levin.
The Wits intervarsity soccer team 1970 (left to right – back row): D. Zagnoev (manager), S. Judelson, K. Hallowell, R. Beck, G. Frantzeskou, M. Cvitanich, G. Catto (captain), E. Marcus (vice-captain) and R. Paladin (front row): I. Cruickshank, O. Lewis, D. Yutar, M. Sainsbury, C. Friedland, H. Blohm and T. Romano.
Jimmy Cook. In time, they became the backbone of Wits soccer. The end of the 1970 season saw the visit of the Argentinian universities. They played against an SAU side that was comprised predominantly of Witsies and bolstered by guest stars Pat Crerand of Manchester United and George Mulhall from Cape Town City. The Argentinians won 21 before a crowd of 14 000. Wits gradually became a name in local soccer but the pundits were sceptical as to whether a student team could handle the sort of pressures experienced at the highest level. A brilliant 40 victory over Lusitano in the 1973 Castle Cup certainly astounded the soccer world. Not since 1966 when Powerlines as a second division side beat Boksburg and then accounted for Bloemfontein City, had an NFL first division team suffered such ignominy at the hands of opposition from a lower league. Was it a flash in the pan?
Student teams through exams, studies, extramural activities and plain inexperience often flatter only to deceive. They invariably lack the consistency demanded by a prolonged programme of fixtures, and this often appeared to be the case with Wits’s senior soccer side. In order to transform the side into a ruthlessly efficient unit, capable of winning the league, a dynamic coach was needed who would not only be able to instil confidence into a young student team but would be able to command maximum commitment over a sustained period of time. Such a man was found in the former Manchester United player Eddie Lewis.
The major aim of the club was to gain the elusive promotion. In 1973, Wits headed the second division before slipping in the last few matches … another year went by but the club did not lose heart. They became more determined than ever to achieve their target.
The Wits first soccer team 1973 (left to right – back row): E. Haase, R. Schloss (chairman), M. Davis (assistant coach), K. Broad, M. Mann, M. Fairhurst, L. Blackbeard, J. Cook, J. Brown, T. Ternent, A. Moulster, A. Mavrodaris and A. Ternent (coach) (in front): N. Clegg, R. Hoskins, G. Josset, R. Wallet, R. Wainer and N. Mavrodaris (captain).
Joe Magua thrilled crowds with his dazzling dribbling runs.
Men’s Squash
Jeff Maisels made an important contribution to squash during the late 1950s to the early 1960s. He won the SAU championship in 1959, retained the title at Grahamstown in 1960 when he beat the local champion Eric Brotherton and made it a hattrick before an excited Wits University crowd in 1961. His final victory was a great achievement as he was fully extended by Cape Town’s Western Province champion Dave Barrow, but fought back decisively. The ITA Yearbook records:
In the first set, Maisels pulled up from 28 to win 108 and then lost the second set 90. After being 06 down in the third set, Maisels, using clever tactical and stroke play, tired the hardrunning Barrow out, and took the set 109. By forcing Barrow to fetch continually, Maisels carried the game off and won the fourth set and match 94.
In club chairman and team captain John Roy, Maisels had strong support, and in 1960 both reached the semi-finals of the South African championships. Despite boasting two such fine players, Wits finished third at the 1959 SAU, a close second to Rhodes in 1960 and it was not until 1961 that success came their way.
Three Witsies were chosen for the SAU team in 1961 – Maisels, Roy and Brian Sherriffs – and all three were included in the Transvaal side during the season. A good indication of the strength of intervarsity squash was the fact that two Witsies – Jeff Maisels and Brian Sherriffs –were chosen for the next Springbok team, with Eric Brotherton (Rhodes) and Doug Barrow (Cape Town) also in the sixman side.
The Wits championships were contested by nationally ranked players. The honours were shared: John Roy won in 1959, Jeff Maisels in 1960, Brian Sherriffs in 1961 and 1963, and another player to win Springbok colours, Paul Robinson, in 1962. During this time, the club also included players of the calibre of provincial representatives, Douglas Howie and Duncan Davies, future SAU champion Rob Girdwood and the likes of Abe Cohen, Mel Felling, Pat Oppler and Rob Kinsley, so it was no mean feat to be crowned Wits champion.
The 1964 season was particularly successful for the club and Wits won both the men’s and women’s titles at the SAU tournament –Rob Girdwood winning the men’s individual championship by beating teammate Duncan Davies in the final. Wits followed this up by winning the Transvaal men’s squash league by a margin of nearly 100 points. In an unbeaten year, Wits fielded a formidable team: Rob Girdwood, Barrie Jones, Duncan Davies and Graham Macdonald represented the provincial sides in the Jarvis Cup staged at Salisbury, Rhodesia, and Paul Robinson was chosen for the Springbok team that toured Australia.
Later professor of corrosion science and engineering at Wits, Robinson exerted an important influence on the university’s squash. As the club’s number one seed in 1964, he set
a fine example in both training and competition with a feature of the season being the Sunday afternoon team practices that were instituted under his guidance. The highlight of the year’s achievements was Robinson’s first South African title. It was hard won in that he first ousted Jeff Maisels 32 in a marathon 90minute semi-final played at a furious pace. The final against Dave Barrow was contrasting in style but no less demanding. Characterised by long, often defensive rallies, it was a tense, tactical encounter that also went to five games.
Paul Robinson retained his South African title in 1965 with relentless efficiency. His achievement was noteworthy in that he defeated members of the British touring side in both his semi-final and final matches. The semifinal witnessed his masterly destruction of the England number one and the tournament’s top seed Richard Boddington in straight games. Then, in the final, he wore down Gerald Massy, reputed to be one of the fastest amateurs in the world, 31.
In between his national successes, Robinson toured Australia with the Springbok side and at home played in Test series against the British and Australians. Having captained the Springboks to 31 series win against the Aussies, he bowed out of the game by annexing his fifth Transvaal title in 1967 at the age of 34. The Star commented: ‘On the evidence of his play down the years, one feels it will be some time before the younger players can equal his exceptional match temperament and shrewd squash tactics.’
As squash was not offered in the schools at that time, the majority of players were given a late start to the sport and the leading exponents were invariably much older than the stars of later years. The more exciting prospects among the younger brigade were usually members of the thriving university clubs with Witsie, Graham Macdonald coming to the fore quicker than most. A delightful strokeplayer with classic footwork, he played as number one for the South African colts before being drafted into the Springbok side against the touring Australians in 1966. He then represented South Africa in world championships alongside another top
Paul Robinson was South African champion in 1964 and 1965, and captained the Springbok team.
Jeff Maisels (right) in action against David Woods during the 1961 SAU championships.
Brian Sherriffs represented Wits, SAU, Transvaal and South Africa.
Graham Macdonald represented South Africa at world championships during the late 1960s.
player from Wits – Dawie Botha, a postgraduate student and club champion in 1965.
At intervarsity level, the Wits men relinquished their team title in 1965 to Natal, and thereafter Cape Town virtually monopolised the event. Wits did not go away emptyhanded during these years in that Rob Girdwood (1966) and Keith Rosenbaum (1969) both won the individual title. Girdwood did well to regain the championship he had won two years before, because his rivals at Pietermaritzburg included the 1965 champion Tim Woods and the future Springbok Derek Broom.
Women’s Squash
The Wits women’s section was for many years overshadowed by the outstanding achievements of the men. This was inevitable to an extent as women’s squash in South Africa generally lagged behind that of their male counterparts. The records show that there were only about 25 women playing league squash in Johannesburg in 1960. When the first interprovincial tournament was held that year there were just four teams –Eastern Province, Orange Free State and two from Transvaal.
The sport took off during the sixties and by the end of the decade there were nearly 200 women playing league squash in Johannesburg alone. The Wits club blossomed with the women performing well at intervarsity and winning the tournament on several occasions. Prominent players included Linda Basson, Lola Goldberg, Jennifer Murray, Clare Brayshaw, Jenny Alexander, Jill Walton, Ann Hutchings, Melanie Brink, Iona Anderson, and Heather Millard. Then came Kathy Malan who was to make an indelible impression, not only at Wits but in South Africa.
When Kathy Malan registered at the university in 1968, she had not played squash before but was an asset to the university’s sporting community in that she had she had always shown a natural aptitude for ball games and had captained the Southern Transvaal schoolgirls’ hockey team of the previous year. It was a fellow student and
Philip Timperley (club champion in 1967 and 1970) and Keith Rosenbaum (club champion in 1968 and 1969) dominated Wits squash for several years, with Derek Berold succeeding them during the early seventies. Berold was unfortunate to contest the SAU championships against a player of the calibre of Cape Town’s Alan Colburn.
Squash made even greater strides at university level during the seventies as players were given the opportunity of playing overseas through tours arranged by the Knights and the SAU.
good friend, Ann Tucker, who persuaded Kathy Malan to take up squash. Like all other firstyear students, they were both trying to decide what clubs to join during the registration period: ‘The bestlooking guys play squash,’ said Ann jokingly, and so the two girls signed up.
Kathy received no organised coaching at the outset and relied on the better male players in the club such as Keith Rosenbaum and Philip Timperley to give a helping hand by way of advice. Her progress was incredible and in 1969, her second year of playing, she started entering tournaments; was chosen for Transvaal B, and became the SAU champion. By the time she left university, she was firmly entrenched as South Africa’s top player.
When Wits won the intervarsity in 1969, Wits Student recalled ‘Kathy and Ann Tucker between them, really built up a large amount of spirit amongst the girls’. Ann captained Transvaal under 23 and played for the SAU team. One of the upandcoming players was a household name – Ann Fairlie, the swimming world record holder. She became a prominent member of the Wits team, won a halfblue and captained Transvaal colts.
Kathy Malan inspired the women’s team to further SAU success in 1970, while taking the individual title with ease in 1970 and 1971. It became clear that she had the ability to challenge the likes of Marcia Roche, Gay Erskine and Jill
The Wits squash teams at the 1969 intervarsity (left to right – back row): B side – J. Thorsen, D. Menzies, A. Funston, M. Kuiper, C. Nicholson (RAU): J van der Westhuizen, D. Loubscher, J. le Roux, Professor R. Arndt (manager), J. Havemann, P. Marais and J. Marx (front row): A side – M. Nathanson, D. Berold, N. Whiteley, G. Lumley, J. Weehuizen, K. Rosenblaum (men’s captain), A. Fairlie (women’s captain), K. Malan, A. Tucker, A. Schultze, J. Austoker, O. Nassau and E. Douglas.
Dawie Botha, a Springbok player who was club champion in 1965.
Wits squash captain Ann Fairlie had earlier excelled in swimming, setting three backstroke world records in 1966.
Eckstein who had dominated South African squash for seven years. She simply had to get fit, which meant a completely new world of working off the court. ‘For three months I did very little else but run, then switch to circuits in the gym, and run some more.’ After the running her trainer George Hewitt would take her on to the court – ‘perhaps I learned to play a few shots then, because there’s not much one can do on rubber legs but go for the nick’.
Gaining experience on the international circuit was also an important step towards becoming an accomplished player. In 1971, she ventured overseas with Ann Tucker to learn more about the game, a pilgrimage that Kathy was to repeat several times. Her finest achievement was reaching the final of the 1972 British Open, then the unofficial world championship, where she was beaten by the incomparable Heather McKay of Australia. Kathy’s resistance in the final was highly commendable against a player who only ever lost two games (one in 1960 and one in 1962) and was the British Open champion in an unbroken sequence from 1962 to 1977.
It was in 1972 that Kathy made her first big impression on the South African circuit. She initially won the Champion of Champions tournament having been the only seeded player to reach the semi-finals. Her real test came at that year’s Kaplan Cup – the women’s interprovincial tournament – which was held in Johannesburg. When Transvaal whitewashed Western Province, she created an upset by holding on tenaciously to defeat the South African champion Jill Eckstein 91, 91, 59, 29, 109.
There was a grunt or two of scepticism about Kathy’s chances of repeating her success when they met again, less than a week later, in the South African championships. Jill Eckstein was favoured to retain her national title but Kathy
Swimming
Wits began the sixties in style, scoring an overwhelming victory at the 1960 intervarsity in Durban. Their tally of 80 points was well ahead of Cape Town (50), Natal (39) and Rhodes (34). Wits’s superiority was unchallenged over the next three years, culminating in the 1963 intervarsity at Cape Town when members of the side broke eight SAU records.
It was the Wits men who were largely responsible for maintaining the stranglehold. Initially, Meyer Feldberg was prominent, winning the South African 220-yards butterfly title for the third time in 1961. Then, when the touring Japanese competed against South Africa in 1962, there were three Witsies in the five-man Springbok team – Ray Bischoff, Tudor Lacey and Colin Light. Another Wits swimmer, the Rhodesian Willie Wilson, who won the national 100 metres (1960), 220yards (1962) and 440yards (1962) freestyle titles, represented the ‘Rest of South Africa’ during the same Test series.
Tudor Lacey, one of the most versatile swimmers in the country and Colin Light who replaced Meyer Feldberg as South Africa’s
proved her superiority in another five-set thriller. Kathy’s performances the following year further endorsed the view that she was indisputably the best player in the country. She held on to her ‘Champion of Champions’ and Transvaal titles, and helped South Africa thrash Britain 41, 50 and 41 in a Test series. Her British opponent in the final Test, Jean Wilson (later Jean Grainger), recalled:
Kathy was a player of great flair and exciting to watch because she always went for her shots. Her reactions were such that she was able to take the ball out of the air unusually early and this would invariably have the gallery gasping and her opponent groping.
At the 1973 South African championships at Port Elizabeth, Kathy scored her second success in the national championships, defeating Jill Eckstein after a titanic battle. A hattrick of titles was achieved at the Salisbury Sports Club in 1974 when – as Kathy Hardy – she defeated Gay Erskine in a stirring battle. The Rhodesia Herald commented: ‘Once again Mrs Hardy showed her incredible ability to retrieve the ball and to anticipate Mrs Erskine’s shots.’
While national champion and at her peak, Kathy Hardy withdrew from squash in order to bring up a family. She returned to the game in 1976 for a Springbok tour to Australia and reached the semi-final of the Australian amateur squash championships. She then recaptured the South African women’s squash title in 1976, beating the Australian Margaret Zachariah in a thrilling encounter. The Cape Times commented on her ‘pace variation, excellent crosscourt drops and reverse angle boasts … high lobs and cleverly disguised shots’.
Kathy Hardy was South African squash champion four times, represented the Springboks from 1973 to 1980, and was runner-up to the incomparable Heather McKay in the 1972 British Open.
Wits swimming team 1960/61 –intervarsity champions (left to right – back row): A. Doble, P. Cullen, J. Wilson, O. Thaning, R. Pearce and H. Pelser (middle row): M. Israelstam, T. Deacon, R. Schwartz, D. Israelstam (chairman), N. Handelsman, I. Stewart G. Forbes (front row): B. Joel, M. Russell, B. Duncan-Brown (women’s captain), P. Hugo (men’s captain), V. Stead, J. Bramley and L. Godfrey.
South Africa’s 220-yards butterfly title in 1958-5961 and achieved a sixth place in the 220 yards butterfly and fourth in the 440-yards
leading butterfly swimmer, both departed for United States universities. However, Lacey was called upon to compete for South Africa on their European tour in 1964, during which he became the British 440yards individual medley champion.
Ray Bischoff, who also spent a year in America, continued to represent Wits for several seasons and was joined in the league side by another Springbok, backstroke star Alan Oliver. There were many other fine Wits swimmers during this period – Pat Cullen, Ian Human (the South African 100yards breaststroke champion in 1958 and 1959), Hennie Pelser, John Turner, Alan Doble, John Wilson (who won the provincial 4x100yards individual medley championship four years in a row), Peter Bodley, Ronnie Pearce, Duncan Reekie, John Kassner (who became Transvaal’s diving champion), Roy Dace, Otto Thaning (who would at 73 in 2014 become the oldest person to swim the English Channel) and the versatile Peter Hugo who represented Transvaal at swimming, waterpolo and diving.
Although the men’s section of the club was stronger than ever, there was a decrease in the number of league teams. The lack of support from the women saw the number of teams drop from three (two first and one second league) in 1958/59 to two (one first and one second league) in 1959/60 and then just one first league team in 1960/61. At this point there was a campaign to do something about the women’s section and a clutch of highcalibre swimmers were cajoled into joining the club. They included Glenda Page who won Springbok colours in 1965; Allison Russell a former Rhodesian breaststroke champion; Moira Cullen the intervarsity diving champion; Ingrid Stephens a provincial swimmer, and Barbara Kark who set a new SAU record in the women’s
100yards backstroke at Grahamstown in 1965. Wits’s five-year reign as intervarsity champions ended in 1964 when Rhodes achieved their firstever success. Wits responded by recapturing the trophy at Grahamstown in 1965, but were in for a shock when Rhodes claimed their second victory at Johannesburg the following year.
Rhodes’s win at the Wits pool in 1966 was convincing – a massive 94 points against the home team’s 55. For Wits, the best performances were by Martin Glatt who won the 220yards breaststroke on a rainsplattered evening, and Roger Ballard who took two tenths of a second off Duncan Reekie’s 100-metres butterfly record. BallardTremeer swam like a man possessed to take the race from teammate Ant Martin and Springbok Jan Reen, and was rewarded with the captaincy of the Protea team that toured Rhodesia.
SAU teams benefited from their trips to Rhodesia in that competition was always strong north of the Limpopo. But for the Witsies, it was the tours to Lourenço Marques that were particularly memorable and some enjoyable galas were held against the Mozambique club, Grupo Desportivo. In between swimming and visits to the sea the students were royally treated and Mr Mac was ‘persuaded’ to spend two weeks in the city preparing the Mozambique team for the Lisbon Games.
The annual intervarsity was cancelled in 1967 and 1968 because of disciplinary reasons, but on its resumption the following year, Wits regained the Roberts Trophy. Marissa Rollnick was the star swimmer at Cape Town that year, winning three events in record time.
Chris Lee, who captained both the Wits and Transvaal teams in 1970, led the university to their thirtythird intervarsity success out of a possible 38 – an impressive record. It was also to be their last victory for twelve years as Wits swimming struggled to keep abreast of the times.
A number of factors contributed to the rapid erosion of the university’s swimming ranks. Competitive swimmers tended to stay with clubs and coaches of their schooldays; the lack of a heated pool rendered winter training impossible and prevented Wits from attracting a coach; demotion to a lower league made the university an unlikely proposition for top swimmers; and American universities enticed away some of the province’s most exciting prospects.
Tudor Lacey represented the Springboks in 1962 and 1964, and was the British 440 yards individual medley champion in 1964.
Colin Light represented South Africa in butterfly in 1962.
Duncan Reekie.
Chris Lee.
Meyer Feldberg won
medley relay at the 1958 Empire Games at Cardiff.
Ray Bischoff was the South African 220-yards breaststroke champion in 1962
Roger Ballard-Tremeer
Marissa Rollnick was the outstanding swimmer at the 1969 intervarsity, setting three records.
Table Tennis
The loss of the examinations hall as a playing venue was given as the reason for the Wits men’s table tennis team to drop out of the Transvaal Grand Challenge league. By 1962, they found themselves floundering in the fifth league.
In contrast, the women prospered. After a number of years in the third division, a good enough side was put together in 1964 for the provincial board to grant them first league status. Captained by Denise Colford, who was twice intervarsity champion, the side was strengthened that year by the arrival of the provincial player Gail Gecelter. The highlight of the season saw Wits retain their intervarsity title at the Wanderers with Gecelter winning all three championships for which she was eligible.
In the latter part of the sixties, the women’s team maintained a high standard thanks to the likes of Jill Sacker, Pam Nurse, Iona Flaks and B. Jaye. The men also came to the fore through the deeds of Gerald Pokroy, Les Samowitz, Deneys van der Westhuizen and, later, John Mandilas. Pokroy’s arrival on the scene was dramatic – in his first year at Wits in 1965, he was the youngest player to win the Transvaal
Men’s Tennis
Between 1960 and 1973, Wits won the men’s intervarsity on eight occasions. It was a period in which the club possessed great depth, and as top players left university, so more than adequate replacements appeared, eager to take over. The first team seemed to get stronger every year as the club’s reputation spread.
Ian Froman led the Wits team that shared top spot at the 1960 intervarsity and Ray Weedon did likewise two years later. The 1963 side was also very strong and Roger Dowdeswell and Errol Sapire were selected to play as numbers one and three respectively for the SAU side. Ironically, it was Wits’s unquestionable superiority at that year’s intervarsity that nearly caused a shock upset. After whitewashing teams such as Cape Town and Natal 40, the Johannesburg students decided to give their number 1 the afternoon off when it came to playing Stellenbosch. Such complacency saw them come unstuck and they lost their first three singles matches in dramatic fashion. Team captain Malcolm Hayward pulled one back in the final singles encounter and then, amidst mounting excitement, the Witsies won both doubles to square the match.
Rhodesian Davis Cup player Roger Dowdeswell, always a resourceful and redoubtable opponent, enjoyed a rewarding year in 1963. Unseeded in three major tournaments, he lost to Clive Brebnor in the finals of the Northern Transvaal championships and Witwatersrand Open, but came back well to win the Natal Open. At home, Errol Sapire won the Wits title in 1963, and was succeeded as club champion by another fine acquisition in Tony Wolpert. The latter, who later achieved many successes as a doubles partner to Robert Maud, won all three titles at the Wits University championships in 1964 and 1965.
Open singles title when he defeated the veteran international Rex Edwards in the final.
The annual intervarsity tournament became an exciting affair as Wits assembled a team to challenge Dave Ticktin’s powerful Cape Town squad. Wits won in 1966 at Bloemfontein and with a little bit of luck could have toppled the Ikeys on at least two other occasions.
John Mandilas was an exciting acquisition in that he was a seasoned international, having represented Greece during 196165. As a Witsie, he won the South African singles crown in 1969 and the following year received his Springbok colours. He was also prominent when Wits won the SAU tournament again in 1970.
Table tennis at Wits experienced its share of peaks and troughs. The men produced a strong Grand Challenge side in the midseventies when they had players of the calibre of Jeremy Lipschitz, Theo Shapiro, Barry Sneech, Neil Berkowitz and Les Rudolph. Lipschitz was chosen for the Protea team that toured Rhodesia and won all four matches against Matabeleland, Mashonaland, the University of Rhodesia and the Rhodesian team.
During 196667, a formidable squad gathered at Wits. In 1966, the university finished third in the Southern Transvaal first league, and with a wellbalanced team (Alan Schwarz, Keith Brebnor, Frank Rawstorne, Terry Rosenberg and Daryl Kronson), made sure of their first SAU title in three years. Their crowning achievement in a most successful period of the club’s history was a highly acclaimed victory in the 1967 Southern Transvaal first league. It had always been difficult for students to do well in their league commitments because matches were played during the crucial exam period towards the end of the year. Yet nothing could stop the 1967 side that was undoubtedly one of the finest ever assembled at club level in South Africa –Clive Brebnor (captain), Alan Schwarz, Keith Brebnor, Sidney Gordon, Julian Krinsky, Daryl Kronson and Roger Dowdeswell.
When the annual South African Lawn Tennis
John Mandilas represented Greece and South Africa at table tennis. As a Witsie, he won the South African singles title in 1969
Roger Dowdeswell won the 1963 Natal singles championship and in 1965 played in the Davis Cup for Rhodesia.
The Wits tennis team that won the Southern Transvaal first league in 1967 (left to right – back row): S. Gordon, J. Krinsky and D. Kronson (front row): A. Schwarz, C. Brebnor and K. Brebnor.
Union national rankings were released a few months later in May 1968, three Witsies appeared in the top ten – Alan Schwarz (seventh), Clive Brebnor (eighth) and Keith Brebnor (ninth). All three had enjoyed a wonderful 1967. Club chairman Alan Schwarz made a clean of the Natal Open titles, won the Eastern Transvaal Open and SAU championships, and beat Torben Ulrich (Denmark’s number 2) and Thomas Koch (Brazil’s number one) on the Sugar Circuit. Clive Brebnor, a former South African junior champion, won the keenly contested Southern Transvaal Open for the second time, and Keith Brebnor was runnerup in the Eastern Transvaal Open, a title he won the following year.
The credentials of the junior members of the talented university side were also impressive –Julian Krinsky reached the last 16 of the South African Open in 1967 and Sidney Gordon was runnerup in the national junior championships the previous year. But concern was expressed about those students who could not make the first team choosing to play for outside clubs. Although the Wits second team did win promotion in 1967 to the third reserve league, the players who departed stressed that they were only prepared to return once the club had two sides in the first league.
Another grievance surrounded the 1967 intervarsity in that the tournament coincided
Women’s Tennis
The women’s section experienced comparatively little success between 1960 and 1973. They won the annual intervarsity tournament just once during this time. That one victory occurred in 1962 when Charleen Rigby and Margaret Neilson led Wits to wins over Natal 4 2, Stellenbosch 51, Rhodes 41 and Cape Town 42. The match against the titleholders Pretoria was drawn 33. It was all that was required because Natal had also held Pretoria to a draw, enabling Wits to head the table by one point.
Charleen Rigby, who was awarded Protea colours, also won the Wits singles title three times, with one especially notable performance – a 64, 36, 61 victory over Jean Forbes in the 1961 championships. The latter had been a tennis prodigy, having won the Natal Open as a 12yearold and the Western Province title at 13. She seemed likely to repeat her success in England in 1955. At Queen’s Club, she beat three of the Wimbledon seeded players before losing to Louise Brough in the final. Her brother, Gordon recalled ‘uproar broke out … At fifteen, she was too young to play at Wimbledon and her entry was refused. The British press were very indignant. She was on all the front pages – pictures of her standing wistfully gazing up at the Wimbledon scoreboard, biting her lip …’ Jean Forbes was tipped to be the next Maureen Connolly. She twice reached the last 16 at Wimbledon and in 1962 partnered Gordon in the quarter-final of the mixed doubles. Yet, she did not reach the heights expected. Her brother remembered she had that ‘extraordinary feel
with a nationally sanctioned tournament. Wits’s top players were unavailable and a depleted side surrendered their SAU title to Stellenbosch. This was only a temporary setback as the Johannesburg students returned with a vengeance in 1968 and at Bloemfontein, duly regained the Willcocks trophy. Then, after finishing second in the league in 1968, Wits became Southern Transvaal champions again in 1969.
At this point, the side was further strengthened by the promising Dennis Matthews who was chosen for the Junior Springbok team that toured overseas in 1969. He made his mark at senior level, winning the Southern Transvaal Open in 1970 and representing South Africa in a Test match against Rhodesia in 1971.
Dennis Matthews’s contributions to the intervarsity successes in 1969, 1970 and 1973 were considerable. But it was Stanley Myerson who set up the sensational outright victory in 1970 when Wits’s best hope appeared to be a share of the title. The Witsies were facing Stellenbosch in the tournament’s deciding encounter, and Myerson, playing Kwasie van der Merwe, was trailing 5-2 in the final set. A win for the Matie seemed a formality but Myerson had other ideas. Staging an astonishing fightback he proceeded to take the next five games off his distraught opponent to score a 63, 36, 75 triumph. As a consequence, Wits beat Stellenbosch 42.
for the game … such genius … and suddenly it seemed to ebb. Simply to melt away.’ She hoped to ‘find [her] game again, some day … But she never did.’ Instead, as a Bachelor of Arts graduate from Wits, ‘Jean taught [Gordon] to love words,’ wrote Simon Kuper in the Financial Times. ‘Sometimes she’d walk into his room and drop a book on his bed – something by T.S. Eliot, say.’ He later immortalised her in the most acclaimed of tennis books, A Handful of Summers.
Jenny Hawkins became club champion in 1963, defeating Gill Kay, and then over the next three years, the tournament was dominated by Kathy Owen and Christine Bell. Kathy beat her opponent 61, 36, 108 in 1964, but Christine emerged on top in the next two encounters.
Christine Bell, who was ranked as high as seventh in South Africa, won a number of Open titles during the latter part of the 1960s, including the Johannesburg (twice), Rhodesian (twice), Mozambique and Swaziland Opens. She also served Wits well and was the number one player for the SAU side in 1965 and 1966. At both intervarsities she took Wits to the brink of defeating the Maties, who would win the SAU title for 14 consecutive years.
Celeste Behrman became Wits’s captain and number one player between 1968 and 1970 and represented the SAU team against Northern Transvaal in the last of those years. She was succeeded by the university’s finest player of the seventies, Rosandra Niciforovic who went on to captain the Protea team.
Dennis Matthews was influential in Wits’s intervarsity success and selected for South Africa.
Jean Forbes was a tennis prodigy who became a world-class player.
Christine Bell was Wits’s first ‘Sportswoman of the Year’.
Underwater
The university’s underwater club was originally known as the Angling and Skin Diving Club. It was formed in 1960, starting off with a membership of ten. It grew quickly – fifty members in 1962 and more than one hundred in 1964. Numerous trips were organised, mostly to Mozambique, and many wild and wonderful stories emerged. A 1962 report stated:
On the first excursion to Oro Point [Ponta do Ouro], during the Easter vacation, the disappointment at the lack of crayfish was soon overshadowed by our amusement when it became obvious that the Portuguese army suspected the happy band of being a tough group of spies infiltrating a foreign territory. Reluctantly, we were forced at the point of a new submachine gun to hand over some of our more interesting films of the trip.
Underwater hockey at the university was started by Johann van der Walt in 1963 with a match being organised against the Normalair Underwater Club. It was a rather dangerous game in the
Water polo
‘“Wonder” Waterpolo Season for Wits’ was the heading given to an article by Barry Glasspool in the Sunday Times, covering the 1960/61 season. The report recalled:
The Wits University first league water polo side has just achieved what must surely be one of the best records ever attained by a senior club side in the Transvaal. Altogether this season Wits have played 23 matches, winning all but one – which they drew with Jeppe Quondam in a league fixture. Their 23 games were made up of fourteen league encounters, four Hancock Cup matches and five games in the South African intervarsity tournament in Durban. Their play throughout the season has always been fast, intelligent and entertaining. While many knowledgeable officials have rightly decried the recent rough tactics in league matches generally, it is true to say that Wits have played the game in an admirable spirit. Most sides found the elusive positional switches and quick dangerous thrusts up the middle by the goalhungry attack difficult to contain. Add to this peak fitness and five members who have bettered 56 seconds for the 100 yards – and you have the answer for the 136 goals scored in league games. Rome Springbok, Robbie Schwartz, heads the list with 48, followed by Peter Hugo (23), Vic Kabalin (19), Tommy Deacon (18), Stan Lipschitz (16), Hennie Pelser (10) and Ray Burer (2). Robbie Schwartz also headed the goalscoring in both the Hancock Cup and intervarsity matches, netting 13 in both instances. Peter Hugo was well to the fore in the Cup games scoring seven. Ginger Anderson was a tower of strength in goal, allowing only 20 shots to pass him in the league fixtures.
Five of Wits’s first seven in 1960/61 were chosen for Transvaal A (Rod ‘Ginger’ Anderson, Peter Hugo, Stanley Lipschitz, Robbie Schwartz and Hennie Pelser) and Victor Kabalin was included
sixties and at a tournament that Wits attended in Durban, ten masks were shattered over a weekend by the puck.
In 1963, the Angling and Skin Diving Club, represented by Bill Fowler, applied to the ASC for official recognition and was accepted. Early reports highlight the deeds of Jan Fatti (who bagged a 205lb grouper, a 45lb barracuda and a worldrecord 343lb raggedtooth shark in 1964), Tom Bligh, Bill Fowler, Peter Michaels, Grant Robinson and Nic Loubser. An important event was the club’s organisation of the first fishing intervarsity that was held over an Easter weekend at Ponta do Ouro in Mozambique. It attracted representatives from Wits, Natal and Pretoria in both angling and spearfishing.
In 1969, the club underwent a name change and became the Underwater Club. It consisted of four main activities – diving, underwater hockey, spearfishing and angling. The establishment of an annual SAU competition in 1973 was based on the first three named sections and angling was subsequently dropped from the club’s official activities.
Jan Fatti (left) and Nic Loubser with two large kingfish that they speared off Bazaruto Island during the Angling and Skin Diving Club’s trip there in 1961.
in the Transvaal B team. But the most important selection in the course of the season was that of Schwartz for the Springbok team that attended the Rome Olympic Games in August 1960. It could easily have been two Witsies in the side but a badly cut hand affected Rod Anderson’s chances and he had to settle for a nontravelling reserve berth.
The hosts, Italy, won the gold medal that year, with Russia taking the silver and Hungary the bronze. The South Africans were expected to do well especially as they had beaten the Italians in a pretournament match. A 32 win in the opening match against Australia gave them a good enough start but they were well beaten by a rampant Yugoslavia, silver medallists at the 1956 Olympic Games.
Robbie Schwartz did not play against Yugoslavia, but scored a superb goal to enable the Springboks to draw with Holland. Unfortunately, a draw was not sufficient and an inferior goal average cost them a place in the next series of matches.
Early in the 1961/62 season, the Witsies
The Wits water polo team of 1960/61 that won the Harry Getz intervarsity trophy, the Hancock Cup, and the Transvaal first league (left to right –back row): T. Deacon, V. Kabalin, P. Hugo and S. Lipschitz (front row): R. Anderson, R. Schwartz, D. Israelstam (club chairman) and H. Pelser.
were dogged by illness and injury but held on determinedly to win the SAU tournament in Cape Town. Hero of the competition was the brilliant g oalkeeper Rod Anderson, who did much to keep the side together. He was selected for the Protea side, along with Victor Kabalin, Peter Hugo, Hennie Pelser and Robbie Schwartz.
The players who made up the Wits team were the best of friends and a pervading atmosphere of relaxation, goodwill and fun was always apparent. In the water, fine teamwork and spirit laid down the foundations for their invincible seasons –it did not matter who scored the goals as long as the team did well. The players were honest with themselves, prepared to accept criticism and, in time, a camaraderie developed that was unequalled by any other sport at the university.
Wits recognised the magnificent achievements of its first water polo side by awarding the players the coveted ‘Club of the Year’ trophy for three years out of four. It was just reward for a dedicated squad who would often practise five or six times a week, even after matches. ‘Training was good fun,’ recounted Robbie Schwartz, ‘and it was always a challenge to beat the keeper Ginger Anderson during practice sessions. W e would rag him no end if he ever missed one but his ability was such that he would have made any side in the world and only the very best got past him.’
Wits enjoyed another fine season in 1962/63, again dominating Transvaal water polo by winning the first league and the Hancock Cup. Ronnie Pearce joined Anderson, Hugo, Kabalin, Pelser and Schwartz in the Transvaal team that ended Western Province’s threeyear control of the Currie Cup. Three players were also chosen for the SAU team that took part in the World Student Games at Porto Alegre in Brazil – namely Schwartz, Anderson and Pelser – although Pelser withdrew prior to departure.
Hungarian and Russian teams dominated the water polo but the South Africans loved the atmosphere – the opening ceremony was attended by 80 000 – and secured a good slice of the press and television coverage. One incident that they did not bargain for occurred at the Rio de Janeiro airport on the way home. Custom officials refused to grant the South Africans departure rights, owing to supposed irregularities in their visas. Robbie Schwartz decided to take matters into his own hands, forced his way past stunned airport officials and dashed across the tarmac and up the service stairs of the aircraft.
Schwartz grabbed the captain by the scruff of the neck and proceeded to wedge him into the galley area as armed security guards surrounded the plane. There was pandemonium as the first ‘hijack’ by a South African lasted for nearly three hours and only ended through the frantic efforts of team manager Harry Getz. Even then the disconsolate team did not get their way and they were forced to spend a few extra days in accommodation that was anything but hospitable.
Anderson and Pelser joined Schwarz in the Springbok team during the 1963/64 season and experienced a true baptism of fire. They participated in the first international to be played in South Africa, a tempestuous affair against West Germany at Ellis Park. Punches were exchanged as the Springboks recorded an historic and welldeserved 74 victory. The tourists’ pride was salvaged in the remaining matches as they went on to win the series 21 with the second Test drawn.
Southern Suburbs won the Transvaal League in 1963/64 but Wits beat them 61 in the Hancock Cup, a match that referee Ike Lasarow said ‘compared with some of the best I’ve ever seen’. Wits won the 1964/65 league and monopolised the competition until 1970/71. They achieved
Robbie Schwartz represented South Africa at the Rome 1960 Olympic Games.
Rod ‘Ginger’ Anderson was South Africa’s goalkeeper for more than a decade.
Hennie Pelser, a key member of the Springbok side from 1963 until 1974.
The Wits water polo team 1973 – winners of the Transvaal first league (left to right – back row): D. Paterson, L. Ludorf, M. Glatt, S. Murray and R. Flekser (front row): D. Finlayson, H. Pelser (captain), J. Zwart and J. Sacks.
the ‘double’ – league and cup – three times in four years between 1965/66 and 1968/69. It was Old Edwardians (Old Eds) who spoilt their record by taking the cup 54 in 1966/67 amidst much controversy.
In chalking up a mounting list of successes, the Witsies were greatly assisted by their three Springboks – Schwarz, Anderson and Pelser –but there were also fine players in the supporting cast. Victor Kabalin, who was named in the ‘Best XI’ after the 1965/66 Currie Cup tournament, was desperately unlucky not to be selected for the Springbok tour to Europe during the off season. Other players to make their mark in the Transvaal side during the latter part of the 1960s included Peter Hugo, Harold Lipschitz and Leo Schrieder, while former Natal star, Johan Zwart joined Wits during 1964/65, and won Springbok colours against Australia two years later.
Ever conscious of the need to blood new talent, Wits maintained a healthy blend of youth and experience. It appeared as if a peak had been reached when the side won all their matches in 1968/69, scoring 112 goals and conceding just nine. But save for a slight hiccup during 1970/71 when Old Eds twice beat Wits 32 to take temporary possession of the league title, the university surged relentlessly onwards. They reasserted their almost traditional domination of the Transvaal League in 1971/72, reaffirmed their supremacy the following year, and in 1973/74 scored 14 straight victories to triumph by a clear six points.
The 1970s will be remembered for the emergence of another talented crop of student
Weightlifting
By 1960, weightlifting was flourishing at Wits and a number of promising lifters were emerging. This was particularly encouraging in the light of ‘veterans’, Raymond Coll, Clive Noble and Ernie Robertson being unavailable for the 1960 intervarsity. The newlook Wits team won the SAU tournament in convincing style.
The success of the club continued into 1961 with their sixth consecutive victory in the SAU championships. At home in Johannesburg, Clive Noble (middle heavyweight) and Raymond Coll (light heavyweight) returned to recapture their titles and Terence Nabarro (middleweight) won his division for the first time.
The most outstanding performances of the season belonged to the engineering student Rob Snodgrass, who represented Southern Transvaal at senior level and also won the national junior featherweight title. He would fulfil his early promise by winning the South African featherweight title six times and earning his Springbok colours against Rhodesia in 1970.
In 1962, Snodgrass was awarded the ‘best lifter’ trophy at the SAU tournament but Wits slipped back to fourth position. It was a case of the unpredictable nature of university sport asserting itself. In 1963 Wits was unable to put together a full team for the intervarsity at Stellenbosch. Terence Nabarro (featherweight) was the only winner.
players. The Rhodesian, Derick Finlayson, mobile and aggressive, won Springbok colours on the 1971 tour of Europe and became a stalwart of the club. Also on the same national tour was Jeff Sacks, who was then playing for Yeoville Municipals, prior to transferring to Wits for the 1971/72 season. The third member of the university’s new Springbok triumvirate was Lionel Ludorf, who became the fourth Witsie to captain his country at water polo.
The influx of outstanding student players was pleasing because in 1970 – for the first time since 1964 – Wits won the intervarsity trophy. Wits won six out of six with the other universities having no answer to their strong attack superbly marshalled by Derick Finlayson. The achievement was repeated in 1972.
Martin Goldin won the featherweight crown when Wits won back the Du Plessis Shield in 1964 but concern was expressed at the lack of undergraduate weightlifters in the club. Of the six Witsies who took part, four were postgraduate students. One of these, Clive Noble, established a new SAU record total of 770lbs in the heavyweight division.
Rhodes University, boasting lifters of the ability of Kay Kaplan and Vern Liddiard, became a major force in 1965. Rob Snodgrass, in his last tournament, was Wits’s lone division champion at a tournament that signalled the start of another lean period for the Johannesburg students. Wits produced no SAU winners in 1966 and one –Ernie Ling – in 1967.
The following year, Ling was joined by John Oehley as a division champion, paving the way for a revival in Wits’s weightlifting fortunes. Indeed, both Ling and Oehley became leading lifters at national level, with the former winning the bantamweight division at the South African championships in 1969.
The 1969 intervarsity was an unofficial threeway contest between Natal, Pretoria and the winners, Wits. Then in 1970, the tournament was boycotted because of a Free State ban on two Wits weightlifters who were Chinese. The rector of the University of the Orange Free State claimed in the national press that he had to adhere to government
Derick Finlayson, a Rhodesian who achieved Springbok colours.
Jeff Sacks was one of Wits’s outstanding Springbok players in the early 1970s.
Rob Snodgrass won the South African featherweight title six times and represented the Springboks against Rhodesia in 1970.
Lionel Ludorf represented South Africa during 1972 to 1978.
Wrestling
policy. Ken Costa, chairman of the Wits SRC, summed up the feelings of the university when he stated ‘petty Free State rules’ and pointed out that ‘the whole ridiculous mass of regulations facing Chinese participation in almost every activity in South Africa today is absurd.’
A major boost for weightlifting was the opening of the Old Mutual Sports Hall in 1971. After 17 years spent in a series of prefab huts, the club was offered the luxury of the spacious lower section of the longawaited gymnasium. Fittingly, its establishment marked the beginning of a wonderful era in the history of the club.
When the SAU tournament was resumed in 1971, Ernie Ling, the bantamweight record holder, won the event for the third time and was named the ‘best lifter’ at the tournament. On the other end of the scale, the big men Mel Siff and Burger Wessels won the middle heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, respectively. The Witsies
The wrestling club at Wits began in the late 1930s with the first championships being held at the Dalrymple Hall in 1938. With no coach, the standard was ‘not high’ and Wu’s Views recalls (under the heading ‘Snorts and snarls at first University Wrestling Championships):
From the point of view of scientific wrestling, the best bouts were those between French and Stewart and between Lombard and Schewitz. The spectators found the bout between Chesler and Denton the most entertaining for the latter’s grimaces, when repeatedly thrown out of the ring by his clever opponent.
After a period of inactivity during the War years, the sport was revived in the late 1940s and increased in popularity with the advent of intervarsity in 1950. Outstanding amongst the early wrestlers was Mervyn Prior who was chosen for Transvaal and became the undisputed SAU lightweight champion.
Wits hosted the second intervarsity in 1951 and, thanks mainly to the efforts of the chairman Peter Mentis, staged a most successful tournament in more ways than one. Their record of two winners (Mervyn Prior and Boris Rose) and two runnersup (Dave Myers and W. Geyer) was to remain the club’s finest performance.
Over the years, Pretoria invariably won the Rembrandt Shield with the Witsies rarely in contention. The Johannesburg students lacked depth but amongst their most notable grapplers during this period were Joe Rosen (the SAU flyweight champion in 1954 and 1956), R.
again became official intervarsity champions, a title that they were to hold throughout the seventies. Cape Town, Rhodes, Stellenbosch, Pretoria, Free State and Potchefstroom all finished second at different stages during the decade but none was able to dethrone the confident holders.
Wits students continued to excel at the highest level. Burger Wessels lifted 810lb as a heavyweight in 1971 to establish a new SAU record and soon afterwards was awarded Rhodesian colours. John Oehley won the first of his four national senior titles in 1972 and earned his Springbok colours in an international against Rhodesia in 1973. He celebrated by breaking the 14year South African lightweight cleanandjerk record. The following year, he captained a multiracial South African team on tour to the Seychelles and in 1976 led the Springbok side that visited the Republic of China.
Louw, B. Steinfeld, R. Kastron, Chris Rachanis, Edgar Freed, Dolf Matheus (the SAU featherweight champion in 1958), Charles Cohen and Leon Botha (the SAU middleweight champion in 1960 after being runnerup in the previous two years).
The longserving team captain, Leon Botha and successive club committees worked hard to build up their ranks and establish the platform from which the university reaped dividends in the mid1960s. An increase in the number of training sessions to as many as four a week, better coaching and the establishment of fixtures outside the various intervarsity competitions, all contributed towards an improved standard.
Although victory at the major intervarsity continued to elude the Wits team, the Johannesburg students did defeat Tukkies in their annual clash. Leading light amongst the Witsies during the 1960s was Keith Gordon who won five SAU titles and a gold medal at the Maccabi Games. He was also selected, along with teammate Vas Lanitis, to participate in the World Student Games.
Apart from Gordon and Lanitis (who won the SAU heavyweight championship), there were a number of other capable matmen at Wits. They included the colourful Sandy Anderson who took over from Botha as team captain, H. Koekemoer, Scotty McLachlan, Eric Nachamowitz, Allan Epstein, Gordon Anderson, Pavlo Truda, Jules Milner (a Maccabi gold medallist), Murray Blumberg and Steve Hofmeyr (the SAU middleweight champion in 1968).
The Wits weightlifting team 1961 (left to right – back row): R. Coll, R. Snodgrass, E. Freed and C. Noble (front row): B. Sefor, T. Nabarro and A. Abrahams.
Burger Wessels received Rhodesian colours for weightlifting.
Mel Siff, a South African champion, gave more than 25 years’ service to the university’s weightlifting club.
John Oehley made his Springbok debut in 1973 and captained the national side on tour three years later.
Chapter 5
1974–1988: Developing a Professional Administration
The overwhelming and lasting impression was not Bruce’s victory, nor that he won by fifteen minutes, nor even that he bettered his old record by seven minutes ... His running was such that it forced those of us who had trundled and stumbled in his wake to wonder whether this vision could possibly be true.
Tim Noakes, South African Runner
Administration of Sport
In February 1974, Arthur Zimmerman was appointed to the post of full-time sports officer. He entered enthusiastically into the tasks that confronted him. Having represented Rhodes University at boxing, he was keen to resuscitate interest amongst the university’s pugilists, while he also encouraged staff and students to become more involved in pursuits such as running and swimming.
However, Zimmerman’s stay was a brief one and in August 1977, he departed in order to further his studies in Israel. With the administration of sport in limbo, the university called upon Mel Siff to assist them in their predicament.
Siff, who had served as the ASC chairman for six years, continued in the role of acting sports officer until he was succeeded by Roger Crawford in October 1978. The latter, who had been viceprincipal of St Andrew’s School, Bloemfontein, was a registered rugby referee and had a wide range of sporting interests. As a student, he had
been chairman of Pietermaritzburg University’s sports counc il.
Crawford was conscious of presenting a more professional approach to the administration of sport at Wits. It was his firm belief that the sports administration should take on a public relations role and that it was incumbent upon them to ensure students, staff, graduates and donors as well as the public were kept informed of the university’s sporting achievements. He pointed out that there was much to be gained by airing both successes and failures.
He also set about improving the administration and maintaining records. It astounded him that a university as established as Wits, and with such a distinguished sporting record, should have no tangible evidence of this history in the form of relevant photographs and honours boards.
Crawford faced a number of problems in establishing a professionally-run sports administration. He realised that there were elements at
The All Sports Council 1977 (left to right – back row): M. Turner (cycling), R. Grech-Cumbo (volleyball), M. England (karate), M. Kaplan (squash), R. Hack (soccer), D. Gurney (canoe), A. van Tonder (boxing), C. Garrun (rugby), P. Legg (boat) and J. Close (boat) (middle row): J. Norton (weightlifting), A. Lubner (gymnastics), G. Smulian (swimming and water polo), L. Culpan (fencing), F. Thompson (cricket), C. Standish-White (snow-ski), D. du Toit (underwater), E. Kerst (badminton), J. Ehrich (golf), H. Brockman (tennis) and P. Thurling (basketball) (front row): J. Stark (treasurer), R. Bentley (general purposes officer), M. Siff (acting sports officer), S. Bukofzer (chairman), M. Nicolson (ASC representative to the SRC), G. Beardall (entertainments officer) and M. Anderson (minutes secretary).
Crawford
Baxter
Roger
John
The university’s sports magazine was started in 1983 and played an important role in publicising achievements and maintaining an attractive record of sport. Helene White and Norma Winch are pictured with Mark Plaatjes who is on the cover of the February 1985 edition of the magazine.
The magazine covers include two ‘Sportsman/ woman of the Year’ presentations: in 1983, Bruce Fordyce and Melanie Dembo, and in 1987 Chantal Clifton-Parks and Victor Radebe pictured with Manchester United footballer Gary Bailey.
the university and within the ASC that were of the opinion that the sports administration should remain very much in a subservient role. He left in November 1979 and was succeeded by John Baxter, a graduate of Rhodes University, in February 1980.
Baxter saw his first task being that of establishing an efficient working relationship between the ASC and the sports administration. But, amidst controversy, the ASC collapsed in August 1980, and Baxter was asked by the SRC to present a report on the position of sport at the university and to recommend ways in which it could operate more efficiently.
An interim management committee under the SRC president Sammy Adelman was established in October 1980 to replace the disbanded ASC. This committee spent five months investigating the sports administration and rewriting the ASC constitution. Said Baxter at the time:
The aim was to establish a sports policy which would provide continuity and direction for sport on campus. An especially important aspect of the work was the revision of financial procedures, flaws in which had resulted in serious problems in the past.
The crux of the interim management committee’s recommendations was that the day-to-day running of sport would lie in the hands of the sports office, while the running of clubs and policy decisions would be in the hands of the ASC.
An Ethos of Sport at Wits was written at the time as a somewhat tentative statement of how sport should be viewed in an academic setting. In this document, the interim management committee stressed the importance that sport played in the ‘education of the individual as a whole’ and requested that the university should take gradual steps to narrow the gap that existed between Wits and the other South African universities in the development of sport. The University Council would later confirm its commitment to the promotion of recreational and competitive sport with the adoption of a Policy for Sport It was approved by the Sports Affairs Committee and, in emphasising the value of sport in an academic environment, reaffirmed the Ethos of Sport Baxter had successfully put the relationship
between the sports administration and the ASC on a sound footing, and proceeded to examine the question of staff. Initially, three sports officers were appointed, covering outdoor sports, women’s sport and indoor and water sports. The post of a major-time soccer administrator was later upgraded to allow for another full-time sports officer and a fifth position was established, with the incumbent’s main role being to look after rugby. The merger of the sports officers into the administration proved to be a smooth and advantageous exercise.
In broad terms, the sports administration played a support role to the ASC, catering for club problems as they arose. The necessary continuity that had been lacking in previous years was established through the sports officers who took responsibility for the employment of coaches, organisation of bursaries and scholarships, control of facilities, publicity and sponsorships, maintenance of records, the arrangements for major functions, SAU liaison and general administrative duties.
Students were still encouraged to organise and run the sports clubs themselves and to do so within the limits of club constitutions and the ASC’s constitution. The students learned to make policy decisions, to undertake responsibility for financial management and to become more conversant with committee procedure. They were encouraged to organise sports meetings and clinics, to fundraise in order to supplement their annual grant and, most importantly, to become exposed to outside bodies at all levels. The ASC played a more significant role in student affairs because the number of students participating in sport doubled over the previous ten years while the range of sporting clubs also increased.
The opening of the West Campus sports facilities in 1986 helped relieve the pressure on the Old Mutual Sports Hall and the limited number of existing fields. More than 9 000 students registered with the various clubs during 1988, as compared to 4 864 in 1980 and 2 790 in 1974. With the advent of SATISCO (the South African Tertiary Institutions Sports Council) as a second sports body on campus, numbers were expected to increase considerably.
The depth of talent was such that during 1988, Wits emerged as the top sports university in South Africa in a points table compiled by the SAU Sports Council. Based on the 30 intervarsity tournaments staged during the year, Wits finished ahead of ten other universities. The table was as follows:
Athletics
Erich Essman’s ambition to become the South African 100 and 200 metres sprint champion was realised at Cape Town during 1974/75. He achieved the ‘double’ at that year’s intervarsity, before repeating the performance at the national championships. Essman’s preparations for the latter were aided by international meetings at which he proved his class in competition against the Spanish champion Jose Carbonell. Running superbly in the national 100 metres, Essman won in 10.2 seconds – only Paul Nash had a faster time amongst all other South African sprinters. He then claimed the 200 metres in 20.9 seconds.
Essman finished first or second in both the 100 and 200 metres at the Dalrymple Cup meeting every year, bar one, between 1971 and 1977. He tore the tendons in his foot just before the 1976 intervarsity at Port Elizabeth but showed remarkable courage in limping through to the final of the 100 metres.
Jean Fowlds, the Rhodesian champion over 100 and 200 metres, joined Wits at the beginning of 1974 and made an immediate impression. After just three meetings she was chosen to represent Southern Transvaal at the interprovincial championships at the Rand Afrikaans University, where she finished second. She was selected for the interprovincial Trek League and produced some fine performances. At a meeting at the Wanderers, she was placed first in the 100 and 300 metres, setting a new South African record in the latter.
Under the chairmanship of Hugh Winder during 1976 and 1977, the club embarked on an intensive recruiting campaign. It paid dividends and many useful athletes were drafted into the team for the Transvaal inter-club championships. During Winder’s two-and-a-half year tenure as chairman, the club’s membership grew from 25 to 65, with 12 new female members signing up in 1976, after membership had dwindled to just two the previous year. Wits subsequently improved its position in the Southern Transvaal league to a creditable fifth place out of 12 clubs. Amongst the quality athletes were the likes of Essman, Ruth Factor, Gavin Hulse, Wayne Grace, Derek Liebenberg, Theo Lombard and Winder himself who produced some fine performances in the shot put and discus.
Ruth Factor made enormous strides during 1976/77. She began by winning her SAU colours, following fourth places in the 200 and 400 metres at the December 1976 intervarsity. Then, in March 1977, she starred at the Southern Transvaal championships held at the RAU stadium, when she won the 400 metres in an excellent 54.6 seconds. Another first place followed in the Colgate invitation meeting at Port Elizabeth which set the scene for her triumph in the national championships at Cape Town a few days later. There she won the 400 metres in 54.4 seconds and came second in the 200 metres in 24.5 seconds. To conclude a memorable year in which she was awarded Springbok colours, she won the 400 metres at the December 1977 SAU meeting in 54.1 seconds.
Kenneth McCrindle, who had previously won the South African under-17 800 metres, joined Wits for the 1977/78 season. He was in great form, winning the Southern Transvaal, Northern Transvaal, Transvaal, South West African, South African under-21 and South African 800 metres titles and was awarded junior Springbok colours. Wits’s inconsistent team performances at the Dalrymple Cup during the seventies culminated in the disastrous 1979 meeting when only one point was scored. The lack of facilities obviously hindered the efforts of club officials to promote the sport but there were additional difficulties. Club chairman in 1979, Malcolm Nicholson, explained:
Our main problem is that freshers come from English schools where athletic championships are held in March so they join our club without having trained or competed for nearly a year and are reluctant to compete in the last two months of the season. They have every intention of competing when the new season starts early in October, but with exams looming up, they seldom do.
The eighties began on a happier note when Wits
The ‘Wits Express’ – Erich Essman – wins again. He was the South African sprint champion in 1975 and later awarded Springbok colours.
Ruth Factor was the South African 400-metres champion in 1977.
Kenneth McCrindle winning the national 800-metres in 1978.
Ivan Glasenberg, a medal-winner in the 1981 SAU 5 000-metres walk, continued to compete at a high standard. The Jerusalem Post records that efforts were made to include him in the Israel team for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
totalled 26 points to finish sixth at the Dalrymple Cup at Durban in December 1980. It was a tally boosted somewhat by the fine showing in the marathon that included Bruce Fordyce’s first place. But there were other good performances by John Rogans (220 metres), Mark Handelsman (400 metres hurdles) and Gavin Hulse (800 metres).
The 1981 intervarsity saw Wits do even better, scoring 28 points, but they slipped back one place to seventh. Again, the marathon runners contributed the bulk of the points with Mark Plaatjes winning the event and Bruce Fordyce finishing second. Ivan Glasenberg (second in the 5 000 metres walk) and Shaun Nicholl (fourth in both the 1 500 metres and 5 000 metres) also did well.
While the intervarsities produced modest results in track and field, Wits athletics gathered much publicity through the efforts of Mark Handelsman. A third-year dental student, he rocketed from obscurity to prominence in 1980/81, when he came within striking distance of Danie Malan’s national 800 metres record of 1 minute 44.4 seconds. Virtually overnight he became a major talking point in the South African press.
It was his sixth race of the 1980/81 season – a victory in the SFW Cup final at Potchefstroom’s Kenneth McArthur Oval – that first caused athletic followers to sit up and take notice. Greater deeds followed, including a victory in the South African championships at the Pilditch Stadium, Pretoria, when he returned a time of 1 minute 46.45 seconds.
Mark Handelsman was South Africa’s ‘Athlete of the Year’ in 1981. He later represented Israel in the World Championships at Helsinki in 1983 and the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984.
His ninth run of the season was his best, a world-class time of 1 minute 45.3 seconds during the Springbok trials at Stellenbosch. It placed him fourth on the South African all-time list. He was awarded Springbok colours and clocked 1 minute 45.9 seconds at the Nedbank Prestige meeting at Germiston’s Herman Immelman Stadium. The need for top-class opposition became obvious and he looked overseas. Soon after receiving South Africa’s ‘Athlete of the Year’ award for 1981, he accepted an American scholarship offer – he had a choice of 12 –and departed for the University of Southern California
At Wits, Handelsman was followed by a group of promising middle-distance runners, most notably Markus Pingpank, Greg Beyrooti and Anthony Grendon. It was Pingpank who caught the eye in 1983 when he broke the Northern Transvaal under-19 one-mile record held since 1969 by the well-known Fanie van Zijl, and followed this up by becoming the South African under-21 champion for two years
As he moved into the senior ranks, Pingpank became regarded as one of South Africa’s foremost middle-distance runners. He came desperately close to becoming the first Witsie to run a sub-four-minute mile when he recorded 4 minutes 00.88 seconds for the distance in windy conditions at the University of Port Elizabeth. He also achieved a second place at the Dalrymple Cup in the 1500 metres in 1984 and a third in 1985.
Wilkinson won SAU gold medals in 1984 and 1986 and was awarded Springbok colours for the first time in 1987.
Between 1982 and 1985, Wits achieved few successes in the annual intervarsity. Apart from Pingpank, Mark Plaatjes finished second in the 5 000 metres in 1984 and 1985, and Karen Wilkinson emerged as a fine prospect in the hurdles. She was second in the 400 metres hurdles (59.5 seconds) at Port Elizabeth in 1984 and then won the event (58.93 seconds) at Stellenbosch in 1985, ahead of Springbok and national title holder, Charmaine Fick.
There was little to suggest at that stage that there would be an astonishing revival in Wits University’s athletics in 1986. It happened in the Dalrymple Cup meeting at Bloemfontein, where those attending were treated to some spectacular track performances. The Wits men won five gold and two silver medals, while Karen Wilkinson retained her 400 metres hurdles title in the Roger Dyason Shield competition and won a bronze medal in the shorter distance. Wits athletics team 1986
On a memorable Friday night, Wits stunned onlookers by taking first and second places in the 100 metres. Raoul Karp won the event with ease, galloping across the line in a time of 10.40 seconds, which equalled the hand-timed record of Paul Nash set 20 years before. Ian Hacker was a comfortable second in a creditable 10.60 seconds.
Newspaper scribes dubbed Karp the ‘new Paul Nash’ and he lived up to the tribute in the 4x100 metres relay where Wits (Karp, Hacker, Steven Orleow and Simon Berridge) beat the champions Orange Free State into second place and recorded a time of 40.34 seconds. It was Karp who set up the victory, catching Gerhard Barnard some 40 metres out and thundering past him to the line.
The intervarsity will also be long remembered for Victor Radebe’s astounding performance in the 1 500 metres, where his time of 3 minutes 46.13 improved on his personal best by five seconds. The stage was indubitably his as he beat a field of experienced athletes, including
Karen
the favoured Jacques van Rensburg, and was promptly mobbed by deliriously excited Wits supporters.
Whereas Karen Wilkinson’s 1985 win took the pundits by surprise, her second victory in the 400 metres hurdles was expected and convincing. Displaying great confidence, she destroyed the field to finish a good ten metres ahead of her nearest rival.
Wits athletes achieved two great ‘doubles’ on the Saturday. Raoul Karp won the 200 metres in 20.88, overcoming a modest start with an exhilarating final surge towards the line. Then came the 800 metres and the principal focus was inescapably on Victor Radebe. His tactics were similar to those that he had used in the 1 500 metres, nursing himself into the race but keeping within a striking distance of the leaders. If anything, he erred tactically in allowing himself to be boxed in but as he entered the second lap he nimbly side-stepped the pack and began his move towards the front. Head hunched forward and with long, determined strides, he gained rapidly on the leaders. Then came the ‘kick’, midway down the home straight, his powerful thrust leaving Jean Malan and the title holder Gert de Bruyn gasping in his wake.
There was disappointment and frustration for Mark Plaatjes as he was forced into second place for the third year in the 5 000 metres. This time it was Jacques van Rensburg who beat him in what was very much a two-horse race – the two leaders finishing 25 seconds ahead of the thirdplaced runner.
At the conclusion of the meeting, four Wits athletes were awarded SAU colours – Raoul Karp, Victor Radebe, Ian Hacker and Karen Wilkinson. For the Dalrymple Cup stars, the 1986/87 season provided further honours. Raoul Karp accepted the offer of an American scholarship and left South Africa soon afterwards; Karen Wilkinson won Springbok colours and established herself as the country’s supreme hurdler over 400 metres; and Victor Radebe produced an outstanding performance in the mile to become the first Witsie to smash the four-minute barrier.
Early in the season, Radebe had won the Alberton and Germiston Centenary street miles and was second to Mathews Temane in the Opel street mile at Port Elizabeth. Twice, he beat the South African champion Johan Fourie, and at Port Elizabeth his time of 3 minutes 47.5 seconds bettered Fourie’s existing record by almost three seconds.
The big question was whether he could reproduce such outstanding form on the track. He ran his first standard mile at Stellenbosch on 9 February 1987, when his time was a relatively disappointing 4 minutes 6 seconds. However, Radebe was not disillusioned – ‘I was feeling “down” during that period and did not take too much notice of the time.’
His second effort was little more than a month later – on 11 March – at the Volkswagen Prestige meeting at Port Elizabeth. He paced himself in the early stages, before characteristically working his way through the pack. Ahead of him, Johan Fourie and Deon Brummer sped through the 1 500 metre mark, but gaining ground with
every stride, Radebe’s finish was impressive. A powerful thrust took him past Brummer, although he was unable to account for Fourie.
Victor Radebe’s time of 3 minutes 54.62 seconds made him the ninth-fastest miler in the world that year and the fourth-fastest South African in history over the distance – only Danie Malan (a hand-timed 3:54.6), Sydney Maree and Johan Fourie had run faster.
Without Karp, Radebe, Plaatjes and Wilkinson, Wits athletes performed poorly at Durban in 1987, but improved slightly at Pretoria in 1988. In the latter meeting, Ian Gentles won the 21 kilometre race that replaced the marathon, and he and Agnes Berger were awarded Protea colours.
Ian Hacker was runner-up in the SAU 100 metres in 1986 and 1988.
Raoul Karp winning the 200 metres at the 1986 Dalrymple Cup meeting at Bloemfontein.
The Wits athletics team that won six gold medals at the 1986 intervarsity at Bloemfontein (left to right – back row): Norman Harraway, Eben Meyburgh, David Kraitzick, Mark Muller, Brandon Collyer, Douglas McCrindle, Pascal Pau, Keith du Plessis and Bruce Nicholson (second row): Ishmael Mampuru, Raoul Karp, Victor Radebe, Simon Berridge, Steven Orleow Rob McGrath and Richard Pretorius (first row): Peter Slater, Mark Plaatjes, Jerrilyn Viljoen, Ian Hacker, Paul Clinton, Amanda Richey and Glen Macnamara (front row): Giles Walkey, Trevor Stopforth (manager), Karen Wilkinson (women’s captain), Jonathan Kallmeyer (men’s captain), Laraine Lane (assistant manager) and Monsell Baker (coach).
Badminton
Wits’s second intervarsity badminton win occurred in 1975, ten years after their inaugural success. Owen Kerr, Laurie Kidd and Elaine and Peter Brown set up the victory in the club’s bestever year, in which they also achieved a highly creditable second position in the first league. It was the climax to a period of steady progress. After being demoted to the third league during the latter part of the 1960s, they won this division in 1973. A second position in the reserve league in 1974 was then rewarded by a place in the first league the following year.
The key player in the club over ten years was Owen Kerr, an electrical engineering student. Wits badminton made giant strides under his guidance. The club’s membership figures more than doubled; the university played a lead role in Transvaal badminton by hosting a number of major tournaments each year and, through Kerr’s contacts, top coaching was established. His father Bill Kerr, along with Springboks Ronnie Kidd, Willie Kerr, Deirdre Tyghe and Kenny and Ann Parsons, assisted the Wits players and
Baseball
In the mid-seventies, Wits fielded a powerful baseball side that included Springboks, Keith Kourie, Robin Corbett and Malcolm McGeen. They were backed up by an outstanding pitcher in Don Hennessy and players of the calibre of Chris Marais, Tom Albano, Rowan Dent, Richard Walker, Bobby Fiore and Ted Nichols. Dubbed the ‘Lemon Drop Kids’ because of their distinctive yellow uniform, the side was further strengthened after the tour of the American Eagles in 1976, because several players stayed on in South Africa and assisted Wits. They included Dave Judnick, Frank Enright and Rob Nelson.
The university was equipped to do well in the national inter-club competition known as the South African Breweries Castle Cup knockout series. The sponsors provided R30 000 over two years for a tournament that featured eight of the best baseball clubs from South Africa and Rhodesia. In 1977, Wits participated alongside Parks (Port Elizabeth), Hellfires (East London), PG Reds (Pretoria), Vikings (Durban), Black Sox (Salisbury), Clyde Pinelands (Cape Town) and Giants (Johannesburg).
Giants were the pre-tournament favourites. As Transvaal champions for the sixteenth consecutive year in 1976, they were expected to account for Wits in their opening match. However, American Eagle Dave Judnick kept the powerful Giants’ batting under wraps and it was the students who went through to the semi-final stage. Wits then beat a strong Durban Olympic Vikings team that included another American Eagle, Artie Blouin, and two Springboks, Claude Hund and Clive Napier.
The final was surprisingly the easiest match of all, Wits defeating Cape Town’s Clyde Pinelands 9-3 in a one-sided affair. Urged on by the considerable vocal support of their ecstatic
provided demonstrations and clinics. By Owen Kerr’s final year – 1976 – Wits competed in every division from the first to sixth league, thus catering for all abilities.
After Owen Kerr’s departure, badminton at Wits enjoyed continued success. Lynda von Ehrenberg, Laurie Kidd, Kenneth Vorwerk, the Browns and the Algars maintained the high standard before a new and talented group took over in the eighties. Spearheaded by Wendy Newton, one of South Africa’s top junior players, and Robin Ribeiro, Wits won the 1981 intervarsity at the Old Mutual Sports Hall.
Wits finished third and second, respectively, at the 1982 and 1983 intervarsities. At the latter competition, five Witsies were chosen for the SAU team (Wendy Newton, Paul Martin, Darryl Prince, Michael Campleman and Robin Ribeiro) but that was the last time the Johannesburg students made an impression. The next five years saw Wits battle against great odds to avoid the wooden spoon and, in 1988, the club was unable to enter a side.
followers, Wits went on a five-run spree in the second frame to clinch the match in style. There was little Clyde Pinelands could do thereafter with Judnick (pitch) and Chuck Mitchell (catch) keeping tight control.
Winning the 1976 South African inter-club championship remained the high point in the university’s baseball. After that unforgettable success, the club’s fortunes declined and membership showed a sharp drop from over 100 players in 1980 to 30 in 1988. The prime reason for diminishing numbers could be attributed to the baseballers being shifted from one practice venue to another – the Wits B field, Sturrock Park, Wanderers, Marks Park and Frankenwald all served as a home to the baseball club at different times. ‘Our game,’ commented Gerrie Booyzen, ‘has been regarded as a Cinderella sport by the authorities and it’s been a case of continually making way for the glamour activities.’
The Frankenwald venue (the Sandton complex) boasted a splendid baseball diamond but was largely unsuitable for practice purposes because of its distance from campus. The university also put a stop to the ‘Lucky Strike’ sponsorship which inevitably restricted developments at the ground. The opening was nevertheless a successful affair with the guest of honour, world heavyweight boxing contender John Tate, pitching the first ball.
Wits christened the new diamond in style by thrashing Wanderers 14-5 at the start of the 1979 season. The home field advantage, coupled with the timely hitting of Bruce Buchanan and medical student Peter Botha paved the way for Wits’s victory. Buchanan could also be credited with hitting the first home run at Frankenwald which came via a big hit off American pitcher Paul Kivot. Despite the club’s difficulties, there were mem-
Owen Kerr was captain and chairman of the Wits badminton club for a number of years. He became a triple title-holder at the SAU championships.
Wendy Newton was influential in Wits winning the SAU in 1981.
Gerrie Booyzen, a long-serving player and administrator.
orable moments over the years. At Frankenwald in 1982, Wits won the SAU tournament for the first time since 1973. A number of players received SAU colours from 1976 – the year Divan Serfontein pitched for Stellenbosch and Naas Botha for Tukkies – to 1988. They include: Bruce Buchanan, Michael Keytel, Derek Lambert, Mark Anderson, Greg Anderson, Peter Botha, Brian Peer, Paul Ponte, Richard Button, Glen Lazarus, Paul Botha, Steve van der Berg, Mark Lazarus, Jeremy Baker and Ian Perks.
A second place in the league in 1984 was followed by relegation in 1985 after nearly 20 years in the upper echelons of Transvaal baseball. Ironically, it came in a season when Wits scored a sensational 12-5 victory over Giants in the knockout competition. Wits surprised all but themselves in reaching the final, although a major Transvaal title again eluded them as they were beaten by Wanderers.
During 1986, Wits won the lower division in order to regain their premier league status. They also assembled a fine squad of players that included Steve van der Berg, a fast-ball specialist who benefited from playing in the United States, and Ian Perks, a Transvaal player whose allround abilities made him a great asset to the side. Shaun Lee proved an invaluable acquisition with his batter/fielder talents always to the fore, while Mark Lazarus, Fudge Wyszkowski, the Korras and Meredith brothers, and Theo Kritzinger provided much-needed stability. Coach Frank Fingelson, a Springbok veteran of more than
15 years in the major league, was a tower of strength in bringing out the best in his youthful sides, prior to emigrating to Australia. He was succeeded as coach by Kenny Falconer.
There were still hopes that they would be allocated space on campus, not least because their superb clubhouse on the West Campus reflected the enthusiasm of a dedicated group.
Craig Meredith, Gary Meredith, Hilton Clark, Mark Lazarus, Ian Perks, Frank Fingelson (coach), Fudge Wyszkowski, Steve van der Berg, Robbie Greeff and Garth Korras.
The Wits baseball team that played in the 1975 intervarsity at Grahamstown (left to right – back row): M. McLennan, G. van der Berg, D. Lambert, S. Goodey, B. Culligan, T. Rumpeldt and C. Stanley (front row); J. Baker, M. Andrews, A. Dougall, D. Culligan (manager), B. Peer, C. Marais (coach) and J. Kirkman.
Some of the Wits players after their triumph in the 1977 national club competition (left to right): Chuck Mitchell, Don Hennessy, Chris Marais, Mike Keytel, Derek Soekoe and Keith Kourie.
Brian Peer was awarded a Full Blue in 1979.
The Wits team that won promotion to the Transvaal Major League in 1986 (left to right – back row): Jack Perks (manager), Shaun Lee,
Basketball
By 1977, basketball at Wits was riding the crest of a wave, and apart from Vaios Kokkoris and Chris Jonker, they also had the services of the most-capped basketball Springbok ‘Neels’ Boshoff, the former Rhodesian international Pat Quirk, two Americans and several Transvaal stalwarts. A highlight of the season was the match against the touring Flying Camels from Taiwan. The visitors played their toughest match on tour against the university and, although winning 111-87, they held a narrow 46-45 lead at half-time. It was only when Quirk and Boshoff were taken off with five fouls apiece that the quicksilver Chinese took over. Kokkoris was again outstanding and notched a personal tally of 31 points.
Wits went on to win the national basketball league in 1977 and Kokkoris was named Springbok captain for the Test against the Flying Camels, which Wits lost 79-124.
Women’s basketball also improved after the arrival of Junior Valentine as coach. At Cape Town in 1977, they ended Rhodes University’s reign as SAU champions and then in 1980 won the Transvaal league for the first time, going on to be the province’s representative team at the Champion of Champions tournament held at Pretoria. Leading players during this period included Cathy Lai, Jean Tow, Mirella and Dana Caviggia, Vicki Gough, Winnie Date Ling, Fiona Duncan and Valya Trupos.
Such is the unpredictable nature of university sport that Wits’s basketball fortunes dipped suddenly during the early 1980s. They struggled at intervarsity tournaments, although results reflected a gradual improvement. The men finished last in 1980, sixth in 1981 and then fourth in 1982 and 1983. The women were fourth in 1980, third in 1981, fourth in 1982 and an unlucky third in 1983 when poor organisation forced them out of the running. SAU representation also improved – Fiona Duncan, who was a member of the side from 1980, was joined by Lesley Wentzel in 1981; George Cortez and Colin Song in 1982; and Maria da Silva, Anabela Manteigas, Martin
Bellamy and Anthony Fick in 1983.
The 1984 season was the most outstanding all-round year in the history of the club. A clean sweep of SAU and Transvaal basketball honours by the men’s and women’s sides created much interest in the sport at the university.
Much of the success could be attributed to Carlos da Silva’s coaching. The women’s coach since 1982, he had inherited an underperforming men’s team the following year and dramatically turned both sides into highly efficient combinations. The fitness training in the gym during the off season paid handsome dividends, while the club’s administration was expertly handled by Spiros Kavalieratos, who personally attended to every problem.
Wits dominated the Protea selections at that time. Four men were chosen for the 1984 SAU side – Martin Bellamy (the tournament’s top scorer), Anthony Fick (voted ‘best player of the tournament’), Colin Hossack and Michael Urban. Further honour came Bellamy’s way the following week when he won a South African all-star award at the national interprovincial championships.
Three women won SAU colours in 1984 –Fiona Duncan, Maria da Silva (the tournament’s best player and top scorer) and Anthea Ritchie. But when Wits retained their SAU title in 1985, there were five players selected for the Protea team: Fiona Duncan (team captain as well as the tournament’s best player and top scorer), Maria da Silva, Anthea Ritchie, Janet Fowlds and Minette Grobler. The first four named also played for the Transvaal side that won the interprovincial championships, with Duncan and da Silva receiving South African all-star awards to crown their highly successful basketball careers at Wits.
Fiona Duncan’s contribution to Wits basketball was considerable. She received a full blue for basketball on seven occasions between 1979 and 1985, the award being made cum laude in her final year. Captain of Wits for five seasons, she was an inspirational figure in enabling the club to reach new heights in 1984/85. She also gave generously
Di Williamson, winner of ten South African all-star awards and one of the country’s greatest players.
The Wits basketball team that won the South African inter-club championships in 1977 (left to right – back row): Terry Pretoritis (coach), Dan Brener, Rod Ayl, Pat Quirk, Vaios Kokkoris and Ralph Venter (in front): Chris Jonker, Johnny Paidoussi, Roger Soon Shiong, Chuck Mitchell and John McBride.
Fiona Duncan, one of the most outstanding all-round basketball players to have represented Wits.
Anthony Fick – named best player of the SAU tournament in 1984.
of her time as a coach to the lower teams.
Maria da Silva was twice a South African all-star recipient during her student years. She was the ideal foil to Fiona Duncan and together they formed the most dangerous breakaway duo in South African basketball. Da Silva, diminutive and dynamic, was an exciting player, an opportunist prepared to hungrily chase after the slightest chance of snatching possession and capitalising on an opponent’s error to explosive advantage. She left Wits at the end of the 1985 season to take up a basketball scholarship at the University of West Florida where she played for the first team for two years.
On 1 March 1985, the new basketball/ volleyball stadium – Hall 29 – was opened on the West Campus by the deputy vice-chancellor, Professor Mervyn Shear. To mark the occasion,
the university’s basketball and volleyball teams played matches against Rest of Transvaal combinations. A highlight was the Wits women defeating their star-studded opponents 66-56 with Maria da Silva scoring 26 points. During 1986/87, Wits successfully rebuilt their men’s team, being fortunate that they could still call on the talents of Martin Bellamy for one more year. He was chosen for the SAU side for the fourth successive time in 1986 and was shortlisted for the Springbok squad. Wits lost the services of Anthony Fick and Michael Urban, but in Renato Pasqualucci (a South African allstar in 1987), the club discovered a player who improved incredibly quickly and in 1987 led the men to the top of the Transvaal first league. They gained a third place at the South African club championships early the following year.
Wits won the 1987 Transvaal first league and thereafter gained a third place in the South African club championships early the following year (left to right – back row): Carlos da Silva (coach), Jimmy Comitis, Andrew Georgitsis, Renato Pasqualucci (captain), Warren Luyt and Mark Pardini (front row): David Khoza, Basil Betsakos, Colin Hossack, Idan Azoulay and Robert Levin.
The highly successful Wits basketball club in 1984 (left to right – back row): R. Pasqualucci, M. Bellamy and M. Urban (third row): M. Zini, N. Tsinosis, V. Tellides, G. Meyerowitz, J. Graaf, F. Duncan, J. Fowlds and A. Ritchie (seated): J. Cabanelas, B. March, C. da Silva (coach), M. Bell and A. Fick (in front): C. Markantonis, C. Hossack, T. Howey, S. Kavalieratos and M. da Silva.
Maria da Silva, a South African allstar recipient on four occasions and later Springbok captain.
Martin Bellamy, a South African allstar recipient in 1984.
Boxing
Adam van Tonder arrived at Wits in 1974, already an accomplished boxer having won the national junior middleweight title once and finishing as runner-up twice. As a student, he made a tremendous impression in his intervarsity debut at Rhodes in 1974. He was named as the most outstanding fighter of the championships and in addition, was the only boxer selected for the SAU team to win his bout against the local province. Nothing during the week quite raised the pulse like his encounter against his Eastern Province opponent – he exploded a beautifully timed left hook, followed by a right uppercut which lifted his opponent clean off the ground to land him flat on his back. The poor man only came round in the changing room half an hour later.
It was little wonder that at the next SAU championships at Wits in 1975, the entrants in the lightweight ranks withdrew when it was announced that Adam van Tonder would be competing in their division. Such a development was disappointing as Van Tonder had entered a weight above his own, but it was fully indicative of how high his punching power was regarded. There was no shortage of opponents outside the university competitions. He was runner-up in the South African closed championships in 1974 and champion the following year. He also won his division in the South African trials in 1975 and Springbok colours were within his grasp. Unfortunately, the scheduled tour of a
Canoeing
After the establishment of the SAU canoeing association in 1972, informal competitions were arranged in conjunction with the Berg River marathon and the South African K1 and K2 championships. The K2 intervarsity began in 1973 and the K1 the following year with handsome trophies being awarded for both individual and team performances. During the seventies, Wits experienced little success in these competitions with the exception of Charles Coville and Dave Hodgskiss’s victory in the K2 event on the Vaal in 1976.
In attempting to resuscitate interest on campus, the Wits canoe club was subjected to a couple of false starts. During 1975/76, an attempt was made to bring the student paddlers together through a recruitment campaign that involved staging canoe-polo matches for lunchtime spectators at the swimming pool. Then, for those who signed up, the club also offered ‘slalom, whitewater and racing canoeing, river trials, and moulds, facilities and advice how to build a boat’.
In 1977, Natal and then Cape Town took the lead in setting up an annual intervarsity at which Protea colours could be awarded. It was decided that a national marathon would be used for the SAU event and that it would be reallocated each year in a different province so as to enable the various universities to share the hosting duties. Wits entered a team of three in the first SAU canoeing
team of West German boxers was called off and replaced by a ‘shadow’ Springbok squad chosen to participate in the South African open championships.
The intervarsity championships were cancelled in 1977 but Van Tonder regained the ‘best boxer’ trophy at Cape Town in 1978. In what was his last intervarsity, he won an SAU title for the fourth time and maintained his unbeaten record in Protea colours by defeating his Western Province opponent.
Wits produced a number of good boxers during the seventies. ‘Training facilities were pretty good and we had a fairly active club,’ recalled Van Tonder. ‘Hennie Meyers, an SAU champion and the “best boxer” at the 1976 tournament was one of the most correct and skilful boxers I came across, while Chris Leach was a fighter of enormous natural talent, tempered only by his casual approach.’
At the 1978 intervarsity, Paul Leisher put up a splendid performance to become the lightweight champion; Mike Shaw was unfortunate to lose in the light heavyweight semi-final to the eventual winner, and Mike Bellingham scored a sensational knockout win in his semi-final before going down on a points decision in the final. Said Van Tonder: ‘Mike Bellingham’s approach was that of a typical Witsie in that he entered the SAU after a six-month crash course in boxing – he certainly astounded everyone with his achievement.’
championships, which were held at the Vaal in 1978. They did not fare well and were placed last. It seemed as if such a miserable performance had effectively sounded the death knell of the Wits club and, technically, that was indeed the case. But Rob Berry, supported by a few diehards, had another attempt at reviving the sport on campus. In 1980, Wits again entered the annual intervarsity, finishing sixth out of the eight universities that participated.
In the years that followed, the club was fortunate in being able to call upon Niels Verkerk to set the standard. He was an accomplished paddler, having established a South African junior sprint record that stood for a number of years, and between 1980 and 1985, he spearheaded Wits’s challenge at the annual intervarsity. He was seventh in 1980 and 1981, fourth in 1982, eleventh in 1983, fourth in 1984 and sixth in 1985. Only in his first (1978) and last (1985) intervarsities did a Witsie beat him. Niels won SAU colours in 1982, 1984 and 1985, and was selected for the ‘B’ team in 1980. His enthusiasm, dedication and ability undoubtedly paved the way for the club’s later successes.
Wits excelled at the intervarsity between 1984 and 1988, winning the competition three times and finishing second twice. Stanley Freiman, Andrew Venter, Neil Evans, Mark Perrow and Dave Ketley were all awarded Protea colours.
Adam van Tonder was widely regarded as the hardest puncher pound for pound in the country during the mid-1970s.
An aggressive Adam van Tonder during the 1974 SAU final against Clemens Smith of Pretoria. Niels Verkerk
Perrow took first place amongst students at the Berg in 1985 – a fine performance, although he was aware that there had been something of a debacle on the last day when a number of leading canoeists had lost their way.
He therefore had something to prove at the 1986 intervarsity and he came up trumps, winning the individual title for the second year in succession. In doing so, he beat Natal University’s John Edmonds at the post after a titanic struggle along a 27 kilometre stretch of the Bushman’s River. Neil Evans was third and with six canoeists in the first 12, Wits made it an unprecedented hat-trick of intervarsity victories, finishing ahead of Natal, Cape Town, Pretoria, Stellenbosch and RAU. Also significant was the intervarsity not being staged in conjunction with a national marathon.
In 1987, Stanley Freiman was barred at the eleventh hour from entering the SAU competition. It was considered influential in the final outcome, largely because of Natal’s narrow fivepoint victory. There was some compensation for Wits in that Mark Perrow swept to his third successive victory, four minutes ahead of secondplaced Mynhardt Marais, the Stellenbosch Springbok. Perrow was already demonstrating his ability to win races in a variety of conditions.
The upsurge in the Wits Canoe Club’s fortunes could be largely attributed to improved administration. Here Stanley Freiman and Mark Perrow were conspicuous, both working assiduously towards making the club one of the most respected organisations on campus. Canoeists travel great distances to compete and this required efficient planning on the part of club committees.
Wits’s depth of talent was carefully built up, a key factor in placing the club at the forefront of South African canoeing. The first member to gain national recognition was Niels Verkerk, who was selected for the Springbok tour to Spain in 1981. A fine all-rounder, he set up sprint times that would qualify him for the Olympic Games, while his achievements in the distance races included winning the Fish River marathon in 1983 and the Vaal marathon in 1985.
Verkerk was followed into the Springbok team by Mark Perrow, whose progress during his student years was most impressive. Having arrived at Wits as little more than a canoeing novice in 1985, he became one of the finest allround canoeists South Africa had produced. After making his Springbok debut on a successful tour to Spain in 1987, he received his colours the following year for both sprints and marathon. Amongst many other notable achievements, he won the national 10 000-metres event and, assisted by Graham Monteith, took the South African K2 (Breede) and Fish River titles. Not long afterwards, he underlined his versatility by winning his Springbok white-water colours and claiming the national title in this event.
Perrow’s regular doubles partner, Neil Evans, was also emerging as one of the country’s leading canoeists. He was the Transvaal K1 champion in 1987 and an excellent performance at the national trials the following year saw him win Springbok colours. Like Perrow, he enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a major
figure in South African canoeing.
Several other Witsies performed well at national level, notably Stanley Freiman, who was second in the Natbolt ‘80’ in 1985; first in the individual event in the 1986 Hansa Umkomaas marathon and, with fellow Witsie Andrew Venter, went on to win the 96 kilometre Kavango marathon in 1988. During 1986, Freiman, Verkerk, Venter and Evans were at different stages chosen for the President’s canoeing team, which was effectively South Africa B. Freiman, Verkerk and Venter competed during the South African Games and were instrumental in the President’s team surprising both the Springboks and an international squad by winning the 4x250-metre relay and the 5 000 metre K4 race.
Club member Nico Viljoen also went on to win Springbok colours later in 1986 and enjoyed a run of success that included winning the Vaal marathon and the South African K2 championship on the Breede River.
By the end of the 1980s, the university was playing an important role in furthering canoeing in the Transvaal and a number of students were awarded provincial colours, namely Niels Verkerk, Mark Perrow, Neil Evans, Graeme Cross, Stanley Freiman, Andrew Venter and Bruce Yelland. The club benefited from participating in a Transvaal league that catered for a wide variety of disciplines. The students displaced Johannesburg’s Dabulamanzi Canoe Club as provincial champions, winning the league three times in succession between 1986 and 1988. They also dominated the individual competition over a period of seven years with Niels Verkerk (three times), Mark Perrow (twice), Stanley Freiman and Neil Evans winning the title.
The efforts of a relatively small but staunch band of canoeing enthusiasts were aptly rewarded in September 1987 when the club received the prestigious Emily Smidman ‘club of the year’ trophy. It was a fitting climax to a wonderful year for them during which they had achieved a hat-trick of SAU victories before proceeding to win everything on offer in Transvaal canoeing circles. With three Springboks and 11 provincial representatives, the club was rated at the time as being possibly the strongest in the country.
N. Verkerk, D. Ketley, A. Robinson, R. Penaluna, R. Attridge, N. Evans, H. Sher and D. Levin (front row): S. Freiman, J. Vlantis, N. Viljoen and M. Perrow.
The canoeists were Wits’s Club of the Year in 1987 (left to right –back row): J. King, M. Freiman, V. Adamson and M. Bosman (middle row):
Mark Perrow
Neil Evans
Cricket
Early in the 1973/74 season, Wits won a Transvaal title for the first time in a decade. They captured the Transvaal league cup, a competition they had qualified for by finishing in the top six in the previous season’s premier league. They scored outright victories over Old Edwardians and Pirates, beat Old Johannians and Balfour Park on the first innings and drew with Old Parktonians. A key match was played against Pirates, where a weakened university side was behind on the first innings but won outright thanks to a swashbuckling 80 in better than even time by Dudley Wang. Club chairman Rob Cheetham recounted ‘the remarkable thing is that we won the title while the exams were on. In some games, up to four of our best players were unavailable – even the captain Peter de Vaal missed two – and in our five matches we fielded no fewer than 17 players.’
The good form continued in the premier league where Wits achieved six outright victories –the next best being two – and finished second overall. With one match left, the university was lying six points behind Old Johannians and therefore not without hope of a late triumph. They did well enough against Jeppe to grab 16 points with only time preventing them from obtaining a deserved outright victory. But the same day, Old Johannians did even better, crushing Pirates to accumulate 19 points. In the final log, the champions tallied 159 points, Wits 150 and third-placed Old Parktonians 140.
Wits finished third in the premier league in 1974/75, but had to overcome a dreadful start. With only two months left, they were lying eighth out of ten teams. A resounding outright victory by ten wickets over Old Parktonians and another outright win against Balfour Park greatly aided Wits’s cause. The university ended on 182 points after 18 matches to finish behind Old Edwardians and Old Parktonians.
Winning the SAU hosted by RAU was the high point of the season. The player of the tournament was undoubtedly Peter de Vaal whose bowling analysis in four matches – against Potchefstroom, Natal, Stellenbosch and Cape Town – was an incredible 22 wickets for 89 runs. He also weighed in with scores of 45 against Stellenbosch and 63 not out against Cape Town, and was named captain of the SAU team, a side that also included Keith Barlow and Barry Moore.
Wits’s inconsistency was again to the fore in 1975/76 when they slipped to eighth out of ten teams in the premier league. The reason for the decline was attributed to the lack of promising young players rising through the ranks and Wits Student criticised the cricket section for not enforcing their claim to students playing for outside clubs. It was a recurring problem but Wits cricket did not have the personnel to cope with this and other aspects essential to the administration of the club.
Wits made their customary poor start to the 1976/77 premier league and missed the cut-off point of seven teams selected to form the ‘A’ section. The team was lying eighth at that point
despite good batting by Andy Thompson, Denzil Wilson and Peter Cheetham, and fine bowling from Cameron Boccaleone who headed the league figures. After the split into two sections, points earned up to that stage were retained. Wits therefore had a head start and kept their lead until the very last game. It was then that they had an inexplicable defeat against Kohinoor. Wits finished on 200 points – one ahead of secondplaced Jeppe Old Boys – but they had two penalty points hanging over them for failing to bowl 18 overs per hour during a league encounter a couple of weeks before.
Neville Wright holds the fort
Wits cricket experienced a trying period between 1977 and 1982. Apart from a successful 1978/79, they finished amongst the last three teams in the the log in four seasons and received the wooden spoon in two successive competitions.
Wits’s record in the intervarsity tournament was only marginally better. There were two good years – after sharing second place in 1977, the William O’Brien Shield was won in most convincing style in 1978. But the next few tournaments saw a downward trend, save for the individual achievements of their opening batsman, Neville Wright. He had the distinction of winning the ‘best batsman’ award three times and, in scoring more than 1 000 runs over five tournaments, proved to be one of the most consistent players in the history of the competition.
Wright did more than anyone to hold the club together. A provincial player, he was saddled with the dual responsibility of captaining the first team and serving as club chairman. Under him, he had several fine players over the years but the university lacked the depth necessary to make an impact on the premier league. At different stages, players with first-class experience – such as Ian Watson, Wynand van der Linden and Noel Day – provided solidarity at the top of the order, but only Tony Vidergauz gave his captain significant support over a sustained period of time.
Prominent in the bowling attack were pacemen Stuart Thompson, Richard Atkinson and Craig McDougall; Howard Hurwitz, a left-arm medium-fast bowler, and medium-pacer Roy Agar. Michael Bacher, better known as a batsman, had one successful season bowling with an action modelled on Mike Procter, and Neville Wright provided variation with his leg-spinners.
The cricketers needed assistance from the university but their calls went unheeded. An indifferent season was always regarded by the authorities as being a temporary setback, inevitable in the university system with its great turnover of players.
In 1977/78, Wits shared eleventh spot in the 14-team log with Balfour Guild. Their 48 points was a massive 82 points behind the winners, Bedfordview, and adding to the ignominy of their position was the fact that they finished ahead of two relatively unknown names in Transvaal cricket, Crescents and Rangers.
Keith Barlow, an effective all-rounder who played first-class cricket for ten years.
Neville Wright enjoyed great success at the SAU Cricket Week, winning the ‘best batsman’ award three times. He was selected for the South African Universities, as well as Transvaal.
The arrival of Noel Day as player/coach at the outset of the 1978/79 season was a timely boost for the club. The university recorded their best season in four years, finishing fourth in the premier league. The much improved display could be attributed to a sound all-round team performance with runs and wickets shared evenly. Neville Wright headed the batting averages, 588 runs at 39.2, followed by Transvaal batsmen Wynand van der Linden, Noel Day and Tony Vidergauz. The leading bowler Michael Bacher took 35 wickets at 13.8 and was well supported by Roy Agar, Stuart Thompson and Neville Wright.
The highlight of the season was the superb performance at the intervarsity at Stellenbosch, where five straight wins were achieved by a Wits side for only the second time. Neville Wright (322 runs – average 80.5) and Noel Day spearheaded an effective combination that scored victories over Free State, Pretoria, Natal, Port Elizabeth and Stellenbosch. Wright and Day also played leading roles in the SAU side’s astounding win over Western Province – the students became the first South African team ever to compile 500 runs in the fourth innings of a match, Wright on first-class debut scoring 97 and Day 55.
The upsurge in the club’s fortunes was not maintained during 1979/80 when Wits slipped down the premier league log in dismal fashion. They ended up second-last out of 14 teams, ahead of only the outclassed Crescents. Noel Day left Wits at the end of the season and the team continued to struggle. In his chairman’s report for 1980/81, Neville Wright commented: ‘The club cannot seem to get out of the trend of losing. So often our sides have been in winning positions but have, through lack of wanting to win or rather through being in a losing rut, lost to weaker sides.’
In both 1980/81 and 1981/82, Wits finished last in the 12-team premier league. In 1980/81, Neville Wright was often committed to the Transvaal B side and Wits lacked batsmen capable of a big score from which a match-winning total could be established. No Wits batsman made a century during the season. The university relied heavily on the remarkably consistent Tony Vidergauz, who scored 593 runs at a good league average of 34.9, but his highest score was 59.
To compound the side’s problems, their top batsmen, Vidergauz (who scored 57 on his Transvaal B debut) and Wright left the university at the end of the season. But just when all seemed lost, several important factors came together to facilitate a spirited revival.
Assistance was received from the Transvaal Cricket Council in the shape of a then little-known Kent professional Richard Ellison. As a player/ coach, he turned out to be a marvellous acquisition and the players responded wholeheartedly to his cheerful example. Over two seasons, he guided the club to previously unthought-of heights, and instilled a new-found confidence into the first team.
The 1982/83 season began quietly but a fine finish enabled Wits to move into fifth place in the premier league and seventh in the Sunday limited-overs league. Richard Ellison’s all-round talents were strongly evident in heading the batting and bowling, scoring 332 runs (average 34.7) and taking 32 wickets (average 13.2) in the premier league. Mike Rindel scored the most runs (333); Richard Kaplan was second in the batting averages and Justin Pearce second in the bowling.
Prof Murray in the chair
Professor Bruce Murray, who became chairman of the Wits cricket club, had joined the history department at the university in 1970. He enjoyed a lengthy spell looking after the Wits staff cricket club before responding to a move by the university’s sports administration to get academic staff involved in club sport. His appointment as chairman of cricket signalled the beginning of a remarkably successful period for the first team, with Wits rapidly developing into the most outstanding club side in the Transvaal.
The 1983/84 season was one of the most rewarding in the history of the university’s cricket, as they secured the league double by winning both the premier league and the Sunday limited overs competition. A feature of the side’s success was that they not only won the double but did so in convincing fashion. In fact, only two matches were lost in the course of the season – Pirates in the premier league and Zoo Lake in the Sunday league. Wits (130 points) finished well clear of second-placed Pirates (112.5) in the 12-team premier league. They also won the Sunday league comfortably, scoring 40 points against second-placed Pirates on 32.
Richard Ellison was an inspiration and the side owed much to his consistency. He was the most effective all-round cricketer in the Transvaal, scoring 547 runs (average 68.3) and taking 44 wickets (average 10.2) His finest performance was against an Old Edwardian side that boasted the likes of Graeme Pollock, Kevin Mackenzie and Hugh Page. The Rand Daily Mail commented ‘King Richard helps Wits to the crown’ in recognition of the fact that he restricted Old Edwardians to 234 all out by taking 5/79, including Pollock early on, and had then plundered a brilliant 126 in 229 minutes with 18 boundaries, after arriving at the crease with his side tottering on a precarious 39 for 4 wickets.
A far more purposeful and enterprising
Neville Wright with the SAU O’Brien Shield, won by Wits in 1978.
Tony Vidergauz was a highly consistent batsman for Wits in the late 1970s.
Noel Day, an outstanding wicketkeeper/batsman.
A successful partnership – cricket chairman Professor Bruce Murray and the Kent and England allrounder Richard Ellison.
approach was displayed by the students than had been the case in the previous few years. A well-balanced team was moulded together and the depth of talent within the club was fully illustrated by Wits’s victory over Clive Rice’s Bedfordview side in the last match of the season. On that occasion, Wits fielded seven secondteam players and still won comfortably, much to Rice’s surprise.
Ellison did not return in 1984/85. He was touring India with the England team, followed by an Ashes series against Australia. He captured 17 wickets in two Tests against the Australians at the startling average of 10.88. He made headline news in the fifth Test at Birmingham when, in just 15 balls, he grabbed four wickets for one run to have Australia reeling at 36 for 5.
The 1984/85 season was not quite as successful but the club’s programme was certainly their most challenging. The university was the only league team in the course of the season with chance of winning all three Transvaal club competitions. They came out joint top in the Sunday league, contested the final of the Benson and Hedges series, and ended up a mere two points behind Old Parktonians in the premier league. Their achievements were even more impressive as Transvaal cricket was enjoying enormous success. The senior side won the Currie Cup and the B team emerged top of the Castle Bowl.
For Bruce McBride, it was a busy season because he took over the Wits captaincy from Craig Benadie. His proficiency was rewarded when he was appointed vice-captain of the Transvaal B team and also joined Kevin Kerr in the ‘A’ side. Benadie continued to demonstrate unrelenting concentration as an opening batsman and he, McBride and Paul Botha were named in the SAU squad that played Transvaal. Botha, a competitive and nagging left-arm seamer, had taken the most wickets (21) during the 1984 SAU tournament.
The First XI’s greatest problem during 1984/85 was finding a reliable opening batsman to partner Benadie, following the death of Raj Patel in a motor accident. Patel, who had finished second to Ellison in Wits’s premier league averages in 1983/84, had begun the new season in good form and had appeared almost certain to gain selection for Transvaal B when fate cruelly intervened.
The middle order frequently came to Wits’s rescue during 1984/85. Mike Rindel was outstanding in the premier league, scoring 648 runs (average 58.9) and having held the top position on the batting list for most of the season, was pipped to the post by Graeme Pollock as the competition’s leading run-scorer. Andy Rosselli, a fluent striker of the ball, became possibly the most dependable batsman in the side by the end of the season. When he and fellow medical student John du Plessis were in full flight, their carefree batting was a joy to watch. Du Plessis struck a swashbuckling 102 in 70 minutes against Potchefstroom University during the SAU tournament – reaching his century with a six over extra cover off the last ball of the innings – and then produced a century of breathtaking virtuosity off a hapless Zoo Lake attack in the Sunday league.
The 1985/86 season was also successful. Wits was unlucky not to reach the final of both the Sunday league and Benson and Hedges night series, while finishing third in the premier league. Their Jekyll and Hyde impersonations were exemplified by the results of two of their last three league fixtures. A comprehensive 184-run hiding by Pirates was followed by a victory in the very next match over the new champions, Wanderers A. Two leading players – Kevin Kerr and Mike Rindel – left the university by the start of the new season. The former, who was one of the best spin bowlers in the country, had represented Wits with distinction since 1980/81. His guile, accuracy and perseverance as a bowler, together with his lowerorder batting, were soon afterwards utilised by Warwickshire in English county cricket. Rindel’s departure was also a blow, as his dashing, uninhibited batting had often changed the course of a match in favour of the university.
Transvaal opening bowler Henry Parrymore came into his own during 1985/86. At the SAU week at Durban, he won the ‘player of the tournament’ award, capturing 18 wickets at 8.27, with a hat-trick (including Darryl Cullinan first ball) against Stellenbosch. His success continued in the premier league where he topped Wits’s averages – 25 wickets at 17.80. Also effective was Paul Botha, who toiled loyally and mightily to finish the season as the leading wicket-taker for Wits in both the premier and Sunday leagues. Unfortunately, the batting flattered only to deceive with Bedfordview exposing Wits’s frailties by dismissing the students for pitiful totals of 43 and 78. In the final analysis, skipper Bruce McBride was the most dependable batsman and his dogged, determined approach resulted in his scoring the most runs in the premier league (557) and topping the averages (37.13).
The 1986/87 season began with an intervarsity night league competition sponsored by Benson and Hedges. The round-robin tournament involved the four northern universities, with matches staged at Wits and RAU. Wits were unbeaten and became the inaugural winners of the Benson and Hedges trophy.
It was an excellent way in which to start a season that concluded with Wits finishing fourth in the premier league but, as in previous years, always being in with a chance for league honours. A sharply divided log saw the top four sides locked together in an enthralling tussle for the premier league trophy, while forty points separated fourth and fifth positions.
Wits players dominated the premier league statistics. Skipper Bruce McBride topped the batting, averaging a highly impressive 112.50 and played with consummate skill at all levels of the game. McBride represented Transvaal early on when regular keeper Ray Jennings was injured, and was chosen for the SAU side for the fourth successive season. His fine innings of 88 against Kim Hughes’s touring Australians served to emphasise the view that he was one of the most outstanding wicketkeeper/batsmen in the country.
Steve Elworthy scored the second-most runs in the premier league, compiling 623. Paul Botha took the most wickets (55) followed by
Bruce McBride was for many years one of South Africa’s leading wicketkeeper/batsmen.
Mike Rindel represented South Africa on tours to New Zealand 1994/95 and England 1998.
the Warwickshire professional Tim Munton (50). Botha also proved to be the most successful allrounder in the premier league, as his bowling achievement was backed up by 449 runs (average 44.90).
Tim Munton bowled with admirable accuracy and persistence. He could be well satisfied with his first season in South Africa, taking his wickets at an inexpensive average of 13.9, with the added accomplishment of clean bowling the ‘maestro’, Graeme Pollock, during the match against Old Edwardians.
After a spell playing for Northern Transvaal, Willie Kirsh made a welcome return to the Wits side. He struggled a while to retrieve his timing in the premier league, but by the end of the season was batting with almost disdainful confidence. His magnificent double century against Randburg enabled Wits to pip Balfour Guild on run average for a semi-final spot in the Benson and Hedges night league.
Rob Sharman, a staff member of the university and leading Johannesburg umpire, took over as chairman of the cricket club at the outset of the
1987/88 season. He found the club in a period of transition. Many of the players of the highly successful team of the previous years had left and the first team was never in contention in any of the leagues. They finished in the middle of the table in the Saturday afternoon limited overs competition, languished at the bottom of the Sunday limited overs league, and ended up fifth out of eight teams in the premier league.
Wits’s tail seemed to grow progressively longer during the season, although there was one notable exception in an extraordinary innings by Neil Rogers in a Saturday afternoon match against Wanderers. With their score at 180-9, Wits needed 37 runs to win in three overs. It seemed a lost cause but, with Rogers the force majeur, the last pair pillaged 39 runs off two overs and four balls to snatch victory.
Despite the modest results, there was great optimism in the club by the end of their league programme. A sound base was gradually established and, with both Sharman and captain Bruce McBride deserving credit for the spirit they engendered, Wits excelled in 1988/89.
Kevin Kerr was a fine off-spin bowler who represented Transvaal and Warwickshire.
Henry Parrymore was the SAU ‘Player of the Tournament’ in 1985/86.
Wits won the first Benson and Hedges northern universities night league (left to right): Paul Hector, Bruce McBride, Chris Lee, Alan Jones, Professor Bruce Murray, Alistair Stewart, Steve Elworthy, Paul Botha, Guy Beresford and John du Plessis
John du Plessis later played for Western Province.
Steve Elworthy played in four Tests for South Africa against England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka between 1998 and 2003.
Wits was well served by future England Test cricketer, Tim Munton.
Cross-Country
Wits did not win intervarsity cross-country again after 1970, but a high standard was maintained and between the 1970s and 1980s, there were good runners selected for Protea teams: Trevor Parry, Les Adler, Derek Liebenberg (who was also chosen for a South African team to compete against Rhodesia at Bulawayo), Sean Nicholl, Greg Beyrooti, Markus Pingpank, Randy Leisegang, Glen Wearne, Victor Radebe, Ian Gentles, and Mark Plaatjes, one of South Africa’s greatest-ever cross-country runners.
Plaatjes won the national cross-country championships at Durban in 1983 in what he claimed as his most satisfying victory: ‘I had never featured before in cross country and it was certainly a weaker aspect of my running so it was great to prove something like this.’ He finished 15 seconds clear of Matthews Temane with Olyn, Seribe and Morake following in that order.
The national champion led Wits’s challenge at the 1984 SAU cross-country championships at Stellenbosch. He won the event in beautiful surroundings and was named Protea captain. It was the first of three successive SAU victories, amidst
numerous other achievements. In 1985, he was unbeaten in the Transvaal cross-country league and earned a second victory in the South African championships. His superiority over a rugged, testing course at East London was effortless and inevitable, and in the end he forged home a clear 24 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
With Plaatjes as their inspiration, Wits was unlucky not to win the SAU competition again. They were forced into second spot three times by very strong Pretoria sides. There was nevertheless success in the league. Against such powerful clubs as Boksburg, Callies and RAU, Wits won the Transvaal inter-club competition in 1981, 1982 and 1985, finishing second twice and third twice.
An important development was the formation of a women’s team. The first side to be fielded –Frances Henderson, Meryl Lavery, Debbie Rhodes and Marlies Laaper – competed in the senior league in 1980. Agnes Berger later became Wits’s best female cross-country runner since Sonja Laxton, winning her Protea colours and finishing sixth in the national championships in 1987.
The Wits cross-country team 1984 (left to right – back row): Athol Murray, Norman Harraway, Glen Wearne, John Kippen and Joanne Howarth (middle row): Carole Lane, Angela Northover, John Howard, Marlies Laaper, Frith van der Merwe and Randy Leisegang (front row): Markus Pingpank, Mark Plaatjes, Mark Mountjoy, Pam Singer and Greg Beyrooti.
a famous member of the club as a recipient of Springbok colours and the 1988 Rapport Tour winner.
Cycling
Several attempts were made to form a cycling club. Martin Turner, a Southern Transvaal representative, worked particularly hard to establish the sport on campus during the 1970s, but the club did not last long. Later, the efforts of Farrel Hellig and Gerry Comninos produced a base sound enough to weather the ever-changing requirements of the student population.
An important acquisition in 1987 was Springbok Gary Beneke who raced as a professional for the TV4-Panasonic team during the season. His 1987 achievements included setting a new South African 10-kilometre record at the Johannesburg Grand Prix, becoming the first Maddison champion and winning eight national ‘classics’.
The establishment of an intervarsity in July 1988 was an important step forward for cycling, with Wits winning the inaugural competition. Stellenbosch hosted the two-day event contested by seven universities. To crown a most successful meeting for the Johannesburg students, Gary Wilson annexed the individual title and Andreas Lombardozzi was third.
Gary Wilson, a biathlon/triathlon Springbok, demonstrated his great potential as a cyclist when he finished as the top amateur in the 1988 Rapport tour. As a result of his fine performance, he was awarded Springbok colours, and was joined in the national side by another Witsie, Andrew McLean.
Mark Plaatjes’ powerful but economical style made him unbeatable over South Africa’s toughest courses.
Gary Beneke,
Fencing
There were three Witsies in the four-member Springbok team that toured Europe in 1977. They were Paula Rothschild and former students Cathy Kay and Mariette van der Ploeg (later Mariette Daubenton).
Paula Rothschild was the South African Schools’ fencing champion in 1973 and 1974 before registering at Wits as a Bachelor of Commerce student and captaining the university team on her SAU debut. She duly won Protea colours for the first time that year and went on to win a bronze medal at the 1977 Maccabi Games. In a highly successful year, Rothschild was awarded Springbok colours and received the Terence Berkow ‘sportswoman of the year’ award.
At the same time, the latter part of the 1970s marked a downward trend in the university’s fencing. Intervarsity fortunes reached an all-time low in 1978 with Wits finishing sixth in both the men’s and women’s events. In such difficult times, the club was still able to point to a particularly outstanding member in Michael Greeff, a medical student. His ability was such that he won the ‘Best Man-at-Arms at the 1975 national championships and made his Springbok debut in 1977.
It would take a few years before fencing again reached the heights of earlier decades. The best intervarsity position achieved by the men in the early 1980s was third, although there were fine individual performances from Roy Wittert, Kevan Jones and Graeme Wald. In 1985, Wittert and Jones were selected for the Springbok team.
Linda van Zyl did much to hold the women’s section together between 1980 and 1982 and was awarded Protea colours. Thereafter, Marguerite Langton (who returned to the university) and Ruth Stenhouse combined their talents to enable Wits to achieve a fine hat-trick of SAU victories between 1983 and 1985. When they left, it was cause for concern but Pam Matthews and Dene van Rensburg continued the good work and made it four in a row in 1986.
Pam Matthews became one of South Africa’s leading fencers. In 1988, she inspired the Wits women to their fifth intervarsity success in six years; finished second to Cathy Kay in the foil at the national championships, and became South Africa’s épée champion when this weapon was introduced for the first time into the women’s section.
Paula Rothschild – Springbok 1977.
Michael Greeff won the national ‘best Man-at Arms’ and represented South Africa in 1977-79.
Roy Wittert above and Kevan Jones below became Springboks in 1985.
Sarah Wynne-Griffith and Marguerite Langton were selected for Transvaal in 1983.
Ruth Stenhouse was prominent in Wits’s success at SAU tournaments.
The 1988 Wits team (left to right – back row): M. Wells, Oscar, S. Kane (manager) and A. Hay (middle row): C. Gendt, G. Jane, C. Whiteford and M. du Plessis (in front): J. Dannheisser, P. Matthews and O. Pacheco.
Graeme Wald
Flying
A flying club originally started under the aegis of the engineering council but, at the suggestion of the SRC, an application was made to the ASC in March 1974. This was accepted subject to a probationary period of one year, and committee members began an intensive investigation into the costs involved in setting up and running an organisation of this nature. Early in 1975, they obtained a grant and loan from the university and secured their own plane – a second-hand Piper Cherokee 140.
Through careful administration, the club overcame the severe restrictions arising from fuel shortages at that time and by August 1974, membership was 52, with 32 actively flying. Rob Hume and Dennis Spence were the prime movers in the early years of the club and before long they were able to advertise ‘regular outings, navigation exercises, fly-aways, as well as participation in an intervarsity fly-away, the State President’s Cup air race and an annual air safety seminar.’
Former student and prominent businessman, Robbie Schwartz
Richard Kaplan, who won the individual title at the 1981 intervarsity, subsequently achieved Springbok colours and turned professional.
presented a floating trophy to the ‘most accomplished WUFC pilot’ judged on performance in club outings. Schwartz began flying competitively in 1971 and the same year finished first in the State President’s air race, an event in which he enjoyed considerable success. Four years later, he won the South African pilots’ championships and was chosen to captain the Springbok flying team in the world precision flying event at Gävle, Sweden. Capable student pilots came to the fore, notably Rob Hulme, Steve Lipa, Dennis Spence, Jimmy Snow, André Kluyts, Derek Lauf and Hans Karlson. But the most outstanding product of the club was Colin Jordaan who became the first member to obtain his Springbok colours. He was chosen to participate in the world flying championships in Austria in August 1977, finishing twentyseventh. With a mere 180 hours flying experience, Jordaan’s effort was especially commendable in that he beat airline and other professional pilots with more than 4 000 flying hours behind them.
Golf
The SAU tournament was moved from July to December in 1974. Wits finished in a disappointing fifth place that year, but enjoyed success again in 1975 at Parkview, Johannesburg. It was not a straightforward victory as Natal had accounted for Wits 6-3 on the opening day. The reigning champions then faltered on the third day when they slipped to a surprise defeat at the hands of Pretoria. This resulted in three teams sharing the record of losing just one encounter, but Wits, with 38 match points, came out on top, shading Pretoria 36½ and Natal 36.
Stellenbosch won at home in 1976 with their Springbok, Peter Todt, taking the individual title. He finished five shots clear of Natal’s Tony Johnstone, who was at that stage a member of Rhodesia’s Eisenhower Trophy team. Wits’s Dennis Sapire finished third.
Stellenbosch retained the Smeath-Thomas trophy in 1977 and then it was Cape Town’s turn in 1978 at Port Elizabeth. Wits finished second to Cape Town in the team event and Dennis Sapire was again third in the individual stroke play, behind O’Brien Barber and Ian Palmer.
A record ten universities took part in the 1979 tournament at the Royal Johannesburg golf course with increased emphasis being placed on team achievement rather than individual prestige. Wits had a great start and won their first seven matches to lead the tournament by two points after three days. But the fourth day proved disastrous and losses to both Stellenbosch and Cape Town ended their hopes of success.
Wits fared poorly in 1980 and, of their nine matches, they lost six and halved one. Their performance was an accurate reflection of the state of the club at that time with membership down to 30, morale low and virtually no social fixtures being arranged during the year.
Happily, a new, enthusiastic 1981 committee immediately set about organising a yearlong, diverse programme of matches. Thanks to its wider exposure, the club grew to 100
members and a powerful side was chosen for that year’s intervarsity. The players travelled to Bloemfontein three days before the tournament to prepare and they subsequently defeated all opposition. A clean sweep of the trophies was achieved because future Springbok Richard Kaplan won the individual stroke play title in style and the honours in the team stroke play duly went to Kaplan, Vernon Collis and David da Silva.
On a cold, windy and wet Royal Durban Club course in 1982, Wits finished third behind Durban and Pretoria. The host team excelled on this occasion to finish unbeaten. Home advantage was often a factor at SAU tournaments and counted again the following year, when the Maties won at Stellenbosch.
A major innovation in 1983 was the staging of the Benson and Hedges R20 000 intervarsity golf tournament. Wits was fortunate to be involved in all three rounds and to crown a great experience, the Johannesburg students won the final stage at Sun City to become the first recipients of the magnificent Benson and Hedges trophy.
Wits and Durban universities met in the final at the picturesque Gary Player Country Club at Sun City. David Martins and Kevin Weber, who were most consistent in the early rounds, paved the way for Wits’s success in the final by winning their foursomes and singles matches. Stanley Brodkin and Rory Poole did likewise and the Witsies were awarded the trophy and cheque at that evening’s function. It was a wonderful occasion but only one further attempt was made to hold the tournament.
In 1984, the SAU competition was moved to July to facilitate the selection of a touring team to the United States. Wits finished a disappointing fifth in the tournament at Pietermaritzburg but it was an occasion to remember for David Martins because he was chosen to captain the SAU side that toured America in January 1985. Playing against strong student opposition, the South
Africans won only one match – against the University of West Texas.
Winning the intervarsity was always high on the priority list of successive golf club committees and in 1988, Wits had the team to succeed. A strong combination included Graeme Skeen (runner-up in the Natal Amateur and selected for the all-Transvaal team); Barry Sundelson (who reached the last eight of the South African Amateur and represented the top provincial side, Southern Transvaal); Steve Amos (a member of the Eastern Transvaal team), and Peter Schlebusch (who was chosen for the previous year’s SAU team).
Pressure was inevitably placed upon the side who were firm favourites to win at Cape Town’s King David Country Club. A 72-hole stroke play competition gave the team the opportunity to acclimatise and they were firing on all cylinders by the time the match play competition started.
Wits (Barry Sundelson, Graeme Skeen, Steve Amos, Peter Schlebusch, Paul Moss, Mike Lansdown and Wayne Domnick) duly emerged undefeated and took home the Smeath-Thomas trophy for the first time since 1981. Barry Sundelson and Graeme Skeen were named in the SAU team.
Gymnastics
During the mid-seventies, there was a revival in gymnastics at Wits. The leading light was Jeffery Ginsberg, who chaired the club and also captained the team that finished second at the 1974 intervarsity at Stellenbosch. He attained a first place on the rings at that meeting and was also selected to represent Southern Transvaal at the Springbok trials.
Martin Cowper arrived at Wits as a fine prospect. In 1973, he was the South African high schools’ overall champion and the following year finished fourth at the South African open championships. He earned his Springbok colours against the United States in 1974 but injury then kept him out of gymnastics for several months. He returned to the South African team in 1975 to compete against West Germany.
When Wits hosted the 1975 intervarsity, Cowper finished second in the individual placings. Thanks to excellent support from Raymond Kelly, the Wits men were runners-up and the team third overall.
Full blues were awarded to Jeff Ginsberg in 1974; Martin Cowper and Raymond Kelly in 1975; Steven Lapinsky in 1976 and Morris Levine in 1978. Lapinsky had represented South Africa in 1974 before taking a year’s break from gymnastics. On registering at Wits, he returned to the fold and did well enough at the Springbok trials in 1976 to be chosen for the national tour to the Far East. Levine was an experienced Springbok who had also benefited from a stint at university in America.
A boost for women’s gymnastics was the arrival of Avril Kamp in 1978. She had represented South Africa on seven occasions including tours to Europe and Taiwan. Further honours came when she won the 1978 intervarsity first grade competition; achieved first place in the Charlie ‘super-sportswoman of the year’ contest, and was named Wits’s Sportswoman of the Year. Sports officer Reg Hawkins did much to build the university’s gymnastics after 1982. The club had all but folded, but he determinedly set
The Wits team with the Benson and Hedges trophy that they won at Sun City in 1983 (left to right): J. Forster, T. Davidson (both representing the sponsors), G. Aldridge (club chairman), J. Scully, D. Martins, N. Wright, K. Weber, S. Brodkin, R. Poole and J. Martins (manager).
Wits University golfers who played at an interprovincial level during the 1988 season were Steve Amos (left), Barry Sundelson (centre) and Graeme Skeen (right).
Martin Cowper won Springbok colours in 1974 and 1977 before taking over the coaching of the national squad.
about resuscitating interest and Wits entered a full contingent at the SAU tournament at Bloemfontein in 1983. They surprised themselves and shocked the other universities by sharing first place overall with Stellenbosch. The most heartening aspect of the venture was the depth of talent displayed, with Steven and Richard Flaks, Andrew Blackmore, Darren Traub, Jackie and Caroline Wortley, Kim Tosefsky and Sophia de Fay gaining first or second places in at least one routine within their respective grades. The intervarsity win was largely instrumental in the gymnastics club being selected as the university’s Club of the Year in 1983.
The gymnasts continued to feature prominently in the SAU competitions at Cape Town (1984) and Pretoria (1985), but their greatest achievement was reserved for the 1986 event at the Old Mutual Sports Hall. Wits ended Stellenbosch’s run of four successive wins
in convincing fashion. The final points table recorded: Wits 512, Stellenbosch 333, Pretoria 299, Free State 283, Cape Town 216, Natal 109, RAU 95, Potchefstroom 41, Rhodes 6.
In achieving their success, Wits produced several high-calibre gymnasts. The first, Steven Flaks, was a former South African high schools’ champion, coached by Martin Cowper. He won his Springbok colours during his first year at Wits when he was selected to compete in the Sanlam Cup against teams from the United States, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Israel. He was re-awarded national colours on several occasions and toured overseas with the South African team in 1985. The same year, he won the men’s advanced section at the SAU tournament.
Another Springbok gymnast to represent Wits was Gavin Karg, who succeeded Flaks as the ‘best male gymnast’ at the SAU competition. The national high schools champion in 1982, he made his international debut against a touring American team during the 1986 South African Games. He was then re-awarded Springbok colours later in the year when he competed in the South African Cup.
Karg’s 1987 New Year’s resolution was to win the national title. His entire training programme was geared towards attaining the goal and, against determined competition from the previous year’s champion Morné Odendaal and fellow Springbok Moray Smit, his consistency over two rounds proved decisive.
The Marais bothers – François and Eben –also represented Wits. They were chosen for Tests during 1988, culminating in the Opel SA Cup International series. Both became double Springboks, having already earned their colours in tumbling.
Several other students became prominent gymnasts at provincial and national level. They included David Black, who was rated in the top ten in the country; Gary Morgan-Smith, who was selected as reserve for the Springbok side; and Heidi Bremner, who was ranked number four on profile in South Africa and gained second place in the 1988 SAU competition.
Morris Levine represented Springbok sides in 1972, 1973, 1976 and 1977.
Wits women who gained places at the 1985 national senior gymnastics competition were (left to right): Lisa Gray, Kerry Randall, Helen Sibbald, Jacqui Cann, Pam Bull, Caroline Wortley and Liz Stenhouse.
Steven Flaks in action during a gymnastics display by Wits before a crowd of 30 000 at the Orlando Stadium, Soweto, in 1983.
Gavin Karg won the South African title in 1987, having made his Springbok debut the previous year.
François Marais in action during the Opel SA Cup International series in 1988.
Men’s Hockey
For Wits, the 1974 season was one of individual success. Past and present Witsies excelled in South African hockey’s ‘finest hour’ during the Eight Nations tournament at the Wanderers but with demands on their players greater than ever before, Wits slipped to seventh position in the ten-team premier league. The students lost 8 and drew 3 of their 18 matches and to add to their woes, a depleted side experienced a dismal intervarsity.
At the Eight Nations tournament, the teams were divided into two sections. South Africa began by beating Austria 4-0 and Switzerland 3-0. In the latter game, Graham Knight celebrated his international debut by scoring a goal in the 90th second and, together with the other new Springbok Noel Day, was outstanding amongst the forwards. The Olympic champions West Germany won the section decider 3-2, a match in which goals were scored by Steve Jaspan who capitalised on a fine cross from Alistair Forbes, and Noel Day who burst through to score on time.
Rhodesia were beaten 1-0 in the semi-final and the Springboks faced West Germany in the final on 14 July. Neither side was able to break the stalemate and it went to penalty flicks. The South Africans kept their heads and edged ahead 3-2 to win the coveted gold medal. Alistair Forbes, Mike Madsen and Steve Jaspan were the players responsible for scoring the matchwinning penalty flicks.
At the end of the 1974 season, Steve Jaspan –twice Wits University’s Sportsman of the Year – decided to move to another club in order to make way for a younger player. Noel Day took over as captain of the first team in 1975 and in this capacity he also acted as team coach. Under his tutelage the side was moulded into a most efficient unit and for two years Wits captured many honours. Leading largely by example, Day placed great emphasis on teamwork and fitness.
Aaron Sher, Mike Betts, vice-captain Martin Trope and Day formed the backbone, with leading Dutch junior players Pim and Hans Kodde proving welcome additions. The side enjoyed their underdog label and surprised their opponents in both the indoor and outdoor leagues.
Outdoors, they caused a major shock in midseason by winning the Heidelberg pool tournament. This meant they became the target for every challenger. No game reflected their character better than the league clash against Wanderers. Down 2-0, they fought back doggedly, with Dave Cutler pulling off great saves in goal. They drew even when Mark Thompson scored with an acutely angled shot and Aaron Sher added another from a short corner. Noel Day then flicked the ball into the goal from a melee to snatch victory.
Wits went on to win the Southern Transvaal premier league. A 1-0 victory over lowly City Deep sealed the title for the students but it was a tense encounter as the vanquished fought gallantly under former Wits player, Roger
Bickford. For the winners, Mike Campbell capitalised on a defensive error to score with a well-judged shot.
As provincial champions, Wits went through to the Heidelberg ‘champion of champions’ tournament. They did well to reach the last stage of the country’s most prestigious club tournament. A strenuous morning match in which Wits defeated Tech (Natal) 2-1 left the students a little drained and they lost the final 3-1. Their opponents, Fish Hoek, were awarded three short corners and Peter Denne scored three times.
After a season that exceeded all expectations, Wits set about consolidating their position as Transvaal’s premier side in 1976. They proved their superiority in the indoor league and entered their outdoor programme in a confident frame of mind. However, Old Edwardians halted their progress in the newly named Sportsman Lager pool tournament, scoring the deciding goal in the third period of extra time after the scores had been level at full time.
Wits came back strongly to retain their premier league title, but it was a desperately close affair. They could thank Balfour Park for defeating the previously unbeaten Old Edwardians in the penultimate match of the season. It meant that Wits had the same number of points as their rivals but boasted a better goal average (32-5 compared to 28-5). All eyes were therefore on the final game of the season against Old Edwardians. Because of their superior goal average, a draw was all Wits needed. That they were able to succeed was largely due to the efforts of their captain Noel Day. The Star commented: ‘When Old Eds were pushing for victory in the dying minutes, it was Day popping up to save any situation in this tight goalless game that decided the championship.’
Wits ended their premier league programme unbeaten, winning 11 and drawing five of their 16 matches. Their reward was a second crack at the ‘champion of champions’ title.
A good start was made when Wits struck five goals against Cambridge (Border) in their quarter-final. Day led the rampage, hammering in the opening two goals; Aaron Sher, Roy Agar and Rob Lister scored the others. The semi-final against Durban Collegians provided a far tougher assignment, but John Dickinson saved the day for the students, scoring an extra time goal that secured a place in the final for the second year.
The Witsies were all over Western Province in the first half of the final, but schoolboy goalkeeper Duncan Darlington and stalwart Brian Hoy each played a blinder for the Cape side and kept the students at bay. Western Province made a greater impression after the interval and when the match went into extra time they scored first. Wits fought back and Day came desperately close to equalising, but Darlington stood his ground. Despite missing out on the national title for the second time, for Wits the 1976 season was possibly the greatest ever. The university finished top of five leagues – premier, reserve B, 2A, 2B
Graham Knight represented Springbok teams between 1974 and 1978.
Noel Day represented South Africa in 34 internationals and inspired the Witsies to two successive appearances in the finals of the South African club championships.
and 5D – and also won the SAU tournament. Six players were chosen for the Protea team to tour Europe – Noel Day (as captain), Pim and Hans Kodde, Craig Macnab, Mike Campbell and Roy Agar.
It was to be a long time before Wits won the Southern Transvaal premier league again. A high standard was nevertheless maintained, particularly in the indoor game. The university also continued to provide quality players to Southern Transvaal teams.
At the 1977 intervarsity, Wits ended clear winners of their section but drew 1-1 with Natal in the final. The outcome of the stalemate was that Natal won on goal average, but Wits was compensated by having six players chosen for the Protea team. The largest contingent from any university included the captain Aaron Sher, Pim and Hans Kodde, Barry Light, Roy Agar and John Dickinson.
A big incentive for the Wits players in 1977 was a four-week tour to Europe during the December vacation. The trip was arranged as a result of an invitation to participate – along with European club champions – in the Three Kings Tournament in Spain. An exciting itinerary was drawn up in which Wits played indoor hockey in Germany and field hockey in Holland, England and Spain. At the Three Kings Tournament at Barcelona, they met a side selected from the Spanish national squad and did well to hold the strong combination to a 3-2 victory margin. A Wits Student report stated:
The conditions in which we played were completely foreign to us – playing on a very heavy, wet field with a cork-type ball in Holland, while in Spain we sometimes played on gravel. We were fortunate to play on astroturf in Utrecht, Holland, against a club side from Bitthaven with whom we drew 0-0. We also played in Rotterdam on a field that is 12 metres below sea level, beating an invitation side 4-0.
One of South Africa’s finest hockey players –Mandy Yachad – joined the club in 1979, and against Krugersdorp scored the university’s opening goal of that year’s field hockey programme. He never looked back and in the course of the season was chosen for the SAU team, Southern Transvaal, South Africa under 21 (as captain 1980–81) and, at 18 years 8 months, became one of the youngest players to represent South Africa, when he came on as a substitute in an international against Rhodesia.
Wits finished joint first in the SAU tournament in 1980 and won it outright at Grahamstown in 1982. The latter intervarsity saw the Witsies win all six of their matches, score twenty goals and concede a mere three. They also contributed five players (Mandy Yachad as captain, Gary Bolel, Niell Boustred, Gavin Griessel and Rob Rindel) to the SAU A side.
For the next four years, Wits did not look like winning the intervarsity – seventh in 1983, fifth in 1984, third in 1985 and fifth again in 1986. The tournament at Cape Town in 1986 was easily the most disappointing because the Witsies, captained by Springbok Charlie Pereira, were expected to challenge strongly for top spot. Wet, overcast conditions and the inability to convert short corners into goals cost them dearly.
In contrast, there was little reason to believe that Wits could win in 1987 at Potchefstroom, especially when Pereira, the side’s star player, was suddenly enticed away by Old Johannians. Mark Marinus, who was chosen for the SAU side for the fourth successive year, took over the captaincy of a young squad that demonstrated a determined will to win from the outset. Their efforts exceeded all expectations although they stumbled on the last day, losing to Stellenbosch, and had to share first place with Cape Town.
Inexperience more than anything else prevented Wits from winning the Southern Transvaal premier league during the eighties. At different stages in some seasons, they headed the log table but lacked the consistency to go the whole way. Their best performance was second place in the 1985 competition when the side included three Springboks, Mandy Yachad, Charlie Pereira and Noel Day who returned for a two-year period.
Apart from Yachad and Pereira, many other students played representative hockey. Mark Jeffery was selected for South Africa B in 1988 and the following were chosen for South Africa at under-21 level: Roy Agar, Vincent Parrott, Rob Rindel, Gavin Griessel, Marshall Platt, Richard Rushton, Gary Bolel, Mark Marinus, Mark Jeffery and Adrian Levine.
A period of indoor success
Wits reaped more than their fair share of success in the indoor game. They won the Southern Transvaal league three times, the South African ‘champion of champions’ tournament twice and the inaugural intervarsity held in 1988.
In 1978, Wits made the final of the Southern Transvaal indoor league against the star-studded Old Edwardians team. It proved a thrilling match
Springbok star Mandy Yachad is pursued by Jeppe’s Albert Garcia while teammates Mark Marinus and Brian Gouldie look on.
Mark Marinus was a steadying influence through the 1980s.
between two fierce rivals and Wits Student recalled that the university were 3-1 down at half time before fighting back superbly with four goals. The action continued:
Old Eds equalled at 5-5 with only seconds left and extra time began. Wits went ahead 6-5 only for Old Eds to draw even again. During the final four minutes, Wits piled on the pressure and two more goals clinched this exciting final at 8-6. Ali Clarke brought off many good saves in the box and the goal-scorers were Gus Dickinson two, Craig Macnab two, Pim Kodde, Owen Meredith, Tim Middleton and Dave Hyman.
Old Parktonians – with former Wits players Graham Knight, Noel Day and Aaron Sher –brought a new element of skill and slickness to the indoor game in 1979. They did not drop a single point in winning the league and then the national competition. But Wits came back to defeat them in the 1980 league, only to go down to Old Johannians 6-4.
In 1981, Wits had a fine team on paper. Mandy Yachad, Pete Ellis, Barry Light and coach Glyn Evans had recently returned from the Proteas’ overseas tour, where they had learnt much about the indoor game, while goalkeeper Alan Cowley (later to represent South Africa in the outdoor game), Scotch Taylor, Gus Dickinson, Dave Hyman, Dave Marquard and Rob Rindel were all good players. Unfortunately, they experienced a disappointing league campaign during which they lost against Jeppe 3-2 and Wanderers 9-5. However, the competition’s knockout stage gave Wits the chance to qualify for the national
tournament and they seized the opportunity by defeating Old Johannians and then Jeppe twice. Wits excelled as Southern Transvaal’s representatives at the ‘champion of champions’ tournament at the Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg. They came through the first day unbeaten, but experienced a tough encounter against the University of Port Elizabeth with whom they drew 5-5. The sides would meet again in the final. According to the Rand Daily Mail: ‘The Witsies showed more initiative, more flair and were quicker to gain control from any loose situation, which pleased the hearts of the 2 000 spectators.’
Yet it was not one-way traffic against a side containing the likes of Russell Fensham and Mark Bilson, and Port Elizabeth went into a 2-1 lead midway through the first half. It was in the periods either side of the interval that Wits took control. Mandy Yachad and Dave Marquard scored hat-tricks while Gus Dickinson accounted for the other two goals in the 8-6 win.
Although Wits did not qualify for the national tournament during the next three years, they finished second to Old Johannians in both Southern Transvaal competitions in 1982. The knockout final was a thriller with Mandy Yachad (5) and Barry Light (2) scoring the goals that enabled the university to hold the league champions at 7-7 with four minutes left to play. In a pulsating finish, Old Johannians grabbed two goals against one by Rob Rindel to secure victory.
After time away from the club, Mandy Yachad returned in 1985 as player/coach, and formed a highly effective partnership with Charlie Pereira.
Mandy Yachad inspired Wits in their success at the South African Champion of Champions indoor hockey tournament in 1981, and then repeated the achievement in 1986.
The Wits hockey side that shared first place in the 1987 SAU tournament (left to right – back row): A. Heynike, B. Bernstein, R. Milella, A. Levine, C. Lee and H. Voogt (middle row): M. Jeffery, G. Marinus, R. Voogt, J. Daniel and J. Fox (front row): A. Marinus, R. Collins (coach), M. Marinus (captain), A. le Roux (manager) and A. Rushton.
Mark Jeffery was selected for South Africa B in 1988.
Springbok indoor hockey player, Charlie Pereira, rounds the defence during the national ‘champion of champions’ indoor final between Wits University and Durban Technikon in 1985. Wits were runners-up that year, but in 1986 Pereira displayed the trophy.
Wits won all nine of their Southern Transvaal indoor league matches, scoring 67 goals with only 18 against. Yachad with 19 goals headed the individual tally, followed by Mark Marinus (11), Noel Day (10), Charlie Pereira (9), Neil Cumming (9) and Marshall Platt (8).
Having won the provincial league, Wits participated in the national ‘champion of champions’ tournament held at their West Campus stadium. Wits won all three of their matches on the Saturday. They beat Benoni Northerns 8-1, Windhoek Ramblers 20-3 and Pretoria Defence 9-5. Then, after a tense firsthalf struggle for mastery in the Sunday final, Wits ultimately cracked and lost to a polished Durban Technikon team 5-2.
Statistically, the 1986 indoor hockey season was probably the best ever. Wits won all nine of their matches in the Southern Transvaal league, scoring 87 goals and conceding just 19. Mandy Yachad scored 41 goals with Charlie Pereira
Women’s Hockey
Between 1974 and 1976, Wits fared modestly in the Southern Transvaal league, finishing each season in the lower half of the log. In 1976, a pool system was introduced but its unpredictable nature did not meet with the approval of many of the clubs. By ending up in the middle of their section, Wits had no bearing on the final outcome nor did they have any fear of relegation.
After seven years in the first league, the Witsies experienced a disastrous season in 1977 and were relegated. Woefully out of their depth and unable to win a match all season, the students’ confidence was shattered by their ordeal and it was to take several years before they won back their place in the first league.
When Wanderers I regained the first league title in 1977, The Star reported that their success was ‘a triumph for the tactical knowledge of Eda Cohen’. Several years later, the university persuaded Cohen to coach their side and the
next best on 19. They were followed by Mark Marinus (10), Gary Gimpel (7), Marshall Platt (5), Jonathan Fox (3) and Tony Rushton (2).
For the South African ‘champion of champions’ tournament, Wits found themselves drawn in Pool B along with Pretoria High School Old Boys, Brebnarians from the Free State and Eastern Province representatives, Pirates. Yachad had cricket commitments for most of the Saturday but his team managed to defeat Brebnarians 4-2 and Pretoria 6-3 without him. The team’s ace striker arrived that night to assist the students to a 6-3 win over Pirates and a place in the final against Durban University on the Sunday.
The final was desperately close. For the first seven minutes, the two sides were evenly balanced but then Durban slammed in three goals in as many minutes. Wits, shaken by the sudden flood of goals, looked to the experienced Yachad for inspiration and he was equal to the occasion. He helped himself to a first-half hat-trick, although the Witsies were behind 5-3 at the interval.
By retaining possession and playing controlled hockey, Wits took a vice-like grip on the game in the second half. They evened matters 5-5, and then with thirty seconds remaining Yachad scored his fifth goal to snatch a wonderful victory for his elated side.
Wits’s only defeat in the course of an exceptional season was a surprising 6-5 loss in the final of the Southern Transvaal knockout tournament at the hands of Old Edwardians. Earlier, Wits had accounted for Wanderers 9-4 and Old Johannians 6-4, with Yachad’s five goals in this competition giving him a grand total of 54 for the season.
In 1988, Wits won the inaugural indoor hockey intervarsity that was held at Bloemfontein. Seven universities participated in the tournament, which saw Wits unbeaten. Mark Marinus, who scored 15 of his side’s 22 goals, was the outstanding player on view and the key figure his team’s attacking style of play.
desired results followed. Under her expert tutelage, the students responded enthusiastically and, superbly led by their Southern Transvaal player, Joanne Adair, they won promotion at the end of the 1981 season.
Back in the premier league, Wits held their own in 1982 to finish eighth. The services of Liz Chase were secured and the university’s hockey section benefited enormously. A former Springbok vice-captain and the recipient of a Moscow Olympics gold medal – she was a key member of Zimbabwe’s history-making 1980 side – Liz became the backbone of the Wits team. She provided the necessary experience, the stability and the continuity, in addition to her vast skills as a player. She nursed her young teammates into the uncompromising world of premier league hockey and they were better exponents of the game as a result of playing alongside her.
Joanne Adair, who led Wits back to the Southern Transvaal premier league in 1981, was chosen for Springbok sides as Joanne Morley-Jepson.
Liz’s first year as coach saw the team improve by one position to seventh, and thereafter it was fifth for four (1984–87) consecutive seasons. This was Wits’s most consistent performance for many years and it was obvious that they had found a formula that worked.
The arrival of South African Schools’ star Frances Jones in 1983 was a timely boost for the side. An opportunist and a prolific goalscorer, she injected tremendous thrust into the forward line. Chosen for the Springbok trials squad in her first year, she played regularly for the South African under-21 side, Southern Transvaal and the Proteas. Some of her best performances were reserved for the 1983 interprovincial tournament, when she scored the goals that enabled Witwatersrand to defeat both their senior side Southern Transvaal and Natal.
With the team doing well in the premier league,
it followed that a number of its other members would gain provincial recognition. Liz Francis was chosen for Southern Transvaal and Melita Thurling, Jocelyn Smith, Monique Beattie and Tracey Stafford played for the Witwatersrand side at different times. The university was also well represented in junior provincial teams, emphasising their role as an important nursery.
At the end of 1987, Liz Chase left the club. To many it spelt disaster, particularly as her departure could not have come at a more crucial time. With the influx of exciting new talent, including two South African Schools’ players, Samantha Fee and Ingrid Krafft, Wits needed her guiding influence.
The result was a last place in the 1988 league but, fortunately, Wits was not demoted. ‘Lady Luck’ smiled upon them in that the reserve league winners were not prepared for promotion.
Preparing for the 1987 season (left to right): Gina Capitani, Colleen Bray, Tracey Stafford, Liz Chase (player/ coach), Melita Thurling, Jocelyn Smith, Bronwyn Seeger and Tracey Wilson.
The Wits women’s hockey section was strengthened by three outstanding players. Frances Jones (far left), Samantha Fee (left) and Ingrid Krafft (above) had all represented South African Schools prior to arriving at the university.
Liz Francis represented Southern Transvaal.
The 1986 Wits judo team (left to right – back row): J. Botha, M. Hankey and E. Overbeek (middle row): J. Hamilton, B. Aguire, L. Ritchie, T. Brenzel, B. Jacobs and M. Stevens (front row): N. Meisler, V. Ballhausen, D. Bruwer (coach), S. Buckton and G. Mackie. Four members of the team – Natascha Meisler, Tina Brenzel, Lydia Ritchie and Sally Buckton – represented South Africa at different stages during the 1980s. A fifth Witsie, Katja Walter, was the national champion for her division in 1988 prior to selection for South Africa the following year.
Judo
Flippie van der Merwe, a member of the Wits side in 1974, went on to represent South Africa, but it was Alfred Stevenson who followed Jan Croeser as Wits’s leading exponent of ‘the gentle way’. In 1975, Stevenson won the SAU ‘most scientific judoka’ award and was the only competitor from eight universities to remain unbeaten in the team event. Greater deeds followed in that he was national senior champion on five occasions in the under 63-kilogram division and became a regular member of the Springbok side.
The Stevenson family built a most impressive record in that three brothers represented South Africa and two became double Springboks. Alfie also achieved his Springbok colours in Swiss wrestling, competing in four Tests in Switzerland in 1983. Unlike judo, Swiss wrestling has no weight divisions and the lightly built Stevenson was at an immediate disadvantage against huge Swiss farmers. He could not afford to grapple with his opponents at close quarters but an agility developed through judo enabled him to take on bigger and more experienced wrestlers.
In the latter part of the seventies, judo experienced a downward slide at Wits although an incomplete team of three – Alfie Stevenson, Jan Croeser and Grant Fisher – finished second at the 1976 intervarsity at RAU. With the club barely existing and suffering through poor administration, no colour awards were presented for the next six years.
A revival took place during the eighties, with much of the credit being attributed to the efforts of Dave Forsyth who was chairman during 1982/83. A solid base was established and Wits competed regularly at the annual intervarsity. The men finished fourth in 1981 and 1988, fifth in 1986, sixth in 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1987, and seventh in 1985. They produced some able participants in Martin van Heerden, Leonard Benjamin, Allan Gait-Smith, Greg Trussler, Graham Doke, David Kimmelman and Yendor Felgate.
The arrival of Natascha Meisler in 1983 sparked off a tremendous upsurge in the fortunes of the women’s section. Between 1983 and 1986, the Wits women won the SAU tournament
three times and on the other occasion were most unlucky to be beaten into second place.
For four years, Natascha Meisler was the driving force behind the club as both chairman and star competitor. South African champion for five years, Springbok captain, unbeaten in ten Tests against touring teams from Italy and England, and Wits ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 1985 and 1986, were but some of her outstanding achievements.
Nothing quite matched Meisler’s incredible entry into the 1985 United States open judo championships. She had little idea of what to expect when she flew out of Jan Smuts Airport other than that she was determined to participate in her first overseas competition. Arriving at Colorado Springs, she spent two days pleading with the West German manager to allow her to compete in their colours. When he eventually relented because of her German background, she responded magnificently by defeating the New Zealand champion in her first fight. She then annihilated the United States champion and quickly accounted for the powerfully built Cuban representative. To the delight of the West German camp, their two girls were left to contest the championship. In the final analysis, they were probably a little relieved that their official under 48-kilogram entry, Birgit Friedrich, won the fight but it was only after a terrific battle. There were other very capable competitors amongst the Wits’ women. The long-serving Lydia Ritchie, who won SAU colours for the first time in 1981, was chosen to compete for the Springbok team against the touring English team in 1986.
Jan Croeser – judo Springbok and a full blue (cum laude) in 1974.
Alfie Stevenson was a double Springbok in judo and Swiss wrestling.
Tina Brenzel throws fellow Springbok Dagmar Ficinus.
Natascha Meisler was runner-up to Birgit Friedrich in the United States open judo championships in 1985, but had the satisfaction of defeating her rival in West Germany several years later. After leaving South Africa for Europe in the late 1980s, Natascha continued to compete and coach at the highest level.
Tina Brenzel was also awarded Springbok colours in 1986. She had arrived at Wits the previous year as captain of the Junior Springbok team and went on to represent the university at three SAU tournaments, winning her Protea colours in 1985.
Medical student Sally Buckton was awarded her Springbok colours in April 1989. She had won one junior and three South African senior
championships, and performed outstandingly well during the 1986 to 1988 intervarsities. She won five SAU titles in three tournaments and received the ‘best judoka’ award in 1987.
Wits graduate Katja Walter was also included in the 1989 Springbok side. She had previously won SAU colours in 1985 and 1987 and was the South African under 66-kilogram champion in 1988.
Lydia Ritchie
Katja Walter.
Karate
Keith Geyer, a prominent member of Wits’s 1973 karate team, became a brilliant exponent of the art and captained the Springbok team with distinction. He made his debut for South Africa in 1975 at the world championships at Long Beach, became the South African Grand Champion in 1977 and won the national all-styles kumite title on six occasions. He also became the coach of Wits’s highly successful club during the 1980s.
The club had experienced a comparatively quiet period until the arrival of Ivan Levinrad in 1979. The South African Japan Karate Association (JKA) individual kata champion on three occasions, he earned Springbok colours when he represented the national side against West Germany in 1982. He was followed into the Wits club by an impressive number of top competitors at national level, notably Allan Goldman, Byron Kalliatakis, Duncan Krause, Lutie van den Berg, Ilan Lager, Paul Hirner, Colin Smith, Harry Chweidan, Mark Silberman, Russel Koton and the Protopapa brothers.
Karate at Wits was flourishing. Through improved administration – and in this regard Gavin Munro was conspicuous – the club’s membership increased dramatically from 29 in 1980 to 160 in 1983.
Harry Chweidan, an unassuming dental student, was 17 years old when he was thrust into the international arena as a member of the three-man unison kata team that represented South Africa in two Test triumphs over West Germany in 1982. In the next five years, he reigned supreme in the individual kata event at the national championships. He was an automatic choice for the Springbok team during this period and twice defeated Domingo Llanos, a world championship silver medallist in 1986.
The Wits team at the 1983 intervarsity (Harry Chweidan, Colin Smith and Paul Hirner) became the Springbok kata team against touring Americans and Australians in 1985.
The following year, the karate club –under their industrious chairman Mike Hesse – won the Emily Smidman Club of the Year award. Team members included South Africa’s individual men’s (Harry Chweidan) and women’s (Angela Toulouras) JKA kata champions.
In the South African all-styles kata championships at Johannesburg, Wits’s Harry Chweidan, Pavlo Protopapa, Russel Koton and Panico
Protopapa took four out of the first five places; the odd man out was former Witsie, third-placed Colin Smith. At Durban in the JKA competition, Wits did even better and made a clean sweep of the first four individual placings.
The Wits men continued to dominate the annual intervarsity. From 1983 they were unchallenged in both the individual and team kata competitions, while also winning the kumite trophy for four successive years (1985–88). Pavlo Protopapa succeeded Harry Chweidan as the leading exponent of the art at Wits and in South Africa. During 1988, he demonstrated his tremendous all-round skills by being chosen for both the Springbok kata and kumite teams against Italy. Then, while staying with his family in Cyprus during a university vacation, he and his brother Panico were chosen to represent that country at the European championships. Pavlo finished third in the kumite event against Europe’s best.
Russel Koton and Honorato De Mendonça joined Pavlo and Panico Protopapa in providing Wits with yet another powerful team. During 1988, Koton represented South Africa at home and De Mendonça was selected with the Protopapa brothers for a tour to Italy.
The Wits women’s section also enjoyed success. When Malcolm Dorfman opened his new dojo in 1973, the then nine-year-old Melanie Dembo was waiting on his doorstep. A decade later, she would team up with Angela Toulouras – who trained under Sensei Schmidt – to ensure women’s karate made a tremendous impact at Wits.
As second dans, both Dembo and Toulouras represented South Africa against West Germany in 1982. They became regular members of the Springbok side in the ensuing years with Dembo achieving a creditable seventh place at the All Japan championships in 1983. She was the only westerner to qualify for the final.
The outstanding women’s duo enabled Wits to dominate the SAU tournament between 1982 and 1984, taking the top two positions in the individual kata on each occasion. But it was at national level that they demonstrated their class and for the same three years, Dembo and Toulouras were respectively first and second in the South African National Amateur Karate Association (all styles) karate championships.
While the university excelled competitively in the 1980s, the karate club also offered an invaluable service to interested students. There was a challenge in learning a unique skill that teaches body awareness, develops fitness and alertness and creates self-confidence. It was possible during one’s academic career at Wits to progress from a complete novice to a more than competent black belt.
to
Panico Protopapa, Harry Chweidan and Pavlo Protopapa during the kata sequence that won them the national title.
Keith Geyer was Springbok captain and national all-styles kumite champion.
Ivan Levinrad was South Africa’s JKA champion on three occasions.
Harry Chweidan aims an eye-level kick at fellow Springbok and Wits student, Paul Hirner.
(Left
right):
A group of Wits University
In
karate Springboks (right): Angela Toulouras (below left): Paul Hirner (below right): Pavlo Protopapa (bottom left): Russel Koton and (bottom right): Colin Smith.
1988, Honorato De Mendonça became the thirteenth Witsie to receive Springbok colours for karate.
Melanie Dembo, twice Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’, represented South Africa on a number of occasions during 1982-88.
Mike Hesse collected the 1986 Club of the Year award from Bob de la Motte.
Tony Dearling with the Natal University Athletics Club Shield awarded to the best university team at the Comrades Marathon. Wits dominated the competition, winning nine times in 15 years.
Marathon
Wits regained their Comrades intervarsity title in 1977. It was Bruce Fordyce’s first Comrades Marathon and his 43rd position counted behind Hamish Gilfillan (18th) and Graeme Lindenberg (19th). With Fordyce subsequently leading the way in grand style, it was almost inevitable that Wits should dominate the competition over the next few years. They also challenged strongly in the national competition – for the Gunga Din trophy – and in 1979, Fordyce (3rd) and Tony Dearling (20th) were the key figures in helping Wits to third place out of 135 participating clubs. Fordyce’s second place in 1980 was followed in 1981 with the first of four Comrades’ victories in the blue and gold of Wits. Top 20 positions were achieved by two other Wits students – Graeme Lindenberg (13th in 1980) and Gavin Howard (17th in 1983).
In the meantime, another Witsie excelled in the standard marathon. Mark Plaatjes won the Golden Reef race in 1980 and became the first junior to break the 2:20 barrier when he came ninth in the national championships at Cape Town. In 1981, he won the Stellenbosch Game marathon in 2:12:06 and then triumphed in the South African marathon at Potchefstroom. His progress was astonishing: barely two years after being encouraged to enter a 3 000 metres race at C.J. Botha High School, Bosmont, he was national champion in a major race.
Bruce Fordyce’s first Comrades Marathon victory was also notable for his black armband, worn in protest against the race’s inclusion in the Republic Day festival celebrations.
Fordyce would go on to win the Comrades Marathon an incredible nine times.
Plaatjes achieved further success in 1981 by winning the SAU marathon hosted by RAU. Running smoothly and easily, he clocked 2:19:02 to establish a new SAU record and beat the previous year’s winner and recordholder Bruce Fordyce into second place. It was clear to everyone that Wits had two runners of exceptional ability – a third, Frith van der Merwe, emerged later.
Fordyce’s 1981 victory in the Comrades Marathon was achieved with some sections of the crowd hostile towards him because he wore a black armband in protest against the race’s inclusion in the Republic Day festival celebrations. But, with ten kilometres to go, he recalls that everyone was on his side: ‘That a tired runner was trying to break the up-record and that he needed some support seemed to be uppermost in most people’s minds’. He cut more than eight minutes off Piet Vorster’s up-record with a finishing time of 5:37:28.
The down-run in 1982 saw a tremendous tussle develop between Fordyce and four-time winner Alan Robb. There was a furious battle near Botha’s Hill before Fordyce’s superior speed enabled him to pull away from Robb. In contrast, the 1983 race was physically his ‘easiest Comrades ever’ and his time of 5:30:12 was a new up-record. Tim Noakes wrote in the South African Runner:
The overwhelming and lasting impression was not Bruce’s victory, nor that he won by fifteen minutes, nor even that he bettered his old record by seven minutes. His running was such that it forced those of us who had trundled and stumbled in his wake to
wonder whether this vision could possibly be true.
The downhill race was run and won again in 1984 with Fordyce equalling the record of four successive Comrades wins established by the legendary Arthur Newton from 1922 to 1925. His time of 5:27:18 set a new down-run record in a memorable race. Bob de la Motte, an exWitsie, had held the lead until eight kilometres from the end, and it required exceptional timing on Fordyce’s part to secure victory.
Although he ran a selected number of races as part of his training for the Comrades, Fordyce would run one other major overseas competition later in the year. His achievements included three successive victories in the prestigious 87 kilometre London to Brighton race. His first win in Britain’s premier ultra-marathon came in 1981 when he beat a 200-strong international field, all of whom had to qualify for the event. He won again in 1982, recording the biggest winning margin in the history of the race – just under 24 minutes – amidst cloudbursts, near gale-force winds and heavy traffic.
The hat-trick of London to Brighton victories was achieved in 1983 when he finished 11 minutes ahead of second-placed Graeme Fraser and convincingly beat Don Ritchie, holder of seven long-distance world records. In the process, he set a new world-record time of 4:50:21 for the 50 miles.
Breaking new ground in 1984, Fordyce entered the United States 50 mile championship. Running along the shores of Lake Michigan, he beat a 350-strong field to win in 4:50:40, the fastest time ever run in the United States over the distance. He won by a clear 26 minutes in an uncomfortable 95 per cent humidity ‘It was a flat course so I took off from the gun. I was running with the pack for the first eight kilometres, but after that I went into the lead, and had to run virtually on my own.’
Mark Plaatjes returned to South Africa after a couple of years in America and promptly won the Johannesburg Nashua marathon. He enrolled at Wits again in 1984 and enjoyed two outstanding years. The one disappointment was flying to the United States for the Boston Marathon only to be ruled ineligible because of the international sporting boycott of South Africa. Plaatjes responded by making it known before the South African marathon at Port Elizabeth that he was going to prove a point. Running with a Springbok emblazoned across his vest, he broke the South African record in a time of 2:8:58 –seven minutes faster than the winning time in the race that he had been banned from entering. His time was the fastest ever run on the African continent and the thirteenth fastest in history.
He also won the Johannesburg Nashua marathon for the third year in a row. In his second victory in 1984, he had finished three minutes ahead of the field in 2:14:45, a time that equalled Bernard Rose’s world altitude record. The 1985 race was closer as he was chased home by Zithulele Sinque, and could only break away in the last 200 metres.
Fordyce switched allegiance to the Rand Athletic Club in 1985 and over the next five years increased his Comrades victories to nine in ten races. In 1988, Wits supporters were delighted when two former students – Bruce Fordyce and Frith van der Merwe – won their respective Comrades events in record time. The latter had received a full blue in 1985 and commented: ‘Wits provided a good base and got me hooked – I enjoyed running so much whilst I was there that I couldn’t stop.’
Wits’s coach, Tony Frost, used to tell her that she would ‘beat Sonja Laxton one day’. He gave her confidence, while Laraine Lane – who took over from him – continued to provide support: ‘Nothing was too much for Laraine and she spent endless hours looking after her athletes’.
Frith’s ‘hero’ at the time, Bruce Fordyce, braved the Arctic chill in 1987 to win the 84 kilometre Midnight Sun Marathon of Hope on Baffin Island in Canada, in a new record time of 6:33. Then, in 1989, he won the inaugural Standard Bank 100 kilometre ultramarathon at Stellenbosch. He finished six minutes ahead of a field that included the world’s best long-distance runners to establish a South African record –6:25:07 – that stood for 27 years.
Frith van der Merwe in the meantime made remarkable progress. ‘Much of my time in the Wits club had been spent doing speed training and this proved invaluable when I began concentrating on the longer distances.’ She finished sixth at Comrades in 1987 when she ‘walked up most of Polly Shorts’ but a year later surged to victory in a new a record time of 6:32:56. Success followed in the 1988 South African marathon and the Two Oceans ultramarathon, both in record time.
Her 1989 achievements were astonishing. She won the Two Oceans in 3:30:36, smashing the course record on a day when more than 2 000 runners failed to complete the race because of extreme heat. ‘I ran up Constantia feeling great. I got to the 50 kilometre mark in world record
time!’ A couple of weeks later, she set a new record for the Comrades down run of 5:54:43. Her time shattered the previous best by an incredible 51 minutes and 52 seconds. Even more amazing, she finished fifteenth overall among the thousands of men.
Michelle Pieters of Modern Athlete was surprised by the champion’s preparations:
‘The night before Comrades 1989 I did everything nutritionists will tell you not to do! I had four glasses of wine and two toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches. I slept like a log!’ The next morning Frith grabbed three chocolate bars and chugged down a cup of coffee before making her way to the start.
In 1990, Frith’s South African marathon record was lowered to 2:27.36. She then won Comrades for a third time in 1991 but injuries were hindering her and she was unable to reach the heights of 1989. She did manage to compete overseas, winning the Tiberius Marathon in Israel and finishing third in the Paris Marathon. She also competed in the 1993 World Marathon Champs in Stuttgart, Germany, where she was fifth in a time of 2:32.
The Stuttgart marathon that year belonged to Mark Plaatjes. He had sought political asylum in the United States in 1988, and three years later won the Los Angeles Marathon in 2:10:29. Then, after finishing sixth in the Boston Marathon in 1993, he qualified for the United States team to compete in the world championships. At Stuttgart, Plaatjes overtook Namibia’s Luketz Swartbooi three minutes before reaching the finish line to become world champion. Photographs circulated around the world showing him with his arms outstretched, the first American runner to win the world championship.
‘It was a feeling I can’t describe,’ said Plaatjes. ‘I felt like I had legitimised myself as a runner. Very few people in life get a shot at their dream. I got a shot. I did it.’
Frith van der Merwe, one of the world’s best ultramarathon runners who set long-standing records in the Comrades and Two Oceans marathons.
Bruce Fordyce also won the London to Brighton race three times, setting a world record for 50 miles in the process.
Mark Plaatjes, one of South Africa’s greatest-ever marathon runners, who became world champion at Stuttgart in 1993.
Mountaineering
The number of climbs of the calibre of Boggle increased rapidly as equipment became more reliable and easier to place. Both Doppler Effect (Mike Fagan, John Brown, Alan Lambert and Tim O’Connor, 1980) and Simian Street (first free ascent by Kevin Smith, 1982) are climbs where many falls led to the eventual ascent, but Charles ‘Snort’ Edelstein’s desperate Dogstyle (H1, 1983) was in a completely different league. Sparse vegetation and consequently long falls (up to ten metres) made ascents rare. But climbers continued to have the drive and ability to stick their necks out as club members did in earlier years. Edelstein’s Genesis (1983) was the first H1 climb to be opened in the Transvaal.
Between 1978 and 1980, climbers such as Kevin and Andrew Smith, Edelstein and Brown made ascents of the serious Cape routes such as Roulette, Touch and Go, Apollo and Renaissance. Kevin Smith, Edelstein and Dave Cheesemond opened King Kong (G3), considered to be one of the top country routes. Apollo (G2) was a test piece for the Wits mountaineering club for some years. Its impressive situation and good rock made it another top country route. Most members who tried it fell off at one place or another until the Mallory brothers, George and Stephen, did the first on-site, totally free (that is, no mechanical aid used) ascent in January 1983. International expeditions were completed by some of the more fortunate Wits climbers. Over the years, Mount Kenya was climbed by Tom Kerrich, Paul Fatti, Nicky Mundy, Bert Robertson and Fiona Richardson. Kevin Smith took part in a South African expedition that climbed Mount McKinley in North America, but extremely bad weather put paid to any chance of success. At the end of 1980, International Peak and Argentinian Peak in the South American Andes were climbed by Edelstein and Seebreghts. They also managed the first South African ascent of Cerro Tronador, the tallest mountain in the Andean Lake District.
Mike Brunke and Richard Norman experienced snow and ice-climbing when they visited Canada at the end of 1982. Together with Dave Cheesemond, they attempted a first ascent of the 3 000-foot Andromeda Strain on Mount Andromeda but they were repelled by extremely bad weather and suffered a particularly hazardous descent. During June and July of 1984, several of the older members congregated in Yosemite Valley, California. These included Kevin and Michele Smith, Edelstein, Fatti and Paul Schlotfeldt. Amongst many other achievements, Smith and Edelstein did the 1 800-foot Half Dome (in one day) and the famous Separate Reality Kevin and Michele Smith also climbed El Capitan via the Nose Route, a venture that took five days to complete.
Overland journeys included Mount Mlange in Malawi, a favourite hiking area of the club in earlier years, and the Gross Spitzkoppe in South West Africa. During July 1983, 24 members travelled to the Spitzkoppe, which resulted in one of the most successful visits to the region in terms of new routes and technically difficult ascents. Eighteen members climbed the 2 500foot peak via the Normal Route (F1). The hardest route on the mountain – the 1 200-foot South West Face – was done by George Mallory, Edelstein and Brown. The route, which originally took five days to open, was completed by the trio in one day after fixing ropes over the first 250 feet the previous day. Edelstein and Mallory also opened an even harder route, called Royal Flush (G2M1) on the same face. It took them one and a half days to complete, and required no aid or bolt placements, a remarkable achievement on the granite mountain. Stephen Mallory, Kruger and Bakker did the third ascent of the West Face Route, which was first ascended 23 years earlier. On the day of departure from the area, Stephen Mallory and Oliver Brunke managed the first ascent of the Sugarloaf peak.
Stephen Mallory on Touch and Go, Table Mountain.
Mike Brunke on Apex in the Magaliesberg.
Kevin Smith upside down on Separate Reality, Yosemite Valley, United States.
In the Drakensberg, all the main peaks were climbed by Witsies and many ‘epics’ experienced. George Mallory took part in the first ascent of the North Face of the Column The route, opened over two days, was a very serious undertaking because of the dubious nature of the rock, typical of the Drakensberg basalt. Devil’s Tooth, probably due to its aesthetic appeal, received the most attention of the peaks. By April 1984, of the 53 parties that had reached the summit, 28 Wits members were among them. These included Fiona Richardson and Jane McMurtry. By far the most experienced female climber the club had seen was Michele Smith (nee Mears). Together with husband Kevin, she had climbs of the calibre of Big Corner, Armageddon, Renaissance, North by North West and Apollo to her credit.
While the accomplishments of the mountain club often went unnoticed on campus, largely because activities took place in far-flung outposts of South Africa, certain events did not go short of publicity. The club featured prominently in the media through unusual activities. Cleaning certain new glass buildings in Johannesburg attracted television coverage. Rag stunts drew front-page colour photographs in the national press, and thousands of excited spectators watched madcap antics of club members at soccer cup finals. Club chairman Ian Buchel responded to an interviewer’s question in 1986: ‘Oh yes, do we climb? Very much so. The rockclimbing nucleus of the mountain club has gone from strength to strength.’
Memorable climbs continued and outstanding
individuals emerged. Hans Peter Bakker was selected for an international mountaineering team (led by Dr Paul Fatti) that tackled the south ridge of San Lorenzo on the ArgentinianChilean border early in 1986. At the same time, Roger Nattrass astounded fellow climbers by his incredible progress. He joined the club on a beginners’ meet in 1986 and soon developed to the stage where he was recognised as being one of the top four or five climbers in the country. A mountain club article in Wits Sport 1988, commented:
With a proper training programme and the right motivation (and a lot of natural talent), he showed us that as a beginner one can build oneself into a hard rock climber in one’s first year of climbing instead of the traditional three-to-five-year slog. That was the start of the ‘Nattrass Phenomenon’. Roger trained his body into a sleek muscular machine with not an ounce of wasted flesh and his mind is now one which keeps ticking under even the most severe climbing conditions. In the last year he has climbed more significant rock in this country than any other climber has ever done in previous years.
The article concluded that ‘the fruits of his efforts are clearly visible in the sprouting of many new hard routes and the number of motivated young Wits climbers following his example.’ In 1987, the emphasis was very much on setting high standards. The ‘grades-push’ as chairman Bart Labuschagne put it, resulted in some excellent performances, but beginners were being left behind. He called for a compromise in future years and 1988 chairman Peter Lazarus adopted this policy, stressing: ‘The club needs to widen its basis of support, so as to reach not only fanatical rock climbers but also people who like being outdoors, be it to climb or simply hike about.’
Peter Lazarus (who was chairman of the mountain club) and Gavin Hood (who took the photograph) were employed to clean the glass front of the upper pyramid of the AngloAmerican building in Sauer Street.
Hans-Peter Bakker surveying his troops during a mountain club display in 1985.
A 1986 rag stunt saw members of the Wits mountain club abseil down a central Johannesburg building. Those involved were (left to right): Liz Curry-Hyde, Nikki Bremner, Ian Buchel and ‘Spiderman’ Mike Cartwright.
Michele Smith negotiating the Nose Route –Yosemite, United States.
The Wits netball team 1986 (left to right – back row): Leigh Botha, Thandi Thomo, Nadia Manachy, Karen Steenkamp, Maura Whyte and Natalie Hendricks (front row): Gillian Law, Anna Putero, Jean Nicholson, Nelly Manachy and Jeanine Bergesen.
Netball
Netball was for a long time one of the lesserknown sports clubs on campus. A rare article that appeared in Wits Student during the midseventies served to deter rather than attract new members to join the club. It recorded a 10-3 thrashing that the women had received at the hands of ‘Men’s Res’ and referred to the vanquished resorting to ‘biting and scratching’
Rowing
The Wits crew that toured Europe in 1975 (left to right – back row): W. Dreyer, R. King, G. Rabe, I. Woods and D. van Rensburg (seated): M. Lankers, A. McLaren, L. Dann (captain), D. Read (coach) and G. Prestedge (in front): D. Rink.
In 1975, a Wits University crew was assembled to pit their strength against overseas competitors. Six months of physical training, mental discipline and rowing skill prior to the tour saw the Wits eight win the South African championship in a new record time of 6 minutes 19.8 seconds for the 2 000 metres.
A ten-man squad under coach Derrick Read was selected to row in five regattas – four in England and one in Lucerne, Switzerland. They were Denis Rink, Matt Lankers, Lothar Dann (captain), Ian Woods, Dave van Rensburg,
in order to keep the score down.
The sport was played on and off over the years but was placed on a more permanent basis under chairperson Bev Maserow in April 1976, when courts were laid out on the grassed area north of the swimming pool. A couple of years later, facilities were established at the tennis courts and later in the indoor hockey hall.
The club unfortunately made little impact at SAU level and almost traditionally filled last place. One of the better performances was finishing ninth out of ten teams in 1982, having lost three games by a single point. Due to diminishing interest in the sport, Wits did not attend the intervarsity in 1983/84 but chairperson Robyn Angel and her committee built up sufficient support to resume playing in 1985.
There were few stars over the years, although Anthea Russell attained provincial colours in 1983. The club was not unduly concerned by its lack of success in terms of intervarsity and provincial honours. Its aim was to create enjoyment in playing netball and its excellent spirit even in defeat reflected the players’ unbounded enthusiasm for the game.
Gordon Prestedge, Wig Dreyer, Graham Rabe, Alastair McLaren and Rory King.
In the Marlow regatta, Wits lost their first heat of the Elite B eights but in the Senior A eights they beat Eton Excelsior rowing club before losing to St Paul’s School Concorde. Similar fortune followed in the Ladies’ Challenge Plate at Henley, a race open to all educational institutions and one that attracts worldwide entries. The Wits crew beat Trinity Boat Club (Cambridge) by half a length but were then beaten by the American MIT team. A trip followed to the International Regatta at Rotsee, Lucerne, where Wits finished fifth in the Senior A race but recorded the good time of 6 minutes 11 seconds over 2 000 metres.
Paul Cavalieri, who won the Silver Sculls trophy at the Buffalo Regatta for three years (1976, 1977 and 1978), travelled to Italy to participate in the Italian national regatta held at Monate, Lake Maggiore. He represented Canottieri Roma and finished third, thereafter being selected to take part in an international regatta at Caslano, Switzerland, as number two in the Italian national team. Further honours came his way on his return to South Africa.
In 1978, a Trident squad toured Britain and were awarded Springbok colours on their return. Under the management of Terry Munton, they comprised the Wits coxless four, Matt Lankers, Dave van Rensburg, Bernard Haak and John Myburgh, together with the two rivals in single sculls, Colin Graham (Victoria Lake) and Paul Cavalieri (Wits).
The Wits coxless four had been unbeaten during their domestic season and won the coxed and coxless four titles at the South African
championships. At Henley, they did well to beat the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, Poplar, Blackwall and District Rowing Club and the University of London on their way to reaching the final, where they were beaten by the eventual winners Molesey.
Cavalieri was involved in a mix-up in the Buffalo regatta in 1979 and was succeeded as champion by another Witsie, Dale Howes. Later that season, Howes won the ‘A’ Single Sculls title at the South African championships.
Wits secured a hat-trick of victories in the Buffalo Grand Challenge between 1978 and 1980. Their win in 1978 – the first since 1963 – was achieved by Matt Lankers, Dave van Rensburg, Bernard Haak and John Myburgh. In the ensuing years, Ivan Pentz, Paul Cavalieri and John Stark came into the team, with Myburgh earning the distinction of participating in all three triumphs.
The club’s depth at that time was such that they also produced the winning eight at the South African championships in 1979 and 1980. As just reward for their efforts in the latter year, they travelled overseas again, making a highly successful five-week tour of Britain. Competing for the most part as Trident representatives, the full squad of ten rowers received Springbok colours on their return. It was a well-deserved honour for a crew that Greg Gearing, the president of the South African Amateur Rowing Union, described as being ‘the finest ever to represent South Africa’.
The touring party consisted of Russell Bruton (stroke), John Stark, John Myburgh, Ivan Pentz, Dave van Rensburg, Andrew Pike, Rodney Tritton, Kevin Jacobs, Stuart Cutler (coxswain) and Dale Howes (spareman/sculler). It was coached by Peter Jones and managed by Guy Muller. They competed in the Marlow, Henley Royal, Bedford and Bedford Sprint regattas and the British national championships. As they had won every race in which they had rowed during the previous South African season – a feat no other club had achieved before – their performances in international competition were keenly anticipated.
Wits entered the Ladies’ Challenge Plate at Henley and began their campaign well by beating the Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nerus crew from Holland. On the second day they accounted for the Imperial College, London, by two and a half lengths and then competed in the quarter-finals. There, the unseeded Wits eight caused the first major upset when they beat the seeded and highly fancied Canadian crew, Ridley College, by a third of a length. Another dramatic win against the seeded Harvard University team by half a length in the semi-finals saw Wits take their place in the final. Unfortunately, the South Africans were downed by the reigning champions, Yale University, but they had done well. They were also accorded the distinction of being the best dressed at Henley out of a total of 298 crews.
Wits went on to compete in the 117th annual Bedford Regatta, where victories were achieved in the elite eight, coxed four and sculls (Dale
Howes) events. The high-riding tourists then won the Bedford Sprint Regatta with the eights setting a new course record over 600 metres. As a climax to the tour, Wits entered the British national rowing championships in Thames Rowing Club colours. Again the Witsies won through to the final and on this occasion took the bronze medal behind the University of London
Wilfred Marsh was closely associated with the Wits University Boat Club for more than fifty years
Dale Howes, winner of the Buffalo Regatta Silver Sculls.
The Wits boat club 1978 (left to right – back row): S. Cutler, S. Pagani, J. Close, I. Pentz, D. van Rensburg, L. Dann and M. Lankers (middle row): D. Howes, G. Moodie, B. Fennel, C. Straker, N. Meyer, J. Stark, A. Fourie, T. Burgess and M. Last (seated): K. Jacobs, P. Cavalieri, G. Muller, P. Legg, J. Myburgh and B. Haak.
The outstanding Wits crew of 1980 (left to right): Kevin Jacobs, Rod Tritton, Andy Pike, Dave van Rensburg, Ivan Pentz, John Myburgh, John Stark, Russell Bruton and Stuart Cutler. The entire crew, as well as the manager and coach, were awarded Springbok colours on their return from an overseas tour that year.
(gold) and Britain’s national junior rowing squad (silver). The Wits crew covered the 2 000-metre course in 5 minutes 58.9 seconds, some twenty seconds faster than the South African record and six seconds behind the leaders.
The 1980 rowing season also witnessed the establishment of the South African equivalent of the Oxford-Cambridge boat race. The inaugural contest was fought out between the eights of Wits and Cape Town on the Vaal River over the traditional distance of 6.8 kilometres. Finance Week sponsored an event that created considerable interest as neither crew had ever rowed competitively over a distance that long. Both universities prepared thoroughly for what was expected to become a glamour occasion on the rowing calendar.
A lightning start gave the Ikeys an early lead but in the final analysis they were no match for the fit and determined Witsies. Superbly stroked by Russell Bruton, the Johannesburg students crossed the finishing line some seven lengths in front and were duly awarded the Finance Week silver trophy as well as an historic rudder presented by the Cambridge University Engineers Association.
The race was a huge success, attracting considerable media coverage, including a television documentary programme. It was not surprising, therefore, that five universities participated in 1982.
In 1981, Wits club members were involved in an unfortunate motor accident that involved six students being injured and irreparable damage to the team’s boats. It was a great setback to the progress made but the club took a positive stance and decided to embark on a two-year plan in order to return the club to the position of being a major rowing power in South Africa.
The next tour – in 1983 – was the climax of an
intensive and ambitious campaign. The preceding 1982/83 season proved most successful and out of 11 races, ten were won convincingly, with victory in the national championships the cherry on top. Six members of the Wits squad were awarded their Trident colours but decided to forsake selection for South Africa in favour of representing their university.
With only three days to spare, the target sum of R42 000 was reached. First stop was Kassel in West Germany where the tourists had to fall in line with German regatta rules that forbid women to cox men’s crews, so Judy Heine was temporarily forced to step down. However, prior arrangements were made for a replacement, enabling Wits to beat their opponents Aushaffenberg in two races.
The team then travelled north where they acquitted themselves well in the Hamburger Regatta before travelling to England. Competing again at Henley, they achieved good early wins against Thames Tradesmen’s lightweights in the first round and the Star Club in the second, before they were knocked out in the quarterfinal, a mere half a length behind the Molesey boat club.
During the next few years, a number of Witsies were given the opportunity to travel overseas with Trident crews. They included David Brittain, Robin McCall, Stephen Leigh, Andrew Lonmon-Davis, Craig Levieux, Nick Thomas, Craig Fussell, Ian Burman, Andy Pike and Erich Mauff. Life for a South African touring team overseas, even when attempting to travel incognito, was of course fraught with problems. The rowers were hounded out of a few regattas and entered others in adopted colours in order to prevent pre-race tension. The tours nevertheless proved invaluable in keeping abreast with overseas developments.
BELOW: The European tour 1983 (left
Judy Heine (cox), David Brittain, Craig Fussell, Craig Levieux, Robin McCall, Matthew Ash, Mark Fussell, Stephen Leigh and Nick Thomas.
Stuart Cutler
Judy Heine
to right):
Wits University beats Thames Tradesmen Rowing Club at Henley in 1983.
The period 1986 to 1988 will be remembered in the annals of the university’s boat club as producing some special achievements. A major accomplishment at national level was the hattrick of wins in the Buffalo Grand Challenge. Robin McCall, Craig Fussell, Stephen Leigh, Erich Mauff, Andy Pike, David Brittain, Ian Burman and Paul Brink were the contributors, with McCall emulating John Myburgh’s effort between 1978 and 1980 by participating in all three victories.
The club also produced the winning eight at three successive South African championships. The last two, in particular, were achieved in the wake of fierce competition from the Cape Town students. And, after winning the South African title seven times in ten years, the Wits eight delighted their supporters in April 1988 by recording the fastest time ever in the country over 2 000 metres – 5 minutes 47.8 seconds. Set at the Roodeplaat Dam near Pretoria, it was a world-class performance. The record-breaking crew were Robert Hamer, John Fotheringham, Craig Fussell, Andy Pike, Erich Mauff, Paul Brink, Robin McCall, Justin Moyes and cox, Andrew Lonmon-Davis.
The era was one of Wits’s finest and their achievements numerous. Success in the annual intervarsity became 36 victories since 1934; the next best was Cape Town with seven wins, followed by Rhodes 4, Natal Pietermaritzburg 3 and Natal University College 2. There were also efforts to promote women’s rowing, a decision that would greatly strengthen the club and prepare it for future developments in the sport.
The highlight for the women’s team was a memorable victory in the first intervarsity Boat Race. The Isis Blade, part of an Oxford oar obtained from that university’s boat club, was awarded to the winning women’s crew. It was decorated with the crests of Oxford University and the combined South African universities. The blade was presented to the winning Wits University women’s crew in 1988 by Martin Kennard, stroke and crew member of the Oxford crew from 1966 to 1968.
The club acknowledged there was more to the rowing community than winning races and setting records. Its traditions were founded as
much upon fellowship off the river as on the rowing itself. The students were committed to putting something back into the sport by organising the Veterans Regatta each year. The event served as a mark of appreciation for the contribution made by older members of the club. The first regatta was organised in 1976 with a floating trophy designed by Matt Lankers being introduced for the club attaining the highest number of points.
The 1986 Buffalo Grand Challenge Cup winners (left to right): Craig Fussell, Stephen Leigh, Robin McCall and David Brittain.
The 1988 crew with the magnificent Buffalo Grand Challenge Cup (left to right): Robin McCall, Craig Fussell, Paul Brink and Erich Mauff.
The highly successful Wits women’s 1988 crew (left to right): Tracy Mann, Jill Harrison, Bronwyn Wilkinson, Nikki Zylstra, Donne Ness, Lesley Carstens, Trezanne Hultzer, Lorna Fulford and Darlene Dingwall.
The eights crew which recorded the fastest time ever in South Africa over 2000 metres (left to right): John Fotheringham, Craig Fussell, Paul Brink, Andrew Lonmon-Davis, Robin McCall, Justin Moyes, Erich Mauff, Robert Hamer, Andy Pike and Paul Jackson (coach).
The Wits First XV 1976 (left to right – back row): D. Schoombie, J. Campbell, K. Hume, L. Isaacs, D. Owen, R. Schoeman and C. Leach (middle row): J. Vorster, J. Caine, P. Quarmby, F. Manley, A. Scholtz, E. Horak and R. Hammond (front row): P. Waterson, R. Meyer, M. Macfarlane, R. Menter (chairman), D. Bell, B. Grace and D. Smollan (coach) (absent): D. Nel (captain).
Rugby
When the 1973 season ended with the club struggling to field a second team, there was a question mark as to Wits’s future in the senior section of the Pirates Grand Challenge. Fortunately, such fears proved unfounded when all four open teams enjoyed a relatively successful season in 1974, with the fourth side winning their league and going on to take the cup. Wits was statistically the third most powerful club in terms of overall depth behind Diggers and Germiston Simmer, achieving 57 wins and 2 draws in their 90 matches.
The prime reason behind the improvement was the number of former Wits players involved in coaching. In the open section Alan Miller, Dave Gray and Duncan Bell formed an experienced and enthusiastic panel, while Mike Rudolph, Ken Resnick and the only ‘outsider’, Tom Edmund, looked after the under 20s.
The first team were lying second at the halfway stage of the league. Most of their victories were hard-fought affairs: Rand Leases 7-3, Vereeniging 24-23, Iscor 16-14, Germiston Simmer 28-22 and Alberton 19-13. After the July vacation the performances were, in comparison, below par and the side managed only one win and a draw.
The overall results of the open section in 1975 followed a similar pattern to those of the previous year. The club was again third strongest, winning 47 and drawing three of their 86 matches, with the fourth team retaining top spot in their league.
The first team dropped from sixth to seventh position, but for the first time in several years held their own after the July vacation. Coach Doug Smollan and captain Deon Nel were key figures in maintaining a competitive approach. Chairman Robbie Menter had famously lamented Wits’s defeat against Iscor in the last match of 1973, and it seemed that history would repeat itself two years later. He described the last play with Wits a couple of points behind:
All seemed lost. Yet some of our players had other ideas. From the kick-off by fly-half Mike
Macfarlane, the ball went in the direction of the Iscor corner flag, on the opposite side of the field to where the Iscor forwards were standing. Leftwing Chris Leach sprinted down the touch line and flicked the ball inside to Deon Nel who crashed over for an unforgettable try. The spectators went absolutely wild and the players trooped off the field looking like they had just won a Test match.
Wits again displayed admirable resilience during the 1976 season. It was a tough, often trying campaign with the Police and Vereeniging matches producing unpleasant incidents. One of the matches against Police was abandoned a few minutes early as a wild punch-up developed amidst the referee losing control of the game.
On the bright side, a memorable 33-20 victory was achieved over Diggers. Ray Schoeman, who had a great season, showed tremendous acceleration to score two tries and record a personal tally of 25 points. Try as they might, Diggers were unable to pierce the rock-like Wits defence with centres Bobby Grace and Tony Vidergauz conspicuous.
A match that created much interest on campus was that against the visiting American Eagles. A large crowd turned out to watch the tourists, curious to find out whether they played what Wits Student termed as ‘dazzling, unorthodox rugby with many exciting plays developed from their “gridiron” backgrounds.’ Ironically, it was the students who were guilty of playing over-elaborate rugby that prevented them from winning by a margin greater than 17-10.
After several years spent battling determinedly against mounting odds, Wits experienced a disastrous season in 1977. They ended up playing a promotion-relegation match against the fast-rising Rand Afrikaans University and were beaten 29-15. Demotion should have followed but through a stroke of good fortune, the league was restructured. The Pirates Grand Challenge was dropped for the first time in more than thirty years.
Wits’s rugby administration reacted quickly. On hearing that the former All Black loose forward Alan Sutherland intended moving to Johannesburg, the club obtained his services. It was a good move because Wits finished third behind Germiston Simmer and Goudstad in what was effectively a regional competition. Whatever the opposition, Wits thrived on playing winning rugby again and scored some fine victories, none more decisive than their 62-6 thrashing of a hapless Wanderers team.
When the Transvaal RFU decided to abolish the regional league and to substitute it with a ‘super league’ in 1979, it increased interest as the game was back on a strength versus strength basis. Wits’s well-deserved inclusion in this new league also provided a more accurate test of Sutherland’s influence.
Enjoying their best season for almost a decade, Wits finished third in the league and achieved a notable double over Diggers (18-16 and 7-4). Wits’s achievements were highly commendable.
Deon Nel
Robbie Menter, a fine player and forthright chairman.
Alan Sutherland, assisted by Paul Bayvel, who made a welcome return to his alma mater, gave Wits some breathing space – time in which they were expected to start raising funds for a bursary scheme and attract good rugby-playing students to the university.
Apart from their success in the league, intervarsity victories were achieved over Cape Town and Natal, while matches against Potchefstroom (22-25) and RAU (22-26) could have been won.
The 1980 season featured a restructured super league system with the top eight teams (Diggers, Alberton, Wits, RAU, Germiston-Simmer, Police, Roodepoort and Iscor) being divided into two sections of four sides each. In pure statistics, it was recorded that Wits finished third in section ‘A’ and third out of eight sides in the provincial league. They recorded some notable victories – including Diggers again – but a major blot on their record was a 59-10 thrashing at the hands of RAU.
The difficult times that lay ahead for Wits were not always apparent until the disastrous result against RAU. Injuries, transfers and retirements were eroding the club’s ranks and there were no ready reserves. At the end of the 1981 season, Wits suffered the humiliation of demotion to the lower ranks of Transvaal rugby. The club’s vicechairman at the time, Jomo King, succinctly summed up a dismal record: ‘At the end of the season we had a club that could not field two open sides and a first fifteen that had won only one league match and that by a disputed try!’
Rugby Revival
The club’s problems would take several years to rectify. Robbie Menter had called upon the university to assist the rugby club in the midseventies and Alan Sutherland had submitted a report to that effect a few years later. Their views were echoed by many others. Difficulties surrounded finance, coaching, administration and the establishment of a viable bursary fund in order to attract players of quality to the university.
When the new chairman, Jomo King, and his committee took over Wits rugby in 1982, they set for themselves the task of restoring the respect and esteem in which the club was held in its heyday. The prime aim was to return to the newly named Trek League (formerly the Pirates Grand Challenge) but this was no easy task as they would be severely tested in the second-tier President’s League.
Wits’s overall results in the 1982 open section were relatively disappointing, although the chairman pointed out that they hid some encouraging features. Wits was one of only three clubs to fulfil every scheduled league fixture; there were 78 players who turned out regularly for the club and 22 on a part-time basis; and Wits lost to the league winners Jeppe Old Boys by margins as narrow as 17-15 and 13-10.
Some important groundwork had been covered and Wits certainly made some headway in the recovery process. But the actual revival period only really took off when Jomo King unleashed his trump card for the 1983 season – the new coach Zed Tomes. A former SAU representative
who had played for both Eastern and Western Province, he was described by The Star as ‘the most enterprising coach in the province’.
The Wits First XV lost only one match in the course of their 1983 league programme. They won 13 and drew two matches, but the season ended in controversy. Wits’s main rivals for President’s League honours, Roodepoort, were handed two ‘gift’ points by Boksburg, despite the fact that the latter won their so-called ‘friendly’. The final outcome of the league suddenly depended on a personal ruling from the Transvaal RFU president, Jannie le Roux, who ruled in favour of Roodepoort.
Wits’s successes during the 1983 season were the result of team efforts and relatively few individual honours came the way of the players. Norman Bayvel, following in the footsteps of his illustrious brothers, was selected for Transvaal, and Ian Hume gained belated selection for the Transvaal Rooibokke in their last match of the season. A powerfully built flank, Hume had an uncanny knack for scoring tries and crossed for 16 during the season.
There were other important factors contributing to the upsurge in Wits’s rugby fortunes. The Transvaal forward Shane Carty joined the club as First XV captain and was an influential figure in a club where confidence filtered through the ranks. The Fourth XV – Wits Old Boys – won their league with 15 wins out of 16 matches. The Third XV finished second with 13 wins and a draw, and Terry Gillham’s Second XV topped their division, also recording 13 wins and a draw. The following year, Gillham would coach his side to a straight 14 victories out of 14. The 1984 season was one of the most dramatic in the history of the Transvaal RFU and resulted in the abrupt termination of Jannie le Roux’s reign as president. In a season of unrest, most of the union’s decisions appeared to be shrouded in controversy, but Wits supporters were delighted that their rugby team should reach the final of the President’s League in its new format. They not only thrashed Randburg 30-13 to win the competition, but also proved themselves the best all-round club in the league. The Second XV and under-20A were unbeaten; the Third XV finished
Wits outplayed Randburg 30-13 in the 1984 President’s League final. Their supporters reacted by producing a memorable scoreboard headline
All Black loose forward Alan Sutherland took on the role of player/coach at Wits.
Jomo King, chairman of the rugby club 1982–87.
‘Carrots’.
top, and the Fourth XV, after a surprisingly bad start, ended up third.
The President’s League final was undoubtedly the highlight of the season, with the students’ win featuring ferocious tackling by both the backline and loose forwards. Number 8, Kenny Smit was prominent throughout, while glorious tries were scored by Freddie Botha, Johnny Glajchen and Grant Sutherland – Sutherland adding four penalties and three conversions for good measure.
One vital clash remained – a promotionrelegation encounter with Diggers. Victory for the students appeared to be a foregone conclusion, not least because they had defeated Diggers 50-15 in a friendly earlier in the season. But when things seem to be all in its favour, a rugby team is often vulnerable. It was the scene of Wits’s most lacklustre performance in three seasons and Diggers, leading from start to finish, ended 16-7 winners.
With the Transvaal RFU rejecting suggestions of a 16-team Trek League in 1985, Wits resigned themselves to another season of President’s League rugby. They did well to emerge at the top of the league with Randburg after two full rounds. As in the previous year, the outcome of the league was decided by a knockout competition between the top four teams. Wits turned in a most disappointing performance at Ellis Park and crumbled 11-7 to an inspired Pirates side.
All was not lost, however, as the Transvaal RFU had already decided to introduce a new system for 1986 whereby President’s league teams would be given the opportunity to display their talents in the senior division. There was no doubt that they had caught up with the Trek League, with Wits having recorded wins over Diggers, Germiston-Simmer and Randfontein in ‘compulsory’ friendlies.
The university had some talented individuals. Their player of the year, Harry Roberts, had at one stage been a press favourite for a place in the Springbok side, only for the All Black tour of 1985 to be cancelled. Norman Bayvel had another fine season, winning provincial selection again, and Bakkies Lourens, Ian Hume and Ashley Shafto turned out for the Rooibokke.
In 1986, the Northern Transvaal prop forward Piet Kruger registered as a student at the university. He enjoyed a productive year, representing South Africa against the New Zealand Cavaliers and, for once, Wits boasted the finest front row in the province. Hooker Harry Roberts was chosen for Transvaal, with the up-and-coming Paul Mosenthal selected for the Rooibokke and Northern Universities.
Wits finished ninth on the log, even though their greatest loss in any particular match was by a margin of six points. Defeating the reigning Transvaal champions Roodepoort 9-7 was the outstanding feature of the season. The front row of Kruger, Roberts and Mosenthal did much to inspire the ultimate triumph, winning no fewer than eight tight heads. There were unforgettable moments, notably the charging runs of a rampant Roberts; the thrilling counter-attacks of the
enterprising Mark Julyan; the steadiness of Greg Anderson at the base of the scrum; and the match-winning drop goal that Stompie Shields calmly steered home late in the second half.
Towards the end of 1986, Zed Tomes was transferred to Durban, and Vic Booyens took over as senior coach. His only season – 1987 – was one of modest attainment. Wits came desperately close to defeating Stellenbosch University at Coetzenberg early on in the season while their league record was bolstered in the last two matches by a 58-19 win over Kempton Park and a well-deserved 30-25 victory against RAU, the previous year’s champion club. Wits finished ninth out of 17 teams in the Wedge Steel Pirates Grand Challenge, winning seven of their 16 matches.
There were several changes in the hierarchy of Wits University rugby prior to the 1988 season. Dr Norman Helfand departed for Australia, having been an integral part of the university’s rugby for more than thirty years, and he was succeeded as president by Jomo King. The enigmatic John Lane was elected as chairman; Norman McFarland replaced Booyens as senior coach, and Anton Marais took over the second team.
Under McFarland’s stern but percipient eye, the students learnt to make maximum use of their hard-won and often limited possession. As less ball was frittered away, so Wits became one of the two or three more purposeful and enterprising sides in the province. In a tough season, the team showed plenty of resilience and their positivism always saw them bounce back with guts and determination. No player epitomised the character of the side better than George Carey who, for part of the season, toiled loyally and mightily as the side’s only specialist lock.
Carey was outstanding in the 22-15 away win against Police – a victory that put the club in the right frame of mind for their next match against unbeaten Alberton, brimming with provincial players. Even to the most fanatical Wits supporter, victory was out of the question until midway through the second half. The turning point in the game came when Ashley Shafto ghosted his way along the touchline and through a nonplussed defence to score a sensational try. Minutes later, James Small scored another. Suddenly Wits held an eight-point lead, bringing with it increased pressure because Alberton retaliated in full force. The students defended with utmost gallantry as their opponents whittled down the lead to just one point – 22-21. The last few minutes of a prolonged injury time saw five scrums on the Wits line, but they held on for a stunning win.
Four victories were achieved in Wits’s next five matches to push them into fourth position. Yet to be certain of qualifying for the semifinal, they were faced with the daunting task of winning their last two matches against topof-the-table sides Roodepoort and Goudstad. It was a tall order, although both games hung in the balance until the final whistle and, with a bit of luck, Wits might have snatched the required points.
Norman Bayvel followed his brothers into the Transvaal team.
Ashley Shafto on his way to a brilliant try against Alberton during the 1988 season.
Wits’s mighty front row in 1986 (left to right): Piet Kruger, Harry Roberts (both Springboks) and Paul Mosenthal. They are pictured during the university’s dramatic 9-7 victory over the reigning Transvaal club champions at that time, Roodepoort.
The improved performance of the First XV brought with it an increased number of representative honours. Piet Kruger captained Transvaal early in the season and was joined in the side by the powerful centre Mark Carlson and the richly talented teenager James Small. Scrum half Gary Grant was an exciting
Ian Hume escapes the attention of RAU’s defence with teammates, Richard McCallum, Graham Silva, Kenny Smit and Phil Zylstra moving up in support.
prospect – intuitive and often inspirational, his darting runs and incisive service made him a Rooibokke regular. Others to earn representative honours were Charles Joffe, Ashley Shafto, Gary Puterman and Russell Brooke, while Mark Julyan was extremely unlucky not to be rewarded with provincial selection.
Skiing/ice-skating
The ski club was formed in 1973 and soon made its presence felt through exciting overseas tours, as well as local ventures to the Maluti Mountains in Lesotho. In partnership with travel organisations, the club – with Dave Gurney prominent – arranged all-inclusive month-long ski tours for less than R600. The very first snow skiing intervarsity was held in Austria in early 1974, and Wits Student recalled: ‘Top honours for the slalom race went to Wits, followed by Cape Town and Maritzburg.’
The club also made the headlines when 29 members were trapped by deep snowdrifts at the top of Moteng Pass. Four of the party were snowbound in a minibus several kilometres from the clubhouse and air force helicopters were called out to assist with the rescue.
Although the club did not last more than a few years, it was inevitable that it would return, and in 1984, ASC chairman John Lane added the ski club to his mounting empire of sporting interests. Under the direction of Carl Runde and the Van Eck brothers, Phillip
The Wits First XV pictured shortly after defeating the powerful Alberton team 22-21 during the 1988 season (left to right – back row): John Lane (chairman), Alan Krost, Milo Milasivnovich, Kim Shafto, Vic Botha, Carl Henning, Mark Carlson, George Carey, Tony Swart, Brian Carlson and Norman McFarland (coach) (middle row): James Small, Ashley Shafto (captain), Paul Mosenthal, Gary Grant and Charles Joffe (in front): Mark Julyan.
and Ivan, the club progressed rapidly, offering grass, sand and artificial slope skiing, in addition to the real thing, snow skiing. Members soon completed tours to Lesotho and the Transkei, where experienced instructors provided students with an opportunity to learn to ski at a fraction of the cost of an overseas trip.
An ice skating club was formed in the mid-seventies under Gordon Netherton’s guidance. By arranging special deals with the Carlton Sky Rink, Netherton was able to boast a club membership of 57 within a few months. Unfortunately, his success was shortlived, although ice skating did not disappear completely from the university’s sporting scene. A Bachelor of Commerce student, Irene Anderson, became the South African figure skating champion in 1979 and 1980, and won Springbok colours on three occasions. Then in 1987, the ski club decided to include ice skating in its activities and received an immediate boost when Springbok ice skater Susan Wood joined.
Skydiving
During the late 1960s, attention was drawn to the fact that that a number of students were participating in the exciting sport of skydiving. Articles appeared in Wits Student that appealed to those with the ‘spirit of adventure in their souls to join a growing band of skydiving enthusiasts’. Another report concluded: ‘If you panic when the chips are down, play rugby. Your mistakes cost less.’
On 16 March 1971, the skydiving club was successful in its application to join the ASC. It had been formed by Tony Forsyth, Richard Merry, the Keyter twins and Udo Sachse. As Forsyth was already looking after the interests of the yacht club on the ASC, he agreed to represent skydiving as well.
Those students responsible for establishing the
club were quick to discard the ‘daredevil image’ that prevailed and skydiving came to be recognised as a sane, safe sport, very much within the scope of enjoyment of ordinary people. The Wits club initially operated from the Vereeniging airfield but moved to Randfontein, then Westonaria and thereafter to Klerksdorp. The membership fee remained at R5.00 for several years, with the figure covering the basic training. The additional costs in 1973 were as follows:
Static line jumps (first ten minimum) – R4.00
Free-fall up to 3 500 feet (10-second delay) – R3.00
Up to 7 000 feet (30-second delay) – R3.50
Up to 9 000feet (45-second delay) – R4.50
In the mid-seventies, the competitive side of the club developed largely through an engineering student, Udo Sachse. An outstanding skydiver, he was first chosen for the South African B team that participated in the World Cup at Pretoria in 1974. Not long afterwards, he won his Springbok colours and became a regular fixture in the national side over a period of eight years, the highlight of which was being a member of the Springbok four-way team that won the world title at Rheims, France, in 1978.
After Sachse left university in 1975, the skydiving club ceased to exist, although several students continued to be actively engaged in the sport. It was midway through 1978 that Mark Holliday, who was jumping at Westonaria, approached André le Roux and Sean Kennelly and suggested that they should revive the club. They then contacted a chemical engineering student, Franco Busetti – who was a Springbok skydiver – and persuaded him to join their campaign. A meeting was held on the steps of the Great Hall and Busetti was elected chairman.
Franco Busetti started skydiving at Wits in 1974 at the age of 20. His skills developed quickly, surpassing those of older and vastly more experienced jumpers and after two years he earned his Springbok colours at the 1976 world championships at Oudtshoorn. He was also part of the South African team that that won the four-way world title at Rheims in 1978 and was subsequently named as the university’s Sportsman of the Year.
While Busetti set the example, it was Holliday who was the driving force in the organisation of the club. Within a matter of months, there were 70 members participating. A package deal was negotiated with the Westonaria Parachute Club through which R35 covered membership of the aero club of South Africa, full training equipment and the first jump (including certificate).
The industrious Mark Holliday also did the groundwork towards the establishment of an SAU competition. In 1979, the Lion Lager Trophy for the ‘intervarsity parachuting championship’ was presented for the first time at King William’s Town. It was awarded to the Wits team that comprised Mark Holliday, André le Roux, Charlie Gilbert and Tony Baggott. The Witsies achieved a notable double when their second string received
Udo Sachse, who did much to put the Wits Skydiving Club on a sound footing, was a member of the Springbok four-way team that won the world championship in 1978.
Franco Busetti was a member of the Springbok team at Rheims in 1978 and subsequently named as the university’s Sportsman of the Year.
The Wits skydiving team that became SAU champions in 1979 (left to right – standing): Anthony Baggott and Mark Holliday (in front): Charles Gilbert and André le Roux.
the Rhodes Two-Ten floating trophy that was presented to the winners of the junior accuracy. The latter trophy derived its name from the propellor of a Cessna 210.
Accuracy involves testing the individual’s proficiency in steering the parachute, and the competitor is judged on the distance they land from a ten-centimetre disc. Relative work constitutes a more demanding form of competition, as it tests a team’s ability in the art of linking up with others.
André le Roux, who was associated with Wits skydiving for the most part of ten years, noted during the 1980s that ‘skydivers are now carrying out far more difficult exercises, far faster. Over the last decade, canopy relative work has developed from a few mad enthusiasts crashing canopies together into a properly recognised facet of the sport.’
Another change occurred in the equipment involved and Le Roux added: ‘From the big and bulky, we’ve progressed to the small and streamlined. Jump suits, for example, have improved from large, tent-like canvas-made affairs into skin-tight Spandex.’
The strength of the Wits skydiving club during the 1980s was its ability to create the all-important depth within its ranks and to build constantly for the future. This was achieved through expert instruction; in this regard Udo Sachse was conspicuous in his coaching of student teams for a number of years.
The annual intervarsity was invariably the highlight of the club’s annual programme and Wits performed consistently well. At Pietermaritzburg in 1980, they lost their title to Pretoria but Mark Holliday was honoured by being named captain of the SAU team.
Wits won the intervarsity at Vryheid in 1982, when it was resumed after a year’s break. The team that comprised Peter Todd (who completed 1 000 jumps whilst a student at Wits), Keith Falconer, Peter Mauchan and Norman Grüning, not only triumphed at the intervarsity but won the junior four-man sequential relative work event at the national championships against ten other teams. In recognition of their achievements, the skydiving club received the Emily Smidman
Trophy as the university’s ‘Club of the Year’. Wits again won the senior relative work section of the intervarsity in 1983 and retained the Lion Lager Trophy. The competition was held at Wonderboom Airport with five universities participating. Cape Town had a strong team, underlined by their winning the Cape championships that year, but the Witsies took their chances and stayed on top. The Wits team of Peter Mauchan (captain), John Gouws, Steve Marshall and Dave Maver were awarded their Protea colours.
An important breakthrough at the 1983 intervarsity was the selection of the first woman to represent Wits in an official competition. An architectural student, Stefania Soncini quickly became a leading member of the club and proved that she could more than hold her own in a sport that had traditionally been exclusively male.
Pretoria regained the senior relative work title in 1984, with Wits second. The most disappointing feature of the event was that Wits’s junior accuracy team finished fourth out of the four universities that participated. The club did make amends by winning the event the following year.
In the senior relative work in 1985, the Wits team (André le Roux, Stefania Soncini, Graham Cooke and Alan Murray) filled the runner-up spot for the second year in succession. But it was nevertheless a year of achievement and two new SAU records were established by the Wits club – a freefall formation record of ten and a new canopy stack record of seven.
The club’s finest year was probably 1986. In February, a team of past and present Witsies (Peter Mauchan, Mark Allen and Steve Marshall) together with Trevor Joshua of the Western Transvaal Parachute Club, established a worldfirst outside the United States. At Klerksdorp they completed the difficult ‘four-by-side’ manoeuvre involving the canopies of the parachutists joining together from the middle rather like the spokes of a wheel. Mark Allen described the action:
The four-by-side is a dangerous manoeuvre because you can get parachute entanglement. We jumped from 3000 metres and opened our parachutes,
Peter Mauchan of the university’s skydiving club lands on the library lawns during a Diamond Jubilee display in 1982.
Cooke about to land in the Wits swimming pool during Orientation Week in 1986.
In 1982, the Wits skydivers won the intervarsity, the South African junior four-man sequential relative work event, and the university’s Club of the Year award. Pictured (left to right) are: Peter Todd, Keith Falconer, Peter Mauchan, Norman Grüning and Neil Carr.
The Wits skydiving team 1985 (left to right): André le Roux, Stef Soncini, Graham Cooke and Alan Murray.
Graham
starting with the normal stacking which takes about 250 metres. Then we built from the top downwards, one step at a time. Each transition can get dangerous. Once formed, the four-by-side has to be held for at least five seconds, but we held it more than a minute.
An interesting development occurred when the relatively inexperienced combination of Doug Smart, Chris Joubert, Cameron Condie and Ivan Coufal won the intervarsity and gained Protea colours. Effectively, the Wits B team, they surprised their senior combination in a competition that Wits hosted at Klerksdorp. The fact that Wits A finished second and that Wits also won the junior accuracy section emphasised the dominance of the Johannesburg students.
The senior Wits squad (André le Roux, Steve Marshall, Graham Cooke and Alan Murray) had their chance to impress when they became the first university team to enter the national canopy relative work championships. The competition involved two major events – the four-way and eight-way competitions. The former gave four skydivers a mere 180 seconds to exit the aircraft, open their parachutes and fly together in order to stack the canopies and do as many rotations as they could until their time was up. Points were awarded for each completed stage. The eightway event allowed skydivers 100 seconds to put together as many canopies as possible. A point was scored for each canopy in the stack.
From the start, Wits impressed by retaining a firm hold on second place, increasing the gap over the trailing teams with each successive jump. The only team to stay ahead of them was Pietermaritzburg, a world-rated champion squad of the previous four years. In the four-way event, experience showed and the champions won comfortably, but in the eight-way competition, Wits missed out on the gold medal by a mere four points.
A second place at the 1987 intervarsity and a first in 1988 meant that Wits had achieved five firsts and four seconds out of nine intervarsities. The 1987 competition was close, as Natal ultimately pipped Wits into second place by 151 points to 150.
Ivan Coufal was a member of the composite team that won the four-way and eight-way competitions at the national championships in 1987, and not long afterwards became the third Wits competitor to receive Springbok colours. He was selected for the South African team that participated in the world championships in Brazil that year and in France in 1988.
At the 1988 intervarsity hosted by Pietermaritzburg, Wits regained the Lion Lager Trophy by winning the senior relative work competition. After the previous year’s disappointment when they lost by just one point, the team of Mark Bowman, Chris Joubert, Donald Finlay and Graham Field made sure of the title by a convincing 22 points.
Stef Soncini represented Wits at the SAU competition and proved that women could compete on equal terms with the men.
The Wits skydivers won two silver medals at the national championships in 1986 (clockwise from top left): Steve Marshall, André le Roux, Alan Murray and Graham Cooke.
A nine-canopy ‘stack’ over Swaziland (top to bottom): Graham Cooke, Steve Marshall, Steve Havenga, André le Roux, Alan Murray, Graham Meise, Alistair Bennett, Rolf Spitz and Peter Lamberti. A tenth member, Titch Snyman, joined the stack not long afterwards.
The Wits team that won the SAU Senior Relative Work in 1986 (left to right – standing): Cameron Condie, Chris Joubert and Doug Smart (in front): Ivan Coufal.
The Wits foursome that collected the Rhodes Two-ten floating trophy in 1986 (left to right): Mark Bowman, Gavin McKrill, Glenda Miles and Michael du Toit.
Wits’s winning team at the 1988 intervarsity (left to right): Graham Field, Chris Joubert, Donald Finlay and Mark Bowman.
Soccer
Wits had the talent and the depth to win promotion to the premier league. By the mid-seventies, the club fielded 73 teams with the momentum of the club’s progress being such that at the end of the 1974 season, Wits won promotion in no less than six leagues. They were also successful at the SAU tournament in 1974 and 1975 and on both occasions emerged with an unbeaten record.
In 1973, Wits had headed the second division before slipping in the last few matches, and in 1974 they ended up fourth in the log. Impressive performances in the Castle Cup also whipped up great interest in the club’s efforts and the 1975 season was eagerly anticipated.
It was a memorable year for Wits soccer as their first team, with an average age of 22, admirably carried out a testing mission. In the space of two seasons of cajoling, cursing and complimenting, Eddie Lewis led Wits to the top of the second division, seven points clear of second-placed Boksburg. The side faltered twice in midseason, losing successive matches to Boksburg (0-1) and Windhoek City (0-1), before the boat was steadied and the winning touch regained. In 24 matches, Wits scored 62 goals and conceded just 19, their superior stamina frequently giving them the upper hand when it really mattered. Lewis’s shrewdness as coach was made further apparent by his recruitment of Leon Hacker as fitness trainer because the latter helped Wits become the fittest team in the league.
After battling to gain first division status for so long, it was naturally a great moment when Wits finally secured the long-awaited promotion. John Cuzen reported in Wits Student:
Wits University have finally done it – we are in the First Division!!! At Prince George Park, Boksburg, Wits defeated Boksburg 1-0 to take an insurmountable lead in the Second Division.
The heroes of the match were undoubtedly striker Geoff Gravett and rookie goalkeeper Dave Watterson. For the first few minutes it seemed as though Wits were about to be swamped as Boksburg swarmed on the attack. However, Wits, with skipper Trevor Ternent marshalling the defence in a cool fashion, weathered the initial storm.
Then it happened, after a Jimmy Cook breakaway, Wits were awarded a corner. Joe Brown floated the corner up into the area, a Wits head nodded the ball goalwards, and as the ball bobbed around, Geoff Gravett raced up and nodded it into the net
In the dressing room after the game, the champagne flowed freely and Ronnie Schloss (chairman) and Eddie Lewis (coach) were forced to drink ‘down-downs’ before the ecstatic team.
The victory signalled the beginning of an exciting new era for Wits University soccer, one in which the club was to exceed all expectations except, perhaps, those of Eddie Lewis, whose faith in his young team knew no bounds. Amidst the celebrations, he promised ‘next year we will run the legs off the first division’.
Gary Bailey at Wits
Roy Bailey, who was a goalkeeper good enough to win a league championship medal with Ipswich Town in 1962, recalled his son’s ‘two extremely enjoyable years at Wits’. ‘From the moment I phoned Dudley Zagnoev regarding Gary’s intention to study at Wits, he was made welcome. Dudley and Ronnie Schloss, together with coach Eddie Lewis, gave Gary every chance to do well and he, in turn, was most grateful.”
In their debut season in the NFL first division in 1976, Wits surprised everyone by finishing third. The side produced some tremendous performances and often stunned the more fancied sides with fighting displays. The Sunday Times put it down to ‘the university’s legendary fitness’ that frequently gave them the upper hand in the second half. Down 1-0 at the interval against Arcadia, for example, Wits came back to win 4-1 with two magnificent goals by Rodney Bush and others from Raymond Graham and Joe Brown. An even more dramatic fight back against Maritzburg saw Wits pull back from being two goals down to win 5-2, with Bush grabbing a hat-trick.
One of the most satisfying victories during the season was undoubtedly the 1-0 win over Highlands Park. In front of a capacity crowd of 10 000 that squeezed into the Wits stadium, Richard Kellett blasted in the winning goal from 25 metres out. Joe Frickleton and his illustrious Highlands Park team were made well aware that the student side had arrived in the senior ranks of South African soccer.
An outstanding squad was moulded into shape by Lewis. Trevor Ternent was the leader on the field, backed up by Rodney Bush, Keith Broad, Gary Pollack, Richard Kellett, Jimmy Cook, Davey Jacobs, Joe Brown and Raymond Graham. In goal, Gary Bailey excelled, and it was not long before he was one of the hottest properties in South African soccer. A Sunday Times headline
The Wits first team 1974 (left to right – standing); E. Lewis (coach), J. Cook, T. Ternent, S. Taylor, A. Mavrodaris, M. Citanovich, R. Wallet, B. Flitton, G. Gravett, M. Davies (assistant trainer) (in front): G. Kilfoil, A. Moulster, J. Brown (captain), D. Jacobs and R. Wainer.
Gary Bailey in goal for Wits University
in midseason after Wits had beaten Rangers 2-0 simply read ‘Good old Bailey’
At the end of the season, Bailey again travelled overseas, first for a trial with the top Dutch club AZ 67, and then another in Hamburg before, according to his father, ‘he had the audacity to phone Manchester United’.
Reading a magazine in Hamburg, Gary Bailey noticed that Manchester United were looking for an up-and-coming goalkeeper to succeed Alex Stepney. It was a chance too marvellous to overlook and the young Wits student telephoned Dave Sexton, the manager of the great English club. A few months later – a bitterly cold Christmas Eve 1977 – Bailey put pen to paper and became the reserve goalkeeper for Manchester United.
He then returned to Wits for the 1977 season. The university continued in its successful vein, finishing fourth in the league and demonstrating maturity by battling their way out of a dismal patch in midseason that saw them play ten league matches without a single win.
For Gary Bailey, a highlight was his selection for the Springbok team that played a friendly international against Rhodesia at Salisbury. At the age of 19, he had reached a footballing peak in South Africa, prior to travelling overseas at the end of the season. He was determined to succeed: ‘At Wits I was playing football because I loved it and because I was fairly good at it as well. Now it’s my job!’
He did not look back. In November 1978, he was pitched into first team action against his father’s old team Ipswich Town, as fate would have it. Manchester United won 2-0 in pouring rain and the English sporting press hailed the arrival of a bright goalkeeping prospect.
He became a regular in the Manchester United side, destined to play in the European Cup Winners’ Cup, two League Cup finals and three FA Cup finals. In March 1985, he was
chosen for England against the Republic of Ireland at Wembley. The same year, a second cap followed against Mexico during England’s South American tour and in 1986 Bailey took his place in the England squad for the World Cup in the course of which injury cut short his career at the highest level.
The Professionals
At the end of 1977, the NFL split and Wits entered the new multiracial National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). The university side was well prepared for their testing assignment. They were a happy blend of experience and youth, strengthened by the arrival of Mike James, who was appointed captain. He was to enjoy such a successful season that he received the Sunday Express Footballer of the Year trophy.
Long-serving players Jimmy Cook, Joe Brown and Trevor Ternent were again available, together with well-known names in South African soccer, such as Richard Kellett, a member of the South African XI of 1974 who joined Wits after a spell in America with Chicago Sting, and Rodney Bush, the prolific goalscoring Springbok. Wits also had Cliff Crouch, Tony Jacobson, Mark Moca, Charles Talken, Arnold Hurwitz, Davey Jacobs, Greg Bolus, Dave Watterson, Keith Broad, Lucky Stylianou and Laurence Thorogood in a powerful squad.
In an historic season, Wits became the first white team to play at Soweto’s premier football ground. They marked their first appearance at Orlando Stadium by taking the lead in the seventh minute of a friendly against Moroka Swallows when Keith Broad beat Shadrack Ngwenya to a header. Swallows drew level, however, and the match ended 1-1.
A week later, Wits returned to Orlando for a fast and furious pipe-opener to the NPSL season. They took on mighty Kaizer Chiefs in front of
Trevor Ternent directs operations.
Keith Broad
Rodney Bush, a prolific goal-scorer.
The Wits NFL Division 1 team 1977 (left to right – top row): D. McMillan, A. Hurwitz, R. Graham, R. Kellett, E. Haase, S. Lapot and D. Jacobs (middle row): M. Davis (assistant coach), D. Zagnoev (secretary), B. Flitton, K. Broad, G. Bailey, J. Cook, P. Schoeman and R. Hack (vice-chairman) (front row): G. Gravett, L. Thorogood, E. Lewis (manager/coach), T. Ternent (captain), R. Schloss (chairman), D. Gardiner and M. Moca.
20 000 screaming fans and went down 1-0 after an absorbing contest. During the season, Wits suffered four defeats at the hands of their great rivals, prior to a magnificent encounter in the final of the Mainstay Cup.
In its first season, the Mainstay Cup was an unqualified success and each game in the cup run was a thriller. The quarter-finals saw Wits and Lusitano locked 3-3 after extra time, with Richard Kellett scoring a superb hat-trick – his third goal coming just two minutes from the end of extra time. Then came a dramatic penalty shoot-out under the deceptive glare of the Rand Stadium floodlights. Jimmy Cook, Davey Jacobs, Keith Broad and Lucky Stylianou found the net for Wits, and with the towering Dave Watterson saving twice, the university took a 4-1 lead to enter the next stage of the competition.
The first half of the semi-final against Moroka Swallows was played in a Johannesburg thunderstorm of intense proportions. At the interval, the storm passed on but the flooded field was a quagmire. The ball would not bounce, it would not run and the players could merely boot it into the air and hope one of their own would get underneath it. On one terribly vital occasion five minutes from time, Davey Jacobs latched on to the ball and let fly amidst a spray of water. The Swallows keeper appeared to have it covered but in a jittery movement allowed the ball to pop out of his hands and roll into the net.
The final was against Kaizer Chiefs, before a capacity crowd of 35 000 at the Rand Stadium. The favourites gave the university a torrid time in the opening session and for the first 25 minutes carried out a sustained attack on the Wits goal. Only desperate defence, wonderful goalkeeping from Dave Watterson and an element of luck prevented a score. The ball was tipped over the bar and punched away on a few occasions, and several times skimmed the posts as Chiefs ran the defence ragged. Arnie Hurwitz, Mike James, Trevor Ternent and Greg Bolus held on doggedly amidst the onslaught.
Said manager Eddie Lewis of the opening blitz on his team’s goal: ‘I was stunned – I thought I had it all planned. How wrong I was.’ But Lewis eventually spotted how Chiefs were mounting their waves of attack. ‘It was after about twenty minutes that I realised how they were doing it
by using “Ryder” Mafekeng as a sweeper and only three real defenders. That was all I needed to know. I reckoned we could take them then. I knew we had the character.’
It took half an hour before Wits made a few sporadic raids into enemy territory. They fluffed the couple of chances they created, but in the second half their planning began to take effect. The vital first goal came in the 58th minute. Jimmy Cook slipped the ball infield to Cliff Crouch who unleashed a powerful drive that hit a defender on the shoulder, bounced up to the underside of the bar and dropped into the net. Chiefs retaliated and seven minutes later they levelled the score with a controversial goal. The referee ignored the linesman’s raised flag to indicate an infringement, and Chiefs found the back of the net. The goal was awarded,
the linesman lowered his flag, the Wits bench protested vociferously and then more drama. Wits’s Richard Kellett with a precision corner kick, gave Davey Jacobs an opportunity to head home into the top of the goal – Wits 2: Kaizer Chiefs 1.
Wits continued to attack and came close to scoring prior to Chiefs launching a counterattack. ‘Teenage’ Dladla appeared from nowhere to latch on to a short pass, before racing 50 metres downfield and ultimately powering the ball into Wits’s net off the goalpost.
At 2-2 the game was set for a grand finish and on this occasion, it was Wits’s turn to triumph. With just one minute of full time remaining, Rodney Bush placed the ball across Chiefs’ goalmouth with the neatest of chips. Kellett nodded the ball backwards and Jacobs was there to head in the winner.
To round off an unforgettable season, Wits finished second to Lusitano in the final league table. It was a magnificent performance, particularly as the ups and downs of university life forced Eddie Lewis to call on no fewer than 30 players during the season. In the final analysis, there was little doubt that Wits’s flamboyant manager had done a wonderful job. So much so that John Dunn commented in the Sunday Times: ‘Had it not been for a spell in hospital when his driving power was missing and vital points lost, Wits could also have won the NPSL.’
After such a great season, Wits had a comparatively poor year in 1979, finishing in the lower half of the league and crashing out of the Mainstay Cup in the quarter-final. Perhaps a lean trot was inevitable after four successful years in the premier division of South African football. Certainly, fate was not kind to them in terms of injuries to key players. They began with seven defeats in their first eight matches, and then won six and drew one in their next eight. Unfortunately, another disastrous spell followed in their final eight matches when they scored just one goal and conceded ten, leaving the side thirteenth in the league.
Eddie Lewis resigned and former Aston Villa player Mike Kenning took over the reins. He
Mike James led Wits to an exciting 3-2 victory over Kaizer Chiefs in the 1978 Mainstay Cup final.
Richard Kellett (left) and Cliff Crouch struggle for possession with Maxwell Tshuma of Moroka Swallows during the Mainstay Cup semi-final in 1978.
Pictured with the Mainstay Cup (left to right): Eddie Lewis (manager), Mike James (captain), Professor D.J. du Plessis (vice-chancellor) and Professor Ronnie Schloss (president).
adopted a policy of ‘no massive changes, no determined shake-ups and no big-stick policy’. He could not have wished for a better start and after 16 matches, his side was unbeaten (ten wins, six draws). The university shared top place in the NPSL, despite losing Mike James, who broke a leg while playing against Pilkington United Brothers. They narrowly failed to come through the first round unbeaten – losing to Moroka Swallows in the seventeenth match – but after such a fine start, Wits faltered in the second round and lost their grip on the NPSL. They finished third behind Highlands Park and Kaizer Chiefs.
A good start was also made to the 1981 season and after 13 matches, Wits moved into second place behind reigning champions Highlands Park. However, they were unable to maintain this position and slipped to fifth place in the final log. The 1980 and 1981 seasons reflected a lack of the staying power needed to challenge for the top spot. This was partly attributed to inexperience. The club was rebuilding, with student players such as Greg Faasen, Errol Mann and Ian Wedderburn coming through the reserves to claim regular first-team players.
The 1982 season was very successful. It began quietly and after ten matches, the university was lying fourth in the league log. It was in the hotly contested last stretch, however, that Wits proved a point, all but mustering enough pressure to choke leaders Durban City. They finished second in the final outcome by a single point, and were five points ahead of third-placed Kaizer Chiefs.
At that stage, it was Wits’s performance in the cup competitions that had been a little disappointing. In 1982, for example, they had reached the semi-finals of both the BP Top 8 and the Datsun Challenge Cup and lost to Orlando Pirates in the quarter-final of the Mainstay Cup.
It was therefore a boost to reach the final of the Datsun Challenge in 1983, especially as the competition was a great success. A double-header semi-final was arranged at Ellis Park before a massive crowd. In the early game, Wits shocked Moroka Swallows with a goal in the first two minutes when Hugh Melamdowitz seized upon a rare blunder by Sulie Bhamjee. The young Wits player, who had captained the South African Currie Cup side in 1982, fired the ball past Gavin Easthorpe in the Swallows’ goal to the horror of their massed fans. Swallows never recovered and it was surprising that Wits took another fifty minutes before they increased their lead. When they did, through Frank McGrellis, it signalled the end for ‘the Birds’. Later that afternoon, it was confirmed that the cup final was between Wits and Kaizer Chiefs.
As anticipated, Chiefs the ball artists and Wits ‘the dogged, determined innovators of the disciplined error-free brand of football’ went at each other with no holds barred. Wits opened the scoring amidst an eerie silence as the yellow helmeted Kaizer Chiefs’ supporters looked on stunned. Elusive winger Mike Mangena did the trick but Chiefs came back to equalise (11) through Shack Ngcobo. That was the score at the end of full time and the match went into the additional thirty minutes.
Extra time was almost over when Teenager Dladla eluded the defence on the left flank and centred the ball to the waiting Marks Maponyane. The gifted Chiefs striker made no mistake as he rammed home the goal that gave his side their first title of the year.
Wits were fourth in the league in 1983, and qualified for the BP Top 8 tournament that kicked off the new season. In 1984, they took on Kaizer Chiefs in the first round and applied determined pressure throughout to cause a 2-1 upset. Chiefs opened the scoring but Frank McGrellis, who probed, taunted and teased the defence to good effect, seized two opportunities within four minutes of each other to put Wits ahead.
To qualify for the final, Wits beat Arcadia 2-1. Mike Ntombela and Rod Anley scored for the university and Peter Frielick, later to join Wits, replied for Arcadia.
The final was played over two legs, with Wits going down to Moroka Swallows 2-1 in the opening match at Durban. All was not lost but it would take a massive effort on the part of the university players to win the second leg at Ellis Park. Showing great determination, Wits controlled play from the start, with Mike Mangena having an early goal disallowed and Rodney Bush and Davey Jacobs hammering shots against the Swallows’ crossbar. In the 26th minute, Bush again fired at goal and from a deflection off a defender, Rodney Anley struck the ball confidently into the roof of the net. The contest was all square overall at 2-2 as the halftime whistle blew.
Wits continued to enjoy a measure of superiority well into the second half, with veteran Mark Moca scoring from close range in the 57th minute after the Swallows’ defence had misjudged a corner kick. There was still time for Swallows to get back into the game and eight minutes later, Ace Mnini was successful with a penalty to cancel the deficit and leave the teams locked at 3-3.
The intensely competitive Rodney Bush put Wits back in front in the 70th minute, demonstrating supreme coolness by seizing upon a loose ball in his opponents’ penalty area. Wits were ahead 3-1 in the match and 4-3 on aggregate. This remained the final score although the nerve-wracking atmosphere that prevailed ensured spectators stayed rigidly in their seats.
No one stood up to the tension better than Wits’s keeper Nelson Castro, who was drafted into the university team after former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Melija Aleksic had suffered a facial fracture during the first-leg encounter in Durban. Castro’s save off an Ace Mnini shot four minutes from the end was particularly brilliant.
It was surprising that Wits struggled for much of 1984, at one stage propping up the bottom of the league. They did manage to rectify matters and a pleasing turnaround saw them embark on a steady climb up the log to a final sixth position. The problems that beset the club appeared to have been righted by the end of the season, but coach Julie Kaplan was replaced in the new year when Mike Kenning returned to the fold.
The most absorbing part of the 1985 season
Future Scotland international Richard Gough represented Wits during the 1979 season.
Long-serving Wits player Mark Moca on the attack against Moroka Swallows.
was Wits’s progress in the John Player knockout competition. A hat-trick of goals by Frank McGrellis took Wits past PG Rangers in the opening encounter and then a fine 2-0 win (Stuart Rae and Steve Richards scoring) was achieved against Durban City at King’s Park. Wits’s worst performance of the competition was a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Hellenic in the first leg of the semi-final. On a positive note, it brought the best out of the side in the second leg at Ellis Park when two classic goals in as many minutes from Rod Anley and Gavin Lambert sealed the semifinal in Wits’s favour.
The final was played over successive weekends at King’s Park, Durban, and Johannesburg’s Ellis Park. It produced all the excitement and controversy that one expected from a national cup final with the true grit, endurance and character of the young but highly motivated underdogs a major feature.
Chiefs should have sewn up the game in Durban but they fluffed numerous chances. In contrast, Wits created a mere three or four opportunities, scored twice and won the match 2-1. Gavin Lambert, who twice won man of the match awards in the course of the competition, hammered in both goals within 60 seconds to set up the victory. He scored the first in the 49th minute with a curling shot that was deflected into the net and his second came through a superb diving header.
The second leg, before an emotionally charged 50 000 Kaizer Chiefs supporters, was an erratic but fiercely contested battle, tempered to an extent by periods of nervous defensiveness. A goal soon after half time by Samora Khulu enabled Chiefs to wipe out Wits’s advantage from the first leg and hopes that Wits had of regaining the initiative were thwarted when man of the match, Chippa Molatedi, cleared dramatically off his own line. Sy Lerman, writing in the Sunday Times, added: ‘Almost on a par with Molatedi’s performance was that of Nelson Castro, imperturbable and faultless in Wits’s goal, who made stunning point-blank saves from the mercurial Marks Maponyane and Dladla.’
Over the two games a 2-2 aggregate was per-
haps a fair reflection and the scene was set for a third and final showdown in the red-hot Ellis Park cauldron the following Wednesday.
Chiefs went a goal up with a 54th-minute penalty by Teenage Dladla, but the arrival of substitute Howard Koseff – a powerfully built medical student – in the 66th minute sparked a fightback. He was to an extent assisted by another substitute, Zoran Ilic, but it was Koseff’s probing runs into Chiefs’ territory that came at the right time and forced Chiefs to resort to defensive tactics.
When Rod Anley’s free kick was poorly cleared by the Chiefs’ defence seconds into injury time, Peter Frielick was there to score the vital equaliser with a composed first-timer that decisively beat goalkeeper Isaac Chirwa.
Extra time meant that the two sides would have fought their battle for an amazing five-anda-half hours of pressure football. Happily for Wits, the man of the match, Mike Ntombela, was on hand to score the winning goal after Chirwa dropped a high cross when challenged. It had been an enthralling contest, with Wits clinching the series on a 4-3 goal aggregate. The hard, uncompromising football of the students had ultimately triumphed.
An important development at this time was the formation of the National Soccer League (NSL) following a breakaway by the majority of the former NPSL clubs. Wits soccer administrators, who were at the forefront of this movement, then dropped a bombshell of their own by replacing Mike Kenning as first team manager with Joe Frickleton.
By virtue of their sixth position in the 1985 league, Wits again qualified for the BP Top 8 series of matches. They began by defeating the Mainstay Cup champions Fraser Celtic at Bloemfontein, and then Durban City in the semifinal at Orlando Stadium. They met Arcadia in the two-leg final, with matches taking place at King’s Park and Ellis Park. The Pretoria-based team obtained a two-goal lead after the opening encounter and deservedly won overall 4-2. Not long afterwards, Frickleton surprised soccer
The 1984 winners of the BP Top 8 (left to right – top row): L. Likoebe, J. Comitis, H. Koseff, D. Jacobs, M. Moca, M. Ntombela and F. McGrellis, (middle row): M. Mangena, C. Barnard, N. Castro, M. Aleksic, C. Nathan and R. Bush (front row): R. Anley, J. Kaplan (manager/coach), R. Hack (chairman), B. Pomroy (captain), R. Schloss (president) and M. Cohen.
Jimmy Cook – a tower of strength to Wits soccer for many years.
Nelson Castro was in fine form in helping Wits win the BP Top 8 in 1984 and the JPS Knockout in 1985.
followers by announcing that he would be leaving the club to take up the position of general manager of the Bophuthatswana soccer league. His move appeared to upset the rhythm of the Wits team and a lean period followed in which they went 14 games without a victory. In the final analysis, the club was relieved to finish eighth and to be informed that Terry Paine – who played 19 times for England –had been appointed manager/ coach.
The 1987 team, possibly the youngest in the NSL, played with much promise, especially in the first half of the season. They were league challengers for a good part of their programme until injuries, suspensions and an element of bad luck created something of a bedraggled retreat. Their final middle-order position of ninth was a little disappointing, particularly as they failed to make the all-important top eight.
Two students, Zane Moosa and Zoran Ilic, enjoyed outstanding seasons and both were included in the squad from which a South African XI was chosen to meet a South African ‘overseas’ team. Moosa, whose considerable ball skills made him a great favourite with the country’s vast soccer public, was subsequently selected as captain of the national under 23 side while Ilic was named the club’s player of the year.
The Witsies were again early pacesetters in the NSL in 1988 and with Kevin Mudie scoring regularly, the team headed the log table for much of the first round. A notable victory was achieved over Kaizer Chiefs at Ellis Park when Rod Anley beat Gary Bailey to give Wits the only goal of the match.
Just when matters were going Wits’s way, the team was again unsettled by a change in management, with Terry Paine leaving for England halfway through the season to take up a post at Coventry City. His departure was a blow but the side soldiered on and finished seventh in the league. They duly celebrated their return to the BP Top 8 by reaching the final in early 1989.
The Amateurs
In 1982, the university’s first amateur side won the Transvaal amateur league’s second division
in an exciting finish to the season’s programme. The league title was decided in the very last game of the season when Peter Botha, Volke Schmoor and Dorian Drake banged in goals to give the students a 3-1 win over Arcadia. Even then, Wits only gained promotion through a superior goal average – scoring 62 goals and conceding just 15.
Over the next few years, the university consolidated their position. In 1986, they finished second in the Transvaal amateur league’s first division by the narrowest of margins. Then, in 1987, the league title was captured for the first time in the club’s history by one precious point over Jeppe Highlanders. The final outcome rested on the very last match between Jeppe and Zoo Lake which, to Wits’s delight, ended in a draw.
In 1988, Wits retained their league title and this time achieved their success with two games in hand. Their position was perhaps made a little easier by their main rivals, Sturrock Park Brothers, being suspended from the league. Wits’s real advantage, however, was in their remarkable consistency in a bitterly contested league, with Mike Kenning’s team performing admirably under pressure.
The strength of Wits soccer was in its depth, with teams featuring at virtually every possible level. The colts, under the direction of Derek Blanckensee, a lecturer in the department of building science, did particularly well. They brought home more than their fair share of silverware, winning the double – the league and the cup – for three seasons.
The club also excelled at the annual intervarsity tournament. When a share of the SAU title was obtained at Bloemfontein in 1981, it was Wits’s first success since 1975. Thereafter, they monopolised the honours, winning the tournament outright six years in seven under their enthusiastic coach Jimmy Bakos. A fourth successive victory was achieved in 1988 – the first time in the history of the tournament that any university had won the Malcolm Taylor Trophy more than three times in a row.
Mike Ntombela and Wits coach Mike Kenning celebrate the goal that gave the university a 2-1 victory over Kaizer Chiefs in the 1985 JPS final.
Smiles of triumph from Mark Moca and Rodney Anley as they hold the JPS trophy at the end of the 330-minute marathon in 1985.
Zane Moosa’s brilliant ball skills made him a great favourite with followers of the game in South Africa.
Promising teenager Nicky Shaw – who made his NSL debut in 1988 – with former England international and Wits coach, Terry Paine.
Men’s Squash
When Ian Holding arrived at Wits in 1975, he was only just starting to make his mark in South African squash. The year before, he had finished as runner-up to another Wits student, Richard O’Connor, in the South African under-23 tournament and he had accompanied the Knights (an unofficial South African under-23 team) on their tour to Britain. The manner in which he would blaze his way to the top of South African squash in 1975 was amazing.
Although defeated in the final of the Wits University championships by Dave Scott, he made his debut for Transvaal as their number one player and led them to success in the interprovincial competition at East London. The South African amateur tournament, however, presented a very different proposition, if only because the world’s number one, Mike Donnelly, was standing ominously between the leading local players and their most prestigious title.
Ian Holding, who was seeded seventh, did not have an easy passage but played superbly to take care of both the number two seed Alan Colburn, and the number three Dave Scott. Then, undeterred by Donnelly’s reputation and ranking, he meted out the same punishment to the Australian to become the first teenage South African champion since 1930. His 9-6, 5-9, 9-7, 9-1 victory was especially convincing as he raced through the final game in just nine minutes.
As the 1975 intervarsity clashed with the interprovincial tournament, the Witsies were deprived of the services of their brilliant new star. But they need not have worried because such was the tremendous depth within the club
that the Basil de Saxe Trophy was retained in the most convincing fashion – the rampant Johannesburg students won 24 matches and lost only one. Richard O’Connor again captured the individual title, dropping a mere three points in a one-sided final.
Ian Holding represented Wits in the league, making it probably the strongest club in the country. When the students combined their two league teams for a knockout tournament that year, their ‘A’ side players were Holding, Scott, O’Connor and Greg Stanier. The strength of the team was such that Holding, Scott and O’Connor joined Donnelly as the four semi-finalists in that year’s national championships. And when a four-man Springbok team was chosen in 1976, it consisted of Scott (as captain), Holding, O’Connor and Alan Colburn.
The South Africans were barred from competing as a team in the fifth world amateur championships, but were given the opportunity to take part in the individual competition. Ian Holding and Dave Scott reached the semi-final stage where, unfortunately, they were drawn to play each other. Scott, who had earlier won the Swedish Open, defeated his teammate on this occasion, but was thereafter beaten 3-2 in a closely contested final by Australia’s Kevin Shawcross. The Australian turned professional immediately after the tournament, leaving Dave Scott as the world’s number one amateur.
A few months later, Ian Holding turned professional. It did not alter his programme to any great extent. He was after all firmly committed to his university work, which involved completing a Bachelor of Science degree before embarking on his medical studies. His squash
Ian Holding
Ian Holding playing against seventime world champion, Geoff Hunt.
Springbok, Richard O’Connor, was the SAU champion in 1974 and 1975.
Dave Scott was regarded as the world’s number one amateur in 1976.
had to be balanced with his academic load and he commented: ‘I consider myself a part-time player; a guy with a professional approach but an amateur attitude.’
A full blue recipient at Wits in 1975 (cum laude) and 1976, he was often prevented from taking a lead role in the university’s squash because of his hectic schedule at higher levels of the game. He won the club championship on two occasions, represented the university side that captured the Transvaal first league in 1977, and received Protea colours at the 1979 SAU tournament at Durban.
Holding’s venture into the professional game brought him many successes and he attained the excellent ranking of 14 in the world. He defeated the seven-time world champion Geoff Hunt 3-1 in a challenge match at Welkom and also achieved notable wins over players such as Bruce Brownlee, Sharif Khan, Roland Watson and the Egyptian, Ahmed Safwat. With the abolition of the amateur code in South Africa in September 1981, he won the national title for three successive years between 1983 and 1985.
The opportunity to win Springbok colours again came through the South African squash administration’s decision to embark on a series of Tests. The first occurred against Egypt in 1982 and Holding subsequently participated in series against Australia (1983), England (1984) and New Zealand (1985), captaining the Springboks when they met the latter two countries. The international competition also gave two other Witsies – Murray Winckler and Laurence Gruskin – the opportunity to achieve Springbok colours.
The game at Wits in the meantime continued to progress. The 1978 season could be regarded as one of the most successful ever. They won everything they entered, including the Transvaal first league title by a clear ten points over Old
Edwardians, with Wanderers in third place. The intervarsity tournament was won comfortably and the men’s individual final was contested by two Witsies – John Devonport and Ellis Coll –with the former emerging the victor.
A prestigious victory was achieved in the national Banbury Trophy, a knockout competition in which clubs competed on a regional basis before moving to an interregional final at the end of the season. After winning the Transvaal section by defeating Southern Suburbs in a testing decider, the Witsies (Rob and John Devonport, Lolly Musiker, Mark Kaplan and Ellis Coll) were unbeaten in the final stage. They whitewashed the Free State and Rhodesian regional champions 5-0, and then did the same to the Western Province representatives, the University of Cape Town.
Despite their success in 1978, problems did creep into the organisation of squash at Wits. Some students moved to other clubs in order to obtain a higher ranking in a first league team. It was necessary to balance the composition of league teams to maintain a competitive edge. For Wits, during the seventies the problem was solved to an extent by entering more than one team in the first league, but this was no longer possible. Semiprofessionalism further complicated the issue when talented players were lured to outside clubs. Squash bursaries were established to counter such a development but funds were limited and barely competitive.
Wits continued to produce excellent players. Particularly influential was Murray Winckler, who won the Transvaal under 21 title in 1979 and was in the senior Transvaal A side by the time he graduated. Ranked sixth in South Africa during his last year at Wits, he went on to achieve many honours in the squash world including Springbok colours. But it was as a student in 1982 that he produced one of his finest performances. During the South African Open, he shocked the top seed and world number five, Gamal Awad, in a huge amphi hall erected opposite the Wits squash complex.
No one had given the young Witsie a chance, even when he took the opening game 9-6. Awad won the next two games 9-4, 9-6, and had the match all but wrapped up, leading 8-5 in the fourth, when Winckler came from behind to
Laurence Gruskin represented the South African squash team in 1984.
John (left) and Rob Davenport
Murray Winckler defeated the world’s number five Gamal Awad in the South African Open in 1982.
Dennis Kampel led Wits to their 1983 intervarsity success.
snatch the game dramatically 10-9. There was only one player in the final game as Winckler raced to 9-2 and an astounding 3-2 victory.
Wits’s victory in the 1983 intervarsity was their first since 1978. As they had finished fourth in the previous two years, the success was welcome. It was a good team effort, with the Witsies dropping only six points in the course of the week, scoring a total of 43 out of a possible 49. At number one, Denis Kampel was undefeated in the six team matches he played
Women’s Squash
After Kathy Hardy graduated, the women’s section did not win the SAU title again. They became a middle-of-the-table side, until the emergence of a highly encouraging period during the latter part of the 1980s. A great achievement was winning the Transvaal first league in 1985. Led by their youthful coach, Margriet Luchs, and the talented newcomer Chantal CliftonParks, the Witsies recorded 97 points, to finish 20 ahead of second-placed Old Edwardians.
The leading players since the mid-seventies included Jenny Malan (well known at Wits in hockey circles, she went on to become a nationally ranked squash player), Gay Bowden, Chantal Huon, Gillian Winckler, Lauren Houghton, Sarah Rudolph, Sally Robertson and Chantal Clifton-Parks.
A Bachelor of Science student, Gillian Winckler spent her first university vacation partaking in a successful Olympic sponsored training programme that was devised by Jill Eckstein. A tournament was arranged to conclude the programme and against most of the country’s top prospects, she reached the final, where she defeated Margriet Luchs.
Gillian Winckler’s squash continued to improve and in the course of 1981, she was a quarter-finalist in the South African Open; represented Transvaal along with Jenny Moore
and he crowned a great week by winning the individual title. After finishing third in 1984 there were two disastrous intervarsities – a lowly ninth position in 1985 and 1986. Injuries and last-minute withdrawals played their part and upset preparations. The dismal performances were fortunately addressed and Wits finished second out of ten universities in 1987 and 1988. A fair slice of the credit for leading the change in fortune was attributed to Martin Morris, who was chosen for the SAU side in both years.
(formerly Malan) and Chantal Huon; and won the SAU individual title. She was also chosen as the number one player for the Proteas’ overseas tour at the end of a year that saw her ranked tenth in the country.
In 1982, she again won the SAU title (a unique double was achieved, as brother Murray won the men’s section) and surged up the South African ranking list to number four. Her potential was emphasised by her selection as a reserve for the Springbok team. Unfortunately for Wits, she completed her degree at the end of the year and was awarded her Springbok colours during her postgraduate studies at Cape Town.
Chantal Clifton-Parks, a former South African Schools’ under-16 champion, was a product of Jill Robinson’s coaching scheme that enabled Rhodesia to produce many fine players. She became the major figure in Wits’s squash and captained the SAU team, winning the individual title against Cape Town’s Kim Faclier in 1985 and repeating the performance in 1987. Ranked as high as number four in the country, she was selected as a reserve for the Springbok team in 1987 and again in 1988.
Gillian Winckler was Wits’s Sportswoman of the Year in 1981/82 and a Springbok squash player in 1984.
Martin Morris was a key player in the Wits team in 1987 and 1988.
Wits’s squash teams 1988 (left to right – back row): J. Quail, G. Carrington, J. Sachs, A. Falcon, T. Wills and S. Cooke (seated): G. Harrison, S. Rudolph, M. Morris, A. Wapnick, C. Clifton-Parks, T. Mann and A. McPhee.
Jenny Malan became a nationallyranked player.
Swimming
The seventies produced a few excellent individuals who kept the flag flying. Agnes van Looy battled determinedly to halt the downward drift that the club was experiencing and went so far as to reinstate specialised coaching for student swimmers. She also set a fine example to her teammates by dominating the freestyle events at intervarsity level and doing well in the backstroke and individual medley.
Carmel Goodman’s arrival in 1974 was a great boost for the women’s section of the club. A three-time national champion, she won Springbok colours in 1973 on tour to Rhodesia and during the South African Games. Carmel inspired the Wits women to win their section at the 1974 intervarsity at Cape Town. She won the ‘best performance’ trophy and, together with Agnes van Looy (as captain) and Clare Taylor, was chosen for the Protea team.
The achievements of Martin and Jenny Lundie brought diving into the limelight during the mid-seventies. The talented brother and sister combination represented South Africa while students and then, respectively, became sportsman and sportswoman of the year in 1976. They were coached from a young age by their father, Dr John Lundie, who was a leading pole-vaulter at Wits during his student years. Dr Lundie built a diving board for the pool at their Pretoria home and read up all he could on the techniques of diving. His
efforts were amply rewarded. Other swimmers to shine during the seventies included Rodney Glatt, Roy Jacobson, Russel Upneck, Matt Erdmann, Kay Oakley-Brown, Bruce Hook and the industrious Stan Bukofzer. An exciting arrival was Steve Nathan, who became South Africa’s freestyle champion over 100 metres in 1978 and won his Springbok colours the same year against Rhodesia. Not long afterwards, butterfly ace, Kobus Scheepers joined Wits’s ranks. He was awarded Springbok colours for the first time in 1978 and set a South African record for the 100-metres butterfly in 1980.
Eric Rosenberg was not only an excellent swimmer at the time – he twice won the intervarsity 100-metres freestyle – but he also battled admirably towards making Wits a force again in intervarsity swimming. As chairman, he was largely responsible for Wits’s last success in the Roberts trophy as the club’s downward slide started to manifest itself. The men finished first and the women fourth at the 1982 intervarsity at Wits. Two of South Africa’s finest competitors took part – Mark Jankelow broke the SAU 100-metres breaststroke record and Gerd Hipper set a new 200-metres individual medley time. The latter teamed up with Eric Rosenberg, Tommy Osborne and Paul Napier-Jamieson to establish a new intervarsity 4 x 100-metres freestyle relay record in 3 minutes 48.39 seconds.
For the next five years, Wits invariably provided little more than token representation. There were a few notable individual performances: LesleyAnn Pedlar gave stalwart service for four years and featured well in breaststroke events; Michael Kritzinger won three backstroke titles during the 1984 and 1985 intervarsities; and Springbok Ann Lamont gained a first in the 200-metres breaststroke amongst several other placings at the Cape Town intervarsity in 1985.
The university could send just two swimmers to the SAU at Bloemfontein in 1986. It reflected the sad state of the swimming section of the aquatics club, although Heather Morris-Eyton ensured that
Carmel Goodman – South African 100 (1972) and 200-metres (1971–73) breaststroke champion.
Jenny and Martin Lundie were both awarded Springbok colours for diving.
Springbok Steve Nathan won the South African 100-metres freestyle in 1978.
Kobus Scheepers – South African 100-metres butterfly champion in 1978, 1980 and 1982.
Wits appeared on the scoreboard with first places in both the 100 and 200-metres breaststroke.
She retained her title over the shorter distance in 1987, but the outstanding performer that year was undoubtedly Stephen Haupt. He was unbeaten throughout the season in the 100-metres freestyle, winning the event at the intervarsity, securing a hat-trick of Transvaal titles, and then in his crowning moment, winning the national title in inclement weather at Pretoria. After moving to Moira Lamont’s training squad, Haupt’s progress was astonishing and he became one of the finest prospects in the country.
It was Stephen Haupt and Heather MorrisEyton who paved the way in 1988 for a resurgence of interest in swimming at the university. A team of eight took part in the intervarsity at Pietermaritzburg, with the men finishing fourth and the women second. Five of the team received Protea colours: Stephen Haupt, who broke SAU records in the 100 (54.08 seconds) and 200 (2 minutes 02,86 seconds) metres freestyle; Heather Morris-Eyton who smashed the SAU
Table Tennis
Table tennis at Wits has certainly experienced its share of peaks and troughs. The men produced a strong Grand Challenge side in the mid-seventies when they boasted players of the calibre of Jeremy Lipschitz, Theo Shapiro, Barry Sneech, Neil Berkowitz and Les Rudolph. Lipschitz was chosen for the Protea team which toured Rhodesia and won all four matches against Matabeleland, Mashonaland, the University of Rhodesia and the Rhodesian national team.
Not long afterwards, the sport again faded into obscurity and it was not until the appearance of Colin Nefdt in 1986-87 that men’s table tennis merited much attention on campus. The talented Nefdt gained Springbok colours and won the South African title during 1987
record in the women’s 200-metres backstroke by 3.8 seconds; Gary Coetzee, Alan Ford and Nicky Goldin. Springbok diver Linda von Broembsen and Dale Harrison as water polo captain were also chosen for their respective SAU teams. Swimming at Wits might have spent some time in the doldrums but the aquatics club did not go unnoticed. The water polo section added Tommy Osborne, Anthony Dance and Eric Rosenberg to their list of Springboks; Deirdre Rice became the university’s first synchronised swimming Springbok; and a very strong squad of divers was assembled during 1987. Two Springboks – Natasha Brown and Linda von Broembsen –and two leading provincial divers – Loredana Raccanello and Dominique Philippopoulas –formed a powerful Wits line-up
Over the years, attempts were made to start a lifesaving section of the aquatics club but these met with little success. In the late eighties, two key swimmers in the Wits team – Raedene Bracher and Heather Morris-Eyton – excelled in lifesaving, both receiving their Springbok colours.
South African champions, Stephen Haupt and Heather Morris-Eyton, spearheaded a revival in Wits’s swimming fortunes in 1988.
but was prevented from joining the Wits’ side at that year’s intervarsity because of exams. The women’s section lacked depth for much of the seventies although individual players such as Adrienne Sneech (who inspired Wits to intervarsity success in 1972) and Michelle Trope were respected exponents of the game.
Some ten years after Sneech’s triumph, the apparent downward slide was arrested suddenly but temporarily in 1982 when Wits produced a most impressive team. Helen Heim (who won the ladies’ singles), Debbie Howes (the ladies’ runner-up) and Sandy Rothschild seemed to appear from nowhere to record a convincing victory at that year’s intervarsity.
Linda von Broembsen – a double Springbok –gymnastics and springboard diving.
The Wits aquatics team 1988 (left to right – back row): G. Coetzee, J. Berzen, G. du Toit, D. Salzmann, D. Parsons, M. de la Rey, M. Ullrich and S. Haupt (third row): H. Morris Eyton, L. Raccanello, M. Nicolaus, D. Harrison, R. Talbot, R. Fevrier, P. Bartosch and A. Ford (second row): L. von Broembsen, G. Kernick, J. Goetzsche, H. Sibbald, K. McLachlan, R. Berzen and D. Whisken (in front): A. de Leo and D. Pitcairn.
Colin Nefdt was South Africa’s table tennis champion in 1987.
Men’s Tennis
In the mid-seventies, the Brebnor brothers continued to demonstrate their interest in the tennis club. They were involved in promoting the sport at the university, the highlight being the successful Fred Perry league. Organised entirely by students and held at the university courts, the competition was an exciting innovation. It involved various league sides wearing team colours, with the students resplendent in their blue and gold. Wits fielded a powerful side that included Colin Dowdeswell and dominated the tournament in the years it was held.
The recipient of a full blue in 1977, Dowdeswell is one of Wits’s most illustrious players. Born in Wimbledon, he returned to the ‘village’ many times to play in one of the world’s great tournaments. In 1974, he was runner-up in the under-18 singles and a year later partnered the Tasmanian, Allan Stone, to reach the doubles final of the main championships.
After completing his Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1977, he was able to compete more freely on the international circuit, but returned to Johannesburg in 1978 to participate in the South African Open championships. At Ellis Park, he reached the semi-final stage where he came up against the world’s top-ranked player, Guillermo Vilas. The unseeded Dowdeswell won the first set 6-1 and, with 6 000 spectators urging him on, he had two match points in the second set and three more in a monumental 11-9 tiebreaker. Wrote Sy Lerman: ‘It was as near to hysteria as you are likely to get at Ellis Park.’ He continued:
When Vilas shook off the sweaty spectre of defeat to win the second set it was uppermost in the minds of most of those present that Dowdeswell had missed the boat …It precipitated his final tactical masterpiece. He coasted on Vilas’s service game and relied on putting on the pressure at 5-4 after serving first.The audacious ploy worked devastatingly. Vilas saved a sixth match point with a superhuman passing shot. Then capitulated amid the chaos.
Dowdeswell won 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 and the press reflected on how much success he might have achieved had he devoted all his time to tennis. His programme was always busy and after graduating from Wits, he continued his studies overseas and committed himself to a coaching contract in Switzerland. Even though tennis took a back seat on occasion, he achieved a great deal towards the end of his playing career and was Great Britain’s number one in the Davis Cup.
The progress of the Wits men’s side over the next decade was at first encouraging. After promising much at intervarsity level for several years – third in 1978 and fourth in 1980 –the title was shared with the host university, Stellenbosch, in 1981. Wits fielded a strong combination that included Brendan Gaylis (SAU team 1981), Howard Herr (SAU team 1982), Brian Gaitz, John Holland, Greg Brady and David Smeth.
The team, which also won section 2 of the
Southern Transvaal first league, broke up soon afterwards and Wits’s fortunes slumped. Eighth place at intervarsity in 1982 and seventh for the next two years reflected a struggling club that went through a period of division and discord. In 1984, the men’s first team was demoted to what was effectively a third league. The administration also collapsed and at the beginning of 1985, there was no chairman and no committee.
At that point, Darryl Weisz decided to take it upon himself to do something about the situation. He left no stone unturned in his efforts to promote the club – he gathered around him an enthusiastic committee; arranged social activities to improve spirit; organised sponsorships to alleviate financial commitments, and engaged well qualified coaches to assist the club’s preparations. On the playing side, he personally set the example and the men’s team made rapid progress. Exciting new players – Ivan Stein, Galen Perdikis and John Biccard – joined Weisz, Paul Chimes and Chris Naidoo, firmly committed to the task of winning the league.
In their 1985 programme, six out of seven matches were won – the match lost was by one game – and a play-off for first place was earned against the Transvaal Automobile Club. The deciding clash was duly won and the splendidly resurgent Wits were promoted to the first league, section 2.
The following year – 1986 – Wits achieved their second promotion in as many seasons. Mark Lupton-Smith put in sterling performances to remain unbeaten in the singles, and Galen Perdikis and Darryl Weisz did likewise in the doubles. The university’s mission to regain their place in the top division of Southern Transvaal tennis was executed in a most convincing fashion.
Further success was achieved in the intervarsity. At Grahamstown in December 1985, the Witsies fought with vim and vigour to cause a major surprise. Seeded fifth, they beat topranked Pretoria in their opening match before going on to win the rain marred tournament. The superiority of the Wits team was reflected in the individual awards where Darryl Weisz, Ivan Stein and Galen Perdikis were named the best number one, two and three players, respectively.
In 1986, Wits successfully defended their SAU title at Bloemfontein. The fact that the organisers had not been adequately impressed by their performance at Grahamstown and seeded them third, merely served as a further incentive to do well. Their superior depth –Mark Lupton-Smith was named the best number four player – proved the decisive factor in this tournament. Darryl Weisz and Galen Perdikis were selected for an SAU team that was invited to tour Israel.
Stellenbosch won the 1987 men’s SAU by beating Wits in the ‘decider’. In the individual honours, Weisz was awarded his Protea colours for the third year and Sean Montgomery was
Colin Dowdeswell reached the doubles final at Wimbledon (with Allan Stone) in 1975 and represented both Rhodesia and Great Britain in the Davis Cup.
Darryl Weisz led Wits’s tennis revival in the 1980s.
selected as a reserve. Galen Perdikis was named the best number three player, ending the week undefeated and without losing a set.
In 1988, Wits finished third out of the 12
Women’s tennis
The women’s section also enjoyed a measure of success during the 1980s. They were able to call on talented players such as Helen Weiner, Carol Moorcroft, Fran Ind, Lynn Mandelbaum, Elana Smuckler, Kim Seddon, Ann Bacher and Gail Boon. Their best performance was probably that of 1986 when Wits won section 2 of the first league. They were admirably led by Kim Seddon, who was a Southern Transvaal player and justified her national top-ten ranking by winning three open titles that season, including the Johannesburg Centenary Open. She and Ann Bacher were unbeaten in the league, both in their singles and as a doubles combination, thereby providing a firm base for the students in their quest for promotion.
The intervarsity achievements were for the
participating universities. There were no SAU representatives but Craig Lupton-Smith was honoured by being named the best number six player at the tournament.
most part disappointing, with a fourth place in 1980 being the best result. On paper, Wits’s finest side in many years was the 1987 combination when Gail Boon, then ranked seventh in the country, decided to take a break from her travels on the world tennis circuit and enrol for full-time university study. She enjoyed a great season, culminating in her impressive clean sweep of titles at the Syfrets Natal Open tournament. Although SAU selection came her way, Wits did no better at that year’s intervarsity, finishing fifth. Fourth position out of 12 universities indicated progress in 1988, but no Witsies made the SAU side. There was encouragement nevertheless in that Catherine Chambers’ award as the best number six player at the tournament reflected the team’s depth.
Chris Naidoo played an important role in a rewarding period for Wits’ tennis.
The Wits tennis team 1987 (left to right – back row): Darryl Weisz, Bruce Tyson, Cliff Goldberg, Galen Perdikis, Sean Montgomery, Chris Naidoo and Kevin Aron (seated): Jocelyn Jardine, Claire Tucker, Nadia Loewke, Professor R. Keddy (manager), Gail Boon, Kim Seddon and Ann Bacher.
Promising players in 1983 with coach George Rudman (left to right): Carol Moorcroft, Lynn Mandelbaum and Fran Ind.
Kim Seddon was a national top-ten player and a key figure in Wits’s success in the 1980s.
Gail Boon in action at Wimbledon.
Underwater
Of the underwater sports, the men’s hockey team enjoyed the greatest degree of success at intervarsity level. They won the SAU tournament on three occasions, in 1975, 1979 and 1981. Some good players emerged, such as John Dabbs, Ric Bruschi, Mike Bouter, Dave Bean, Mike Sinclair, Bradley Coward and Anthony Koch. When the Springboks played against a touring British team in 1985, Mike Bouter was chosen as captain of the side and Mike Sinclair one of his players.
Wits won the SAU scuba in 1976 and generally held their own in this aspect of the competition. In contrast, the spearfishermen were usually outclassed and on several occasions failed to appear on the scoreboard, not having managed to spear any fish.
A major achievement by the underwater club was the establishment of South Africa’s deepest cave dive. Nuno Gomes and Dian Hanekom set the new record when they reached a depth of slightly over 120 metres at Boesmansgat. This marked the beginning of an impressive series of records by Gomes.
Volleyball
Volleyball was played for many years in the social clubs of Czechoslovakian, French, Mauritian and Greek immigrants in South Africa, before provincial associations were formed in 1968. A year later, the first interprovincial tournament was played at the South African Games.
In 1973, moves were made by Aurelio GrechCumbo to establish volleyball at Wits, with practices held in the Old Mutual Sports Hall. On 5 March 1974, Grech-Cumbo presented a motion from the volleyball club that it be affiliated to the ASC. He explained that it had 28 members and the club could play in both the Northern and Southern Transvaal leagues. It was resolved – and carried unanimously – that the ASC ‘ratify the formation of the volleyball club as a sports club of the university, pending ratification of their constitution and on a probationary period of one year’.
In no time, honours were being achieved by club members. In 1974, Aurelio Grech-Cumbo and Dimitrios Arvanitis became the first Wits students to be chosen for Southern Transvaal at volleyball and they were awarded full blues. Then, when Wits played the University of Cape Town for the first time, Aurelio Grech-Cumbo and his younger brother, Ruggero, were selected to play for a combined universities team.
The father figure of volleyball at Wits, Aurelio Grech-Cumbo was also a leading light in the development of the game at national level. He was an excellent player and was selected for the Springboks against a touring team from Denmark in 1975 and Mauritius in 1976. On the administrative side, he was elected to the Southern Transvaal committee in 1975 and by the end of the year had become vice-chairman of the South African Volleyball Union.
Volleyball caught on quickly at the university
Nuno Gomes joined the Wits Underwater Club in 1977. He developed an interest in cave and deep diving that would see him establish South African and world records.
and on the occasion of the club’s second anniversary an article was placed in Wits Student that read: ‘Volleyball is a very social game, so if you’re the type that likes mixing with people then join us. We’re a very international group, ranging from Italians, Germans, Greeks, French, South Africans, Czechoslovakians, Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese … you name it, we’ve got it.’ Young, enthusiastic and ambitious students began playing on a social basis but it did not take long before they became very competitive. Witsies dominated early provincial sides and some were good enough to gain recognition at national level. Over the next few years, Ruggero Grech-Cumbo, Norman Greer, Selwyn Marx. Matthias Mehmel and Paul Mitchell followed Aurelio Grech-Cumbo into the Springbok side.
The students were prepared to travel far and wide to gain experience and to develop club spirit. A Wits team comprising Ruggero GrechCumbo (who captained and coached the side), John Greathead, Jonathan Boshoff, Alec Graham, Norman Greer, Henry Marks and Andy Mehmel, won the 1977 Holiday Inns tournament at Maseru – a title they retained the following year.
In order to promote volleyball at university level, Professor Arnt Spandau and Ruggero Grech-Cumbo organised a southern tour in 1978 that encompassed the universities of Rhodes, Port Elizabeth, Stellenbosch and Cape Town. This historic venture paved the way for the first official intervarsity held at Port Elizabeth in 1979.
The SAU tournament became the highlight of the volleyball year for student players. The Wits men invariably made the semi-final but rarely looked likely winners. A second place in 1982 was a fine performance but overall victory proved elusive. They were nevertheless well
Mike Sinclair represented the Springbok underwater hockey team during 1985-87.
Aurelio Grech-Cumbo introduced volleyball to Wits.
Ruggero Grech-Cumbo joined his brother Aurelio in the Springbok volleyball team.
represented in SAU teams that played the host province, a fixture that often attracted television coverage. Those who played included Ruggero Grech-Cumbo, John Greathead, Matthias Mehmel, Paul Mitchell, Selwyn Marx, Geoff Midlance, Paul van Looy, Akira Wakabayashi, Richard Pilkington, Mike Wood, Harold Mayer (who was also a South African all-star recipient in 1985), Warren Venter (who became the seventh player from the men’s section to win national honours), Terry Williams, Warren van Rooyen, Adam Prouse and Daryn Webb.
Four Wits students – Terry Williams, Warren Venter, Dinos Kastanos and Phil Appolonatos –were also fortunate enough to be chosen for the SAU side that toured Belgium late in 1985.
Terry Williams, who did two stints as chairman of the club, was chosen for the national squad in 1988. He proved to be a fine club captain and during that season led Wits to the finals of the league and the Witwatersrand Cup. On both occasions they beat the strong Red Barons team in the semi-final but lost to the South African club champions, Westdene, in the final.
A lack of depth and little continuity in the composition of the women’s side initially prevented them from achieving the desired results. There were talented individuals such as Agnes van Looy (the first to represent Southern Transvaal), Serena Fisher, Anique Sesink-Clee (both Springboks) and Caryn Veale (twice named a Protea) but it was not until 1982 that there were signs of team building. A closely knit group of women that included Tina and Charlotte Hartmann, Gabi Angelsberger, Mandy Dyson, Birgit Maier and Sandy Statt, worked hard together at improving their game and a fine team spirit inevitably developed.
After a fourth place at the SAU tournament in 1982, the women achieved their first win the following year. They had progressed into a formidable combination and were in fine form on their home courts at Wits’s Old Mutual Sports Hall. The tournament was played on a roundrobin system with Wits emerging unbeaten in their eight matches.
Tina Hartmann and Gabi Angelsberger left the
side at the end of the year but Sandy Statt, who returned to the university after a year’s break, and newcomer Gabriela Petras filled the gaps in the 1984 intervarsity at Port Elizabeth. It was anticipated that this tournament would provide a true test of Wits’s strength. The 1982 champions, Port Elizabeth, had not defended their title in Johannesburg so were expected to make an allout effort to reassert their superiority on their home court. But it was not to be – Wits won in style and Port Elizabeth finished last out of the six universities taking part.
The 1984 tournament also served to emphasise that Wits had acquired a most accomplished player in Gabriela Petras, who had first taken up the game in Czechoslovakia at the age of 12. Playing for the Spoje club of Bratislava, she had gained selection for the junior Czechoslovakian team before her family settled in South Africa. She was the complete player – sharp reflexes, uncanny anticipation and remarkable recovery ability – and at 18 years old was the youngest recipient of a South African all-star award at the 1984 interprovincial tournament.
Wits’s third successive intervarsity success occurred at the 1985 tournament at Bloemfontein. It was an overwhelming victory in which the Johannesburg students did not drop a set and were rewarded with five of their players being chosen for the SAU team: Gabriela Petras (as captain), Christine Müller, Sandra Statt, Mandy Dyson and Charlotte Hartmann.
Such was Wits’s superiority at the time that it was surprising they should lose their intervarsity title to the host university, Cape Town, in a thrilling five-set final in 1986. But they came back stronger than ever in 1987 to achieve their fourth victory in five years. They beat Free State 3-0 in the semi-final and Rhodes 3-0 in the final to record the impressive feat again of not dropping a set throughout the tournament.
Birgit Maier and Mandy Dyson became Springboks in 1987, while Charlotte Hartmann represented the Rest of South Africa. Gabriela Petras, who won further national all-star awards in 1985 and 1986, was also chosen for the Springbok team in 1987.
Paul Mitchell
Terry Williams
The Wits volleyball team that won the 1983 intervarsity (left to right – standing): C. Hartmann, S. Hollis, A. Mehmel (coach), B. Hartmann and M. Dyson (in front): B. Maier and G. Angelsberger.
The Wits volleyball team that reached the final of the Witwatersrand Cup and League in 1988 (left to right – back row): I. Brenner, J. Berry, D. French, T. Willia ms (captain), A. Barrett and H. Henry (front row): A. Hartmann, A. Monadjem, D. Webb, W. Venter, T. Lambrianos and N. Neophytou.
In 1988, a relatively inexperienced Wits women’s team reached their fifth successive intervarsity final. Victory might have appeared a formality in that Wits had defeated their opponents earlier in the tournament but in the match that counted, the Ikeys won, having played with far greater purpose.
While Gabriela Petras had excelled at SAU –capturing the ‘player of the tournament’ award on three occasions – she was but one of a number of Witsies to be honoured as recipients of Protea colours. The Hartmann sisters, Birgit Maier, Gabi Angelsberger, Christine Müller, Sandra Statt,
Water polo
Wits lost some ground during the latter part of the 1970s and early 1980s and teams struggled more than they had done in the past. There were several reasons for a comparatively less successful record, not least the departure of experienced players. Fortunately, the arrival of Ian Watt in 1982 halted any serious decline and precipitated some improved results.
Watt arrived shortly after guiding Natal to victory at the 1982 national championships. He initially decided to concentrate on the Hancock Cup competition. According to the team’s goalkeeper, Anthony Dance, ‘Ian recognised that his new team was too inexperienced to make a sustained onslaught on the league title. He therefore worked on psyching the guys up for the knockout competition, and his tactics surprised even the best teams.’
Wits won the Hancock Cup in 1982/83 for the first time since 1975/76 and proved that it was no fluke by repeating the achievement the following year. Both times, they defeated Old Edwardians in the final, but they were unable to record a hat-
Weightlifting
A formidable weightlifting team had been built up by 1975. It included no fewer than six members of the SAU side. Lifters of the calibre of Burger Wessels, Phil Carter, Mel Siff, ‘Sommy’ Morkel (a Springbok trialist), Jim Towner-Coston, Tony Zachariasse, Gilbert Fung, Jeff Norton (who became South Africa’s top powerlifter in the featherweight division) and Rick van Zyl helped transform the club into being the most successful in the country.
Club chairman Mel Siff was the instigator of the first senior national level powerlifting contest in South Africa when he included the event in the 1974 SAU tournament at Wits. It proved successful and was maintained in the intervarsity programme with Wits winning the competition for the first three years.
Bodybuilding was reintroduced in 1975, having been dropped after the 1963 intervarsity. Hilton Mer (winner in 1978), Jonathan Myers and Howard Katz featured in the late 1970s. Mer did particularly well to win the Mr Johannesburg, Mr Transvaal and Mr South Africa titles, and he became the first bodybuilder to be awarded a full blue.
Mandy Dyson, Sandy Botha, Kim Williams, Anja Schimpke and Margalies Hamman were all influential in keeping Wits at the forefront of intervarsity volleyball.
Apart from their success at the intervarsity, the Wits women won the Witwatersrand first league in 1986 and qualified for the South African club championships. They were also a progressive organisation on campus and established an interfaculty league to promote the sport amongst students and ensure a steady supply of players for the main club.
trick of victories in 1984/85. A runner-up spot was nevertheless a notable achievement. Watt also established more depth in the club, with his success in this direction reflected by the second team twice winning the league
The student community produced players who excelled at a high level: Eric Rosenberg, Clive Jollands, Merrick Tosefsky, Anthony Dance, Tommy Osborne, Dale Harrison and Martin Bezuidenhout all represented Transvaal A. Rosenberg, Osborne and Dance went on to win Springbok colours and Harrison was selected for a South African B side.
Of the three Springboks, Eric Rosenberg had left university by the time he made his national debut but the other two were still students. Tommy Osborne played for the provincial team for a mere two years before his selection for South Africa in 1985. His goal scoring abilities were soon apparent at international level and he became a regular fixture in the Springbok side, where he was joined by goalkeeper Anthony Dance in 1986.
The 1977 SAU tournament was cancelled and when the competition resumed the following year, Wits faced strong opposition from Potchefstroom. They managed to stave off a strong challenge in the weightlifting in order to retain the Du Plessis shield but lost their powerlifting title. Star lifter amongst the Witsies during 1978 was lightweight Rick van Zyl who was chosen for the Springbok B team to compete against the touring Taiwanese.
Wits’s achievements during 1978/79 enabled the club to conclude the decade on a high note. Clive Donninger (best weightlifter at SAU in 1979), Jeff Norton, Sommy Morkel, Mel Siff and Rick van Zyl won SAU colours and Donninger, Norton, Siff, van Zyl and Bernardus van der Spuy represented Southern Transvaal. It seemed as if Wits had the resources to dominate the competition for another decade but this was not to be the case.
The 1980 intervarsity was won, with Mel Siff and Liam Tweed taking their divisions, but this was to be the club’s last SAU success. A second position in 1981 – when Tweed and Jonathan
Gabriela Petras, a former member of the Czechoslovakian junior team, received three South African all-star awards before making her Springbok debut in 1987.
Anthony Dance – Springbok 1986.
Tommy Osborne – Springbok 1985, 1986 and 1988.
Sheiman were selected for the SAU team – was followed by third places in the ensuing two years. Second places in both the weightlifting and powerlifting sections of the 1984 tournament signalled the end of Wits’s impressive record in SAU tournaments.
Yachting
In March 1974, a meeting was held for persons interested in ‘resurrecting the yacht club’. A member of the ASC addressed a group of enthusiasts in the foyer of the Old Mutual Sports Hall and it was decided another attempt would be made at forming a club.
Graham Waiting took on the role of commodore in 1974, and the club’s only asset – its Spearhead dinghy – underwent a ‘brief rejuvenation’ before members accepted it was not a sailing proposition. For some time use was made of boats owned by members and their friends. The club thrived and Campus Independent was able to report: ‘We have sailed and razzled at Wemmer Pan and Bronkhorstbaai. Every non-boat-owning member had the chance to sail – and let us emphasise that you don’t have to own a boat if you want to join the club.’
It was not long before success came the way of the yacht club. In 1977, a crew of Witsies won the Lake Deneys yacht club ‘Brass Monkeys’ series on the Vaal dam. A boatbuilding firm on the dam lent a Theta, Lucky for Some, to the club for the series. Skippered alternately by Graham ‘Van’ Milne and Stephan Kuhn and crewed by a different crowd of Witsies each week, Lucky won all the races in its class. Then, in the ‘King of the Vaal’ regatta, Lucky again won her class and came second overall.
The arrival of Alex Stone at Wits was to have a marked influence on the progress of the club. He served as commodore from 1977 to 1979 and as vice-commodore a couple of years later. He gained many honours in the sailing world, including Springbok colours, and on the administrative side could be credited with sending the first Wits team to the yachting intervarsity.
The inaugural intervarsity competition was held in 1976 between Natal and Cape Town, with the former winning. Wits entered the 1977 regatta, which was sailed in Lasers and staged at False Bay. The team consisted of Philip Baum (a national Sprog champion), Dave Beyers and Steve Minter tied with Natal behind Cape Town, but then lost the tie-breaker. Baum became the first Witsie to be selected for an SAU yachting team.
The following year, 1978, saw Wits send a Fireball as well as a Laser team to the intervarsity held offshore at Durban. Alex Stone, who competed in the fireball competition, recalled: ‘We came last, due in part to the fact that the Fireball, which the University of Natal yacht club loaned us, sank at every available opportunity.’
On a happier note, a major achievement for the Wits yacht club occurred in August 1978, when Alex Stone, Russell Hide (who also participated in the Whitbread Round-the-World race) and Van
Ironically, the weights club membership increased dramatically from 397 in 1980 to 1 560 in 1988. Many of the members simply sought ‘a sound mind in a sound body’ but the increase was also due to the realisation that weights play an important part in supplementary training for all sports.
Milne won the Buccaneer nationals.
In 1979, Wits hosted the intervarsity at the Lake Deneys yacht club. Pietermaritzburg competed for the first time and Sprogs were used instead of Fireballs. Wits entered two teams with their senior combination emerging as overall winners. The victorious ‘A’ team included Topher Hancock, Owen Keates (both selected for the Proteas), Lesley Roger-Lund, Richard Parker, Michèle Matter, Van Milne, Adam French, Ian Macintosh (who had competed in the World Mirror championships with his brother, Eric) and Howard Amoils.
Cape Town hosted the 1980 intervarsity at Zeekoeivlei and duly won the competition. Durban finished second and the holders of the trophy, Wits, third. The official results were decided by the number of wins in the Sprogs and Laser classes. In an attempt to console members, the Wits club newsletter pointed out that ‘if the windsurfer results had been included, then we would have won overall with 20 wins against Cape Town’s 18. Next year, the results of all three classes will count for the overall winner.’
The Witsies also proudly noted that they had more representatives in the SAU team than any other university, namely Gerhard Aab (Laser), Adam French and Corinna Gardner (Sprogs) and Richard Adcock and Kevin Rosemere (windsurfers). The Proteas sailed against a Western Province team in all three classes with Province winning on a tie-breaker.
The university was gathering a mounting list of honours in the yachting world. Stephan Kuhn represented South Africa at the Laser World Championships at Kingston, Canada, in July 1980. A year later, the new commodore, Michèle Matter, finished second in the Sprog nationals and Craig Dreyer was second in the Fireball nationals. Alex Stone was then selected to represent South Africa in the Fireball class at the world championships in Weymouth, England. He finished sixth – the first South African home.
Durban was first out of the eight competing universities at the 1981 intervarsity at Pietermaritzburg. Wits finished third, with Michèle Matter and Eric Mackintosh chosen for the SAU side. It was an encouraging performance as several senior sailors were unavailable because they were preparing for the club’s greatest challenge up to that time: the South Atlantic race.
A Wits crew, sponsored by BMW, sailed in the Cape to Uruguay race in early January 1982. An important feature of the university’s entry was that it would swell Rag funds. The idea for the project had come up at a Rag meeting some months before when Gerhard Aab, a student on the executive committee and one of South
Rick van Zyl was chosen for the Springbok ‘B’ team to compete against a touring Taiwanese team in 1978.
Alex Stone is pictured with the Old Pike trophy awarded to the winning university at the annual SAU competition. A leading figure in the Wits University yacht club in its early years, Stone was awarded Springbok colours in 1982 and 1983.
BMW Sensation crew that participated in the trans-Atlantic race in 1982 (left to right): Adam French, Helmut Ludwig, Gerhard Aab, Mark Stevens, Jurgen Coblenz and Mike Maier.
The 1982 yachting team with their trophies (left to right – back row): Craig Lanham-Love, John Klintworth, Liz Deane, Alec LanhamLove and Richard Adcock (in front): Adam French, Howard Amoils and John Lawson.
Africa’s leading yachtsmen, asked: ‘Why don’t we try to win the Cape to Uruguay yacht race?’
To Carol Borghart, the Rag chairperson, it was an excellent idea, the big problem being the lack of money and no yacht. This did not daunt her as she was a law student with four years of Rag fundraising experience, and within weeks her enthusiasm and determination had played its part in convincing yacht owner Neil Bailey and the BMW company to go along with the idea. The well known Durban-based sloop, Sensation, was renamed BMW Sensation and repainted in the sponsors’ colours.
Neil Bailey lent the yacht as a contribution in kind to the Rag effort and the BMW sponsorship not only covered the expenses involved but allowed for a handsome profit that went to Rag charities. The mammoth task of coordinating the project was handled by Aab and Borghart with help from the Rag committee. A pre-race report recorded: ‘They will have to attend to hundreds of details from having new sails to packing eggs in vaseline and painting food cans to prevent corrosion.’
The race proved to be demanding; at one stage
the Witsies were lying twentieth as a result of sailing too far south and the wind dying down on them. But they rallied well and ended up third in their class and sixth on handicap out of 48 entries. It was the start of a memorable year in 1982. The Transvaal inter-club match race series and the intervarsity were won. The SAU competition at Durban saw Wits collect 19 wins to beat Cape Town’s 16, with Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Rhodes following in that order. Six Witsies gained SAU colours: Geoff Jackson, Alec and Craig Lanham-Love, Rob Wallendorf (all Sprogs), John Klintworth (Lasers) and John Lawson (windsurfing). The sailing during the week was of a high standard as the Proteas’ 5-1 win over Natal’s representative team indicated, the only complaint being leg infections from dirty Durban harbour water.
In the winter intervarsity at Cape Town in 1983, Wits slipped to fourth position, but Howard Amoils (as Sprog captain), Ruth de Vlieg and Karl Lambrecht were selected for the Proteas.
Howard Amoils crewed for Adam French, a Wits mechanical engineering graduate, at the world Fireball championships at Estavayer-le-Lac on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland. They finished twenty-sixth but former Witsie Jurgen Coblenz and his crew Dave Kitchen were placed second, after leading when going into the final race. French and Coblenz both became Springboks. The windsurfers made remarkable progress. When Alex Feher first joined the club in 1981, it had a paid-up membership of 11 but by the time he was chairman in 1984, numbers had risen to a staggering 260. John Lawson was fifth in the national windsurfing championships and represented South Africa at the world competition in 1982, while Richard Adcock won the Western Province championship and was second in the Transvaal competition. Anthony Dancig, who later won Springbok colours, became prominent amongst lightweight surfers. And big Boris Kamstra made a name for himself by winning the international F2 Fun Cup at Port Elizabeth, ahead of former world champion Gregg Aguera.
Meanwhile, the sailors’ preparations for the next South Atlantic race resulted in a depleted Wits team attending the 1984 intervarsity at Midmar dam outside Pietermaritzburg. They did well to win the Sprogs on a split in a three-way tie with Durban and Cape Town, although they finished behind Durban in the overall placings. Anthony Dancig, Andrew de Vlieg and Melissa Passet were selected for the Proteas that beat a South African Defence Force team.
Wits used the 22.5-metre downwind racing machine Kaapenaar for the 1985 Cape to Uruguay race. It was deemed necessary for 1 300 nautical miles of performance training to be carried out in preparation and this culminated in a dramatic victory over the navy’s entry Voortrekker II in the Saldanha Sea Harvest race.
The Pretoria-based life insurance company Momentum Life stepped in with a R130 000 sponsorship and the Wits crew were placed in a position where they had a fighting chance for line honours. Their main opposition was expected to be the pre-race favourite Apple Macintosh, the
Wits’s
1982 winner 3CR12, the navy’s entry Paper Pack, Voortrekker and Wesbank
The Wits crew, young but experienced, was headed by Gerhard Aab who had skippered the 1982 entry BMW Sensation The other members of the crew were Howard Amoils, Carol Aab, Gary Davies, Don Elks, John Klintworth, Alec and Craig Lanham-Love, Karl Lambrecht and Coenie Wesselink.
The race proved dramatic. Because of the speed of their yacht, Gerhard Aab and his crew decided to take a chance. They lengthened their race by going further north than the rest of the fleet during the first few days. They hoped to catch the stronger winds and then rely on Momentum Life’s speed to make up the lost distance.
As it turned out, Apple Macintosh decided on the same tactic and this led to an enthralling battle with the two yachts keeping each other in sight and at times exchanging messages. The Wits crew established an early lead and held on to it for the first seven days. Thereafter the lead changed several times before Apple Macintosh
took the initiative on the fourteenth day. Although the Witsies were very much in contention over the next week, Apple Macintosh had by far the better winds on the last couple of days.
Momentum Life’s second place in the final line honours was a tremendous achievement. There had been plenty of drama during the race brought on by engine problems, storms, breakages, huge waves and Karl Lambrecht being flung over the side of the boat during the night. Alec LanhamLove recalled: ‘Fortunately, Karl managed to cling to a rope. A nasty accident was narrowly averted and he was hauled aboard, somewhat shaken.’
The achievement of Momentum Life did much to help the yacht club win the Emily Smidman ‘Club of the Year’ award for 1985. There were other highlights, notably Patrick Harris’s first place in the South African youth yachting championships and his selection for South Africa in the world Laser championships at Cascais, Portugal.
The yacht club dominated the end-of-year intervarsity as never before. They won the Old Pike trophy for overall points, took the Sprog
Momentum Life nears Punta del Este to earn second place in the Cape to Uruguay race.
George Amoils was awarded Springbok colours in 1985.
The Momentum Life crew (left to right – standing): Karl Lambrecht, Carol Aab, John Klintworth, Alec Lanham Love, Don Elks, Coenie Wesselink and Gary Davies (in front): Gerhard Aab, Howard Amoils and Craig Lanham-Love.
The yacht club – ‘Club of the Year’ 1985 (left to right): Denis Turner, Karl Lambrecht, Trevor Amoils, Craig Lanham-Love, Patrick Harris, Andrew de Vlieg, Glynne Amoils and Bobby Lanham-Love.
and windsurfing trophies and gained ten out of 12 places in the SAU team: Sprogs – Trevor Amoils (captain), Lance Harrod, Andrew de Vlieg, Glynne Amoils, Gordon Guthrie and Gordon Ferguson; Lasers – Bobby LanhamLove and Patrick Harris; windsurfers – André Wolf (captain) and Frank van Diggelen.
A talented newcomer to the club in 1986 was George Amoils, who received his Springbok colours early that year. At 18 years old, he had four national wins to his credit covering the GP14, Mirror and Fireball classes and had represented South Africa overseas in the Mirror class at the world, European and British championships. In addition, he achieved a thirteenth place at the 1985 Fireball World Championships in Italy.
In 1986, the club had probably its most successful dinghy season. The achievements were remarkable: three national championship titles (Sprogs – Andrew de Vlieg; Flying Dutchman – Andrew de Vlieg and Trevor Amoils; Fireballs – George Amoils); three South African Games gold medallists (Lasers – Patrick Harris; Flying Dutchman – Andrew de Vlieg and Trevor Amoils) and one bronze (Lasers – Bobby Lanham-Love); and the 1986 national youth champion (Patrick Harris).
The club also took part in the Lipton Cup Challenge, the country’s most prestigious sailing regatta. The trophy, donated by Sir Thomas Lipton in 1925, is contested every year by the cream of South African yachtsmen. In 1986, Wits put together a last-minute entry and finished twelfth, but gained valuable experience. It was abundantly clear that in order to be competitive a sponsor was needed to cover the not insignificant expenses. Diners Club stepped into the breach in 1987.
The Diners Club team, comprising Patrick Harris (skipper), Andrew de Vlieg, Neville Whitehead, Bobby Lanham-Love, Chris Strever and Ruth Stone (manager), finished ninth. The
final position was disappointing as the team was lying fourth at the halfway stage and seemingly poised to challenge for top honours.
Determined to improve on this showing, Diners Club entered again in 1988. Andrew de Vlieg and Bobby Lanham-Love in their third Lipton Cup Challenge provided the experience, and they were joined by Louis Kruger, Martin Lambrecht and Ean van Vuuren. This time, winds were such that six races were held – as opposed to the previous year’s four – with Wits winning the fourth day’s racing. Overall, Diners Club finished in a creditable fourth position out of 26 yachts, a pleasing improvement.
Wits retained the Old Pike trophy at the intervarsity at Boskop dam in 1986. They won the Sprogs and finished second in the Lasers and windsurfers. Eight Witsies were selected for the SAU team but they were not awarded colours as only four universities took part in the competition. Those chosen were the three Amoils (Trevor, Glynne and George), Glen Green, Neville Whitehead, Andrew de Vlieg, Bobby Lanham-Love and André Wolf.
Wits lost the Old Pike trophy to Durban in 1987 (with only Patrick Harris making the SAU side) but came back strongly the following year at Midmar Dam. They won the intervarsity for a record fifth time in a competition memorable for the excellent performance of the Wits boardsailors (formerly known as windsurfers). All three members – Richard Finsen, André Wolf and Anthony Anges – were chosen for the SAU team. The Witsies also shone in the Laser class, where Andrew de Vlieg was awarded Protea colours.
A special celebration was held during the week when news was received that Richard Finsen had been awarded Springbok colours. He had earlier achieved an impressive third position in the world windsurfer class championship at Plettenberg Bay.
The Diners Club crew that participated in the 1987 Lipton Cup (left to right –back row): Bobby Lanham-Love, Ruth Stone (manager) and Chris Strever (in front): Andrew de Vlieg, Patrick Harris and Neville Whitehead.
Bobby Lanham-Love (left) and Patrick Harris represented South Africa at the 1987 Swan Premium Laser World Championships.
Richard Finsen was third in the world windsurfer class championship at Plettenberg Bay in 1988.
The Wits yachting team that won the 1988 intervarsity (left to right – back row): André Wolf, Richard Finsen, Anthony Anges, Jens Bol, Martin Lambrecht, Bobby Lanham-Love, Dave Johnston, Andrew de Vlieg and James King (in front): Jeremy Rossaak, Patrick Harris (manager) and Ean van Vuuren.
Chapter 6
1989-1999: Unity – and the decade that followed
Sport has a role to play in breaking down apartheid and everything it has entrenched.
Gary Blumberg,
ASC chairman 1990
Normalising Sport
In the early 1980s, the ANC attached increasing importance to sports unity because of the role it could play in normalising the situation in South Africa. A sports and culture desk was formed with its main objective being to get rid of apartheid in sport. Then, in 1987, the ‘desk’ split and the National Sports Congress (NSC) emerged as an interim structure.
The establishment of the non-racial NSC assumed great importance in the light of significant policy changes made by the ANC. In May 1987, Oliver Tambo gave the Canon Collins Memorial Lecture in which he said:
Indeed the moment is upon us when we shall have to deal with alternative structures that our people have created and are creating through struggle and sacrifice as the genuine representatives of these masses in all fields of human activity. Not only should these not be boycotted, but more, they should be supported, encouraged and treated as the democratic counterparts within South Africa of similar institutions and organisations internationally.
The address signalled a turning point in the ANC’s approach. ‘We started to rethink our tactics,’ explained Barbara Masekela, the administrative secretary for arts and culture, ‘The boycott had also disadvantaged the oppressed. It therefore became necessary to prepare people inside South Africa to cope with the post-liberation period’.
In 1988, the NSC released a statement of intent ‘ to lay the foundation for a mass-based democratic movement within sport which would be an integral participant in the struggle to abolish apartheid and would mobilise sportspersons into a broad democratic non-racial movement.’ To keep things simple, the NSC based their approach on three principles – unity, development and preparation. This involved the unity of all participants in sport and the sharing of all structures and facilities, with the development of skills and necessary preparation to run sport in the post-apartheid era.
The establishment of the NSC effectively meant the end of the South African Council on Sport (SACOS), the domestic sports wing of the anti-apartheid movement. The latter, formed in 1973, had sustained the sports boycott but its policy of non-collaboration became a principle rather than a strategy. The NSC’s interim leader, Mluleki George, was a serving member of SACOS but had become aware of
its shortcomings and impatient that its rigid approach was adversely affecting the progress of non-racial sport in South Africa: ‘ “No normal sport in an abnormal society” was all right but it was not a solution. It was a cul-de-sac ... We could blame apartheid for everything – but that wouldn’t get rid of apartheid. We had to do something to normalise sport.’
Although the NSC and SACOS, denied claims of a split, there were serious doubts that they could work together. The fact that the NSC was prepared to talk to all sporting bodies was a major ideological difference. By April 1989, the two organisations were conscious of the sharp division emerging. The NSC recognised that the time had come to take a lead role by building a base amongst sportspeople.
Mluleki George published ‘an open letter to all sportspersons’ in which he explained the policy and objectives of the NSC. A conference followed at Wits University that would be seen as the first step towards unifying sport.
The Sports Conference at Wits University
Wits University’s sports administration was relatively well prepared for the developments taking place. A concern during the eighties was the intimidation experienced by non-white students who chose to compete under the ASC banner. John Baxter, the director of sport, felt that the effect of the double standard resolution on these black students was extremely harsh, particularly against those athletes who excelled in their sport, and who found themselves caught between the oppressive apartheid policies of the government and the inflexibility of the resolution as applied by SACOS and those supporting nonracial sport.
Transformation of sport at Wits began in 1986 when the Black Students Society (BSS) requested the establishment of a non-racial sports body on campus. In order to create opportunities for an inclusive system of participation, the university agreed to the establishment of a second sports body. Baxter explained that this ‘would cater for specific needs of black students and allow for a move towards an integrated sports structure and the development of a non-racial, united sports body on campus.’
In 1987, Professor Mervyn Shear, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Student Affairs, convened
Moss Mashishi, who was influential in establishing unity between WitsSATISCO and the ASC, later became president of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC).
John Baxter was noted by Krish Naidoo in Struggle Lawyer as having ‘played a sterling role’ in the 1989 NSC conference at Wits.
policies of the government and the double-standard resolution applied by SACOS.
a meeting with the Sports Administration and representatives of the All Sports Council, SRC and the BSS. Moss Mashishi of the BSS told the meeting that in the past black students had comprised too small a percentage of the student body to organise themselves at Wits under SACOS. Now that there were more black students on campus and in residences, ‘they had decided to use the sporting facilities on campus in order to advance the struggle of non-racialism and democracy’. Extensive negotiations led to the decision that two sporting bodies would exist: the old ASC and the South African Tertiary Institutions Sports Council (SATISCO), to be known as SATISCO-Wits. Both the ASC and SATISCO-Wits would fall under the general control of the Sports Administration.
In May 1989, the national executive of the interim committee of the NSC had a three-hour meeting with John Baxter. Discussion focused on the reasons for the establishment of the interim committee of the NSC, and the need to establish a mass-based, non-racial, united and democratic sports movement. Committee members explained the importance of sport in the struggle towards a new dispensation in a future South Africa, and the hope that a unified non-racial sports body could play an important role in the upliftment of the disadvantaged.
Baxter was invited as ‘an independent, objective party, to assist with the organisation of a Sports Conference ’89’ at the university in July of that year. It was the first step in bringing together sportspersons from different backgrounds – and notably black South Africans
university’s branch of SATISCO. An impressive 475 delegates attended the historic conference that was largely exploratory in nature, but positive support from the speakers served to confirm that the interim committee of the NSC was on the right track. Not only were they able to move into the townships to identify with people that SACOS had never been able legitimately to represent – the excluded sections of the population – but they were also committed to drawing in white supporters. They wanted all South African sportsmen and -women who opposed the apartheid system to be brought together in preparation for a post-apartheid South Africa.
When the question, ‘Should we launch the NSC?’ was asked, there was a resounding ‘Yes!’ The two-day gathering was regarded as R80 000 well spent. ‘The decision to launch a national sports body,’ said NSC General Secretary, Krish Naidoo, was ‘accepted by the sports fraternity generally … the conference unanimously endorsed the view that SACOS, by its conduct and intransigence, was no longer the authentic sports wing of the liberation movement.’ The NSC, explained Naidoo, ‘stuck with the challenges facing sportspersons and did not make politics the focal point of discussions. Our posture was non-threatening, and we were not meeting white sports bodies to pass moral judgement.’
SATISCO-Wits/ SATISU-Wits
The two-day gathering was a mammoth undertaking and, in making the necessary arrangements, assistance was received from the
SATISCO in 1990 oversaw sport on over 70 campuses throughout South Africa. It had grown since 1986 to a position where it offered students a wide variety of sporting codes that were played in internal leagues and at intervarsity level. The disciplines offered by SATISCO-Wits in 1990 were soccer, netball, tennis, volleyball, squash, rugby, softball, table tennis, aerobics and weightlifting. SATISCO members were also working towards the introduction of swimming, golf, chess, darts and snooker.
‘SATISCO-Wits,’ said its president, Dan Nefolovhodwe, ‘is a sporting home for all students who embrace the principles of nonracialism and democracy.’ The organisation had a good relationship with the establishment ASC. According to the latter’s vice-chairman, Barry Mocke, in 1990: ‘They were in regular contact, and cooperated amicably when it came to sharing facilities.’
Satisco-Wits was an ambitious and innovative organisation. They worked hard, learnt from their mistakes and enjoyed their successes. In 1990, six SATISCO-Wits teams travelled to Medunsa (the Medical University of South Africa) in early April for a day-long sports tournament. They won the rugby (14-12) and the softball matches, but the volleyball fixtures were not completed because players were required for two soccer encounters, drawn 1-1 and 4-4. At the end of the month, Satisco-Wits hosted a two-day sports tournament against teams from Rhodes University and the Transvaal College of Education (TCE). Wits beat Rhodes at basketball
Professor Mervyn Shear was Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Student Affairs, with responsibility for sport. He is pictured with Victor Radebe, a top-class athlete who was caught between the apartheid
Kapeng Makobo and Dan Nefolovhodwe were leaders of
18-15, soccer 3-0, softball 20-3 and rugby 13-4. In the netball, Wits A beat TCE 31-10 and Wits B beat Rhodes 22-5. Hopes of a clean sweep, however, were foiled in the volleyball and table tennis clashes.
In May 1990, the SATISCO-Wits athletes started to shine, finishing fifth out of eight competing colleges and universities at the Southern Transvaal sub-regional track and field events. Kabelo Sekwati, Isaac Mthenjane, Malombo Sethwane, Sifiso Ngwenya and Stewart Walsh were conspicuous in reports. In August, the rugby side defeated their Durban counterparts and a couple of weeks later scored a last-minute 20-17 victory over Medunsa –Keith Bethlehem going over for the crucial try that brought victory. In September, Satisco brought boxing back to Wits, stating that their tournament at Hall 29 was the ‘the first organised boxing match on campus since 1975’. The SATISCO National Games were held from 6-8 September at Durban University with two codes from SATISCO-Wits – tennis and soccer –performing particularly well. The David Webster Memorial Tournament, was held in honour of David Webster, an anti-apartheid activist and social anthropology lecturer, who had been assassinated the previous year outside his home in Troyeville. The ‘unelitist’ tournament was a great success and then, to round off the year, Bucks Sibiya was elected SATISCO-Wits’s ‘Sportsperson of the Year’.
The achievements of SATISCO -Wits attracted considerable interest on campus and support came in different ways. McLean Sibanda, for example, discovered that SATISCO ‘did not have tennis as one of their codes and there was an opportunity to start something. We began to assemble the guys who could play – about eight very good players –and competed in SATISCO tennis tournaments.’ Comrades star Bruce Fordyce learned of the shortage of athletics equipment through talking to SATISCO members. He had been involved in the fundraising work of the Ithuba Trust and persuaded the organisers to assist SATISCOWits. A R10 000 cheque was handed to their athletics’ representative at a function in August 1990.
In January 1991, the university’s two student bodies spoke about their aims for the year. Joel Liebovitz, the ASC chairperson said ‘we plan to push for unity in sport – it is one of our major goals this year. We have already had workshops with SATISCO and are planning more … together we can enhance Wits sport and make Wits the number one sporting university.’ Kapeng Makoko, the SATISCO-Wits chairperson, acknowledged ‘there is now one national nonracial soccer body [in South Africa] but still two teams on campus. It’s an urgent issue which we’ll have to resolve. Hopefully by the end of the year we’ll have one body.’ In May 1991, Liebowitz and Kenny Moagi attended a conference on tertiary sport at the University of Cape Town where it was agreed that there was a need for unity, which would facilitate development and administration, organise competitions and address historical inequalities. Liebowitz
thought the gathering ‘gave Wits delegates insight into new and different organisations and the real unity issues’.
Unity was not a straightforward assignment for the sports administrators. The Wits rugby club, for example, attempted to stage a programme of matches that included SATISCO-Wits. In an article headed ‘Rugby Extravaganza’, Wits Student reported that an intervarsity against Natal University (Durban) would be screened on Topsport on TV1. Also, on the rugby programme was the annual ‘Phineas’ Challenge between Ernest Oppenheimer Hall and Men’s Residence, and a match between SATISCO-Wits’s first team and rivals, Medunsa. Of the SATISCO encounter, Wits Student commented, ‘Matches between the two sides have a history of fists and cuffs … Medunsa has a reputation as a team which doesn’t like losing.’ Considerable interest was created, but the rugby day was to be one of great disappointment for all concerned, as Medunsa failed to arrive. The regional SATISCO branch had taken a decision to boycott the match and Medunsa was bound by their decision.
In March 1991, a Wits Student reporter commented that travelling to Turfloop to ‘spend a weekend at a black college in Lebowa was an unusual experience’. The writer admitted: ‘In my arrogance as a confirmed urban dweller, I imagined victorious Witsies smashing these Northern Transvaal country bumpkins. But it was not to be, these country bumpkins are very good at soccer.’ The reporter went on to express ‘horror’ at witnessing the 5-1 thrashing Wits suffered: ‘For a SATISCO-Wits member it wasn’t a pretty sight’. They coped in the karate, which was in the form of a Shotokan ‘promotion’: out of seven fights, Wits won four, lost one and drew two. But netball was lost 11-9 and softball and rugby were cancelled because Wits had taken insufficient numbers. Two soccer matches offered Wits a chance to save face – they lost the ‘B’ game 1-0, followed by humiliation in the senior match. There were excuses … ‘Wits had no reliable coach as last year’s team coach, Screamer Ndlovu, was unavailable, and also a new goalie (the previous year’s keeper, Zweli Mnisi, had completed his studies).
Turfloop apart, there were many encouraging developments in 1991. Early in the year, the largest tertiary student sports body in South Africa was launched when SATISCO and
Ronny Malele (right) defeated Lunga Sotana in an action-packed fourround fight in 1991.
Bucks Sibiya, SATISCO-Wits’s 1990 ‘Sportsperson of the Year’
Frieda Moholola: SATISCO-Wits’s ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ 1992.
the South African Tertiary Institutions Sports Association (SATISA) merged. The launch took place at the University of the Western Cape and subscribed to the principle of non-racialism, non-sexism and democracy. The merger also involved a change of name to the South African Tertiary Institutions Sports Union (SATISU) and, at Wits, the election of a new committee. Dan Nefolovhodwe, former SATISCO-Transvaal chairperson, commented: ‘Last year we had the same principle and policy. The merger will increase the membership and organisational base, especially on “coloured” and Indian colleges … it is a positive move because it has built a formidable structure.’
In April 1991, ‘the dawn of a new era’ was announced in Wits Student. On that day, a determined effort was made to introduce women’s soccer. The report stated:
The games kicked off with Jubilee ‘A’ playing Barnato and Barney Molokane’s BMR against Jubilee ‘B’. Both games produced exciting and fast-paced affairs with BMR trampling over Jubilee ‘B’ 3-0 and Jubilee ‘A’ huffed and puffed to a 4-3 win against Barnato but were so tired that they forfeited their place in the finals to the much fitter SATISU-Wits netball squad. Credit, however, to BMR who managed to hold on and won the deciding match 1-0 – their star was Thandi Mfeka whose superb defence kept out the netball challenge … BMR were disappointed when told the code would formally launch later and that these were just introductory games.
In July, the ANC’s leading spokesman on sport, Steve Tshwete, spoke at a meeting hosted by SATISU-Wits. He stressed the role of non-racial sport and the liberation movement in the return of South African sport to world competition. He said that ‘the focus was not on international tours but rather on addressing the imbalances created by the apartheid state ... the return of South Africa to international sport was a victory for non-racial sport’. Moss Mashishi appealed to SATISU-Wits and the ASC ‘to seek the answers to unity obstacles … don’t delay the realisation of the historic goals we have set.’
At the National Games held at Medunsa
in July and Rhodes University in September 1991, Wits basketball, karate and tennis won their respective tournaments while soccer was placed second. SATISU-Wits rugby competed in two leagues – the club league run by the nonracial rugby union (SARU) and an intervarsity league. It was also announced that the ASC and SATISU-Wits planned to launch one non-racial rugby inter-faculty league at the end of the year. According to Alastair Otter, a SATISU-Wits representative, ‘rugby until recently has been a sport played and enjoyed by only a specific group of people. We want to broaden the game and involve more people’.
The netball club received a boost in mid-year when Hazel Gumede – ‘arguably the best netball player in South Africa’ – took over as coach. It was reported that ‘the squad had grown in confidence and stature – at the moment it is easily the best SATISU team in the country.’ The claim would be supported to an extent the following year when the Wits netball team was triumphant in SATISU regional games, defeating Wits Tech 34-6 (semifinal) and Daveyton Vista 36-4 (final).
There was talent and enthusiasm, but cooperation was sometimes lacking. The University of Natal (Pietermaritzburg) sports tour in October was described as ‘disastrous’ in a Wits Student report. Most of the planned sporting activities did not take place because of the absence of Natal players, many seizing the opportunity to attend the Moroka Swallows versus Wits soccer match at the Wits Stadium. Chaos reigned over Natal’s team selection: ‘Wits won the soccer matches and all the sets in the table tennis, but the planned karate, netball, tennis and chess did not play at all.’
Thabiso Martin Maseko, the new SATISUWits chairperson, told Wits Student that his organisation was facing many difficulties and stated: ‘There is no question. We must unite’. At the same time, he was able to point to the successful annual David Webster memorial tournament which had been established by SATISU-Wits.
At the 1991 David Webster memorial prize-giving, SATISU-Wits announced their ‘Sportsperson of the Year’. The recipient of the honour, McLean Sibanda, was the leading figure in SATISU tennis, one of their fastest growing codes. His SATISU team won all its regional matches during the year and lost only in the final at the national championships – the women’s team lost in the semi-final. Sibanda, who was one of four Witsies chosen for the SATISU national squad, informed Wits Student that his idol was Bjorn Borg and favourite player Stefan Edberg. Sibanda would play a prominent role in Wits sport for almost a decade. In March 1992, his tennis club adopted the logo ‘Tennis – it’s a game of love’. He also subdivided club members into four categories, from the first squad –which consisted of the six top players – through to the fourth, which involved development training. SATISU-Wits tennis organised tours, tournaments, exhibition matches, fundraising, a development programme and social gatherings to bring tennis lovers together.
McLean Sibanda, a prominent SATISU-Wits administrator and leading tennis player/coach was a devoted supporter of Wits sport during the 1990s.
SATISCO-Wits fielded a non-racial side that attracted interested media coverage.
With unity still some months away, SATISUWits sport continued to be as active in 1992 as it had been in previous years. Wits dominated the Satisu Southern Transvaal athletics finals in late February. Stars of the day were Bucks Sibiya and Frieda Moholola. Better known as a star soccer player, Sibiya clocked 10.91 in the 100-metres and 22.35 in the 200-metres events. Moholola took the women’s 100-metres and 200-metres events in fine style, and Wits (84) topped the points table, followed by Rand College of Education (60); Soweto Vista (35); East Rand Vista (20) and Wits Technikon (9).
In early April, the SATISU Southern Transvaal athletics team impressed at the national competition at the University of the Transkei. Frieda Moholola received silver medals for the 200 metres and 4 x 100-metres relay but was disqualified for a false start in the 100-metres semi-final. The final event of the day was the men’s 4 x 100-metres relay which was won in spectacular style by the Southern Transvaal team, comprising Wits’s Bucks Sibiya and Vivian Williams, Soweto Vista’s Emy Motage and Rand College of Education’s Walter Nkomo.
Eight regions were represented in the Summer Games by almost a thousand athletes taking part in netball, tennis, rugby, table tennis, soccer, karate, softball, baseball and cross-country. At the last moment, the games were switched to the Western Cape, and Southern Transvaal fared poorly. The karate team did however return with gold in the men’s ‘semi-contact’ and kata – ‘Karate was the best code from the region,’ said McLean Sibanda. Six Witsies were selected for the national squad, while Zola Kgaka performed impressively and brought back a bronze for the women’s individual kumite. The tennis was called off because of lack of time and inadequate facilities.
Frieda Moholola was named ‘Sportsperson of the Year’. She had been interested in running since she was seven or eight in lower primary school, and recalled her favourite athlete as being Marcel Winkler – but she also admired Frankie Fredericks. At university, she received gold medals at the David Webster Memorial prize-giving in 1991 and 1992 and excelled at SATISU’s national athletics competition in the Transkei. Asked about SATISU-Wits uniting with the ASC, she said:
Well, on the one hand, it’s good because we will be able to have access to a lot of stuff like running licences, which we never had before. We are also going to learn a lot from each other, you know, about true and practical non-racial and non-sexist participation in sport. However, on the other hand, it is sad because the spirit and structure of SATISU won’t be there anymore.
Frieda would make an almost immediate impact on sport under the auspices of the new unified body, when she was selected for the team that attended the World Student Games in Australia in 1993.
The David Webster Memorial Tournament continued as part of the unity agreement. According to Fritz Roberg, one of the organisers,
‘the primary aim of the tournament was to bring together the diverse community of the university under the banner of sport and hence enforce principles of non-sexism and nonracialism which are inherited from SATISU’. The tournament was opened to all students, academics, workers and administration staff members. ‘It was a conscious move from elitist clubs to mass participation,’ added Roberg. In no time, said one report on the tournament, ‘students transformed into sportspersons, wearing comfortable shoes and oversized T-shirts, while tossing the ball through the hoop or dribbling it down the line ... a week of intensive exercise – soccer, volleyball, table tennis, squash, tennis, basketball, netball, athletics and softball – culminated in a 5-kilometre fun run …’
Sports development officer, Nakedi Mochaki, commented: ‘From Charlton all the way down, people were welcome to take part, with unity through interaction on the sports field embodied in the logo “Sport for all, all for sport”.’
The Unification of Wits Sport
At Wits, the process of unification was entered into by the three main players: the ASC, SATISU -Wits and the Sports Administration. Unity was not achieved until 22 October 1992. What was most critical to this process of change, observed John Baxter, ‘was the ability of the Sports Administration to manage these two ideologically and culturally different bodies, and to lead them towards a united, non-racial sports body’. For the most part, the process mirrored developments that were taking place at a national level throughout South Africa.
The formal unity agreement was between the ASC (represented by Bruce Falcon, Keith Sherman and Trevor Gottlieb), the SATISUWits Council (represented by Thabiso Martin Maseko, Nakedi Mochaki and Stephen Coplan), and representatives of the administration of the University of the Witwatersrand: John Baxter (Head: Sports Administration), Dr Ronald Carter (Deputy Registrar: Student Affairs) and Professor June Sinclair (Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Student Affairs). Crucially, they agreed to work together to achieve:
a) unity in Wits sport at all levels;
b) the promotion of the principles of non-racialism, non-sexism and democracy within sport at the university;
c) a high level of encouragement in sport for all students and staff of the university;
d) development and training opportunities for all students and staff at the university who, because of a lack of facilities, have not previously had the opportunity to participate in sport.
The university issued a statement on unity in sport:
The policy of the University of the Witwatersrand has always been that it is opposed to discrimination on grounds of race, sex, national origin, language
Nakedi Mochaki headed the interim sports structure that formed the merger between the two student sport organisations.
Keith Sherman was an accomplished administrator in both the All Sports Council and athletics. World-class athlete, Hendrick Ramaala, said Sherman ‘really started my career … he’s good at analysing problems when things go wrong and helping you correct them.’
Duke D. Maseko edited a newspaper covering SATISCO-Wits’ sports news. On his office wall was a poster stating: ‘Gatting go Home! Ban racist tour’.
or religion. This policy has been reaffirmed on many occasions despite the vigorous attacks that have been mounted against this university and the attempts by the government of the country at various times to compel it to comply with apartheid policies.
Nevertheless, the university has recognised that in the fields of education and sport significant disadvantages have been sustained by some members of communities designated by the apartheid system as ‘Black, Coloured or Asian’.
The university accepts that because of the effects of the apartheid system there has been significant polarisation in the field of sport.
The university believes that it has a role to play in building a non-racial society in which all people have equal opportunity in education and sport; that there should be no abuse of individual rights, and that in order to compete equally and fairly in sport all its students should have access to the university’s sporting facilities and that the basic principles of democracy and accountability should be applied to the participation in and administration of sport.
The university endorses the view that normalisation of sport in the manner described above is the foundation on which South Africa will become a real partner in the future of international sport.
For these reasons, the university fully supports the decision by the All Sports Council and SATISU-Wits to dissolve and form a single, united sports organisation under the new Wits Sports Council (WSC) to promote and control sport at the university consistent with the university’s statement on values and objectives.
After a lengthy process of negotiation, Wits sport looked forward to entering a new era. The first executive body of the WSC consisted of three representatives from SATISU Wits and three from the ASC. The official launch of the organisation took place at the beginning of the next academic year.
The South African Student Sports Union (SASSU)
The establishment of the South African Student Sports Union (SASSU) on 16 April 1994 introduced a new era in student sport at tertiary
Aikido
Aikido is a martial art originating in Japan around 1925. The name Aikido means ‘the way of spiritual harmony’ – it is a martial art as well as a healthy exercise benefitting both mind and body. Wits Student thought it to be a relatively ‘soft’ martial art – ‘as opposed to karate or judo, it is suitable for people of any age or fitness level without fear of injury’.
‘Aikido,’ said Janice Rubin, a member of the club, ‘is a completely different martial art as there are no attacks. It is about blending with the force of an attacker and using their strength and energy against them.’
In 1990, the Wits Aikido Club trained twice a week in the early evening on the top floor of the new squash complex on west campus. About 60 aikidoka (aikido students) also attended a winter camp at Rhodes under a master sensei.
education institutions. At a historic meeting held at the University of Port Elizabeth, the major role players in tertiary sport ‘unanimously agreed to join forces when seventy-eight (78) tertiary educational institutions officially constituted the South African Student Sports Union (SASSU)’. The significance was that it unified two historical separate groupings within South African society, i.e. students from historical black and historical white institutions. It did so in a way that sought ‘to harness the experience and expertise of both groupings in order to establish a new tradition, one that reflected the aspirations of all student sportspersons guided by the historical mission of tertiary education institutions, being centres for the acquisition of life skills and the imparting of knowledge and research.’ SASSU was founded within this sector ‘to promote sporting values and encourage sporting practice in harmony with, and complementary to, the academic character of tertiary education institutions.’
Sturrock Park
In August 1993, Wits purchased Sturrock Park, a sports club bordering on West Campus, for R19 million. Professor Robert Charlton, the vice-chancellor and principal, thought it was a fair price considering the West Campus cost R27 million nine years earlier. The purchase was welcomed by the Sports Administration and the WSC as it eased the pressure on Wits’s sporting facilities from 1 January 1994.
The next important step occurred during the university’s 75th Anniversary year, when Professor Charlton officially opened the new Sports Administration complex at Sturrock Park on 21 October 1997.
The opening was exactly 47 years after the original ceremony on 21 October 1950. The complex had been built as the clubhouse for the South African Railways and Harbours Recreation Club and named after Elizabeth Sturrock, the wife of F.C. Sturrock, a minister in Jan Smuts’ government. She was honoured for the sterling work she did for South African servicemen during World War II.
Dr Adolfo Braga, the nidan and sensei of Wits, was an active club chairman, who participated in the 1992 Hong Kong national convention, where he upgraded to third dan. Under his instruction the club grew in both size and strength during the 1990s. ‘Numerically,’ he said, ‘Wits is the strongest club in South Africa and still growing.’
By 1993, the Wits Aikido Club had been in existence for in excess of ten years. It was, however, to face competition for student interest from other martial arts that were being established on campus. There was a dip in numbers during the mid-1990s but by the end of the decade, the club had consolidated its position.
A two-day camp was staged in November 1999 at which the highest sensei ever to come to South Africa – Shihan Yoji Fujimoto, 7th Band Japanese Sensei – instructed members of the art.
Aquatics
Wits aquatics had struggled at various stages during the 1980s, but efforts were made to rectify the situation. In the 1989 SAU at Pretoria, they finished first in the women’s diving thanks to Linda von Broembsen and Loredana Raccanello, who were both selected for the Protea team. The club was also second in the men’s swimming. Five Witsies (Gary Coetzee, Stephen Haupt, Nicky Goldin, Alan Ford and Natasha Figge) were included in the SAU swimming team.
There did not appear to be much wrong with Wits swimming at the SAU competition in Bloemfontein in 1990. Overall, they were second in the Roberts trophy: Stellenbosch (937), Wits (723), Free State (560), Pretoria (556), Rhodes (250), Cape Town (246) and Natal (228). They were third (265) in the men’s competition (Ferguson trophy) behind Stellenbosch (498) and Pretoria (323), and they won the women’s competition (458) (Saint trophy), ahead of Stellenbosch (439) and Free State (355). The major individual award – the Honikman trophy for the ‘best performance in swimming’ – went to a Witsie, Nicky Goldin, who set a new SAU record in the 50-metres freestyle (27.66).
Wits won thirteen gold (equal with Stellenbosch), seven silver and six bronze medals in a memorable gala. Natasha Figge won three titles in the 100, 200 and 800-metres freestyle – the most by any swimmer at the competition. Heather Price and Stephen Haupt each won two events. Heather set a new SAU record (2:45,99) in the 200-metres breaststroke and the Wits women established a new best time in the 400-metres freestyle relay. The Wits men set a further record in the 400-metres medley relay. Six Witsies – Nicky Goldin, Heather Price, Natasha Figge, Bronwyn Bezuidenhout, Alan Ford and Gary Coetzee – were selected for the SAU swimming team. Digby Glover, who was chosen for SAU B, was Wits’s only representative in the water polo.
Wits finished third out of ten at Stellenbosch in 1991, thanks largely to the divers winning their section. SAU swimming colours went to Craig Read and Garrett Smith but there were no women selected. Debbie White, who was awarded SAU diving colours, was in a class of her own, scoring 386.60 and beating the next best by 55 points. In the men’s diving, George Raccanello was third and fellow provincial diver Larry Cohen was fifth. Wits finished third out of five in the synchronised swimming and an improved display in the water polo saw Digby Glover selected for SAU ‘A’ and three players (C. Ross, R. Vorsters and M. Ullrich) for the ‘B’ team.
There was much to commend about the club’s achievements in the early 1990s. Reports noted Linda von Broembsen, Loredana Raccanello, Sandra Grey and Debbie White were national reprentaitives in diving; Nicky Goldin in swimming and Heather Price was selected for the South African life-saving tour to Britain. Natasha Figge later represented the country at long-distance swimming and became a seventime winner of the Midmar Mile.
Linda von Broembsen set a fine example to a strong group of Wits’ divers.
top-three
At the same time, concern was expressed that there were leading swimmers and water polo players attending the university but not representing its aquatics club. In a February 1992 report, Wits Student stated: ‘Not only does Wits have five provincial swimmers, but four Springboks as well. What then is the reason we don’t have a fully fledged swimming team instead of losing all our swimmers to external clubs?’
Figge won the 100, 200 and 800-metres freestyle, the most victories by any swimmer at the SAU competition in 1990.
Nicky Goldin (right) won the Honikman trophy for the ‘best performance in swimming’ at the 1990 SAU gala. She is pictured with fellow Witsie, Natasha Figge (left), and Petro Nortjé of Stellenbosch.
Stephen Haupt achieved a number of
placings at the South African championships, including winning the national 100-metres freestyle title.
Natasha
Graeme Waters, the aquatics sports officer, explained that ‘part of the problem might be attributed to our exceptionally cold pool, but the major problem lies in our inability to draw in a credible professional coach. We just do not have the funds.’
The issue at Wits was further complicated when Wits water polo joined forces with Zoo Lake in 1992. It resulted in the new club – Zoo Lake/Wits – fielding five teams, of which 40 per cent were students. The team played out of Zoo Lake because the water was somewhat warmer there.
Wits finished fifth out of ten universities in the SAU at Stellenbosch in 1992, behind the host university, Cape Town, Durban and Rhodes in that order.
For several years, Debbie White kept Wits University aquatics in the news. She toured Europe – Hungary, Austria and Italy – in 1992 and was selected to compete in the World University Games in Buffalo, New York, in 1993. She also represented South Africa at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, where she was placed eighth in both the one and three-metre springboard competitions in 1994.
A committed member of the club, who served as vice-chairperson, Debbie was Wits’s Sportswoman of the Year in 1994 and again in 1996. She was also unfortunate not to compete in the Olympic Games. In 1992 she had won the Olympic trials and was the only female selected, but at the eleventh hour the team was cut and South Africa was represented by one male diver at Barcelona. As national three-metre and platform champion in 1996, she was again a strong contender for a place in the Olympic team but South Africa chose not to send divers to Atlanta.
At the Durban SASSU aquatics in 1995, Debbie won the one-metre diving and Didi Rush was second in the synchronised swimming ‘figures’ and first in the ‘solo’. Sports Officer, Ebrahim Boomgaard observed: ‘Our aquatics club is not an active club. Attempts are being made to resurrect the club, but students are reluctant to leave their clubs and form a Wits club.’
In 1996, Wits made a commendable return to inter-tertiary swimming when they participated in the SASSU aquatics hosted by Pretoria in 1996. The manager’s report stated: ‘A 12-member team swam their hearts out. Pretoria won overall, Stellenbosch was second and Cape Town third. Wits finished fourth – a good result as they did not have a full team.’ Janion Fraser (who won four events) and Brynn Andrew (first in two events and a medal winner in three others) were both selected for the SASSU team of four swimmers, with Jason Spriggs and Nic Winstone also contributing to Wits’s performance.
Brynn Andrew and Tandi Gerrard, who both served as club chairpersons, played important roles in reviving aquatics. The advent of SASSU and opportunities to travel overseas in national student teams encouraged Wits swimmers and water polo players to reassess their positions with regard to outside clubs. The sports administration
was well aware of the situation but not prepared to compromise their position. If students did not represent the university at aquatic competitions, they would not be recognised in any way. That included funding, qualifying for university awards, and being given clearance to attend events such as the World Student Games.
Tandi Gerrard won a diving gold medal at the 1995 All-Africa Games, and travelled far and wide in promoting Wits diving. In 1997, she excelled in the South African open and national championships where she achieved a series of first and second places in the high board, one and three metres and synchronised diving. She also competed overseas in Australia and at the FINA European diving grand prix in Austria, Italy and Hungary.
In 1998, Tandi was placed twenty-sixth in the one-metre and twenty-fifth in the three-metre at the world championships in Perth, Australia. She then competed in the three-metre events in the European FINA diving grand prix where she finished sixth in Sweden and tenth in Italy. She represented South Africa at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur – ‘long hours of training assisted in enabling me to dive consistently’ she said of her tenth position. The following year, she won the Czechoslovakia Open Diving Championships in Pardubice.
Tandi’s diving at Wits was the beginning of an outstanding career that saw her become a three-time British diving champion and a bonze medallist for the synchronised springboard at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. She also represented Great Britain at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games – where she and her partner Jane Smith finished fourth in the synchronised springboard – and at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Wits women finished fifth and the men fourth at the 1998 SASSU competition hosted by the University of Natal. The water polo men were fifth out of eight teams on their return to the competition. With a better draw, they felt they might have made the semi-final. They defeated Port Elizabeth 10-7, drew with Cape Town 6-6, and beat Pretoria 5-3. Two Witsies were included in the tournament team – Alastair Stewart (a Springbok) and Carl Niehaus (a national under-20 player).
The 1999 SASSU event was hosted by Border Aquatics at East London. Wits entered 14 swimmers (10 women, 4 men) and three divers. The women came first, the men sixth and Wits were second overall. It was a terrific performance. Justine Hunt (second in the 50-metres and 100-metres backstroke), Caroline Cronje (second in the 200-metres backstroke) and the outstanding Debbie Robinson (first in the 50-metres, 100-metres and 200-metres butterfly) were in excellent form. But the star of the show was Cheryl Ballard-Tremeer whose supreme fitness enabled her to win eight individual medals. She was first in the 50-metres and 100-metres freestyle, second in the 200-metres individual medley; second in the 400-metres and 800-metres freestyle, third in the 50-metres and 100-metres backstroke; and third in the
Debbie White was South African diving champion and twice Wits ‘Sportswoman of the Year’.
Tandi Gerrard, the South African and British diving champion, won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal at Melbourne in 2006
200-metres freestyle. There were also victories in the relays.
In the men’s section Brynn Andrew won the 50-metres and 100-metres butterfly and was third in the 400-metres individual medley and 200-metres butterfly. Jason Spriggs was second in both the 50-metres and 100-metres backstroke.
Brynn Andrew was able to deliver a positive report of the club’s position prior to entering 2000. He felt the season had seen the most development in the club since its re-inception some three years earlier. Membership had grown from 20 to over 70, and the clubhouse established in the west tower was one of the best looking and most popular on campus. Much of the growth had come through the excellent organisational structure set up. He singled out Dr Alex Nice, Anthony Garstang and Cheryl Ballard-Tremeer who ‘were exceptional in driving the club forward’ and added that there were four qualifiers for the national championships: Cheryl BallardTremeer, Debbie Robinson, Murray Stewart and Graeme Willcox.
Dr Alex Nice, a Wits staff member who became involved in the administration and coaching, commented: ‘Our women were ably led by Cheryl Ballard-Tremeer who is a worldclass biathlete.’ She had previously been awarded
Athletics
The 1990s will be remembered for the emergence of Hendrick Ramaala, one of South Africa’s greatest athletes. He took up running whilst he was at Wits and became a national champion and Olympian during his years at the university. He was also the 1995 ‘Sportsman of the Year’ and, in nominating him, the club recorded: ‘Hendrick has an absolute wealth of training knowledge, which he has acquired from his training partners … He is always willing to share this with other athletes and members of the club.’ The report added: ‘his personality and his ability have made us all proud to wear the “blue and yellow”.’ Ramaala recalled in an interview with Julian Drew of the Mail & Guardian that ‘it was Keith (Sherman) who really started my career ... he’s good at analysing problems when things go wrong and helping you correct them.’ Ramaala explained: ‘I don’t need a coach. I just need an adviser. Keith is more like my mentor.’ Drew agreed and added Sherman ‘won’t say so himself but perhaps his biggest contribution to Ramaala’s success has been making him focus on the longterm using one or two key events each year as interim goals and emphasising the importance of him listening to his body and understanding what works for him’.
In his publication Three Men Named Matthews, Richard Mayer – a former Wits cross-country captain – wrote that Sherman rebuilt the Wits Athletics Club in the 1990s – he was ‘steeped in the local and international lore of the sport’. Drew said that Sherman preferred to remain in the background but ‘is a great motivator who has a finely tuned mind that can think strategically and see the bigger picture’.
second place in the world for girls’ under 19 in the course of the international biathlon day –1000-metres track run and 100-metres pool swim. She was the SASSU record holder (28.62) for the 50-metres freestyle and, remarkably, in the same year – 1999 – was first out of 400 in the Germiston Lake 1 200-metres swim. She also won the Gauteng biathlon championships and came third in the South African continuous biathlon championships in Port Elizabeth (1400-metres cross-country run. 150-metres sea swim, 100-metres beach run). In September 1999, Cheryl was selected to represent South Africa in the world championships in Monaco.
Wits’s Kate Black was South Africa’s top junior in synchronised swimming. She competed in the junior World Games in Columbia in solo, duet and team routine, and the Heliopolis international synchronised swimming and water polo tournament in Egypt. The team received a bronze medal in the Heliopolis technical and artistic team routines, and Kate achieved sixth place in the solo and fifth in the duet. She also met up with the South African junior synchro team and competed in the Cairo international synchronised swimming and water polo tournament, receiving bronze medals in the solo, duet and team events.
There were fine runners at Wits. In 1989, Craig Aiken won the 800 metres in a ‘Test’ against American tourists. At the intervarsity hosted by RAU, he won the 800 metres in a tactical race, a fine performance in which he beat the accomplished RAU athlete Johan Verster and crossed the line in 1:53.29. In 1990, he was selected to represent Transvaal at the South African championships, and two years later recorded his best time of 1:47.63 at Germiston.
Ian Gentles ran his final SAU cross country in July 1990. He was up against a strong field which included Potch athlete Johan Schnetler and a powerful Stellenbosch team. Gentles held on doggedly to the pack for much of the 12-kilometre race and entered the stadium in fourth position. His final determined surge saw
Craig Aiken won the 800 metres ahead of Jean Verster at the 1989 intervarsity.
Hendrick Ramaala represented South Africa in track, cross-country and marathon events.
him take bronze. He was the first Wits male athlete to finish in the top three since Mark Plaatjes in 1986.
At the same event, Agnes Berger was the women’s leading runner against powerful opposition and also achieved a bronze medal.
The Wits men’s and women’s teams both finished third. The team’s two stars had set a wonderful example, with Gentles named as captain of the SAU team. Richard Mayer, who was Wits’s cross-country captain from 1987 to 1990 thought this was Wits’s most successful SAU of the period.
Wits Student commended Nicci Gils as being ‘highly influential in the team’s performance’. This was endorsed by Mayer, who said much of the credit for the emergence of Wits women as a major force in the Transvaal and SAU crosscountry should go to the enthusiastic team captain. An unrivalled nine women represented Wits in the Transvaal league.
Agnes Berger won the Transvaal cross-country championships at Alberton. She easily beat the pre-race favourites to win the six-kilometre race in style and gain selection – as did Gentles – for the provincial team that competed in the South African Championships. Berger’s memorable season was crowned by her winning junior Springbok colours for cross country.
Nicci Gils received provincial colours in her age group, winning the 1 500 metres at the Transvaal junior championships.
Ian Gentles’s finest performance in 1990 was his victory in the Fanie van Zyl 10-kilometre Nite Race on New Year’s Eve when he was up against the South African running legend, Matthews Temane. He led Temane through the streets of Randfontein, leaving the rest of the field far behind. But Temane hung on and then took over when entering the stadium. In a desperate finish, Gentles drew level and with a supreme effort managed to win by one metre.
athletics club did well to keep fellow students fully informed of developments through Wits Student and the athletics newsletter. There were often fascinating snippets, such as Donatella Ruffini, a fifth-year medic, becoming the first Witsie to complete the 1 000 kilometre challenge by clocking up 1 025 kilometres in road races between 1 June 1991 and 31 May 1992.
At the 1992 SAU cross-country, the severity of the course at Natal University (Durban) made for exciting competition in both the men’s and women’s events. Wits men finished eighth out of 11 in their event, and the women were seventh out of ten. Three out of the four runners in the women’s team were first-year students.
In the December 1992 SAU at Green Point, 13 Wits athletes entered track events. They finished eighth in both the men’s and women’s competitions out of ten universities. The highlight was Brad McDermott’s outstanding performance in the 400 metres, won in 46.79 – the fastest he had run since 1989. He was selected to join the South African team in Australia but was injured. Hendrick Ramaala competed for Wits at the SAU championships in Cape Town. He had entered the university in 1991 on an academic scholarship. Studying was his priority and his first year was spent on book work. In his second year, he ‘got bored with soccer’ and became a ‘jogger’. Encouraged by Satisu-Wits, he finished third in their national championships in the Transkei. He also joined the Wits Athletica Club and at Cape Town in 1992, he ran the 5 000 metres in 15.04; the winner clocked 13.44. That he should finish so far behind – and be lapped –affected him.
Medal winners at the 1993 Australian Student Games (left to right): Hendrick Ramaala (athletics), Patrick Laverty (cycling), Kim Carter (cycling) and Bradley Bunch (athletics).
After their fine cross-country performance in 1990, Wits did not perform as well as hoped the following year, with the women finishing fifth and the men seventh. The university was then placed eighth out of ten in the December track and field.
It was a demanding task building the club within a competitive environment and the
Ramaala returned to the Northern Transvaal over Christmas and trained hard in the mountainous environment. He was determined to improve. At Wits during the 1993 and 1994 seasons, he trained for one hour a day with additional speed work twice a week. He developed his own training methods, running the loop that winds round Zoo Lake Park, as well as track sessions at the Wits stadium. He also gathered ideas from books and magazines and talked to training partners such as Willie Mtolo, the 1991 New York champion, and Gert Thys, the South African marathon record holder.
In 1993, the new athletics chairperson, Linda Parker, said her committee intended building the club up to what it had been several years earlier: ‘Women are now showing an interest in athletics,’ she said. ‘Two years ago, we couldn’t field a team for the SAU.’
Over a period of five years, the Wits Athletics Club changed dramatically. The emphasis shifted to more mass participation by members in the different areas of athletics. The committee had a simple aim, which was to involve as many people in athletics as possible. It realised that, with the strength of the opposition in the form of the Afrikaans universities, the key to success was in visibility and swamping them by numbers.
There were good performances at the 1993 Australian Student Games. Medal winners were Hendrick Ramaala, who took gold in the 5 000 metres; Jeanette Nel, who won a gold in the
Ian Gentles more than held his own in an era of strong road and crosscountry runners.
3 000 metres and a silver in the 1 500 metres, and Bradley Bunch, who won silver in the 400 metres (48.3). Nel ran her 3 000 metres three hours after completing the 1 500 metres. Frieda Mogolola made it to the finals of the 100 and 200 metres, finishing fourth in the 100 metres.
Team manager, McLean Sibanda thought that the lesson learnt from the trip was that ‘exposure is everything … if Hendrick was not on that trip, he would not have been the runner he became. Sport was not a priority for him but success in Australia gave him the belief that he could compete and beat the best.’
In 1994, Wits again entered the Australian Student Games, where they were represented by a team of 14 athletes and cyclists at Woollongong.
Jeanette Nel (1 500 metres) and the men’s 4 x 100-metres relay team of Greg Boyd, William Vivian, David Milner and Stuart Graham won medals.
Hendrick Ramaala was a rising force in student athletics. In 1994, he won both the student crosscountry and 5 000-metre races at intervarsity meetings and came second in the South African student 15-kilometre championship, the interprovincial student 10-kilometre event and the student 21-kilometre road race. His efforts were of considerable assistance to the Wits team performances. At SASSU’s first road running championships, for example, Ramaala’s second place helped the Wits men’s team to finish third behind Pretoria and Port Elizabeth. Wits women were fourth: Alison Duncan tenth, Joanne du Croq eleventh and Astrid Scheiber seventeenth.
In 1995, Ramaala won the 5 000 metres again at the SASSU championships, this time hosted by RAU. He followed up by winning the 5 000 and 10 000 metres at the South African championships in Durban.
The format of the 1995 intervarsity was different from that of the previous year. A development meeting took place on the first day, followed by the main championships on the second and third days. In total, 21 Wits athletes competed – twelve in the development competitions and nine in the main championship. Competition in the latter was of a high standard, the gap which existed between the major Afrikaans institutions and the rest having grown in two years. Apart from Ramaala, there was also a terrific effort from Liesl Eichenberger who won silver in the 100-metres hurdles after threatening to cause a major upset by leading the eventual winner, Naliza van der Schyff through the first 60 metres. Chris Lawrence was seventh in the 5 000 metres and there were good performances from Jeanette Nel (800 metres), Alison Duncan (1 500 metres) and the promising sprinter David Milner. Wits men finished eleventh and the women fourteenth out of 29 institutions.
The second SASSU road running championships were held at Bloemfontein in October. Chris Lawrence was eighth in the men’s run and Carey Smith third in the women’s event in an impressive time. Smith, Alison Duncan and Elanor Farley won the silver medal for Wits in the team competition – the best performance by a Wits team since 1987.
In the SASSU cross country in Port Elizabeth, Wits men’s A were ninth and Wits B fifteenth out of 21 teams. The women were seventh. Chris Lawrence was the first Witsie home in eleventh place which earned him SASSU cross-country colours for the second successive year.
By 1995, Ramaala had completed his first degree and was studying law. In March, he travelled to England and was the first South African home in the world cross-country championships. Later in the year, he was a finalist in the 10 000 metres at the world track and field championships in Gothenberg, Sweden.
In 1996, Ramaala earned selection for the 10 000 metres at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. It gave him insight into the sport at the highest level. He was quoted in the Wits magazine Arena as stating: ‘When you’re running against the best in the world and the prize is Olympic gold, you have to add tactics to ability. The best runners know how to pace and when they go, the small gap they open becomes a mountain to climb; the bigger gap becomes impossible.’
Sherman told Ramaala that if he wanted to be a good marathon runner, he should do the necessary groundwork as a track and cross-country runner and then move up to the
Members of the Wits team prepare for the march-past at the 1994 Australian Student Games (left to right): David Milner, Frieda Moholola, Danielle Esterhuysen, Bruce Falcon and Liesl Eichenberger.
The women’s relay team at the 1994 Australian Student Games (left to right): Jeanette Nel, Liesl Eichenberger, Danielle Esterhuysen and Frieda Mogolola.
The men’s relay team at the 1994 Australian Student Games (left to right): Stuart Graham, Greg Boyd, William Vivian and David Milner.
marathon when he approached the age of 30. He had everything going for him: he was intelligent; hard-working – he was training twice a day and up to 120 miles a week; determined; passionate about athletics, and naturally talented.
There were two fine achievements by other students in 1996. Chris Lawrence was selected for the cross-country team at the World Student Games and then Liesl Eichenberger won a gold medal in the 100-metres hurdles in the SASSU athletics meeting hosted by the University of the Orange Free State Technikon.
1997 was described as a year of rebuilding for Wits athletics. Drew Fisher finished regularly in the top 20 in races up to the half marathon and Nicholas Brink was prominent as a Central Gauteng under-19 athlete.
Ramaala had completed his studies and focused on his running. He ran his first halfmarathon in 1997. He then won the South African championship and the Great North Run in England, where he ended six years of Kenyan domination. He also triumphed in the ‘Race through History’ at Belgrade, outsprinting the champion Kenyan, Paul Tergat, at the finish, and in 1998, he won the Marseilles-Cassis Classique.
At home in 1998, Wits’s Nicholas Brink won the South African under-19 400-metres title in 47.02, and Drew Fisher, Alda Vermeulen and Joanne Bruins were chosen for the SASSU development team.
In 1999, Raymond Fletcher demonstrated his great potential at the South African Under-23 national championships where he was first in the high jump. At the same meeting, Alda Vermeulen was fourth in the triple jump.
a gold medal in the 5 000 metres; Raymond Fletcher silver in the high jump and Alda Vermeulen silver in the triple jump. By this time, Ramaala was spearheading South Africa to team victories over Kenya and Ethiopia at the IAAF world half marathon championships at Zurich in 1998 and Palermo in 1999. Richard Mayer wrote of the fast and flat roads of Uster, near Zurich, where the usual large leading pack ‘sped through the idyllic, green Swiss fields with South African and Kenyan runners prominent’. An accomplished display saw Ramaala take the silver medal in 60:24, behind Paul Koech’s 60:01. Ramaala looked set to win the individual title in Palermo as he led the field into the final straight. Victory, said Bob Frank in a report for the IAAF, ‘seemed to have been left on a plate for the 29-year-old former law student but perhaps he was too sporting’:
Coming round the final bend, world No.1 Paul Tergat was just beginning to make his move when he collided with an official standing on the corner. Many would have taken advantage and kicked for home while Tergat was recovering his composure but not Ramaala. Partly because he lost concentration after the incident, but equally because he felt guilty about winning in such circumstances, Ramaala hesitated and Tergat was able to battle back. Tergat just got the verdict, both athletes being timed at 61:50, but Ramaala’s best chance of a world title had gone.
Raymond Fletcher was an outstanding all-rounder who would become South Africa’s high-jump
At the 1999 SASSU athletic championships at Bloemfontein, Wits sent 21 men and three women. There were 12 universities, 10 colleges and 11 Technikons taking part. Drew Fisher won
Ramaala finished fifth in the London Marathon to qualify for the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. He would build up an excellent record in Britain, with victories including the Great North Run, Belfast international cross country, AAA 10 000-metres championships, Carlton London Run and the Swansea Bay 10 kilometres, where his 28:02 in 1999 was the fastest time in a British road race for 20 years and earned him a £16 500 car.
At Sydney, he finished a respectable twelfth in the marathon. He was the best of the South Africans, with the Atlanta 1996 winner, Josia Thugwane, in twentieth position.
It was then back to the half-marathon where, said Bob Frank, ‘Ramaala doesn’t run in ordinary races.’ He wrote of a remarkable performance ‘when both Tergat and Ramaala returned to Lisbon in 2001. This time, Ramaala defeated the world’s greatest half-marathon runner in history – by one second. It proved to Ramaala he can beat anyone at the half-marathon on his day.’
Ramaala won his first international marathon in 2003, in India. Thousands of Indians ran alongside top athletes as the South African overcame a strong field to win the Standard Chartered Mumbai International Marathon. Julius Sugut of Kenya and Lucien Tomobo of Tanzania finished second and third respectively in an African sweep. ‘It was very tough. It was very, very humid,’ said Ramaala. ‘We struggled out there and could have run faster, but I loved the crowds on the roads.’
At the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, Ramaala was in great shape and in the lead. ‘I’d built a gap of 400 metres but when I tried to surge
Liesl Eichenberger won silver in the SAU 100-metres hurdles in 1995 and gold in 1996.
champion.
again, I pulled my hamstring.’ He thought it was possibly the heat or because he was running on a downhill stretch. Some said he took the lead too early and others thought it was because of the running shoes he wore.
While victory in the Mumbai marathon had been a great achievement, Ramaala told Simnikiwe Xabanisa of the Sunday Times, that he was after ‘one of the big-name races such as London, New York, Chicago and Boston. Those are the ones for me.’
Winning in New York in 2004 was very important in confirming that Ramaala could win a major marathon. Xabanisa wrote of Ramaala’s performance:
After 39 kilometres of feigning, surging and countersurging, he had to bluff two rivals into thinking he was in better shape than they were. ‘I was hoping it wouldn’t come to a sprint finish,’ he said. Then the last drinks table loomed. As moments go, it was an innocuous few seconds, but it represented the difference between Ramaala remaining one of the best marathoners not to have won a ‘big one’ and taking the step up into the elite club.
He came desperately close to achieving backto-back victories in New York. Paul Tergat of Kenya, who had set a world marathon record in Berlin two years earlier, edged out Ramaala by a
Badminton
Badminton was played throughout the 1990s. In advertising the sport on campus, successive committees claimed badminton to be ‘one of the fastest games in the world with the shuttlecock reaching speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour’. The club’s membership, however, sometimes comprised staff members and students playing nothing more than friendly matches against one another once or twice a week.
Teams were at various times entered into inter-tertiary competitions. In 1991, Wits finished sixth in the SAU tournament hosted by Pretoria; a club report claimed matches ‘were played to the very last point and the tournament was enjoyable’.
Five years later, in 1996, Wits played in the SASSU winter tournament at the University of Fort Hare. Wits bravely entered as an institution rather than a regional side and did well. They tied fourth out of 11 teams but lost their chance to play in the semi-final through the toss of a coin. Moreover, Rashmi Sharma would have been selected for the SASSU team if it had not been for her Zambian nationality. There was some compensation for the unlucky Witsies in that they won trophies for the ‘most improved’ and ‘wellbehaved’ team in the tournament.
second in the New York City Marathon in 2005. The race director, Mary Wittenberg, thought the contest ‘was a masterpiece of our sport: the most compelling race we’ve ever had’. The New York Times said that:
… even with 25 yards left, there was no clear winner, only a great struggle between two men … one man unable to separate himself from the other. In the final yards, Ramaala gave a hopeful lunge, leaning for the tape more like a sprinter than a marathoner, but he had begun to stagger, and in that last moment, after all those miles, Tergat crossed the line first … A stride behind, Ramaala reached the finish officially one second later.
Described as perhaps South Africa’s most versatile runner of all time, Ramaala represented South Africa on all three surfaces of athletics, beginning his illustrious career when a student at Wits. He set six South African records. He also won the South African 5 000-metres title in 1995 and 1999; the 10 000-metres title in 1995 and from 1999 to 2001; the national cross-country championships in 1998, and four road titles (1997, 2001, 2005, 2007). He was a four-time Olympian, twice placed second at the world halfmarathon championship, and won the Mumbai and New York City marathons.
In 1997, Wits had a fine all-round team at the SASSU competition in Cape Town. The men finished second behind Durban in a twelveteam competition that saw Stellenbosch third, Cape Town fourth and M.L. Sultan Technikon fifth. Arjuna Dissanayake was placed fourth in the men’s event and named the ‘most promising male player’. Rashmi Sharma was second in both the individual competition and ladies’ doubles.
Richard van Lieshout was a more than useful acquisition in 1998. He had previously been selected to represent Southern Gauteng’s winning team at the Kerr Cup inter-provincial championship.
Wits sent three men and three women to the SASSU tournament at M.L. Sultan Technikon in 1998. They finished a creditable third behind Stellenbosch and Potchefstroom in an 11-team tournament. Richard van Lieshout and Jenny Cheong were subsequently selected for the SASSU team.
The progress made by the badminton club could also be attributed to the experience gained in the league. The first team took part in the first league’s second tier. This was part of five leagues under the auspices of the provincial association.
Hendrick Ramaala won the Mumbai and New York Marathons.
Baseball
Baseball was described as one of South Africa’s fastest growing sports and the Wits club was no exception. In just four years – from 1989 to 1993 – its membership trebled. From a small club with just two teams, it became the biggest club in the Transvaal, fielding six sides. Of the six, two won their respective leagues in 1993 and three won knockout trophies. The club also became well known for its entertainment and its fundraisers –they staged an annual medieval evening as well as various theme parties throughout the year.
There was an interest in baseball as an American sport and it was popular amongst the black population. Wits was an open club and one of their teams – the third league side – was from Soweto. Their players did not qualify for the major league as preference was given to students.
Mark Lazarus, who had studied for a law degree and played for Wits’s major league side during the 1980s, stayed on in various roles. He was coach of the fifth or minor league team, and later chairman of the club. He recalled the club had six teams when they were based at Frankenwald during the 1990 to 1991 seasons.
After many years at Frankenwald – where the
Basketball
In 1989, Renato Pasqualucci achieved a remarkable double in being chosen for the national basketball team in the same year as he qualified as a medical doctor. And not only was he the club’s leading points-scorer and captain, but for three years he served as chairman. In fact, he did much to hold Wits basketball together. He was a national all-star recipient, and those who played around him quickly acknowledged the difference he made to their game. Pasqualucci was the last of the exciting group of players who had done much to promote interest in the game during the 1980s. In his last tournament at the University of Pietermaritzburg in 1989, Wits finished second in the men’s and women’s SAU competitions. Pasqualucci received Protea colours, as did Mark Pardini, Mairead
facilities were excellent – the club was offered a venue at Sturrock Park in the mid-nineties. ‘The new home ground,’ said Lazarus, ‘was seen as a positive move for the students as they would be situated on campus again ... Our aim was to take to the club to another level but it didn’t work out that way’.
The club did not draw the number of students they had anticipated and declined from six sides to two between 1990 to 1995. They lost their major league status, and were reduced to one team playing in the second league and another in the fifth league.
Lazarus explained: ‘Wits students who had stayed on with the club as graduates – such as Ian Perks, Steven van Wyk and Todd Schoeman – joined outside clubs because they wanted to play major league. One of our Transvaal players, Steve van den Berg – our number one pitcher –was tragically killed in a car accident. He was a big part of the game at Wits.’
The club folded in 1998 when it was down to one side. ‘I think people felt we weren’t getting in new blood and students,’ said Lazarus, ‘but I have only good memories from playing at the university.’
Carstens, Sonja Bisjak and Charmaine Kamson. It was a successful tournament and Wits had some fine up-and-coming players, particularly in the women’s section, where Charmaine Kamson was a Junior Springbok and former South African Schools player.
In 1990, Wits teams achieved respectable performances to finish fourth in both men’s and women’s sections of the SAU hosted by Pretoria. Wits’s Andrew Harris won the ‘most promising player’ award while Charmaine Kamson and Sonja Bizjak were selected for the SAU women’s team.
The following yea r – 1991 – the Wits women were impressive and unfortunate to lose the final. Their key players – Charmaine Kamson, Sonja Bizjak, Helen Pullinger and Sharon Kamson –received Protea colours. Wits men came fourth and Andrew Harris was chosen for the SAU team.
The same results were achieved in 1992. The women finished second out of six competing teams and the men fourth out of seven. Anarius Angelides was voted one of the best players of the SAU tournament and Sharon Kamson, Helen Pullinger and Sonya Bisjak were re-awarded their Protea colours.
The basketball club appeared to be holding its own at intervarsity level, but cracks were appearing elsewhere. Wits men won only one out of seven matches in the eight-side premier league and were relegated to league 1. Chairman Rob Levin complained of ‘general apathy’ within the club. In contrast, SATISU-Wits had won their tertiary sports tournament during two successful years under the management of Paul Phume and were keen to make an impression once unity was achieved.
An important figure in the SATISU-Wits side was Lambo Kanagaratnam, an engineering
Mark Lazarus was a Springbok icehockey player, who battled unsuccessfully to save the baseball club
Frankenwald was for many years the home of Wits baseball.
Renato Pasqualucci scores for Wits against Uniao despite the defensive efforts of Jorge Cortes.
Charmaine Kamson captained Wits and represented South African Universities and Transvaal.
student who began playing for Wits in 1992. He recalled:
We had a basketball court near the swimming pool and we all quickly got hooked; it was a huge part of the fun we had on campus. It coincided with the ’92 Barcelona Olympics and the US ‘Dream Team’ with phenomenal players like Michael Jordan. We got caught up in the hype and that’s when basketball became so popular globally. It was one of those sports where you could develop quickly.
Kanagaratnam played for Wits from 1992 to 1998; was chairman of basketball in 1993/94; treasurer in 1997/98 and coached the side from 1999 to 2003. In 1992, he was instrumental in establishing the game as a major sport on campus with a large following. He paid tribute to Rubina Khan ‘who administrated basketball and contributed a lot to the growth of the team, including helping with scholarships’.
Following unification in 1992, the united Wits Basketball Club entered the difficult transitional phase. ‘We started integrating the side,’ recounted Kanagaratnam, ‘and during my time at Wits it was amazing to see the change on campus.’ A structured arrangement was established, and basketball reaped the rewards.
In 1994, Wits entered three men’s and one women’s team in the Witwatersrand Basketball Association league. The following year, Dikeledi Hlatshawo played in the World Student Games in Fuluoka, Japan, and at the December 1995 intervarsity, Perfect Hlongwane, Pinky Maraga and Tumi Langa were selected for the SASSU national students team.
Wits won the regional basketball tournament in 1996 by beating RAU in the final. Six Witsies were selected to represent the Gauteng region in the SASSU national tournament in Pietermaritzburg during July, and Wits’s Sechaba Sekgale was chosen as the ‘most valuable player’ (MVP) for all the tertiary institutions in the region. Gauteng went on to win the women’s section of the national tournament and three Witsies – Merlin Knott, Sechaba Sekgale and Vanessa de Costa Leite – were selected for the SASSU squad.
Basketball was described by Wits Student as ‘the sport which became the darling of most people at Wits’, even though the club had lost players since 1996 and both the men and women found it hard to form the right combinations. The men’s team finished fifth in the 1997 premier league while the women did not live up to the promise they had shown in the previous few years. But basketball still thrived, partly because an internal league was popular and well supported.
In the mid-1990s, basketball in South Africa experienced unprecedented growth in numbers and interest through extensive media coverage. High school competitions encouraged support for the game and the national Professional Basketball League (PBL) was established. Wits was at the centre of much of this development. When television coverage increased, the university was seen to be doing well in the Campus Basketball League (CBL) sponsored by the Sowetan and Telkom. Players of the time included James
Nanchito, Peter Banda, Adi Bodika, Thokozani Mhlongo and Skumbuzo Gama.
In addition, commented Wits Student, ‘there was an emerging new crop of outrageously talented young players including Maieane Nkhahle, Quintin Denyssen, Tshepo Disthego, and Lydia Monyepao’.
Maieane Nkhahle started playing basketball at Wits in 1996. He was from Lesotho and therefore not eligible to represent South Africa but became pivotal to the success of the Wits club. He was arguably the most talented player and commanded respect from everyone in the basketball community. Quintin Denyssen came from a promising schoolboy background in which he represented a South African under-18 team in 1998 that competed in the African Championships in Egypt. He was also selected for the United Schools Basketball League team that played in the United States. Tshepo Ditshego was born in Gaborone, Botswana, and grew up in Canada, where he was introduced to basketball at the age of ten. He would later play for the South African schools team, an achievement that earned him a basketball bursary to Wits.
Lydia ‘Skillz’ Monyepao – a first year student at Wits – received provincial colours in 1997. She was voted MVP at the Central Gauteng awards ceremony and received an all-star award presented to the top five players at national level. She was also chosen for the South African team to compete at the All-Africa Games in 1998. Such was her talent that she represented the women’s national football side Banyana Banyana in Egypt. Undoubtedly a great asset to Wits sport, Monyepao was chairperson of the basketball club and active in fundraising, and organising the internal league as well as the annual high schools tournament that was used to identify talent and encourage the growth of the sport.
The 1998 season was one of excellence for Wits – the men were particularly outstanding, finishing fourth in the CBL and impressing at the SASSU club championships in Pietermaritzburg. Wits’s Maieane Nkhahle was chosen MVP at both tournaments. He was selected for the all-star SASSU team at Cape Technikon in 1998 and represented SASSU-Gauteng at an interprovincial tournament at Medunsa where he was again named the MVP.
Under coach, Kanagaratnam Lambotharan, Wits basketball built on this success in 1999. Quintin Denyssen played for the national side at the All-Africa Games in Johannesburg, with Lydia Monyepao a reserve for the women’s team, and Maieane Nkhale captaining the Lesotho national side at the same competition. Denyssen commented:
We stayed in housing in Alex which was built for the games. It was a township experience in lowcost housing in the middle of winter and there were more than a few complaints but we coped. It was an experience that made us all stronger. It also sent out a good message to everybody that international athletes were willing to stay in a township. The infrastructure that was left behind served communities who needed it.
Tshepo Ditshego participated in the World Student Games in Palma in 1999.
Maieane Nkhahle was Lesotho’s basketball captain and led Wits with distinction.
Lydia Monyepao was selected for South Africa at basketball and football.
Quintin Denyssen, Tshepo Ditshego and Lydia Monyepao were selected for SASSU at the World Student Games in Palma, Mallorca and Ashraf Lodewyk represented SASSU in the Confederation of University and Colleges Sports Associations (CUCSA) African Zone 6 Student Games in Lusaka. Maeiane Nkhahle was named in the SASSA all-star team and voted Wits basketball club’s MVP. All five players received full blues and contributed to the club winning the university’s ‘Club of the Year’ award for the first time in 1999. The pre-millennium year also saw Wits placed third in both the Sowetan/ Telkom CBL and the YFM/ Vodago Super Seven Challenge, and reach the semi-final of the Central Gauteng (Metro) league.
The trip to the World Student Games was a major highlight – 6 000 athletes representing 160 countries took part in ten sporting disciplines. The basketball players were up against strong opponents – the men’s team came nineteenth out of 23 teams, but they did win their first-ever international game against Ireland. The women’s
team finished last out of 16 teams. Tshepo Ditshego learnt much from the venture:
As a player it gives you the opportunity of seeing where you fit in the world’s athletic spectrum, and we learnt lots of new techniques from playing against the other teams. I’m 5.7 and in the game against Yugoslavia, for example, I was playing against 7-footers who could shoot three-pointers in their sleep. I quickly realised that irrespective of the height difference, I needed to be able to do the same in order to compete at an international level. All the players were also incredibly athletic and strong, and we started doing a lot more training in the gym. It helped us to elevate our game and, as a result, winning games in subsequent competitions became the norm.
In 1999, Witsies again featured in Gauteng regional and provincial basketball. The men’s regional team won the national tournament –with five Witsies selected: Ashraf Lodewyk, Maieane Nkhahle (named MVP), Comfort Rabali, Magaret Moloto and Bongiwe Thabete. The women’s team improved with each season and notably in 1999 through a new coach ‘Z’ Ngwenya. They were disappointed not to qualify for the CBL but did well to finish fifth in the Central Gauteng basketball league. Tladi Moloto and Bongiwe Thabethe were selected for Gauteng and Lydia Monyepao for SASSU.
Various reports emphasised that Wits basketballers were immensely proud of their achievements. They were well known on campus. ‘Freaky Friday’ parties became legendary on the Wits social scene, letting ‘the ballers play their game while the YFM DJs entertained the crowd of approximately 3 000 people’. The Sowetan/ Telkom Campus Basketball League attracted SABC coverage on a Sunday evening and M-Net television on Monday nights. In a high-profile league, Wits travelled the nation to compete. And then there was the ‘Super Sevens’ basketball challenge, which featured Gauteng’s top eight teams, prize money of R10 000, musicians from the Ghetto Ruff label, and various YFM DJs. With the internal league starting in 1994, basketball comprised 200 active members. It was one of the biggest sport clubs on campus.
Boxing
SATISU-Wits resurrected boxing, but it was not until 1995 that the WSC made note of the newly established club. It was described as a ‘fledgling club with its members from financially disadvantaged backgrounds’. Club training took place four nights a week under coach Eric Ndlovu, with requests made for assistance in obtaining equipment.
Three years later, the club attracted Mbulelo ‘Popla’ Mxokiswa as coach. He was a former South African middleweight champion who said that he intended taking the club to the highest level. Their first tournament was
an intervarsity held at the then Technikon Northern Gauteng in September 1998. Wits finished joint second at an event that served as a precursor to a national competition. At their first SASSU tournament in July, the Wits boxers were in great form and finished first overall. They became known almost immediately as the ‘Golden Boys’. Club chairman Thabo Tshehla, who was from a prominent boxing family in Mpumalanga, won gold in the bantamweight division, and Tando Melapi, who played a major role in the development of boxing, won the lightweight title.
Quintin Denyssen represented South Africa as a schoolboy, student and at senior international level.
The Wits basketball team 1999 (left to right – back row): Tshiamo Ngakane, Maieane Nkhahle, Quintin Denyssen, Merlin Knott, Tutu Gama, Pfumo Mubako (in front): Ashraf Lodewyk, Tshepo Ditshego, Peter Banda, Comfort Rabali and Lambotharan Kanagaratnam.
Canoeing
The Wits Canoe Club enjoyed a golden period during which they were Club of the Year in 1987, 1990 and 1992. They were for some years, the finest club in South Africa.
In 1989, the canoeing team produced an excellent performance to win the December intervarsity ahead of a competitive Cape Town challenge. They were followed by Stellenbosch, RAU and Pretoria, with the leading Wits canoeists, Graham Bird and Gavin Cooke, selected for the SAU team. A great year also saw Wits win the Transvaal league for the third successive year with Mark Perrow securing his third individual title. Further victories came in the 8 Hour Enduro, the Vaal and South African relay championships and the South African K1, K2 and K4 championships.
In 1990, the success continued. Robbie Herreveld was awarded Springbok colours for white water, making him the fifth member of the club to achieve national honours. Wits won the Lowveld Croc; the 8 Hour Enduro for the sixth time in a row; the prestigious South African K4 championships for the second successive year; the Vaal relay, and the inaugural winter league. There were some outstanding individual achievements. Barry Hayward won the South African 10 000-metres K2 championships and was second in the 500-metres K2 and the 1 000-metres K2 (all with Graham Monteith). Hayward had earlier been named the 1989 South African sprint victor ludorum. Gavin Cooke won the senior B victor ludorum after making a clean sweep of the K1 sprint events, while Graham Bird won all the K2 events (with Theo de Jager). Anthony Wald, the club chairman, congratulated Mark Perrow:
During a stint in ‘banana country’, he won the Natal K1, K2, white water and sprint victor ludorum titles. Then, of course, he was also Springbok captain and became the first Witsie to win the Berg River Marathon, recognised amongst serious paddlers as the most prestigious race in South African canoeing.
To round off another memorable season for the club, the Witsies retained their SAU championship title on the Berg River. They won by beating Stellenbosch on the same river that the latter had beaten them in 1987. In Wits’s fifth win in six years, Barry Hayward was second, Gavin Cooke third and Graham Bird fourth
Over the previous four seasons, Wits had won every South African club event, as well as dominating the individual places. Its membership, which had risen to 85, included ten provincial paddlers and four Springboks. A tour to Spain was arranged in 1990, the club’s most ambitious project to date. A party of 21 embarked on an exciting adventure that encompassed seven events in the 26th International Week of Canoeracing in picturesque parts of Asturias. The tour party also participated in a further four races through invitation. They were always in demand. Mark Perrow (K1 and K2) and Grant Woollaston were responsible for victories in the Herminio Menendez race at Candas, the Ria de Villaviciosa
regatta, the Ribadesella regatta, the Descent of the River Carrion and the Descent of the Pisuerga. Team members, Stanley Freiman, Rod Penaluna, Craig Fussell, Mark Shuter and Graham Bird collected a series of good placings, which resulted in Wits winning an impressive array of trophies and medals in club and individual competitions.
The one prize that was missing was success in the famous Descent of the Sella. This is one of the world’s great canoe races, with 3 000 entries, lavish television and news coverage and a folkloric atmosphere, attracting more than 150 000 spectators. There is a march-past, a flagraising ceremony and a special train that allows spectators to follow the race. Much emotion is attached to the singing of the national and provincial anthems, which trigger off furious clapping that in turn leads to a ‘Le Mans’ start. The traffic lights along the river flash green to indicate the actual commencement but many jump the gun. In 1990 the Perrow/ Woollaston combination was almost a kilometre behind before they could get going. Once in their stride, they were arguably the fastest boat on the water, finishing fifth, a mere 57 seconds behind the winners.
The Spanish tour was so successful that a second trip was arranged the following year. Wits prepared well during the 1990/91 season, the period between the two tours. They won virtually every major race in the country during this period, with the exception of the Dusi (placed third) and the Vaal (placed second).
South Africa’s other top races all fell to the Witsies, namely the Umkomaas (Neil Evans and Robbie Herreveld), Berg (Robbie Herreveld), Breede (Mark Perrow and Graham Monteith), Fish (Neil Evans and Robbie Herreveld), the 50-miler (Neil Evans), Orange (Mark Perrow) and Lowveld Croc doubling up as the South African K1 championships (Robbie Herreveld). So did the victor ludorum award at the South African sprint championships (Mark Perrow), the South African super league award (Robbie Herreveld) and the ‘Grand Slam’ of Natal’s famous races.
Hayward was
The 1990 Wits canoeists celebrate after winning the team trophy at the Ria de Villaviciosa Regatta (left to right – standing): Stanley Freiman, Maryanne Mayer, Emilio Llamedo Olivera (chairman of the Asturias Canoe Federation), Craig Fussell, Mark Perrow, Grant Woollaston, Mark Shuter, Lesley Rix and Tracey Glover (in front): Laurence Cooke, Walter Bamstead, Mark Hutson, Anthony Wald, Rod Penaluna, Mark Kershaw, Graham Bird, Rodney Hogg, Mark Bosch, Steve Nefdt and Liefie Swanepoel.
Barry
a champion South African canoeist in the sprints.
While Springboks Mark Perrow, Neil Evans and Robbie Herreveld did much to enhance their reputations, some of the younger club members made enormous strides. Barry Hayward earned his Springbok colours after a fine all-round performance at the national sprint championships; Graham Bird developed from a mediocre provincial paddler into a top national contender, with a second place in the super league; and Gavin Cooke, was a fine sprinter who made the national 500-metre K1 final and was fourth in the 1 000-metre K2 event.
In the 1991 Descent of the Sella, the Wits team comprised four K2 boats: Mark Perrow and Neil Evans, Graham Bird and Gavin Cooke, Mark Shuter and Gareth Peddie, and Laurence Cooke and Colin Anderson. They were ready for the challenge but the national anthem had barely started when the top Spanish crew, Antonio Soto/ Rafael Hermanez (winners in 1987 and 1989) jumped the gun. Perrow/ Evans saw the move and responded well as the canoeists began swarming towards their boats. In gaining an excellent start Perrow/ Evans set off for the middle of the river, before turning sharply with the flow of the water. Within one hundred metres they were lying third.
Two unknown Spanish boats were ahead but eventually overtaken, with the Witsies not prepared to take chances, several times negotiating longer but safer options. All the while, a second Wits boat – Bird/ Cooke – was slicing its way through the crowded river. They were making the best of their poor seeding and soon outpaced the third bunch, Soto/Hermanez, the Germans Harry Skibbe/Heinz Pfitzenreuter
and the Swedes Lars Walkler/Mikael Berger. Perrow/Evans were asserting their influence and by the train bridge, 15 kilometres into the race, it appeared as if the second bunch had come to accept that there was no hope of catching them. Bird/ Cooke seized their opportunity and racing aggressively surged into this group where they faced relatively little resistance. With 1.5 kilometres left, they realised that they could take second place.
As millions of Spanish television viewers saw Mark Perrow and Neil Evans gliding home to a magnificent and convincing victory, so the second Wits boat moved to the front of their group. A final spurt from 200 metres out effectively sealed second spot to give Wits University first and second places in one of the world’s most prestigious canoe races. With Mark Shuter and Gareth Peddie finishing fourteenth, Wits also won the team trophy to crown an historic day for South African canoeing.
The 1991/92 season was highly successful. There were an extraordinary number of first places. Wits triumphed in the South African K1 (Mark Perrow) and K2 (Graham Bird and Gavin Cooke) marathon championships; the Fish River Marathon, doubling up as the South African K2 River championships (Neil Evans and Robbie Herreveld); the Fish River club trophy (Evans/ Herreveld/ Perrow/ Bird/ Cooke); the Transvaal K1 River Championships (Mark Perrow); the SAU individual (Graham Bird); the Vaal River Marathon (Neil Evans and Robbie Herreveld); the Natal K1 championship (Graham Bird), and the Hansa Dusi Canoe Marathon (Neil Evans and Mark Perrow).
In 1992, Mark Perrow and Neil Evans won the famous Dusi race, setting a new record (8:01:33). They won again in 1996 when a new rule saw day two and day three start with the top ten paddlers all in a batch, instead of elapsed time as had previously been the case. It was reported that Mark Perrow and Neil Evans ‘banked their day one five minutes to win comfortably’. The main race was traditionally billed in alternate years as a K1 or K2 event and the following year – 1997 – Perrow won the K1 for the first time. He made one last effort – with Martin Dreyer – to win a
Mark Perrow (left) and Rod Penaluna with the team’s trophies after the 1990 tour to Spain.
Mark Perrow and Neil Evans respond well to the Le-Mans-style start to the 1991 Descent of the Sella.
Happy Witsies (left to right: Gavin Cooke, Neil Evans, Mark Perrow and Graham Bird) after gaining first (Perrow/Evans) and second (Cooke/Bird) places in the 1991 Descent of the Sella.
Graham Bird and Gavin Cooke on their way to victory in the 1991 Descent of the Cares-Deva.
fourth title in 2000, a year when ‘sentiment “to do the Dusi in the Millennium year” saw entry numbers soar to 2 217 starters’. Perrow and Dreyer beat the Evans/ Perrow time set eight years earlier with a new record of 7:56:35.
Two members of the Wits canoe club – Mark Perrow and Barry Hayward – competed in the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. Perrow performed well in the K1 1 000 metres repêchage by smashing his South African record by three seconds in a time of 3:36:13. And even more significantly, he qualified for the semi-final. In this race, he made a poor start, but a strong finish saw him pull back to within 3.86 seconds of the winner. He had to settle for seventh position out of nine competitors and the twelfth fastest time overall in the K1 1 000 metres.
Willem van Riet and Barry Hayward then represented South Africa in the K2 1 000 metres, where they finished sixth out of eight boats in their heat. They managed to improve their time in the repêchage thanks to a strong finish, but were unable to qualify for the semi-final.
In the opening heat of the Olympic K4 1 000 metres, the South African foursome (Mark Perrow, Herman Kotze, Bennie Reynders and Oscar Chalupsky) beat their own national record by seven seconds but this achievement was dwarfed somewhat by the performance of the Germans, who cut five seconds off the world record in the same race. There was no joy in the semi-final – South Africa finished sixteenth out of eighteen boats, beating Korea and Argentina.
Lesley Carstens, a former Wits rower who had been part of the team that won the 1989 boat race, had switched to canoeing and subsequently won selection for the Olympic team. She and Dene Simpson reached the semi-final of the K2 500 metres and set a new South African record.
The return to the Olympic Games demonstrated the effect of isolation and lack of elite competition. The experience of being an Olympian was nevertheless memorable for the South Africans after their 32-year isolation from the movement. On his return, Barry Hayward was interviewed by Wits Student and asked what stood out: ‘Being in the opening lineup procession,’ he said, ‘with all those great athletes. Also being with other South Africans and playing monopoly with Elana Meyer and Zola Budd-Pieterse.’
In December 1992, Wits lost their SAU crown, finishing second to Cape Town. There was nevertheless success for Graham Bird who was placed first in the individual event and, along with Alan van Coller, selected for the SAU team. It had been a year of achievement for Bird, who was awarded his national colours after becoming South African K1 and K2 Flatwater champion and K2 Marathon champion. He was named Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’.
Tragically, in the course of 1992, Gavin Cooke died suddenly during an Olympic canoeing sprint trial. At the time of the tragedy, he was one of the country’s most promising young canoeists, with a burning desire to represent South Africa at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. He was regarded as a certainty for the national canoe
squad, having made rapid progress since his first race – the Dusi Marathon in 1988 – and was Wits’s ‘most improved paddler’ in 1989, a year in which he helped them win the SAU. He was twice awarded SAU colours and represented the Springbok B team in the Breede River Marathon in 1990, and thereafter won South African K4 and K2 titles.
Graham Bird continued his impressive progress to finish sixth in the world K2 marathon championships in 1993.
The Wits club was further strengthened by another world-class canoeist in Antje Manfroni. The East German team had become friendly with Wits canoeists during their two tours to Spain and much interest had been shown in Manfroni’s arrival and decision to study at the university. She and Anett Schuck had won the 1992 world championship, and it was not surprising that Manfroni should become the top woman paddler in South Africa.
She represented South Africa at both the International Grand Prix on the Breede River and the Berg River Marathon, winning both events. She also represented her adopted country in the World Cup canoe marathon in Spain in August 1995 where she finished fifth. In 1995, Manfroni was the first woman (K1) in the Dusi Canoe Marathon, the Drakensberg Challenge, the South African marathon championships, the ICF International Breede River Grand Prix, the KWV Berg River Marathon and the South African sprint championships 200 metres. She was also first in the Mix-K2 Umkomaas canoe marathon and the K4 200 and 500 metres in the South African sprint championships.
With Graham Bird and Antje Manfroni continuing to excel in national and international competitions, Wits canoeing was frequently in the news. After winning the Dusi for the first time in 1995, Manfroni would become a threetime champion and set new records in the K1 and K2. Interest was also shown in a former club member, Ruth Nortjé, who had relocated to the United States but represented South Africa at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. She had in 1994 achieved eleventh place in the K2 500 metres at the world championships in Mexico.
There were other Wits canoeists displaying promise, such as Barry Payne and Matt Gunning, both medical students, and Piers Cruickshanks, but the next canoeist to make a major impact was Alan van Coller. Although most of Van Coller’s major achievements would occur from 2000 onwards, he began building an impressive record in the late 1990s. During this time, he represented South Africa on a regular basis and gained invaluable experience through international competition. He competed in the World Cup Canoe Sprint regatta, the Flatwater Racing World Championships and the Canoe Marathon World Championships.
He achieved a fourth position in the marathon K2 World Championships out of 28 competing countries and a third in the World Cup event. He also had numerous successes at home, achieving the victor ludorum at the South African sprint championship and winning the K2 event at the
The Wits canoeists won the Descent of the Sella team trophy in 1991. Celebrating in front of the Sella’s ‘canoe’ train are (left to right – back row) Rory Attridge, Gavin Cooke, Mark Shuter and Mark Perrow (in front): Colin Anderson, Neil Evans, Laurence Cooke and Graham Bird.
Witsies who competed at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games included (left to right): sprint star Barry Hayward; former rower Lesley Carstens who had been part of Wits’s winning ‘boat race’ crew before switching to canoeing; and (in front): Mark Perrow, who captained the Springbok team in sprints, marathon and white-water.
Chess
In 1990, the chess club had about 130 members and met every lunchtime, Monday to Thursday. It provided boards, pieces and opponents but did not exist for very long. In May 1991, the chairperson, Anthony Bickof, said there would possibly be a relaunch of the club, which was then affiliated to the SRC. It had dissolved because of lack of interest, but Bickof noted that it had been one of the strongest clubs in the Transvaal in its heyday.
In November 1995, Mark Buswell forwarded an application on behalf of the chess club to the WSC. It was the club’s intention to seek membership as a ‘sports club’. As part of its motivation, it stated:
The club has a well-developed infrastructure with a motivated committee. Over the past three years it has undergone a resurgence having competed in the Witwatersrand league and organised a number of its own tournaments which have proved successful. It also has a Wits championship trophy that is awarded annually and dates back to the 1950s.
The club went on to argue ‘chess has now been recognised as a sport on a national level. It would therefore be more appropriate for it to fall under the Wits Sports Council.’ A list of achievements was attached which included winning the first division of the Witwatersrand league in 1993, earning promotion, and being placed second in the premier division in 1994. It was pointed out that the Witwatersrand league was recognised as the most fiercely contested league in the country and that the university’s players had been rewarded with provincial and national colours.
It was an impressive application and the chess club was admitted to the WSC. In 1996, the club started with a membership of 50 students. It would produce players of calibre although the general administration let them down on occasion. It was probably for that reason that Mark Buswell, chairman of the Wits Chess Club, wrote to Eddie Price in the physics department in March 1996. He said that he would like to extend to Price honorary life membership of the club in appreciation of his efforts over two years, but also to ask him to act as club president.
The league was undoubtedly the highlight of the chess calendar in Gauteng. Wits ‘A’ had over the past two years secured its place in the premier division. It played matches against the Centurion Chess Club and competed in the Witwatersrand tournament circuit. RAU also hosted a regional chess tournament in 1996 that was won by Wits’s Anthony Levy, a former South African Schools champion.
The SASSU inter-regional competition was held in East London in July. Seven Wits players qualified for the South Gauteng team which convincingly won the SASSU title, scoring 35.5/50 – 6.5 points ahead of Northern Gauteng, with the Western Cape third.
South African flatwater marathon. With Graham Bird, he established a new record time in the South African river marathon championships in conjunction with the Berg River marathon. The Van Coller/ Bird first place, together with the tenth position achieved by Haden Hartley and Benje Cokram, enabled Wits to win the club trophy.
By 1999, the club was smaller in terms of membership but still possessed highly successful paddlers. Apart from regularly competing in races throughout South Africa, they also had an enthusiastic canoe polo section. Club member, Olwyn Gilbert, was good enough to be selected for the South African women’s team.
Yuri Aronov won the tournament and another three Witsies finished in the top ten – Victor Chow (second), Anthony Levy (fifth) and Paul Sheridan (seventh).
In December 1996, the inter-tertiary tournament was held. Unfortunately, because of other commitments, Wits was unable to send a full team. The four available players – Yuri Aronov, Anthony Levy, Paul Sheridan and Victor Chow – almost pulled it off despite being short one team member. Aronov and Levy again proved their undoubted ability by tying for first place, and all four Witsies were selected for the SASSU team.
The Wits closed championships were an important feature of the year. In 1996, Paul Sheridan defended the title he had won the previous year. He was up against Yuri Aronov and other talented players, but Sheridan had an impressive tournament to win for the second successive year.
In 1997, Aronov was third in the premier league; third in the Centurion Open, and fourth in the Han Pfundt Fund Open, but the highlight was winning the South African Closed junior chess championship. He was selected to represent South Africa in the African Junior Chess Championships in Eket, Nigeria, in 1997.
Wits entered three teams into the league in 1997 – the premier, and the first and second Gauteng South divisions. The premier side was up against quality teams such as Hilson Park, Kempton Park and Grosvenor. Wits A finished second in the premier league; the B team first in the first division, and the C team eighth in the second division. By winning the first division, the B team was promoted to the premier league which meant that Wits was the only club with two teams in the top division.
The annual SASSU national chess championships were held at RAU in December 1997. Seventeen tertiary institutions took part. Each was represented by a men’s team (six players) and women’s team (three players). Wits finished fifth – their poorest performance in a long time. This was attributed to internal problems, which had led to the Wits chess club sending only four men and one woman to the tournament. Yuri Aronov (Wits A) won the tournament’s individual title (6.5 points) with Lennox Masangane (Wits B) second with 5.5 points. They both made the SASSU team, and Clive Mosomane, Chimane Mathibeng and Sharlotte Jood were noted as doing well in their first major tournament.
In 1998, Michael Masungwini became the first black player to win the Wits open chess championships. He was also the SASSU player of the tournament in 1998 and was in the SASSU top ten from 2000 until 2002. Lennox Masangane also did well in 1998 and was selected for SASSU-Gauteng.
The impressive achievements of the Wits Chess Club during the 1990s culminated in the excellent achievement of Dennis Ovcina finishing joint second in the South African Open in 1999.
Antje Manfroni, a 1992 East German world champion, studied at Wits and became South Africa’s most outstanding female canoeist.
Cricket
Rob Sharman was undoubtedly the key figure in rebuilding the side. He personally attended to every problem that arose within the club and spent considerable time encouraging the second and third teams to greater deeds. A sound base was gradually established and with both Sharman and skipper Bruce McBride deserving credit for the spirit they engendered, Wits excelled in 1988/89. The ‘new breed’ as they called themselves were successfully moulded into a winning combination.
The club was fortunate in its outstanding firstyear students. Richard Snell entered the scene to a cornucopia of anticipation. A former South African Schools’ player who had represented Natal ‘B’ in the Castle Bowl competition, he exceeded all expectations. Alongside him as an opening bowler was Steven Jack who had all the attributes – well-built, genuinely fast, and possessing a ‘killer’ streak. Like all good fast bowlers, he was also capable of swinging his broadsword to advantage and ended the season, by plundering 96 not out against Jeppe.
Fellow first-year students, Matthew Vandrau and Trevor Webster, made a big impression. Both excelled at the 1988 intervarsity at Stellenbosch, with Vandrau (the tournament’s
top run-scorer) going on to represent the South African Universities XI later in the season. It was Webster, however, who produced the week’s most sensational performance. Against a Free State side that included three top-order Currie Cup batsmen (Rudolf Steyn, Hansie Cronje and Louis Wilkinson), he took 6/15. The Free Staters were bundled out for 56 and the Witsies won the match an hour before lunch.
With a little bit of luck, Wits could so easily have shared the William O’Brien Shield. Unable to take a last, vital wicket against Durban resulted in the side finishing third behind Port Elizabeth and RAU.
A strange inability to bowl out tail-enders also prevented Wits from winning the Premier League. In the final log, the students (141.5) finished third behind Pirates (146.32) and Wanderers (142.13). While inexperience probably cost the side, it was nevertheless a most memorable season.
A formidable battery of bowlers proved the team’s main strength. Barry Mocke was the leading wicket-taker – 38 at an excellent average of 13.18. He was followed by Steven Jack (32), Trevor Webster (30), Richard Snell (28) and Ian Benning (23). The batting improved as the season progressed, with Frank Rovelli topping the averages (551 runs – average 32.41)
As part of the All Sports Council’s 50th Anniversary celebrations in 1989, the Wits Cricket Club, under the chairmanship of Rob Sharman, introduced the Walter Milton Memorial Cricket Match. It became the traditional pipeopener to the new cricket season. The strong Wits University Alumni XI won the toss and batted first. Neville Wright (56), Steve Elworthy (49), Alan Jones (40), Mike Rindel (27) and John du Plessis (23) helped their side to 241 – ‘a total out of reach for the youngsters’ said a confident Alumni manager, Justin Pearce. He was right but it was a thrilling finish. The students were 188 for 9 when Barry Mocke and Alistair Stewart added 48 in 33 minutes for the last wicket. Stewart was run out for 28 off the second last ball of the match with just five runs needed.
In the 1989/90 season, Wits were placed
Rob Sharman impressed as a well-organised and successful club chairman.
Trevor Webster leads the Witsies off the field at Stellenbosch after his match-winning figures of 6/15 against Hansie Cronje’s powerful Free State in the 1988 intervarsity tournament. Applauding his effort (left to right) are Steven Jack and Ian Benning.
Barry Mocke was the leading bowler and a useful late-order batsman in 1988/89.
Frank Rovelli topped Wits’s batting averages in the 1988/89 season.
The teams and officials at the ASC 50th Anniversary match in 1989 (left to right - standing): Barry Lambson (umpire), Steve Lurie, Barry Mocke, Richard Snell, Alistair Stewart, Bruce McBride, Neville Wight, John Perrott, Andy Rosselli, Mike Rindel, Steve Elworthy, Alan Jones, Kevin Kerr, John du Plessis, Paul Botha, Ron Ryninks (umpire) (in front): John Hadiaris, James Teeger, Steven Jack, Jonty Daniel, Janette Stadler (scorer), Matthew Vandrau, Glynne Amoils (scorer), Frank Rovelli, Noel Hutton and Ian Benning.
second overall in the Transvaal Premier League. The Second XI was last in the Saturday First Reserve League but sixth out of nine teams in the Sunday league. Wits also started out as one of the favoured teams in the SAU tournament and by midweek had defeated Maritzburg and Rhodes and drawn against Cape Town. They were unlucky to lose by just one wicket against Port Elizabeth on the fourth day and then be struck by bad weather in their final match. Richard Snell was selected for the SAU A team and Matthew Vandrau for the B side. Snell, who had greatly impressed Clive Rice and the powerful Transvaal cricket establishment, was drafted quickly into the provincial team and selected for South Africa. He was 21-years-old when chosen to play against Mike Gatting’s English team at the Wanderers in 1990.
The 1990/91 season – with new coach, former South African captain, Jackie McGlew – was not successful. Chairman, Rob Sharman, commented at the time: ‘In the last two seasons we came within a hair’s breadth of winning the Transvaal Premier League, but now the club has difficulty fulfilling its match commitments and competent players are urgently needed.’ Wits also lost the second Walter Milton Memorial match. The students scored 177, a total that the invitation side overhauled for the loss of five wickets thanks to Neville Wright’s unbeaten 72. It was not until the following year that Wits (251/8) would defeat the invitation team (183) for the first time. Professor Murray, spoke of the success of this match some years later:
The Old Boys were immediately attracted to the game as a mechanism for bringing them back together again and reliving the past – not least the fines meetings – and it is remarkable how loyal the
players of the eighties and nineties proved to the game – so much so that a second game had to be set up to cater for all those who wanted to play. The thrill for the students was the opportunity to play against the stars of yesteryear – some even got a kick out of Steven Jack hitting them deep into the soccer stadium.
There were memorable highlights in late 1991. South Africa returned to international cricket when they visited India in November, their first official cricket series since their suspension from the game in 1970. Richard Snell played in the series that was won 2-1 by India. In a Wits Student interview, he said: ‘I was told about the tour on the Sunday and I was set to write exams on the Monday, so I had to get them deferred. The tour itself was fantastic. The feeling in Calcutta as we were welcomed by thousands upon thousands of people lining the streets was indescribable.’
It was Snell’s opening partner at Wits, Steven Jack, who was the university’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in 1991. He had set a South African bowling record at the Benson and Hedges cricket competition and was one of South Africa’s cricketers of the year.
Snell went on to represent South Africa at its first-ever appearance at a Cricket World Cup, in Australia in 1992, and to make his Test debut in South Africa’s first-ever encounter against the West Indies. Steven Jack and Adam Bacher also played Test cricket for South Africa.
The 1991 Nedfin SAU cricket week was the first to be held under a united, non-racial controlling body. Regular participants in the event were joined by teams such as Medunsa, Fort Hare and the University of the Western Cape. No team won the tournament as no log was kept and the traditional SAU trophy, the
Richard Snell opened the bowling for Wits, Transvaal and South Africa.
South African opening bowler, Steven Jack, delivers to Hugh Page during a first league match between Wits and Old Edwardians.
Adam Bacher played in 19 Tests for South Africa.
O’Brien Shield, was not awarded. It was a little unfortunate for Wits as they were undefeated. Richard Snell was included in the Nedfin XI, for which Trevor Webster narrowly missed selection.
Wits were fourth in the Premier League in 1991/92. Matthew Vandrau (average 48.3) scored the competition’s second highest aggregate of runs – 725 – while Glen Hewitt (33.1) and Peter Boa (29.6) were prominent amongst the other batsmen. Graeme Yates bowled well (average 16.1) and proved vital to the attack as its illustrious members were not always available for club matches. On the administrative side, the Wits Cricket Club built up an impressive array of vice-presidents: ‘Bacher, Barlow, de Vaal, During, Flanagan, [Andy] Jack, Kidson, McBride, Shapiro, Waite, White and Wright’.
Supporters of the university’s cricket were immensely proud of the club’s achievements in 1992/93. The senior cricket teams dominated the Transvaal leagues and again won the double, this time with James Teeger as captain. The First XI triumphed in the Causeway Communications premier cricket league and the Causeway Communications limited overs competition. The Second XI ended the season top of the log in the Transvaal reserve league.
‘Single-minded dedication, good team discipline and a quest for playing excellence made success possible,’ said club chairman, Rob Sharman. ‘We decided against a coach this year because ten of our players regularly compete at provincial level and are coached by the best people in the country.’ Four members of the Wits First XI played for Transvaal – Richard Snell, Steven Jack, Mandy Yachad and James Teeger.
As Transvaal champions, Wits played in the Budget Rent-a-Car South African club championships in October 1993. They began in rampant style, sweeping past Stellenbosch, Hoffe Park and Victoria (Boland). Openers Glen Hewitt and Mandy Yachad both posted centuries. Wits were favoured to win their section and advance to the final. However, Durban Crusaders ended their run of success in a rain-affected match. Wits, batting first, reached 213/7 off their allotted 50 overs. In response, Crusaders were 147 for 3 with a better run-rate when rain ended play.
In 1993/94, Wits retained their title as Causeway Communications limited overs champions. While they finished level with RAU on points at the top of the table, they were awarded the league title through a superior run rate. Wits ended the season with a flourish, winning their last four encounters against Wits Technikon, Alberton, Crescents and Roodepoort City very convincingly. The victory in this 55-overs-a-side competition compensated to some degree for their failure to defend the premier league title.
By 1993/94, the cricket club had more than doubled its size in three years, from four league teams and 65 members in 1990/91 to nine league teams and 140 members in 1993/94. Unfortunately, effectively from that season there would also be a steady decline in Wits cricket. The 1994/95 and 1995/96 seasons were
relatively disappointing. The normal problems were noted of key players being unavailable through examinations and provincial call-ups. Rob Sharman spoke at length of the difficulties that Wits experienced in 1995/96. The First XI had finished last and the Second XI third last. The Saturday teams, with the exception of the JCE side and the Saturday 13, had also performed dismally. Sharman stated that ‘Wits had NEVER before experienced such a poor season’. The issue was discussed and various reasons for the results were put forward by members. Thanks to intervention by Transvaal Cricket Board vice-chairman, Ziggy Wadvalla, a meeting was held between the provincial cricket authorities, the vice-chancellor, the club president, the club chairman and the director of sport at Wits. The meeting resolved that Wits had an important role to play in Transvaal cricket. The university agreed to get its house in order …
… by engaging the services of an assistant administrator to ease the load of the sports officer and ensure practices were conducted in a more efficient manner; obtain a new heavy roller to ensure that better playing surfaces were produced by the grounds staff; upgrade the clubhouse to ensure that visiting teams had proper facilities at their disposal; and to acknowledge that there was a need to recruit players more actively.
The Transvaal Cricket Board also realised that it had a role to play in the resurrection of Wits cricket in terms of providing an overseas professional and a coach.
The 1996/97 season reflected some improvement. In the Sunday premier league, Wits finished seventh out of twelve teams. They played 18, won 4 on the first innings, lost 5 on the first innings and drew 9. In the Saturday second league, Wits finished a lowly tenth out of 11 teams, winning just two out of their 16 matches. The key batsmen in the premier league were Liam Graham (608 runs, average 38.00); Lawrence Livingston (531 runs, average 48.27) and Imraan Munshi (326 runs – average 21.73). The bowling load was shouldered by Gareth Flusk (22 wickets, average 38.64) and Alex Comninos (19 wickets, average 23.47), Alex Greig (19 wickets, average 40.74), Liam Graham (17 wickets, average 39.65) and Jack Manack (16 wickets, 28.44).
In 1997/98, Wits finished seventh out of eight teams in the restructured premier league and second in the Saturday third league. These were disappointing results at a time when Wits fielded a promising side. Matthew Street, for example, captained the South African Under-19 team in a series against England and in the Under-19 World Cup. Several players made SASSU teams and provincial sides, but the averages reflected weaknesses. The leading batsmen in the premier league were Matthew Street (442 runs, average 40.18), Liam Graham (260 runs, average 32.50) and Alex Comninos (401 runs, average 28.64). The best bowling performances included Gareth Flusk (32 wickets, average 21.03), Michael de Jong (12 wickets, average 23.42) and Alex Greig
Gareth Flusk proved a fine allrounder in his seasons at Wits, and played representative university and provincial cricket.
Mandy Yachad played first-class cricket for Transvaal and Northern Transvaal, and an ODI match for South Africa on tour to India in 1991.
(26 wickets, average 30.38).
Wits also had a low profile in the SASSU tournament. At a well-organised event hosted by the University of the Western Cape in 1997, Wits won two and lost two, with one wash-out. They finished fourth in the B Section. Gareth Flusk was selected for the section’s A team and Tristan Mclaren and Wynne Borowsky for the B team. None of the players made the full SASSU XI. Liam Graham left the club at the end of the season. ‘He was our erstwhile leader until he was tempted to East London’, recalled Professor Murray in a club report:
In the late 1990s the standard of Wits cricket fell off badly ... Rob [Sharman] retired (exhausted) and I took over for a second spell as chairman. My sports officer was Ebrahim Boomgaard, who attributed the decline of Wits cricket to the onset of professionalism. Boomgaard was engaged in recruiting from the schools, and according to him the perception prevailing among young cricketers was that they did not require a tertiary education as they could make a living from cricket. When I last saw Graeme Smith a couple of years ago I halfjocularly asked whether, now that he had retired from cricket, he regretted not having accepted the bursary we offered him to study and play cricket at Wits once he matriculated from KES. He simply laughed.
To help restore Wits’s cricket to its former glory, Murray took two fundamental steps on resuming as chairman. The first – with the crucial assistance of Joe Pamensky, the president of the Gauteng Cricket Board – was to negotiate in 1999 a generous sponsorship deal with the Silveray Stationery Company (Croxley), providing for bursaries, playing kit and scoreboards. Contract details were tied up in November 1998. Wits attracted Ryan Sierra,
targeted Graeme Smith – then the South African Under-19 opening batsman – and a fast bowler, Masilo Matseki, from Soweto, amongst others. The university unfortunately had a poor season, lacking an opening bowler to share the load and an opening batsman who would give the innings a good start.
Murray said the second step was to persuade the former Springbok and then television cricket commentator, Lee Irvine, to coach the senior players at Wits, which he did for the next five seasons.
Lee, who played for South Africa as wicketkeeper/ batsman in the famous 1970 series against Australia, the last before isolation, was convinced the talent was available to revive Wits cricket. There were the likes of wicketkeeper/batsman Matthew Street, who had captained the South African Under 19 team at the 1998 World Cup, Ryan Sierra, an aggressive batsman who had played for South African Schools, and Gareth Flusk, a left-arm seamer who represented Gauteng ‘B’. Next season Street, the all-rounder John Buxton-Forman, and Proteas’ fast bowler David Terbrugge all represented the Highveld Strikers. Terbrugge, who enrolled at the Wits Business School, played two Tests for South Africa while at Wits.
There were also developments in SASSU cricket. Following discussions at the 1998 SASSU cricket meeting it was decided that the universities and technikons would combine and then be placed into two tournaments based on strength versus strength. At the 1999 tournament in Bloemfontein, Wits played three matches in their B section pool winning all quite comfortably. ‘James Cameron, Mike de Jong and Mark Gibbs bowled well, and Ryan Sierra, Raymond Fletcher and Gibbs batted well,’ recalled Murray. They then played Pretoria Technikon in the semi-final and were well on top until the afternoon tea interval. ‘Tech were gutsy,’ Murray continued, ‘kept their heads and passed our score with two balls to spare and one wicket standing.’ The final day was washed out completely, but Wits attained third spot by virtue of having beaten Cape Technikon in the pool game. Potchefstroom were declared overall winners through the same rule, having beaten Pretoria Tech in their pool game. Ryan Sierra, Mark Gibbs and James Cameron were selected for the ‘team of the week’ and Sierra was included in the National Students XI to play the British Students.
There was generally a vibrant atmosphere in Wits cricket. ‘Many more students of colour came to play for Wits,’ said Murray, ‘and the Saturday sixth league team was essentially a development side. As many as six players of colour played for the two senior teams on a Sunday.’
Cricketers past and present – Matthew Street, Justin Bitter, Steven Jack, Bruce McBride and Richard Snell – met to celebrate the Croxley sponsorship launch.
David Terbrugge played in seven Tests between 1998 and 2004.
Matthew Street, a medical student, made a major contribution to Wits cricket.
Cycling
In the two years since its inception, the Wits cycling club membership had grown from a mere handful to over 100 competitive and social cyclists in 1989, making it the third largest in the Transvaal. In addition, the club was affiliated to the South African Cycling Federation, thus enabling club members to compete as a licensed body, an important development as it assisted the Springboks, provincial cyclists and triathletes to improve their individual performances. During the year, two club members – Gary Wilson and Andrew Mclean – turned professional, riding for the Bic and Southern Sun/M-Net teams, respectively. It did not immediately affect their opportunities for SAU participation.
The Wits cycling team out-pedalled all the other university teams on the lonely Free State roads to win the July 1989 road cycling intervarsity. Wits excelled on the second day and took a six-second lead with only the kermesse to be completed. All Wits had to do on the final day was to force a bunch finish. Team captain, Gary Wilson, decided to break away and, with three laps to go, he lapped the bunch to take individual honours overall as well as increasing the Wits’ lead by a second. They finished ahead of Free State, Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Pretoria, RAU and Natal. Gary Wilson was re-awarded his Protea colours but, said a delighted team manager Gerry Comninos, ‘the whole team were star performers’.
Wits hosted the December track intervarsity and were a little disappointed not to secure first place overall. The Stellenbosch team were in good form and powered to victory just ahead of Wits. RAU were third, with Free State and Cape Town fourth and fifth, respectively. Wits’s Michael Medeossi was in fine form and chosen for the SAU team, but Springbok cyclist, Gary Wilson was not available for selection.
There were some accomplished riders in the club. Andrew Mclean received a gold medal for the 4 000-metres team time trial (Southern Sun/M-Net) and established a South African record. He was also second amateur in the Rapport Tour. Gary Wilson was first amateur in the Rapport Tour and second amateur in the track championships. Mclean, Wilson and Allan Jarvis excelled at various times in the Piccardi, Hansom and Allied tours. Michael Medeossi won the Southern Transvaal junior road championships and Johannesburg Grand Prix sprint championship.
In 1990, Wits made it three out of three when the SAU road-race cycling tournament was held at Durban. Five of the eight-man Wits team received Protea nominations. They were Alan Jarvis, Olf Wydeneit, Iain Macauley, Graeme Viljoen and Wayne Panario. Said one report: ‘In 1988 and 1989 we had Gary Wilson. In 1990 we showed we could still win without him.’
Wits formed a women’s section which included Michelle Clark – a committed captain – Mandy Painting, Tracy Bradshaw and Paula Clark. At the annual general meeting of the SAU cycling association held at Pretoria on 1 July 1991, they pursued the idea of a women’s intervarsity. The
timing of their request made sense, with Wits’s cycling club being strengthened by Kim Carter, an exceptional rider.
Wits’s success in road cycling continued in 1991 when they finished second behind an exceptionally strong Pretoria team. Greg von Holdt, Graeme Viljoen and Allan Jarvis were selected for the SAU team.
At the 1992 SAU meeting at Cape Town, Wits enjoyed several fine achievements despite slipping to fourth position overall. A highlight was Gregory von Holdt’s first place in the individual competition. The tournament was won by Cape Town, but Wits team members did well in the first three of five stages. Martin Davies won the first-stage prologue time trial; the Wits team finished first overall in the secondstage 30-kilometre team time trial, and von Holdt finished first in the third-stage 83-kilometre race, with Patrick Laverty second.
There was further honour for Gregory von Holdt as one of two SAU cyclists to be selected for the national team to participate in the Milk Race, while Patrick Laverty continued his progress with a thirteenth place in the South African road championships that year.
In October 1992, howling winds and rain greeted five pedal-crazy Witsies on their arrival in Port Elizabeth for the 1992 South African road-cycling championship. In the women’s 80-kilometre race, Kim Carter made an early
Gary Wilson was an outstanding cyclist and triathlete who won national honours.
The Wits cycling team that won the 1989 SAU (left to right – back row): Gary Wilson, Renato Albrecht, Michael Medeossi, Paul Shippey, Parlo Torchio, Olaf Wyberneit, Conrad Stark and Allan Jarvis (in front): Gerry Comninos.
Andrew McLean is in front, followed by Andrea Lombardozzi and Gary Wilson.
break from the field and held on to the lead to take first place. The storm then blew over making conditions ideal for the men’s tough and hilly 180-kilometre race. Less than two-thirds of the original 120 competitors managed to complete the challenge. Laverty rode exceptionally well to finish among the top twenty.
Kim Carter had a good year in 1992, setting a South African record in the 3 000-metres pursuit; receiving national colours and being crowned Wits’s Sportswoman of the Year. Her cycling talents took her to various parts of the world. As South African road and sprint champion, she received her national federation colours when she competed in the Tour de L’Aude (France) and the world championships in Norway.
At the 1993 Australian Student Games, Kim Carter won gold medals in the individual time trial and the criterium event. On both counts she displaced the Queensland favourite. She also took silver in the women’s 60-kilometre road race. Fellow cyclist Patrick Laverty won a bronze medal in the 100-kilometre road race, and in the team trial – when Carter rode for the men – Wits came fifth out of sixteen participating universities. They received a standing ovation.
South Africa’s Cape Town cycle tour, the world’s largest individually timed cycle race –and the first event outside Europe to be included in the International Cycling Union’s Golden Bike series – saw over 35 000 cyclists tackling a 109-kilometre route around Cape Town. It was a particularly notable affair in 1993 because Wiempie van der Merwe set the fastest time in the history of the race, while Wits’s Kim Carter triumphed in the women’s event.
In September 1993, the advent of SASSU allowed all tertiary institutes to compete in a students’ cycling competition. Hosted by Wits, the first four events were no problem but the criterium did not take place. At the request of a Hurlingham Manor resident, the Sandton town council blocked the race, and no alternative venue could be found. The competition was decided on the points position after four events. Pretoria won SASSU’s first inter-tertiary cycling competition, with Wits second. A representative ten-man SASSU team was also selected, which included two Witsies, Justin Weaving and Alistair Garnett.
Kim Carter, who was elected Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ for the second successive year, set off again on her travels in 1994. She competed in the women’s Tour De L’Aude in France where she was the best of the South African team that finished sixteenth. In the United States, she made use of her skills as a triathlete, and wrote to the university to describe her experiences:
I’ve raced four times, beginning with the San Diego International … up against Michielli Jones (world champ) and others. Second race a half standard … there was no prize money, so the big guns didn’t race. My race went very well, and I held the lead to the end and crossed the line in first place … prominent front-page newspaper coverage and television. Then went to Big Bear Lake and won very easily
… competing at 7 500 feet with swim, bike and run. I did my first half-ironman (3-kilometre swim, 87-kilometre bike and 21-kilometre run) … won the biggest prize of my career – an all-expenses paid trip to the ‘Japan Strong Man’. Went up to Lake Havasu, Arizona, and won the women’s race –received $300 – a standard distance triathlon with 300 entrants. There are still two more races …
There were individual honours in 1994 for two of the leading Wits riders of the period. Michael Gibbon was a medal winner in the criterium at the Australian Universities Student Games held in Woollongong, and Gian-Luca Bertoldi, who was Southern Transvaal junior road race champion and first reserve for the national team at the world championships in Holland in 1995.
The latter part of the 1990s proved reasonably successful for Wits cycling. In 1995, they finished first out of eight entries at the SASSU meeting hosted by the Orange Free State Technikon. Michael Gibbon was chairperson of the cycling club in 1995 and Steven Saunders in 1996. ‘It was road and track,’ said Saunders, ‘and Wits was a small club but with high quality riders and we were pretty good … with cycling you can’t be a party animal and perform well … I loved the freedom and history of Wits …’
The SASSU winter tournament was hosted by Technikon Pretoria in 1996. It was won by Cape Town, with Stellenbosch second and Wits third. Gibbon and Saunders were selected for the SASSU team – Gibbon had finished third overall and Saunders was ‘King of the Mountains’. The latter had been arrested on one of the stages between the time trial and the criterion:
One of the officers directed me the wrong way and I responded quite ‘mouthey’ and cheeky, which I was … Paul Goldin who was doing law came to the police station around Garankua to get me out. I got on my bike and raced the criterion that afternoon, the four hours previously I was in the police station …
In 1997, Wits won the SASSU road cycling over three days. ‘Day 1 was a time trial of 16 kilometres in the morning,’ recalled Saunders, ‘and it was in the Tokai area, an out-and-back pretty fast circuit. The criterion was around the old Green Point stadium, a solid race to defend the green jersey (and I think I did) and our team’s position.’
The SASSU track championships were hosted by Cape Town. Wits slipped down to third position with just one of their four-man team selected for SASSU. Michael Gibbon finished the best of the Witsies in third position, with Andrew Reeves fifth and Steven Saunders seventh. Saunders rode well to win the sprints competition. Besides the four riders in the men’s section, Wits had a rider in the women’s race, Diane McKie-Thomson who finished second. It was even more noteworthy as she had received a two-minute penalty for being late for the time trial.
Wits hosted the SASSU championships in 1998. They were wiser after the 1993 debacle in Sandton and arranged a successful programme. Sheldon Bole was the leading rider that year, receiving a full blue.
Patrick Laverty and Kim Carter are pictured at the 1993 Australian Student Games.
Kim Carter was an exceptional cyclist and twice Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’.
Michael Gibbon was both a competitive cyclist and chairman of the Wits club.
Fencing
In a report headed ‘Sporting Wits 1995/96’, Wits Student’s Dumisani Mphalala commented on trips that he had made to the Old Mutual Sports Hall. He stated ‘it is striking to see that there are no Africans (excuse this language) among the fencers. This is not a black (African) sport I conclude’. Not long afterwards, Mphalala was pleasantly surprised that his conclusion should be refuted by Dickson Jayes, the chairperson of the Wits Fencing Club. Jayes stated:
The first evidence of an organised sword ‘fight’ in which the protagonists were using blunted weapons and protective clothing is to be found, not in Europe as many may believe, but in Africa. Egyptologists have discovered pictures of ‘fencing’ bouts in some Egyptian archaeological sites. African fencers are also extremely capable young men and women, who are able to hold their own amongst the best in the world.
Wits fencing played its part in the development process during the 1990s. In fact, Jayes had in 1994 – well before Mphalala’s investigation –pointed out in his chairman’s address that ‘the future of fencing at Wits and more generally South Africa lies with development’.
Fencing had traditionally been a successful sport at Wits. The university hosted another well-organised intervarsity in 1989, one which resulted in a fine victory for the Wits women’s team and fourth position for the men. They were second overall. Pam Matthews, who became South African épée champion for the second time, was a dominant force in the SAU foil and épée competitions. She and Michèle du Plessis were selected for the SAU team.
Six Wits fencers participated in the SAU tournament hosted by Cape Town during July 1990. They were pleased to return home with a second place overall, having finished fifth in the men’s competition but retaining their position as the women’s champions. Eight universities participated in the tournament, with Pretoria first and RAU third.
Claudia Holgate was the outstanding fencer and was selected for both the SAU épée and foil teams. Bonny Victor, who became the South African under-21 fencing champion, was selected as reserve for the SAU foil side. In the men’s section, Wits’s Mark Korten won a bronze medal in the épée, foil and sabre and was selected for the SAU team in all three disciplines.
Wits performed well to finish third overall at the 1991 intervarsity. The women were second, with Bonnie Williamson and Michèle du Plessis named in the SAU squad. Bonnie also received the ‘best sportsperson’ award. The Wits men were fourth, with Mark Korten (foil, sabre and épée finals) and Mike Wells included in the SAU squad. In addition, Wayne Buys won the ‘most promising fencer’ award.
Wits finished fourth in both the men’s and women’s events at the SAU in 1992. This gave them third position overall out of the seven universities that participated. The tournament report indicated that the Witsies had held their
own ‘despite a lack of coaching’. Mark Korten was selected for the SAU épée and sabre teams, having won silver medals in both events.
Wayne Buys, the fencing chairman in 1992, described club members as being ‘very motivated to fence and to do well in intervarsity and provincial competitions’. There were forty registered members and it was unfortunate that the club should be struggling to find a coach who could attend practices on a regular basis.
Apart from intervarsity, Wits participated in other competitions. The men finished fourth and the women fifth out of ten clubs in the Wanderers Cup, and competed in provincial and national competitions and ranking tournaments. Mark Korten, Karl Kaufman, Rob Foden, Lucinda Smith, Cara Nicol, Claudia Holgate, Bonnie Williamson, Daryl Gobey, Kevin Craig, Wayne Buys, David Subrace, Ingrid Muller, Michele du Plessis, Barbara Bonalumi and Richard BarnesWebb all achieved honours during 1991 and 1992.
The club expanded its activities in 1992 to assist the Northcliff Cinema in their promotion of the film, The Sword, and to train Parktown schoolboys for their production of Hamlet Fencing had another successful year in 1993. Claudia Holgate (the women’s national épée champion) took on the coaching duties and moulded a strong core of fencers who achieved at provincial and national levels. At the trials for the World Student Games, Cara Nicol and Wayne Buys were placed sixth in their respective épée sections. Daryl Gobey headed Transvaal épée and Wayne Buys performed well in the foil. At the SAU tournament, Cara Nicol was third and Wayne Buys fourth in the épée. Daryl Gobey was sixth in the sabre against stiff opposition from Pretoria. Claudia Holgate competed in the world championships in Germany in 1993 (placed 85th in épée) and in Greece in 1994 (placed 82nd in épée).
At that stage, unification had seen SASSU take responsibility for inter-tertiary competition. In 1994 the Wits team travelled to Cape Town, where they were placed second in the SASSU tournament. Dickson Jayes reported favourably on the club’s progress during the latter part of 1994. Daryl Gobey had finished fourth and Rodney Bonnard sixth in the men’s foil in the Cape Open. It was a long journey, said Jayes, but the fencers were prepared to travel.
The same year, the club became further involved in development, a highlight being providing fencing coaching to disadvantaged children. It was part of the ‘greater Johannesburg Jamboree’ with members – Lise Thomalla, Rodney Bonnard, Peter Lydall and Dickson Jayes – making up half Transvaal’s team of demonstrators.
According to the chairman, David Seabrook, Wits did particularly well in 1995:
The national championships were held at Wits with four club members reaching the top sixteen in the men’s épée and two making the semi-final. Three Witsies were chosen to represent Transvaal
Pam Matthews was the South African épée champion.
Claudia Holgate at a world championship prize-giving.
(one senior and two junior). Wits won the friendly competition hosted by Potchefstroom University but lost in the final of the Wits Challenge Trophy 48-39 to Tukkies. A Wits team participated in the Natal Open with club members making it through to the men’s and women’s finals.
Cara Nicol, Odette Vyncke, Claudia Holgate, Daryl Gobey, David Seabrook, Luke Townsend and Wayne Buys headed the list of Witsies who had excelled during the competitions in 1995. Under the coaching of Claudia Holgate, who herself won the ladies’ épée national championship, the fencing club continued to thrive.
Wits finished second in the women’s section, fourth in the men’s and third overall at the 1996 SASSU tournament. Claudia Angemaier achieved a second place in individual competition and was selected for the SASSU team. Dickson Jayes spoke of feeling privileged to have served a club with so much potential and spirit and singled out Claudia Angermaier, Rodney Bonnard, Melissa Graham, Alva Shortt, Lise Thomalla and Kirsty Nourse for their hard work in promoting fencing.
The club in 1996 consisted of about fifty members and were coached briefly by Gennady Tyshier who at various times coached Russia and South Africa. Jayes noted that Wits possessed two national champions at under-20 level in Claudia Angermaier and Peter Lydall. He further pointed out that the Wits fencers were deserved runnersup in the Transvaal inter-club épée championships and had during 1996 won numerous awards.
In 1997, progress continued at great pace, whether it be ‘sword-fighting’ demonstrations at the Crystal Mist Cider Festival, or competing at the highest level. Daryl Gobey was second at the national championships, and selected to represent South Africa in the men’s épée competition at the world championships that were held in Cape Town in July.
Wits hosted the SASSU tournament in December 1997. Seven universities sent teams and individuals to take part, with Wits finishing second overall. The Wits men’s épée team were placed first and the sabre team second. Individually, Rodney Bonnard and Lise Thomalla received silver medals for men’s foil and women’s épée, respectively.
Claudia Holgate experienced a memorable year in 1998. She represented South Africa in
Flying Club
In 1990, the Wits Flying Club, under chief instructor André Kluyts, operated from Lanseria Airport during the week and on weekends. The minimum requirement to fly was a private pilot’s licence (PPL) which required 40 hours flying time. Fifteen hours had to be solo while the remaining 25 would be dual. The PPL included circuit flying, cross-country flying and ground-based courses such as radio licence theory, principles of light, engines and air frames, meteorology, navigation and air-law. By including a medical certificate, instructor costs and aircraft time, the PPL cost approximately R7 000. Students could also get a state subsidy
the World Cup in Budapest, Hungary, and in the Commonwealth Fencing Championships in Kuala Lumpur, where she anchored South Africa to their best-ever result. Claudia was the best women’s fencer in both team and individual events. She represented South Africa in the world championships in Switzerland at the end of the year and, at home, became the first South African fencer to win the national championships six years in a row. She also became the number one ranked épéeist for the seventh year in succession and the SASSU champion in épée and foil.
At the Commonwealth championships in 1998, South Africa achieved a crucial win over New Zealand, taking them into the semi-final where they lost to Scotland. They were then beaten by England for the bronze, although Holgate defeated both the bronze and silver medallists from the individual event. The South African team was placed fourth. Holgate was nineteenth in the individual event, a fine achievement in a competition where she was up against professional fencers.
Under new chairperson, Relte Molatsane, club members were determined to impress at the 1998 SASSU tournament. They did so in fine style at Potchefstroom, where the women’s team won the event and the men were narrowly beaten into third spot. The club also hosted the Wits Cup tournament, which was attended by several of Gauteng’s leading fencing clubs. For the first time in many a year, the tournament was won by the hosts, a tribute to the hard work put in by the committee.
In 1999, Claudia Holgate became the ladies’ épée champion of Africa when she won the gold medal at the African fencing championships in Tunisia, where she captained the South African team. Holgate also led her country at the 1999 World Student Games in Mallorca in July, and then again, in November, at the fencing world championships in Seoul, Korea.
The Wits women’s team ended the century and more than sixty years of fencing by winning their section of the SASSU tournament at Cape Town in July. The men also performed well with their efforts including a memorable win over a strong Cape Town team.
Claudia Holgate’s wonderful contribution to fencing was acknowledged in 1999 when she was elected the university’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’.
if they applied before the end of February. The club arranged activities like flying competitions, and after a student obtained a PPL, they could continue training with night rating, an instrument rating and a commercial pilot’s licence. Membership of the club was then R60 per year.
Why did students join the flying club? The standard response was that they had ‘always wanted to fly …’
By 1999, the flying club had about 80 active members, made up of staff and students. To accommodate their requirements, they leased three aircraft based at Lanseria Airport.
Claudia Holgate enjoyed a wonderful record as Wits’s leading fencer and competed for South Africa.
Claudia Holgate pictured in action during a victory over New Zealand in the 1998 Commonwealth championships.
Golf
When Wits won the 1988 intervarsity, it was their twenty-sixth victory in fifty tournaments since the inaugural competition in 1935. It was also their first win since 1981, but such was the enthusiasm in the club that there were hopes of the university embarking on a golfing ‘renaissance’. Of the 1988 side, four members attained representative honours: Graeme Skeen (runner-up in the Natal Amateur and selected for the All-Transvaal team), Barry Sundelson (who reached the last eight of the South African Amateur and represented the top provincial side, Southern Transvaal), Steve Amos (a member of the Eastern Transvaal team) and Peter Schlebusch (who was chosen for the previous year’s SAU team).
Sundelson recalled: ‘It was competitive to get into the Wits team. At the same time the game was played in a good spirit and there was respect between the players. We appreciated each other’s ability.’
In 1989, Barry Sundelson joined Graeme Skeen (who was club champion for the second successive year) in the Transvaal side that came back from being 6½-5½ down on day one to defeat Natal 15-9. There were also rising stars such as Charles Krog and Glen Nortje, both provincial under-23 players. The club was doing much to create interest in the sport with at least eight or nine competitions at different venues (including Sun City). An unforgettable day was the All Sports Council’s 50th Anniversary tournament with many former members of the club taking part, the most important being Norman Smetherham, Wits’s first SAU champion in 1936, and Frank Keeny, Wits champion in 1944 and 1945.
The Wits golf team impressed at the Wingate golf club where Pretoria hosted the 1989 SAU tournament. They finished second behind Port Elizabeth. Two Wits golfers, Barry Sundelson and Charles Krog were selected for the SAU team with Graeme Skeen the reserve. Sundelson was placed third overall in the tournament, Krog fourth and Skeen seventh.
Wits won the next intervarsity at Rhodes University in 1990, and participated in tournaments outside South Africa. Graeme Skeen and Peter Everett were selected in 1989 to play in the Boyd Quaich tournament at St Andrew’s during the July vacation. And in 1990, Hugo Mazzalupi finished fourteenth and Mike Lansdown thirtysecond overall at the spiritual home of golf.
Barry Sundelson represented the 1991 South African Maccabi side at the Israeli Open Golf Tournament where he was placed second overall. The same year, he enjoyed an impressive performance in the South African match-play at Royal Johannesburg. According to one report, Sundelson ‘blew out’ Nic Henning – the national stroke-play title-holder – in a dramatic secondround tie that went to the fourth extra hole. On the following day when there was hardly a break in the rain, he achieved victories in the quarter-final against Laurie van Niekerk and semi-final against Craig Kamps. The latter match saw Sundelson edge home in a thriller. ‘A win’s a win’ he said
but admitted that he was very happy to be in with a chance of following in his father’s footsteps. Neville Sundelson had lifted the South African Amateur title in 1972, but Barry went down to Desvonde Botes in his final.
Barry Sundelson was chosen for a six-man South African team. They were not allowed to tour internationally, but played the best combined provincial teams across the country.
Wits finished second when they hosted the 1991 SAU at Crown Mines. Anthony Glazer and Eddie Antonie were both awarded Protea colours. And at the annual general meeting in Johannesburg, it was decided to elect a woman onto the committee in order to ‘make SAU official for ladies’.
Wits Student reported in 1992 that ‘the standard of Wits golf dropped a notch this year’. They were correct insofar as Wits had slipped to fourth position out of ten universities at Bloemfontein in 1992. But it was not all doom and gloom because the club was thriving with 200 members. The one real concern was that the ‘handful of women members are largely inactive’.
In 1992 and 1993, Norman Raad was good enough to represent Southern Transvaal at golf. In later years, he captained the South African team; in 2005 leading them to a third consecutive African Amateur team championship at the Kitante course in Uganda.
Wits arranged eight tournaments during 1993, most taking place on a Friday afternoon. A major highlight was again the Sun City tournament during the September vacation, while student club members could play at the Wanderers for R13.50.
In August 1993, Stuart Harris competed in the Boyd Quaich at St Andrew’s and wrote of the ‘aura of prestige and greatness – enormous double greens, thick rough and treacherous gorse bush along with “typical” weather conditions constantly put a golfer’s skill to the test.’ He narrowly missed the top thirty cut-off point but ‘greatly appreciated the honour of participating on the course and making use of the facilities at the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse’.
At the 1994 SAU tournament hosted by Stellenbosch, Wits finished sixth on 408, 11 strokes behind the winners, RAU (397). They fared better in the ‘A’ division match-play, finishing third.
The University of Dundee golf team toured South Africa 1995 and played against Wits at Houghton Golf Club on 13 September. The same
Norman Smetherham, Wits’s first SAU champion in 1936, is pictured playing at the ASC’s 50th Anniversary championships in 1989.
Graeme Skeen won the Wits championship in 1988/89 and was a member of the All-Transvaal team.
Barry Sundelson was runner-up in the South African Amateur in 1991.
Frank Keeny, Wits’ champion in 1944 and 1945, pictured in the 1989 ASC championships.
Norman Raad represented Wits and Southern Transvaal in the early 1990s, and later captained South Africa.
François (above) and Eben Marais represented Wits with distinction and won national colours.
Heidi Bremner was the South African women’s grades champion and victrix ludorum at the SAU championships.
year, Eddie Antonie received his full blue.
The 1996 SASSU golf tournament was played in Port Elizabeth. The Wits team consisted of three women and seven men. Stroke-play results determined the overall selection of the A and B sections. Wits won the B section but unfortunately the women were unable to compete as no other university provided a team. The intention was to address the problem in 1997.
In July 1997, Darren Grusin and Richard
Gymnastics
A strong gymnastics club had been built up at Wits during the 1980s. This was again evident in 1989 when the men were second and the women third in the SAU competition at the University of the Orange Free State. Steven Kiralfy and the twins, Eben and François Marais, were selected for the SAU team. François Marais also represented South Africa against an international touring team and his brother, Eben, was named as reserve, although he did end up competing for the international team against the Springboks. At that stage, Steven Kiralfy was a young and promising gymnast who was a member of the national and Southern Transvaal elite league squads. I would have liked to include
According to Joel Liebovitz, who served as chairman, the club was not just about ‘Olympic’ and ‘Elite’ gymnasts. He pointed out that the Open and Grades sections were other areas in which Wits gymnasts excelled. He said that during 1989, the grades gymnasts such as Sigrid Salzmann, Danielle Tracey, Larry Cohen, James French, Lawrence Lai, Randall Britten and Bruce Brebner all received their Southern Transvaal colours.
In 1990, club membership rose above 50 and training at the Old Mutual Sports Hall was always well attended. Fifteen Witsies received Southern Transvaal colours and Liebowitz was nominated as the Southern Transvaal coach.
The eight men and nine women gymnasts who travelled to Durban for the winter SAU tournament returned to Wits with third-place medals for both the men’s and women’s sections. Eben Marais was selected for the men’s SAU team and Heidi Bremner – the victrix ludorum –for the women’s side.
Much was expected from the Wits team in 1991. Stephen Kiralfy had been awarded Springbok colours and Heidi Bremner was the South African women’s grades champion. They made a tremendous impact at a highly successful intervarsity, where both the Wits men and women emerged as champions. The Wits women received no fewer than five trophies, and Steven Kiralfy and Heidi Bremner were selected for their respective SAU sides.
The 1992 SAU competition was hosted by Cape Town. The Wits women were outstanding in winning their section again, but the men finished fourth behind Pretoria, Stellenbosch and Cape Town. Manager, Joel Liebowitz, said that ‘the standard of gymnastics was the highest ever – eight Springboks competed in the men’s
Schaffer made the pilgrimage to Scotland to play in the Boyd Quaich tournament at St Andrew’s. Swirling wind made conditions extremely difficult and they narrowly missed the cut, lying about halfway down the field. ‘To have played there, to have been there will be a memory that I will cherish,’ said Schaffer. ‘And, until I return to exact my revenge on the ancient links of St Andrew’s, I am her slave like the many players who have returned wounded from her fairways.’
elite section. Scores of 9.00 out of 10 were not uncommon’. He also reported some fine individual performances from the Wits team: ‘Larry Cohen was first overall in grades for the second year, with Heidi Bremner second overall and Sigrid Salzmann third overall in the elite. In addition, Langa Stanele, received the “coach of the year” award in the women’s section.’
Rhythmic gymnastics was introduced for the first time as part of the final team scores. The rhythmic administrators were pushing for equal status with artistic gymnastics. But those opposed to this development said: ‘It cannot be, as “rhythmic” is women only.’
In his 1992 report, club chairman Dudley Tabakin said that ‘facilities at Wits had been described as the best; SATISU gymnasts were gymming with the club, and the club was well run with practices well attended’. He then announced the major individual achievements during the year:
National: Karin Cardosa first grade 4; Justine Graham first grade 1; Heidi Bremner third elite; Dudley Tabakin sixth elite and Larry Cohen seventh elite.
SAU: Athol Myhill, Heidi Bremner, Sigrid Salzmann, Larry Cohen all awarded Protea colours.
At the 1993 SAU tournament, Wits triumphed again by winning both sections and acquiring a host of certificates, medals and trophies.
Having achieved so much, the gymnastics club was greatly upset in 1994 to be without training facilities for a good part of the year. The Old Mutual Sports Hall was given over to indoor hockey for two months, resulting in the gymnasts being unable to begin training until April. This resulted in their losing a large number of members. Then, in June, they were forced to train at RAU as the hall was being used for examinations.
Club chairman, Larry Cohen, battled hard to give Wits gymnasts the best possible opportunities in trying conditions. They, in turn, did as well as could be expected, finishing fourth and producing some fine individual performances: Paul Berger was second and Dudley Tabakin third in the men’s Olympic section. Larry Cohen won second place in the men’s elite. Ninky Stewart achieved first place
and Justine Graham was second in the women’s grades.
There were also impressive achievements at other competitions. At the national championships held in Verwoerdburg, Dudley Tabakin won first place in the men’s elite. In the women’s open 3 section, Ninky Stewart and Justine Graham achieved first and second places, respectively. Heather Tate was second in the women’s open 2. The national under-18 advanced development programme was won by Paul Berger. Athol Myhill came fourth in the Commonwealth trials and participated in the African championships. He was also selected for the World Team Championships in Dortmund, Germany.
The SAU in 1995 served as trials for the World Student Games in Fuluoka, Japan. National star, Athol Myhill was selected for the team.
The gymnastics club was gradually building up its depth again and clearly enjoyed the 1996 SASSU tournament hosted by the University of Potchefstroom. Eight tertiary institutions participated, with Wits’s relatively small team performing well to be placed third overall. The men finished second behind Stellenbosch and the women were third after Potchefstroom and Stellenbosch. Athol Myhill was awarded victor ludorum after winning both Olympic artistic and tumbling competitions. There was a ‘diary’ of the trip, believed to have been submitted by manager, Larry Cohen. To select a few lines:
By 6:30 a.m. on the first day, we were at the university ... Jenny (Mitchell) cleaned up in the Olympic rhythmic competition while the rest of the team kept warm with a little bit of tumbling, a few rounds of human ten-pin bowling, some long jump and bobsleigh runs down the tumbling mat. … At the end of the morning session, Athol grabbed the tumbling gold with some awesome double somersaults. ... That night was a deserved party although the ladies except for Jill (Rolland) and Mandy (Jerome) stayed home to prepare for the next morning ... when after some very entertaining and dangerous moments, Jill once again topped the grades section while Mandy and Justin (Apostellellis) performed admirably. ... In the afternoon, Dudley (Tabakin) provided drinks for the judges, which did not earn too many extra marks but lightened the tension. Dudley ended third in the elite section, Paul (Berger) placed third in the Olympic section and Athol showed his class, winning the Olympic section. The ladies, Caren (Lillicrap) and Ninky (Stewart) performed excellently ... Athol was fined heavily for his success … Dudley was elected chairperson of SASSU gymnastics.
Further honours for the high-riding Wits team came in 1996. Athol Myhill was a gold medallist on the rings apparatus at the South African championships and selected to represent the country at the 1996 African gymnastics championships and the 1997 world championships. Dudley Tabakin was selected as manager/coach for the South African gymnastics team at the 1997 World Student Games and
Jenny Mitchell was awarded a full blue. SASSU cancelled the gymnastics competition in July 1999. This was disappointing, particularly as their suggested alternative, switching the tournament to December, was viewed as not being feasible.
The Wits team was chosen to represent the country as part of the South African squad in the 11th World Gymnaestrada during July 1999 in Göteborg, Sweden. It brought 50 countries and more than twenty thousand gymnasts together to take part in a week-long festival of gymnastics.
During an exciting period in the gymnastics club’s history, Athol Myhill excelled, winning a bronze medal in the rings event at the Commonwealth championships in Kuala Lumpur in 1998. Four years later at Manchester in 2002, he won a second bronze medal on the rings apparatus. This time, however, there was an outcry as it was believed his performance deserved at least a silver medal. News 24 reported:
South African coach Gheorghe Hristov and team members were fuming after Scotland’s Steve Frew was awarded joint-gold with Heredotos Giorgallas of Cyprus when Myhill’s routine was blatantly superior. Myhill was displaced from silver by the Scot who was last on the list of the eight finalists. Hristov could protest his own gymnast’s score, but not the score of another gymnast.
‘This was a blatant rig,’ said Myhill’s team-mate Dewald Laubscher. ‘They gave it to Frew because this is his fourth Commonwealth Games. ... He didn’t even come close to Athol’s routine.’
Myhill did not complain: ‘I’m just thrilled to have this medal ... I had an Achilles tendon operation only four months ago, so I’m just happy to even be here.’
Athol Myhill won bronze in the Commonwealth championships in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Manchester in 2002.
Handball
In South Africa, an official handball league began in 1976. By 1990, some 150 players were organised in six clubs, all located on the Reef and affiliated to the South African Team Handball Federation (SATHF). The Wits Handball Club was conceived in 1986, the year of its first league championship. It quickly dominated the local game. Dr Wolf Uwe Reimold and Jens Kerneck were prominent figures in establishing the club, and there were strong performances from Lütke von Ketelhodt and his brother Günter, Chris Kollman and Thomas Vennemann. They displayed experience and exceptional skills.
‘The game of handball,’ said Reimold, ‘is characterised by a strong component of team play but also provides ample opportunity for individual action. It is known as the second fastest team sport after ice hockey.’
At the end of their unbeaten run in 1989, the Wits Handball Club were ready to tour Namibia and test their skills against a rapidly emerging handball force. The main objective for Wits was to retain the most coveted handball trophy in southern Africa, namely the Federation Cup. Despite an injury to one of their strongest players, Frank Weilert, Wits managed to gradually get the upper hand in their opening match against the Namibian league champions, Windhoek Handball Club. It was through excellent performances by Vredi von Ketelhodt and Chris Kollman, who both scored seven goals, that Wits edged ahead 23-21. After a Namibian side defeated a South African select team on the second day, the final day involved a six-team tournament in which Wits remained unbeaten and therefore able to take home a second trophy. This time the most influential player was Fritz Rexrodt who was the leading goalscorer.
By the end of the 1991 season, Wits hoped to field a third team in the league season beginning in March 1992 but were concerned about the perennial problem of facilities. A letter to the Sports Administration in July of that year complained about being locked out of their Flower Hall facilities and moved to the stadium when examinations took place. No lights were
made available. ‘We are one of the University’s most successful clubs,’ they said, ‘but not able to practise.’ It was decided to move handball to Hall 29.
With the sports moratorium lifted, the Wits team participated in an international tournament in Maputo in 1993. A return visit was then made by the Mozambican side, Academica Maputo. They added an international flavour to the David Webster Memorial Tournament in 1993.
In July 1994, a short tour was made to Zimbabwe where Wits defeated Matabeleland 42-15 and Mashonaland 23-13. In September 1994, a women’s tournament with most of the best European teams contested the Mandela Cup. The Wits club was instrumental in the preparations of the tournament and was rewarded with the opportunity to play a game against the Russian champions, Kuban Krasnogar, part of the David Webster tournament on campus. The women from Russia won 36-19.
For the first time ever, a South African team was selected in March 1995 to participate in a qualification tournament for the All-Africa Games. A trial took place in the Old Mutual Sports Hall. Eight Wits players were selected for the team of fourteen. Two easy wins against Zimbabwe and Namibia brought South Africa into the final against Mozambique. South Africa were in the lead until five minutes from the end, but the greater international experience of the Mozambicans paid off and they gained the coveted qualification by a single goal 17-16.
The Wits Handball Club played an important role in promoting the game nationally and were also involved in the development process. Dr Wolf Uwe Reimold said that tournaments were established in 1995 in the form of round robin contests in Soweto, Mamelodi and Soshanguwe. They attracted over 90 teams.
Reimold noted in 1995 that the handball club was one of the university’s smallest but most successful clubs, having captured the South African league title every year since its inception. Unfortunately, the game was largely restricted to Transvaal and Northern Transvaal. ‘There is a low recognition factor of our Olympic sport in this country,’ he said. ‘Nationally and internationally, handball starts and falls with the [Wits] club.’
Handball players at Wits enjoyed an actionpacked year in 1996. They had a good start with an undefeated campaign in the newly formed premier league. Although the opposition –especially RAMS of Soweto – were improving rapidly, Wits not only captured the league but the South African championship again. In November, Wits celebrated its tenth anniversary through a fun tournament held in the Charles Skeen Stadium, with nearly all founder members, past and present players, and their families present. To end the year, Wits played in the fourth Commonwealth Cup staged in early December at the Wembley Hall. In the first round, Wits won all their games except for a defeat at the hands of the Kenyan Army (full-time handball players). In the semi-final, a strong team from India also
Lütke von Ketelhodt in action.
The victorious handball team 1989 (left to right – back row): Vredi von Ketelhodt, Joachim Waurich, Uli von Ketelhodt, Lütke von Ketelhodt and Paul Weilert (in front): Fritz Rexrodt, Jens Kerneck and Chris Kollman.
proved too good for Wits and, after losing to Liverpool in the third-place play-off, the Witsies finished fourth out of eight teams.
The club also referred to 1997 as being an exciting year. Wits A were undefeated in the Gauteng Premier League, scoring 244 goals for and 155 against. The second team was fifth in the
Men’s Hockey
There was optimism that the men’s hockey side would do well in 1989. Under Mark Marinus –who was selected for South African ‘Saints’ and captained the SAU team – a more than useful squad had been assembled. They were third in the SAU outdoor tournament at Stellenbosch and were sixth indoors in December. They were unlucky not to do better in the league, but the loss of Tony Rushton, Mark Jeffery, Russell Milella and Dean Brunicke for the greater part of the period after intervarsity dashed their hopes.
During the 1990s, the men’s hockey club invariably found itself fighting for survival in at least one of the competitions in which it was engaged. The club was frequently in the lower half of SAU and premier league competitions in both field and indoor hockey. But there was much to admire in their efforts and successive committees were innovative, determined and adamant that the players would have fun and thoroughly enjoy the experience of playing for a university club. The tours in particular were a major part of the men’s hockey seasons.
The men’s and women’s clubs formed an umbrella body in 1992 to improve communication. In time, they were tasked with the responsibility of establishing a development process. By the end of the decade it was widely acknowledged that they had been very successful.
In his 1992 report on men’s hockey, chairman Ian Leisegang noted that the club had 86 registered members with five teams playing in the field hockey league and three in the indoor league. The results showed that not one of the five Wits outdoor sides had a placing better than seventh out of ten. In the premier league they were eighth; reserve 1 seventh; reserve 2 seventh; league 2B tenth; league 4A eighth. The SAU tournament at Stellenbosch was affected by inclement weather and cancelled on the Wednesday after three days and just one game.
Yet Leisegang said that it had been a thoroughly enjoyable season. The teams had held on in their respective leagues to fight another day. Wits hosted a well-organised indoor SAU in which the men finished second. The club also hosted the annual Flamingoes tournament which was a financial success and provided a high standard of hockey. The Swaziland tournament turned out to be a wonderful weekend. There were also representative honours: Nick Black, Matthew Pittman and Sean Schimper were selected for Southern Transvaal under-21 team and Ian Leisegang for the SAU indoor team.
In 1993, the men finished a comfortable seventh in the premier league and with the return of coach Peter Jakobi hoped to do even better in future
log. But then, towards the end of the year Wits received a serious setback. After their success in the Gauteng premier league they were naturally confident of retaining their title as South African champions. However, in a tense semi-final they lost to the eventual champions, Soweto Rams, by one goal.
seasons. Ryan and Russell Millella played for Transvaal B at the interprovincial tournament and the team was well represented at Transvaal under21 level. They were also engaged in development work through coaching in the townships under the guidance of Jakobi.
The arrival of Craig Jackson in 1994 had a huge impact on the club. He was selected to represent South Africa on a tour to Malaysia that year and in February 1995, he travelled to India with the national team. In July, he represented South Africa in a Test series against Australia and then went on to play in the World Cup in Australia in November. South Africa were tenth in Australia but produced an All-Africa goldmedal winning team.
In 1995, Wits’s premier league team finished eighth, but promising results were provided by
Bruce Pyle in action for Wits against Jeppe Old Boys with Springbok Peter Visagie in pursuit.
Russell Milella in commanding form.
the lower teams: reserve 1 fourth; 3B fourth and 4A second. Wits players continued to be recognised by provincial selectors: Sean Schimper was named in the Witwatersrand men’s team and Martin Firer and Brett Isenberg in the Transvaal under-21 side.
At the July 1995 SASSU tournament hosted by Wits there was satisfaction in their men finishing first in the B section. Craig Jackson, Greg Jarvis and Sean Schimper were selected for the SAU team from the section.
In 1996, the men’s first team underwent a major rebuilding process, as most of the previous year’s first team had graduated. The Wits first team was invited to the Queen’s Club Easter Festival in Bulawayo. Ponky Firer was manager/coach of a touring side that comprised Brett Isenberg (captain), Martin Firer, Kevin Webber, Gareth Davey, Gareth King, Greg Webber, Gareth de Klerk, Richard Kolbe, Sean Richter, Greg Bell, Wayne Argus, Andrew Hodgkinson and Richard Morrison. They took full advantage of the opportunity, proving competitive on the field and in fine spirit off it. The club also managed to send lower teams to tournaments. The second team travelled to the Bohemians Easter Festival in East London where they encountered some tough opposition from the Border first leagues, while the third team enjoyed their annual sojourn in Swaziland.
Several inexperienced young players were introduced to the Premier League. They performed admirably and through excellent coaching, Wits held their place to finish eighth out of ten teams – won 2, lost 11, drew 5. They drew more than any other club in a league that reflected change in that it was won by Wits Technikon, with Wanderers fifth and Old Edwardians seventh. The other Wits teams finished in the top three or four of their respective leagues. The fourth team were also occupied with defending their title as the junior board knockout champions.
Wits returned to the SASSU ‘A’ section at Cape Town in 1996. A total of 27 institutions participated (24 men’s and 27 women’s teams) in what was probably the largest hockey tournament to have been held in Africa. Wits finished seventh out of 12 teams in the ‘A’ section. The tournament was won by Pietermaritzburg and at its conclusion a SASSU team was named that included Wits’s Martin Firer.
Craig Jackson represented South Africa at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. It was only confirmed in February that they would be going so there was limited time to prepare – but in terms of exposure, they had a tour to Australia, New Zealand and India in April-May 1996. Also in May, they hosted a three-Test series against Spain. ‘I thought that was good preparation’ said Jackson, who captained the side at Atlanta and took his total of Test caps past 50.
Because hockey development in the province was relatively unstructured, Wits spent much of the early part of the season working with the provincial body in identifying needs and establishing contact with the communities involved. One of the targeted areas, Soweto, was virtually new to the game and it took some time to create a
structure. Once a basic network was in place, Wits were able to run their first six-week programme which entailed sending squads of coaches from the university to various communities and bussing younger children from Soweto to Wits. In 1997, the club concentrated on making use of the substantial R20 000 Grinaker sponsorship for development coaching purposes.
For both the Wits men’s and women’s hockey sections, 1996 had been an excellent year and they were deservedly named ‘Club of the Year’. They were honoured again in 1997.
By 1997, Wits was focusing on outdoor hockey with the first and second teams travelling to Bulawayo and East London respectively to compete in Easter tournaments and prepare for the season. A young university side would always battle to hold its own in the best premier league in the country. The aim was to establish a culture of professional assistance in training and coaching but not forget a spirit of camaraderie and enjoyment in being part of a university club.
Wits were seventh out of eight teams at the SASSU tournament superbly hosted by Natal Technikon. The Queensmead Astro facilities were excellent and manager Greg Webber was impressed, although a little disappointed by Wits’s inability to convert good play into goals. In five matches they scored just three goals, all by Martin Firer. The team’s outstanding performance of the week was against Stellenbosch where they were leading until the last five minutes, only to draw 1-1. Stellenbosch won the tournament comfortably, beating all other sides by three goals or more.
Craig Jackson arrived late at the intervarsity because of national commitments. In 1997, he captained the South African tri-nations team in Durban, at the World Cup qualifying tournament in Malaysia and in Europe during a successful international tournament. In 1998, he captained the national men’s hockey team at the Commonwealth championships in Kuala Lumpur.
At the 1998 SASSA tournament hosted by Wits Technikon, Wits finished second in the ‘B’ section behind Pretoria Technikon. They conceded two goals in five games and drew the final 0-0 but lost on penalty flicks. Andrew King (the ‘Player of the Tournament’ for the ‘B’ section), Scott Melville and Sean Schimper were included in the SASSU sectional team and, in the course of further trials, Melville was selected for the side that toured Australia.
The 1999 season saw the Wits first team finish in the top half of the premier league. The club was also commended by the Southern Gauteng Hockey Association for their development programme. They received a special award for developing the game in disadvantaged communities through holding weekend clinics for schools in and around Johannesburg.
There were three sections in the SASSU tournament at Cape Town in 1999. Wits manager Simon Johnston recorded ‘the “B” tournament was always going to be between Wits and Tukkies, and Wits were unlucky to go down 1-0.’ Mark Wilkinson and Neil Padoa were selected for their SASSU section team.
Craig Jackson captained South Africa at hockey and competed in the Olympic Games at Atlanta in 1996 and Athens in 2004.
Women’s Hockey
One of the most impressive success stories in Wits sport during 1989 to 1999 is the progress made by the women’s hockey club. They were in line to be demoted at the end of the 1988 season as a consequence of finishing last in the premier league log table. However, an eleventh-hour reprieve came their way as a result of the reserve league winners, Bedfordview, deciding that they were not ready for promotion. Delighted to stay in the higher division, the Witsies set about proving their worth
In the course of 1989, the team went from a shaky start to sharing fourth position. The credit went not only to the experienced coach Liz Chase, who made a welcome return to the club, and to an extremely capable captain Melita Thurling, but to all the women who played in a rewarding season that set the tone for the decade that would follow. Determination and solid team work certainly enhanced both their overall play and league position. ‘The chain is as strong as its weakest link,’ said a report of the season, which also noted that all four of the club’s teams had finished in the top four of their respective leagues.
A relatively young and inexperienced side also did better than expected to finish sixth out of twelve teams at the SAU tournament at Stellenbosch. Ingrid Krafft received her Protea colours for the second consecutive year and became pivotal to Wits hockey’s success in the early 1990s. She was selected for South Africa under 21, Southern Transvaal and regularly for the SAU team. Described as ‘a talented and high-powered forward’, her ‘high work rate, willingness to learn and hours spent practising’ set a fine example. She was the university’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 1990.
Wits women’s hockey was faced with highly competitive league and intervarsity competitions in both the indoor and field games during the 1990s. To do well in all four was always a challenge. They held their own in the outdoor league but slipped to seventh position at the SAU in 1990 and then eighth in 1991. They did better in the indoor game and were in good form to finish fourth in their December intervarsity at Wits in 1990. It was their best position since the tournament began. By this stage, Ingrid Krafft had become a fixture in SAU sides.
Wits did even better at the SAU indoor tournament at Bloemfontein in 1991. They finished joint second with Free State, and Ingrid Krafft and Nikki Tyrer were selected for the SAU team
The indoor team came first in the ‘B’ league in 1991, prompting their move to the premier league. A second squad was also introduced to allow for beginners and inexperienced players to participate. Linda van der Loo coached the first team in league and SAU, and Nikki Tyrer the second squad. In the premier league, the competition seemed daunting, but they managed to come fifth out of eight through dedication and hard work. Ingrid Krafft and Nikki Tyrer made the Witwatersrand senior indoor side, while
Gina Hishin and Moira Lennox were chosen for a Southern Transvaal invitation team to play at the national women’s indoor tournament. Nikki Tyrer was also selected for the South African under-21 indoor side and captained the Southern Transvaal under-21 team that included Gina Hishin, Jaci Jarvis (vice-captain), Michelle Bosch and Sam Robinson.
In 1992, the Wits men’s and women’s sections formed an umbrella body to improve communication. The women’s club chairperson Moira Lennox reported that they benefited from three major fundraising events: orientation week, wine-tasting and staging the Flamingoes tournament. It was a year of consolidation. Wits finished second in the indoor SAU, which they hosted, with Gina Hishin, Jaci Jarvis, Moira Lennox and Nikki Tyrer selected for the Protea team. In the outdoor game, Wits first team secured the services of Ray du Plooy assisted by Ali du Plooy and, after a slow start finished strongly, losing out on sixth position by one goal. The only disappointment during the season occurred at Stellenbosch where shocking
who captained Wits in their 1989 hockey revival, is watched by Old Edwardian players Alison Browne and Ros Howell.
Liz Chase, a South African international and Rhodesia’s vice-captain when they won the gold-medal at the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games, made a wonderful contribution to hockey at Wits as a player, coach and administrator.
LEFT: Melita Thurling,
Ingrid Krafft leads a Wits attack against Pirates with Samantha Fee in support.
weather conditions forced the cancellation of the SAU tournament.
With so many young talented players in the club, the question arose over eligibility to play for Wits. Prior to the start of the 1992 season, Samantha Fee sent a thoughtful letter to the sports administration to say that after ‘four fantastic seasons and six SAUs (Yay Wits!)’ that she would like to leave the club. As a fifth-year medical student she was not only ‘keeping a younger player out of the side but she was no longer able to devote time to the fun aspects of the club’. A further important point was that others of her age group had left Wits.
The 1993 season was a resounding success. Wits finished second again in the indoor intervarsity, beating Cape Town 6-1, Port Elizabeth 6-1 and RAU 5-3, but lost to eventual winners, Pretoria 7-2. The performances of the Wits team in the indoor premier league were equally impressive. They were third – an improvement of two positions on the previous year. Defeats were suffered only to Old Edwardians and Jeppe who finished first and second, respectively. A highlight was defeating ‘old giants’ Wanderers three times and going down to league champs Old Eds 4-3 in the penultimate game of the season. Michelle Bosch, Jaci Jarvis, Moira Lennox and Nikki Tyrer gained provincial selection, with Nikki also representing South Africa Under 21. The team report concluded: ‘Thank you, Linda [van der Loo] for helping us achieve so much during the season.’
A combined men’s and women’s report was issued for the outdoor season. It began: ‘During 1993, we fielded four ladies and three men’s teams with varying degrees of success. Undoubtedly our women stole the show, ending up second in the premier league with no less than sixteen players being selected to represent provincial teams:
Southern Transvaal under 21: Gina Hishin, Nikki Tyrer, Lisa Constable, Michelle Bosch, Witsies under 21: Mandy McDonald, Andrea Fuller, Janine Anderson
Nuggets under 21: Kerry Mitchell and Diane Kolbe
South Africa under 21: Nikki Tyrer (non-travelling reserve)
Southern Transvaal ladies: Marlene Botha, Kezia Lange
Southern Transvaal C ladies: Jaci Jarvis, Nuggets A: Diane Kolbe
Nuggets B: Taryn Pile, Jenny Lund, Tracey Manley.
In 1994, Wits improved on this performance as Gina Hishin and Megan Rodwell were selected for the South African under-21 team to play in the Africa Cup. There were also four Wits players selected for the SAU team at Port Elizabeth –Gina Hishin, Megan Rodwell, Michelle Bosch and Laverne Kruger.
The 1995 hockey season proved to be a fruitful one with regard to the progress and achievements of women’s hockey at Wits. The first team was fifth in the premier league and the second team were second in the second league. Megan Rodwell was selected for South Africa Under 21; Tamara MacMillan for Southern Transvaal Under 21, and Brenda Read for Witwatersrand Under 21. The outdoor season saw the first team start off with two defeats but lift their performance and go unbeaten for 13 games. Wits hosted and finished fourth in the SASSU tournament. Kezia Lange and Megan Rodwell were selected for the SAU team.
An overseas tour was seen as ideal preparation for Wits to become a serious contender for the premier league title. The team was coached by Peter de Lange, who played provincial hockey and was a member of the South African team. Gail Carlisle, the team manager, had played for Zimbabwe Schools, Transvaal and the South African squad. The team comprised: Gina Hishin (captain), Megan Rodwell (vice-captain), Michelle Bosch, Andrea Fuller, Lisa Gething, Jaci Jarvis, Diane Kolbe, Laverne Kruger, Mandy la Grange, Tamara MacMillan, Taryn Pile, Brenda Read, Linda Reid, Natalie van Blerk and Lara Zermatten. An abbreviated tour report recalled:
‘And don’t forget girls, it’s spring in Europe’ were the manageress’s famous last words ringing in our ears as we set foot into the snow at Brussels airport. A rainbow-painted bus met the Witsies from the
Kezia Lange was selected for South African Universities and then, as a Rhodes Scholar, played for Oxford.
A mad moment on tour with ‘Frog’ (Megan) Rodwell in charge and Jaci Jarvis hanging on.
The Wits touring team 1996 (left to right – back row): Lara Zermatten, Taryn Pile, Natalie Van Blerk, Mandy La Grange, Laverne Kruger, Tamara McMillan, Jaci Jarvis, Michelle Bosch, Di Kolbe; Lisa Gething (in front): Linda Reid, Gina Hishin, Brenda Reed, Megan Rodwell, Andrea Fuller and Gail Carlisle.
Hot dogs in Europe (left to right – back row): Andrea Fuller, Megan Rodwell, Gina Hishin, Gail Carlisle, Peter de Lange (middle row): Mandy La Grange, Jaci Jarvis, Michelle Bosch (in front): Natalie Van Blerk.
‘Rainbow Nation’ and we resigned ourselves to the fact that snow is not a good enough reason to cancel a hockey match in Europe. In Brussels, we won both games – against Park and Mechelse – by a 2-0 margin. Both sides played in the Belgian first league, so we had done well prior to moving on to Holland.
After being down 0-1 at half-time to the Amsterdam-based club, Hockey H.I.C., we rallied superbly to win 2-1 in one of our best performances on the tour. Amsterdam dazzled and the Witsies razzled, giving 100 per cent to the sightseeing and another 100 per cent to the hockey.
A fantastic welcome awaited us at Ou de Maas Hockey Club in Zwijndrecht where we beat our amazing hosts 3-1. Our first loss was at the hands of Alecto, a Dutch premier league side whose hockey prowess was something to behold. The 6-0 trouncing was a great learning experience, as indeed was the foray into the Red-Light District after the match!
The Eindhoven Easter Hock-Ei tournament – 52 teams – was one of the largest hockey gatherings in the world. The ‘WITWATS’ as we became known (thanks to the abbreviation in the programme) finished fifth.
The WITWATS then invaded Germany. Our first stop was the German hockey training centre in Cologne. We beat KKHT Swarz Weiss of Cologne 4-2 but went down 0-2 to KKHT Blau Weiss, unable to find the rhythm of the previous day. A barrel of Cologne’s special brew Kolsch, ordered specially for us by our hosts, eased the pain of defeat.
From Cologne, we travelled to Frankfurt and ran out 6-0 victors against Frankfurt EV 1880. They fielded a young second team, but it lifted confidence all round for our return to the Transvaal premier league.
The first team – consistently one of the top sides in the premier league – finished fourth in 1996. There was also strength in depth as the second team came desperately close to gaining top honours and the third team ran away with their league. The remaining three sides also finished strongly. At the SASSU tournament in Cape Town, there were a record 27 women’s teams. The competition was played in three sections on artificial surfaces at Hartleyvale and Athlone, with Wits fourth out of 12 teams in the ‘A’ section. At the conclusion of the tournament, Megan Rodwell, Laverne Kruger and Lara Alexander were selected for the SASSU team. Megan Rodwell was vice-captain of the South African Under-21 team at a four-nations tournament in Holland. She also played for the Southern Transvaal senior team and the South African senior squad. She was joined in the Southern Transvaal Under-21 A team by Linda Reid, Lara Alexander, Brenda Read and Lisa Marais. Those who played for Southern Transvaal Under-21 B were Jean Butler, Belinda Larson, Kerry Nel and Sarah Dane.
Wits tended to concentrate on outdoor hockey from 1997 and first and second teams travelled to Bulawayo and East London respectively to compete in Easter tournaments, prepare for the season and have great fun. Wits again finished fourth in the ‘A’ Section of the SASSU tournament at Epson Queensmead in Durban
and, together with a strong Premier League performance, contibuted towards hockey winning the ‘Club of the Year’ award for the second successive year.
Megan Rodwell continued to excel in 1997 and was named ‘Sportswoman of the Year’. She was a member of the Southern Transvaal senior indoor side that won the interprovincial tournament and played in the national hockey league. She was also chosen for the South African national squad. Rodwell as captain and Parys Edwards were in the South African under-21 side that won the African Cup of Nations in Zimbabwe and played in the Junior World Cup in Korea. Sharon Kay was a member of the South African under-18 side that toured Argentina.
In 1998, five women’s and four men’s sides were entered into the leagues, which reflected a reversal in the club’s membership strength. The Wits first women’s team excelled in the premier league, finishing second with 33 points in twelve games. 63 goals were scored and 15 conceded. They lost just one match to the champions, Old Edwardians (36 points), and were some distance ahead of third-placed RAU (22 points).
The most striking feature of the Wits side was that it was a very young team, the evidence of which is partly reflected in the honours that came the way of the players. The highlight was Caroline Birt’s selection to represent South Africa at the Africa Cup of Nations in Harare.
South Africa: Caroline Birt.
South Africa Under 21: Caroline Birt, Parys Edwards, Sharon Kay.
Southern Gauteng A: Brenda Read, Lisa Marais, Parys Edwards, Marie Joseph, Sharon Kay, Lara Alexander.
Southern Gauteng Under 21 A: Kim Tucker, Kerry Nel, Lynette Bell, Belinda Larsan, Lisa Marais, Marie Joseph, Sharon Kay, Jean Butler.
Southern Gauteng B: Sarah Dane.
South Africa Under 18: Kim Tucker, Lynette Bell and Sharne Wehmeyer.
Southern Gauteng Under 18: A Kim Tucker and Lynette Bell.
In the 1998 SASSU tournament in Bloemfontein, Wits finished second to Potchefstroom. Diane Kolbe, who managed the Wits team, stated in her report: ‘The hockey was of a high standard and the ladies performed extremely well to achieve second place. There were numerous national players competing.’ Sharon Kay was in outstanding form until her efforts were disrupted when she broke her finger. She was still chosen for the tournament side with Parys Edwards and Lara Alexander.
Between seasons, Parys Edwards (as captain) and Sharon Kay were chosen to represent SASSU at the World Universities hockey tournament in Australia during February 1999. On arrival, there were three practice matches organised against premier league clubs so that the players could familiarise themselves with the new astroturf. The games were won with Kay scoring goals against Gleeb HC and North Shore HC. In the tournament (round 1) SASSU lost to
Megan Rodwell captained a South African under-21 team that won the African Cup of Nations in 1997 and played in the Junior World Cup in Korea.
Caroline Birt played for South Africa during 1997-2006. She won 92 caps and participated in the World Cup, Commonwealth and Olympic Games.
Australia 1-0; beat New Zealand 3-2 (Sharon Kay two goals); lost to New South Wales 3-1 (Sharon Kay goal); (round 2) beat Australia 5-1 (Sharon Kay goal), lost to New Zealand 6-2, lost to New South Wales 1-0. They then drew with Australia in a play-off match.
In 1999, the club, generously sponsored by Mercian, enjoyed another highly successful season. They again finished second in the premier league, losing only to Old Edwardians. To put this achievement in perspective, Southern Gauteng finished first in the national hockey league and Old Edwardians won the champion of champions tournament. Of the five top sides in the Southern Transvaal, Wits was the only team without a Springbok. Yet, when asked to play warm-up games for sides playing in the All-Africa Games, they beat Namibia 3-0 and Zimbabwe 8-1.
Roger Sinclair wrote in Arena:
Whereas other universities have the funds to buy players, Wits attracts the talent because of the academic excellence of the institution and Ray du Plooy, the top-ranking coach who trains the team.
Between them, Ray and sports administrator Sue Smailes spot young talent and encourage them to study at Wits. Despite their natural talent ability, the Wits women’s hockey side still has some problems
Above: Parys Edwards spearheads a short-corner charge. The players in support are Kim Tucker, Caroline Birt (goalkeeper), Jean Butler and Belinda Larson (on post). Below: Parys Edwards seeks a way through the Old Eds’ defence.
to face. They are full-time students who have to prepare for stiff tests and exams.
The whole Wits team achieved provincial or national selection. In addition, Parys Edwards, Sophie Meyer, Sharne Wehmeyer, Caroline Birt and Sharon Kay were selected to represent the South African Invitation XI that drew with South Africa (2-2) and beat Wales (2-0). Birt was also on the bench for the South African senior side for the Test against Wales, and she and Parys Edwards, the Wits first team captain in 1998 and 1999, were chosen for the national high-performance squad. Parys was awarded as the ‘most promising young player’ in October 1999 by Southern Gauteng Hockey. To crown their achievements, Wits was named Southern Gauteng ‘Club of the Year’ in 1999.
An action-packed 1999 hockey season also included third place in the SASSU ‘A’ section –with Parys Edwards and Sophie Meyer selected for the SASSU team – and a Zimbabwean tour. Limukani Ncube wrote in the [Bulawayo] Chronicle that ‘Morningside and Wits University, both of South Africa, distinguished themselves with colourful displays that saw them win the men’s and women’s titles respectively in the Queens Easter Hockey Classic tournament at Khumalo stadium’. He added:
Wits University, who lost in the final last year to Potch, were inspired by Parys Edwards, Sophie Meyer and Sharne Wehmeyer who never stopped running throughout the three-day tournament. Their ball control and dribbling skills were a shoulder above the rest. Wits University won all their four matches. They beat Bulawayo Athletic Club who finished fifth 4-1, Oblates 9-0, Stormers 4-1, before they massacred Queens 14-0. Zimbabwe’s select side, Stormers, finished second.
Winning in Zimbabwe was significant for Edwards who had represented Zimbabwe Schools at hockey prior to registering at Wits. Her story is remarkable in that her achievements at Wits were merely the beginning of an illustrious sporting career. After being a member of the South African women’s hockey squad for five seasons, she concluded her hockey career at Leicester in the English premier league and turned to triathlon. She represented Great Britain and won gold at the European duathlon championships in 2010. Then, after recording the fastest female age group time in a victory at the International Triathlon Union world championships in London, she turned professional. She won the Laguna Phuket Triathlon, also known as the ‘Race of Legends’ and went on to claim five more professional wins, including two Ironman 70.3 victories, and over 20 podium finishes.
To crown a memorable year in 1999 and, indeed decade, Wits was presented with the hockey development award by Southern Gauteng hockey. It was recorded that much had been done by Wits to develop the game in disadvantaged communities. With the help of a substantial sponsorship from Grinaker, they held weekend clinics for schools in and around Johannesburg.
The Wits first team in 1999 (left to right – back row): Sue Smailes (manageress), Jean Butler (vice-captain), Kerry Nel, Ray du Plooy (coach), Marie Joseph, Tina Ingrata, Sharne Wehmeyer, Lara Alexander (in front): Caroline Birt, Sophie Meyer, Sarah Dane, Kim Tucker, Belinda Larson, Parys Edwards (captain) and Sharon Kay.
Parys Edwards is pictured stopping the ball for Sophie Meyer.
Judo
It is always difficult for a club that offers men’s and women’s sections to boast a great all-round year. Rarely do both excel in the same year. This was invariably the case in the judo club. During a seven-year period, the women’s section had been exceptionally strong and had won the SAU competition on four occasions. In 1989, Wits again fielded a powerful women’s combination and again won the intervarsity. Sally Buckton (two) and Yolandi Bruinenberg won gold medals, with Sally also taking the ‘most scientific judoka’ award.
Particularly pleasing, however, was the fine achievement of the men in finishing second. It was their best performance since 1976 and it was achieved in a sport that had been traditionally dominated by the Afrikaans universities. Yendor Felgate was outstanding in obtaining two gold medals while Nick Rabjohn (gold and silver) received the ‘best male newcomer’ award.
Overall, the Witsies were the strongest university in the tournament – their best performance in more than 30 years of attending the SAU competition.
In 1990, the eight men who travelled to Potchefstroom for the SAU judo tournament put in an admirable performance and again finished second overall. First place for the tournament went to Natal out of the five competing universities. Three Wits students were selected for the SAU team. Yendor Felgate was chosen to captain the side, with David Bennet (who won the award for the ‘most scientific judoka’) and Dennis Schiller also included. This time, the women did not do as well as in previous years, but said Sally Buckton in a Wits Student interview: ‘Judo is growing. We’ve made leaps and bounds, with over thirty people joining this year and we were nominated for the “club of the year” award. Women judoka are a little scarce but have done well.’
Sally Buckton had an outstanding year in 1990, as the vice-chancellor Professor Charlton acknowledged in his annual report. He noted that she had ‘captained the Springbok judo team and was re-awarded Springbok colours. She was adjudged the “best woman judoka” at the 1990 South African Championships.’
Judo continued to prosper at Wits. In 1991, they were the leading university with Darin Kramer and Yendor Felgate selected for the SAU team. In 1992 they won the men’s and women’s sections at Stellenbosch. Carol Erasmus, Stuart Levine, Darin Kramer, Yendor Felgate and M. Gandolfi were selected for the SAU team.
There were also excellent performances in other competitions. In his chairman’s report in October 1992, Stuart Levine commented on the impressive achievements of a relatively small club of 25 members:
Carol Erasmus national colours; Darin Kramer Maccabi team; Carol Erasmus second place South African championships; Darin Kramer third South African championships and fourth in the Springbok trials; David Kimmelman fifth in the Springbok
trials. All received provincial colours and excelled at SAU.
Fortunes can change very quickly in university sport. In 1993, there was a terse but alarming report from the SAU tournament: ‘Wits was left at a disadvantage when some of the team members were hospitalised.’ It added that the competition had been won by Stellenbosch with Wits in fifth position.
There was more welcome news from other events during 1993. The Wits Judo Club had three members invited to compete in the Western Australia triangular universities judo tournament. Yendor Felgate, Darin Kramer and Vincent Malangu competed against players from four Japanese and three Australian universities. Felgate also represented Transvaal at the South African judo championships, while Kramer came fifth in his weight division at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.
Judo stayed in the public eye at Wits because Sally Buckton registered for a postgraduate degree in sports medicine and continued to captain the South African judo team. In October 1994, she represented the country at the African Championships in Tunisia – where she won a bronze medal – and at the Commonwealth Championships. She was a member of the SASSU team at the World Student Games in Germany in December 1994 where she was placed eighth.
In 1995, Sally Buckton participated in the AllAfrica Games in Zimbabwe. There were entrants from 25 African countries and the stakes were high as the competition contributed about 80 per cent of the ranking points for Olympic Games selection. Buckton characteristically reached the final in her weight division but did not manage to beat her opponent.
The SASSU judo tournament was hosted by Stellenbosch in 1995. Wits finished fourth with Buckton receiving the ‘best lady judoka’ award. She was selected with Darin Kramer to represent
Yendor Felgate
Dennis Schiller, Gavin Daubell, David Eaton and Nick Rabjohn
row): Sally Buckton, Karen Dickson and Yolande Bruinenberg.
Sally Buckton captained the Springbok team
LEFT: The highly successful judo team at the 1989 intervarsity (left to right – back row): Andréa Folli, David Kimmelman, Coen van Tonder and
(middle row):
(front
The explosive power of Springbok karate exponent, Harry Chweidan, who breaks through planks held by
the SASSU team in the World Student Games in Fukuoka, Japan in August 1995. A third Witsie, Coen van Tonder, travelled as judo coach.
At Bloemfontein in 1996, Wits finished in seventh position, but there were notable individual achievements. Sally Buckton was the ‘best lady judoka’ recipient again and received two gold medals; Clinton Kramer won a silver medal and John Lane bronze.
In February 1996, Buckton was a double bronze medallist at the Commonwealth Championships and a double gold medallist at the South African International Open. In May, she was a bronze medallist at the African Championships and thereafter selected to represent SASSU at the World Student Championships in Canada. A wonderful year concluded when she was
Karate
If ever a team was certain of victory at an annual intervarsity tournament, it was the Wits men’s karate squad in 1989. There were four Springboks in the team: Russel Koton, Honorato De Mendonça and the twins, Pavlo and Panico Protopapa. They were indeed successful at Cape Town and all four were included in the SAU team. For Pavlo Protopapa, it was a particularly successful year. He became the first karateka to win Springbok colours for both kata and kumite. He was also crowned South Africa’s JKA kata champion, succeeding his former Wits teammate, Harry Chweidan.
Pavlo Protopapa was born in Vanderbijlpark, five minutes after his brother Panico. He was interested in karate from an early age and attempted to join a club as a six-year-old, but was turned away as being too young. Two years later, he and Panico were allowed to join Ed Kannemeyer’s Hillbrow dojo. They spent eight years there and paid tribute to Kannemeyer, who was also well known as a stuntman.
The Protopapas later joined Stan Schmidt’s dojo and then teamed up with Harry Chweidan at Wits where they were coached by Keith Geyer. Wits was described as the largest club of seniors (over 18) in the country, with 130 members.
In the highly competitive world of karate, Pavlo recalled being involved in eight sessions
awarded Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ title for a record fourth time.
The 1997 SASSU tournament was hosted by Cape Technikon. Although no Witsies were selected for the SAU team, it was reported that they did well ‘considering the fact that all members were new in the sport – a year of rebuilding but great promise as there was a steady growth at the club’.
Wits attended the next two SASSU tournaments at Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg, with 1999 referred to as a ‘very competitive year for the Wits Judo Club’. An emerging star Adrian Hammond represented South Africa in the under 60-kg division at the World Junior Judo Championships in Miami and would lead the club into the new millennium.
per week and could train for anything up to six hours on any particular day. Sessions were aimed at improving fitness, technique and speed and varied from day to day according to a wellplanned training programme. He also enjoyed serving the Wits club as an instructor and took pride in members’ achievements, while spending time with fellow students in the canteen where they ‘built up “energy” through a hamburger and doughnut diet!’
In 1990, Pavlo and Panico Protopapa excelled in the South African JKA championship finals at Gold Reef City. Pavlo won the kumite and Panico the kata. In October that year, the Southern Transvaal team selected to fight in the all-styles karate championships was dominated by Witsies with the Protopapa twins included in the ‘A’ team for the sixth successive year.
Russel Koton obtained a third dan black belt at 21-years old and became the South African kata champion. He and Pavlo Protopapa were selected for the Springbok team which competed in a Test series against Italy.
With most of the team leaving Wits by the end of 1990, the focus was very much on Panico Protopapa. He was the inspirational leader in the club and in 1991 received his full blue cum laude in recognition of his achievements. He received Springbok colours, became South African kata
Sally Buckton was elected ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ on four occasions.
Pavlo Protopapa was voted best all-rounder at the South African allstyles championships.
club team-mates.
champion and was voted best all-rounder at the South African all-styles championships.
At the 1991 intervarsity, the Witsies were as dominant as they had ever been. The Wits men and women both won their tournaments. Else Marais, A. Biccard, L. Pawley and A. Plaatje were chosen for the SAU women’s team, and Panico Protopapa, C. Beckenstrater, W. Smith, James Zibbaris and Kevin Friedlander for the men’s side.
In his 1992 report, the club chairman Sven Grodor reported a membership of 100 with training continuing to take place during Monday to Friday lunchtimes. He said that members had competed in the All Japan Karate Tournament and had enjoyed success in provincial and national competitions. At the 1992 SAU, the Wits men’s team came first in the kata but fifth in the kumite. The women’s team were second in the kata. SAU colours were awarded to James Zibarris and Kevin Friedlander. The latter won the individual kata and was ‘best all-round karateka’.
The 1993 SAU tournament went as well as could be expected. Despite not having a women’s team and missing out on possible points, the men’s team performed well to finish fourth in the overall ranking behind Potchefstroom, Pretoria and Free State.
In 1994, there was very good news in terms of the achievements of two karateka closely associated with Wits. In Philadelphia, Pavlo Protopapa became the first non-Asian to win the individual open event at the world karate championships. He came out tops in a competition that brought together 206 of the world’s best Shotokan fighters. His teammate and fellow ex-Witsie, Colin Smith, was third.
‘I’ve always aspired to win the world
championships,’ he told The Star’s Vida Tong, ‘but it came sooner than what I expected.’ He swept past two Japanese and an American on the way to the final, where he beat Belgium’s Jeannot Mulolo. Participants competed in eight fights in the two-day event.
Also in 1994, Shane Dorfman became the world’s youngest fourth dan after being graded in Japan. He was also the current South African all-styles grand champion and the world allstyles under-21 kata champion. At the world JKA karate championships that year, he was runner-up in the open men’s kata, and men’s team kumite and kata for the second successive year. Like Pavlo Protopapa, five years earlier, Dorfman became Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’. Dorfman has continued to set records. The Sunday Times records ‘in Chicago 2003 he triumphed at the All-Shotokan world open championship – the closest thing to a universally recognised world title in traditional karate.’
A year later, he became the world’s youngest sixth dan. Remarkably, he combines the art with a career as a medical doctor and businessman, having also obtained his MBA cum laude.
Karate at Wits had experienced an incredible two decades, during which time it had produced an astonishing number of world-class exponents. Students supported it as the ultimate art in unarmed combat, combining extreme fitness with strength and control. A report in 1997 referred to a thriving membership ‘with the whole spectrum from 9th Kyu to Nidan being represented’. They were proud to have Keith Geyer, senior instructor of the Japanese Karate Association South Africa, as their chief instructor, whilst Else Marais taught the Friday class with great skill and enthusiasm.
Panico Protopapa excelled in 1991 and received his Full Blue cum laude in recognition of his achievements.
Pavlo Protopapa became the first non-Asian to win the individual open event at the world karate championships.
Shane Dorfman proved to be an outstanding medical and business student, as well as world karate champion.
At Wits, climbers spoke of the ‘Nattrass Phenomenon’; Climb ZA reported later that Roger Nattrass ‘was the first person to climb grade 31 in South Africa’.
Mountaineering
The ‘Nattrass Phenomenon’ was the most significant feature of the Wits Mountain Club during the 1980s. It referred to Roger Nattrass, a medical student who arrived on the scene at a beginners’ meet in 1984, apparently ‘thin and scrawny but with tons of energy’. He ended his first day ‘on a top rope on Hyperadrenia (20) … most of the hard-core leaders in the club could not lead that grade’.
Nattrass recalls arriving at an active club that had ‘the first (and only) climbing wall in South Africa … Wits taught me to lead climb on trad using a wonderful apprenticeship programme.’ He added that ‘once you qualified as a leader the club gave you a set of 9mm ropes to use … a few months later, they seriously considered taking them back as from the outset I was keen on pushing my limits.’
The club reported that his fourteenth route that first year brought him ‘crashing through the 23 barrier into the realms of desperate stuff … he did something for the beginners of the Wits club that nobody else has done – he showed us all that that one does not need to climb for years to be good ... one can build oneself into a hard rock climber in one’s first year of climbing instead of the traditional three-to-five-year slog.’
In his time at Wits, it was said that he was climbing more significant rock in South Africa than any other climber had in previous years. He had ‘trained his body into a sleek muscular climbing machine,’ said the club spokesman, ‘with not an ounce of wasted flesh and his mind one which keeps ticking under even the most severe climbing conditions.’ The example he set was appreciated and by the time he qualified in 1990, it was noted: ‘The fruits of his efforts were clearly visible in the sprouting of many new hard routes and the number of motivated young Wits climbers following his example.’
In the early 1990s, the Wits University Mountain Club (WUMC) was one of the largest on campus with 150 members. Every year began with activities on the climbing wall during orientation week and the enthusiastic signing up of new members. Members regularly travelled to the Magaliesberg for climbs. In 1991, the club participated in a project climb in the Northern Transvaal at Boomspruit and Hangklip to celebrate the centenary of the Mountain Club of South Africa. It also competed in a national championship organised by the University of Natal. The competition was won by Mike Cartwright, a leading South African climber and ex-Witsie, and Clara Hoeiberg, a member of the WUMC.
In 1992, Sadie Jones, a member of the Wits committee, said no experience was needed to join the mountain club. Beginners were given training in both how to climb and in safety precautions ‘although we do not mollycoddle people, we let them get on with it.’ Jones also encouraged women to join the club. ‘Because women are shorter than men, they cannot always reach the easier holds and as such they become very good climbers. Women also have a better
strength to weight ratio than men.’ There were 180 club members – mostly male – but the arrival of Tessa Little opened everyone’s eyes as to how well women could do in the sport.
Wits generally did well in national competitions, in 1994 achieving second and sixth places in the men’s section and second in the women’s. Mark Seuring, the chairman of the WUMC in 1995 was already a master climber, which meant he had achieved at the highest levels of the sport.
One article recorded that Wits could boast ‘Mark Seuring and Tessa Little, who rank in the top ten male climbers and second in the women’s section nationwide respectively.’ Tessa Little competed in the rock-climbing World Cup (1995) held in Birmingham. In all Gauteng tertiary climbing competitions during 1995/96, the Witsies were placed first above five other participating institutions. ‘Think of one of the most visited areas of climbers,’ said one report, … ‘[whether] the ‘Restaurant’ in Mpumalanga or the Alps and the WUMC were there.’
In 1997 the first outing was belay practice at Northcliff Hill where there was some basic training in how to deal with rope. The club report outlined a typical year’s programme:
The beginners’ meet was in the Magaliesberg, followed by numerous other meets throughout the year, ranging from laid-back weekends at nearby venues to a hike along the Transkei coast, to strenuous climbs on Blouberg’s 500-metre North Wall. In the July vacation, various parties headed for the Giant’s Castle in the Drakensberg. Some of these linked with the Mountain Club of South Africa’s July camp, others headed straight up to camp on the south side of Giant’s Castle itself. The weather was perfect, windless and sunny, but with a thick layer of snow and well-developed ice falls. Activities included ice climbing, tobogganing and digging a snow cave by day, and cooking, talking and melting snow in the evenings. Our annual formal dinner was held in the Magaliesberg this year. Although we didn’t have tables and silverware, the food – an enormous stir-fry – was good and the atmosphere terrific. Nothing really slowed down at the end of the year, with several trips organised during the study break and immediately after exams. During the vac, a large group went to Cape Town for a month or so, and members took part in trips to the Ruwenzori (Uganda) and South America.
Russell Hattingh, club chairman in 1997, negotiated the purchase of a new portable wall that he described as ‘vital to the survival of the mountain club’. The club treasurer’s report indicated they were highly successful financially – an amount of R9 000 had been earned from their various activities.
In 1998, the club was able to start making use of the new portable wall for orientation purposes and competitions, while trips were planned for almost every weekend, including ‘more hiking trips for those not too keen on air under the toes’. In the late 1990s, competitions for the WUMC
Mark Seuring at the ‘Restaurant’ near Waterval.
began to take place alongside regular climbing trips and social events. Developments led to climbing gaining recognition as a competitive sport and SASSU incorporated the sport into its annual intervarsity calendar.
A special full-page message was inserted into the 1999 Journal in which the Mountain Club of South Africa congratulated the Wits University Mountain Club on its ‘40 years association with us’. The WUMC was noted as having ‘nurtured many of South Africa’s top climbers – Paul Fatti and Mike Cartwight being among past members’. Another of the club’s celebrated climbers, Mark Seuring, finished second at the South African national championships at the MTN Sundome in 1999.
Conquering Everest
George Mallory (1886-1924):
‘Because it is there’
George Mallory, a former chairman of the WUMC, was invited to join the 1995 American Mount Everest Expedition, not because he was ‘an aspirant Everester’ but because his grandfather, George Leigh Mallory, had been described by Everest historian Walt Unsworth as ‘the man who, more than anyone else before or since, was to match himself against the greatest mountain in the world’.
The expedition theme was ‘to commemorate the adventurous spirit of the pioneers of Everest and the leader thought it appropriate to have Mallory’s grandson on the team’.
It was an opportunity for George Mallory to attempt to climb Everest by the route on which his grandfather had disappeared in 1924. The success rate for expeditions on the North Ridge was around 20 per cent, and he had only been to the Himalayas once. The following is an extract from his article ‘Because it is there’, published in Arena
On the eve of the biggest day of my life, I was anything but calm. My grandfather’s attempt to climb Everest 71 years earlier was seen as symbolising the ‘transcendence of mind over matter’. I wondered how people would perceive this climb: as extravagant self-indulgence, or an opportunity for celebrating mankind’s adventurous spirit. I was tormented by the thought that all of the route’s technical difficulties were still above us and slept not a wink.
At 00h30 my climbing partners and I emerged from the tent and, once we had donned boots, harnesses, crampons and oxygen gear, set out at 01h30 on 14 May to climb to the planet’s highest point. There was not a breath of wind and the moon was full and bright. Jeff, Chhiring Sherpa and I formed a trio and, as agreed, left the other four members of our party to set their own pace.
After an hour we reached the crest of the summit ridge and could look to the east. The splendour around us was a sample of the greater prize on offer at the top. The climb along Everest’s summit ridge is much harder than anywhere else on the route. It is never exceptionally difficult, but for at least 80% of the route, an unguarded slip would be disastrous.
The crux of the route is the Second Step, a 25-metrehigh cliff at 8 600 metres. This was where Noel Odell said he glimpsed my grandfather and Andrew Irvine for the last time in 1924. His observation, and more particularly, precisely where he saw the two black spots moving with ‘considerable alacrity’ towards the summit, is crucial to all theories about whether they reached the top or not.
It was then 03h45 and because the moon was low in the west, the Second Step was dark. We switched on our head torches and looked up at the crux. The requirement seemed ludicrous to climb technical rock at 8 600 metres, by torch light, in a temperature of -20 degrees. But two decades of experience on rock came to the fore and within minutes I reached the base of the final slab. Immediately above me was the one place on Mallory’s ‘prodigious mountain mass’ which has been the subject of so much conjecture. Could Mallory have climbed this piece of rock?
I paused long enough to assure myself that my grandfather, who was acknowledged to be amongst the finest rock climbers of his day, could have scaled the cliff, then, with a twinge of guilt, climbed up the ladder. A glow on the eastern horizon illuminated Everest’s final pyramid. There were no difficulties ahead, and the summit seemed well within our grasp.
Half-way up the final pyramid the sun’s first rays struck the snow. I gazed towards the western horizon and saw Everest’s immense shadow reach past a multitude of Himalayan giants. Then I heaved myself onto the summit plateau and there, 100 metres away was the top of Mount Everest. Emotions overwhelmed me as I realised that nothing would stop me from reaching my objective.
We reached the top at 05h30 – comfortably ahead of our 14h00 turn-around deadline. I removed my oxygen mask and admired the view. Lhotse (the world’s fourth highest mountain), Nuptse and Ama Dablam were below me to the south. In the west, Cho Oyu and Shisha Pangma (both over 8 000 metres) were visible. The view of Makalu surrounded by a sea of clouds was utterly spectacular and 130 kilometres to the east, Kanchenjunga’s huge bulk protruded well above the horizon.
From my pack I retrieved a laminated photograph of my grandparents and knelt down to plant it in the snow. This was, for me, a profoundly moving moment, one which symbolised the unarguable completion of a climb that my grandfather started 71 years earlier.
‘So, if you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won’t see why we go. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life. That is what life means and what life is for.’
George Mallory
George Mallory took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s. During the 1924 expedition, he and his climbing partner Andrew Irvine disappeared on the northeast ridge of Everest. They were last seen approximately 800 feet from the summit. Mallory’s body was recovered in 1999 but whether he and Irvine reached the summit before they died is still uncertain.
Chhiring Sherpa and George Mallory at the top of the world on 14 May 1995.
Cathy O’Dowd:
‘My first time to the top of the world’
Cathy O’Dowd was part of the first South African team to climb Mount Everest. She had begun climbing at Wits, and wrote an article for the WUMC Journal. Extracts mix a description of the summit day on Everest with some of her early climbing experiences:
It was the morning of the 25 May 1996. I stepped onto the top of the south summit of Everest. The south summit, higher than any other mountain in the world, higher than K2, it’s not a bad achievement, I told myself. But could I go further? I looked onto the ridge that ran towards the true summit. In a few shocked seconds I absorbed several salient facts. It was a classic mountain ridge, knife-edged, corniced, twisting gently up over a series of rises. I instantly recognised the rock step on the ridge as the Hillary Step and realised that it wasn’t as fearsome as I had imagined. I noticed the doll-like figures of Pemba Sherpa and Ian Woodall approaching the step, and saw they weren’t as far ahead of me as I had feared. I took in the knife-edged nature of the ridge and the immense drops on either side of it and dismissed them as doable. And I realised that although the summit was still not in sight it could not be too distant.
From deep within me incredible excitement began to well up.
It was ten years and half a world away from orientation week at Wits in 1987. I knew then I hated all physical activity, or what I knew of it in the form of school sport. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the outdoors. I had spent the week wandering around the university, looking at all the clubs on offer. I had watched with disbelief the figures in old khaki shorts and shocking pink lycra scaling the library wall and listened to the pitch from the Mountain Club chairman. I was not convinced and was more interested in joining the Exploration Society. But on the very last day, with the abandon born of spending my father’s money, I decided to join the Mountain Club as well.
Crossing the ridge was slow, cautious work … Not particularly difficult as long as you ignored the fact that there was an 8 000-foot drop on the one side, and a 10 000-foot drop on the other My steady progress along the ridge was broken by the sudden rock wall of the Hillary Step. I stopped short, trying to refocus mentally from snow to rock. The first section was relatively easy, involving some cautions scrambling up and round big blocks. Then a cautious traverse across loose scree brought me to the foot of an awkward, angled chimney. The floor was loose rock and snow, the chimney just wide enough to wriggle up with a pack on. I worked my way up it, suddenly conscious of the burden of the bulky clothing, the big oxygen set, the enormous boots and crampons ...
The first rock climb I ever did was Donderhoek Corner in Upper Tonquani, all of grade 12. A classic chimney thrutch, it was an unprepossessing beginning. The second was Hawk’s Eye, a daring 13. Although I coped well with the wall, it took quite some talking to get me to climb over the nose of the hawk’s eye. I quite enjoyed the climbing … I was
impressed by a young and handsome blonde called Mike Cartwright. And given that the only place he could be found on the weekends was in the kloofs, I decided to give this climbing lark another go. … although the exposure, and the danger, was far greater here than on the slopes lower on the mountain, I felt no fear, only exhilaration ... we were now into our ninth week on the mountain, and our third attempt to reach the summit. The first two attempts had been halted by storms. Already ten people had died attempting Everest this season. All the other expeditions had left for home, many without summitting. The monsoon storms were only days away. This was the very last chance to reach the summit.
My first encounter with snowy peaks had been in the July vac when I went to the Ruwenzori in Central Africa. As we approached the mountain, concealed in cloud, the glaciers and rock peaks appeared suddenly out of the swirling mist, like a divine revelation. I was hooked. Stephen Kelsey and I spent two weeks climbing every summit in the range, not seeing another person in all that time. ... The following July vac, for the second year running, I convinced the History Department to allow me to write delayed exams. I headed for Bolivia, for my first encounter with a real mountain range, the Andes …
Once above the Hillary Step the ridge widened slightly. It was still corniced and very steep on the Tibetan side but slightly gentler on the left, before the steep drop of the south-west face. It undulated gently, resulting in a long series of false summits. … I remembered reading about them in Stacey Allison’s account of the first American female ascent of Everest. I tried to suppress all expectations, to simply deal with the ridge step by step …
The first mountaineering book I had ever read had been at the end of my first year of rock climbing. Mike, myself and most of the Witsies had … scared ourselves silly climbing Energy Crisis at Wolfberg and realised we had a lot to learn still. … I raided the Fish Hoek library and found a book about an all-women expedition to Annapurna. I was fascinated by the concept of the challenge, and by the realisation that it was not just a man’s world. I moved slowly up yet another small rise and onto the top of it. And stopped short, aware of two figures … Pemba turned and saw me. As a huge grin spread across his face, he stood up and began to wave both arms and his ice-axe in the air. That’s it, I thought. That is the summit of Everest. … I sunk down onto my knees beside Ian and hugged him, barely able to feel the man beneath the piles of clothing we were both wearing. I turned to hug Pemba, acutely conscious of the pleasure of being able to share the moment with friends and team-mates.
… We clambered onto the summit itself, no bigger than a table-top, sloping gently and then increasingly steeply down on all sides. ... Although the three of us seemed so alone on that summit, back in Gauteng thousands of South Africans were listening over Radio 702 as I spoke from the top of the world to my mother in her Johannesburg living room.
We took the South African flag down with us, to return to President Mandela, who, as our expedition patron, had given it to us.
Cathy O’Dowd was pictured on the cover of the 1989 WUMC Journal.
Cathy O’Dowd leading on Fallen Angel.
Yet the expedition was not over ... Bruce Herrod, the expedition photographer, became visible below us, moving up the steep ground above the rock step ... [He later] called us from the summit when he finally reached it. The joy and pride in his voice was all we had to carry with us in the long hours that followed, as we waited for the return that never came. Bruce vanished on the summit ridge of Everest.
Cathy O’Dowd would later become the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest from both south (25 May 1996) and north sides (29 May 1999).
Netball
The netball club made a pleasing revival in 1990 after a period in the wilderness. It consisted of three teams. The first team played in the second league, the second team in the fifth league and the third team in the seventh league. There were eight Transvaal leagues.
The club was expected to make an impression after unity because netball was one of SATISU-Wits’s strongest codes. But, despite practising three evenings in the week, they ran into difficulties. By 1993, chairperson Felleng Sekonyela stated they were experiencing problems recruiting players: ‘we do not even have enough players for two teams’.
A team was entered into the 1993 intervarsity but was outclassed and finished seventh out of seven teams.
With the club having struggled to make a sustained impression for so long, it was encouraging that Wits netball should in 1995
enjoy one of its most successful seasons. Still a relatively small club, they were fortunate to have one of Gauteng’s top coaches, Rashida Falconer. The team travelled to Cape Town in August to play in the annual Holiday Inns’ netball challenge and came second in their section after losing a closely contested final. Two of the Wits team represented the province at an interprovincial tournament in Bloemfontein – Sindi (Sindiswe) Mthethwa and Pinkie Maroga were selected for Southern Transvaal B and C respectively. And at the end of the season, the team was promoted. By 1997, the Wits first and second teams were playing in the second and third leagues respectively. The club was settled and confident of further improvement with good attendance at practices held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Dig Fields West Campus. Two years later, in 1999, three Witsies had made the Gauteng under-21 side.
Cathy O’Dowd, a professional speaker for over 20 years, has addressed companies in 44 countries on six continents. She has also written a book about her Everest experiences, Just for The Love of it.
Ian Woodall (left) and Cathy O’Dowd on the summit of Everest, 25 May 1996.
Nelson Mandela with Cathy O’Dowd; he told the South African expedition at a crucial stage: ‘I know you are going to succeed’.
Nicholas Mulder was part of a steering committee to form Witsoc, and subsequently became chairman of the club and the All Sports Council.
Orienteering
In 1996, a Wits orienteering club was formed. A steering committee – Andrew Wood, Nicholas Mulder and Gary de Klerk – decided to name the club Witsoc. They were aware that other tertiary clubs existed at the University of Cape Town (formed six years earlier) and Port Elizabeth Technikon.
Competitive orienteering had evolved in Sweden and Norway during the latter part of the nineteenth century as part of military exercises. The first orienteering race documented took place on 7 October 1900 in Oslo. Scandinavian orienteers were subsequently instrumental in pioneering and popularising the sport internationally. During 1983 the first South African championships were staged at Silvermine near Cape Town.
‘Orienteering basically boils down to two abilities – quick running and fast map work,’ said Nicholas Mulder, who became a driving force in the club. ‘He had been involved in the sport since he was two weeks old, strapped to his mother’s back in a sling,’ reported Shaun Smillie in the Sunday Times (Metro). ‘At age five he entered his first event and has not looked back.’
Forty-four people arrived at the inaugural event at Wits, but official club membership stood at 21. There was active interest on campus, but few people involved in sport at Wits could have imagined how quickly the orienteering club would progress. In 1996, the club attended the Junior World Orienteering Championships in Romania. They were based in Baile Govora – a town in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains – and were up against more than 160 competitive athletes in tough conditions. It was harder than they had expected but opened their eyes to the standard of international competition.
In 1997, it was reported that Wits had succeeded in confirming its position as one of the top orienteering clubs in the country. In what was only its second year, Witsoc had built up a small but strong membership base, boasting four of the top five orienteers in Gauteng. During the year, club members were placed high in almost all the national open events. They performed particularly well at the 1997
Rowing
‘It truly is a fantastic sight,’ wrote club member Alison Perkins in 1989, ‘to behold a boat crew in action, fighting with a united determination toward the single goal of winning a race –especially the “Boat Race”.’
The annual South African intervarsity boat race held on the Kowie River at Port Alfred has become a highlight of the rowing calendar. It is modelled on the Oxford and Cambridge race but is open to all the South African university rowing clubs. The men’s race for the Cambridge Rudder was first won by Wits on the Vaal River in 1980. The honours thereafter were fairly evenly divided until Rhodes achieved an incredible run of success. They were winners every year from 1990 to 1999.
SASSU championships staged at the Bushtrail Environmental Centre in the Magaliesburg. They finished comfortably ahead of Cape Town, Wits Technikon and Saasveld/ Port Elizabeth Technikon. Two Witsies, Andrew Wood and Gary de Klerk, finished second and third respectively in both the short distance and classic distance events. Aided by Andrew Porter they were also able to attend the Gauteng championships in the Magaliesberg and in October they travelled to the South African open championships in the Cathedral Peak area of the Drakensberg.
In 1998 the SASSU championships were held at Grabouw in the Western Cape. Wits sent a team of nine orienteers and came home with 13 of the 22 medals on offer. These included men’s and women’s wins in the short distance (Nicholas Mulder and Beth Spottiswoode), a women’s win in the classic distance (Beth Spottiswoode) and an overall win in the relay (Nicholas Mulder, Andrew Wood and Gary de Klerk). The club also retained the overall club trophy.
Wits orienteers excelled at national level in 1998. Gary de Klerk, Nicholas Mulder, Beth Spottiswoode and Elizabeth Kleynhans were selected for the SASSU team at the World University Orienteering Championships in Trondheim, Norway. Nicholas Mulder, who won the South African short distance title at Cathedral Peak, also represented South Africa at the Junior World Orienteering Championships in Rheims, France.
There was concern in 1999 that membership was down to 12 members, but Nicholas Mulder was able to point to a highly successful year in which seven profit-making events were staged and numerous successes achieved in competition. Seven members travelled to George for the SASSU orienteering championships, carrying away seventeen of the 21 medals on offer and the club trophy for the third successive year. Gary de Klerk, Nicholas Mulder and Michele Mulder also represented a South African team of seven in the world orienteering championships in Scotland.
By 1999, Witsoc – having won the South African relay championships – had established itself as the top orienteering club in the country.
The Wits women also enjoyed their success, winning the Isis Blade when it was first awarded to the champion ladies’ crew in 1988. Rhodes then won in 1989 and 1990, and from 1993 to 2000. Their highly impressive run of success was broken twice, by Cape Town in 1991 and Wits in 1992. Wits enjoyed a profitable year in 1989 that saw them again win the men’s ‘eights’ at the South African championships. The success at Roodeplaat Dam near Pretoria was Wits’s fourth victory in a row and eighth in eleven years and enabled them to win the overall trophy for a second year in a row. Robert Hamer wrote ‘the club as a whole pulled together to reinforce its position as the dominant force in this country’s
rowing … the Wits Boat Club now holds the South African record for ‘A’ eights, ‘A’ sculls (Rogan Clarke) and ‘A’ coxless fours.
Alison Perkins then described the excitement of the final stage of the ‘Boat Race’ in September: ‘Cape Town edged ahead, followed by a supreme effort from the Wits eight which took them over the finishing line a mere canvas ahead of their competition’. The men thus retained the ‘Cambridge Rudder’, but the women, also reigning champions, were not as successful; the crew that included five novices were said to be taking ‘a teabreak on a sandbank’ and finished fourth.
The following year, the Wits Boat Club came second overall in both the men’s and women’s events at the Kowie River. According to Clifford Chaney, the president of the boat club, ‘the women lost to a more experienced Cape Town squad whilst the men, having made a few tactical errors, were beaten by Rhodes’.
1990 was nevertheless an active and largely successful year for Wits rowing. After the South African championships, a spread of 11 oarsmen were selected to represent the national team in three international regattas in Germany and Switzerland. Six of the 11 rowers chosen were Witsies. Andrew Lonmon-Davis, Robin McCall, Matt Stegmann, Jeremy Ashton, John Fotheringham and Paul Brink secured their places in the eight. They competed as the Neptune rowing club – it was a time when the political environment was such that precautions had to be taken. They met with top international competition, and by the last regatta the crew had matured and learnt a great deal. Robin McCall, Rogan Clarke and Paul Brink were invited to compete with a top French club. This involved rowing in a regional regatta, an international marathon event and the French national sprint championships. Medals were achieved in all three events and McCall returned later in the year to compete in further championships.
The vice-chancellor’s report in 1990 announced that ‘Paul Brink and Andrew Lonmon-Davis were re-awarded Springbok colours for rowing. Robin McCall captained the national rowing VIII and was awarded Springbok colours for the fourth time.’
There were also difficult times. A club newsletter claimed that between 1990 and 1992, they had ‘struggled along with scarcely enough talent to make up an eight’, but came back strongly with ‘an “A” eight with five international caps in it, a “B” eight that is barely a few seconds slower and a winning women’s boat race crew.’ Another report stated: ‘In 1992 we entered the international rowing scene with a bang and five Witsies were put into the national squad: Gareth Ochse (heavyweight); John Madden, Rolf Eichweber, Iain Macauley and Warren Bolttler (lightweight).’ These oarsmen gained valuable experience from competing in Europe and the lightweight rowing world championships in Montreal.
Cambridge University introduced an international flavour at the 1992 boat race. Five of the 12-member team had participated in the Cambridge/Oxford race earlier in the year.
But for Wits, the highlight of the day was the women’s crew beating UCT with relative ease. The men could not reply to what Rhodes had to offer and lost by three lengths. Wits had six Protea representatives – Gareth Ochse, John Callie, John Madden, Beth Stevens, Angela Harding and Colleen Orsmond – ‘but the overall points trophy at SAU eluded us once again by the narrowest of margins’.
In 1993, the club attracted a large intake of new talent from top rowing schools. In February, they competed at the Buffalo Regatta in East London, where they won the senior ‘A’ pairs (Warren Bolttler and Greg Bayne) and the senior ‘A’ coxed fours (John Callie, John Madden, Vaughan Adnams and Iain Macauley). With seconds and thirds elsewhere, Wits won the overall points trophy. Club membership grew to more than 50 active members during the year. Nick Rowese, Colleen Orsmond and Angela Harding competed at the World Student Games hosted by the University at Buffalo, New York. With almost 6 000 participants, it was the largest student games ever in terms of competitors. The rowing was held in Canada on the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta course, which is about fifty kilometres from Buffalo. The Wits women’s team rowed twice and the men’s pair three times. Most competitors had received their respective national colours, and a few had competed in the Barcelona Olympic Games.
By the end of the season, the Wits rowers had won every South African event in which they participated, with the notable exception of the September intervarsity boat race where Rhodes ruled supreme. The boat club was named Wits’s ‘Club of the Year’.
In 1994, Iain Macaulay, John Callie and Greg Bayne represented South Africa in the Trident team. Macaulay and Callie won a bronze medal in the double sculls at the Ghent International Regatta. Bayne took part in the world championships at Eagle Creek, a beautiful park on the outskirts of Indianapolis. He wrote that the South Africans learnt much, not least ‘how to row lightly! In South Africa we have a mentality that brute strength and hard work move a boat … we have to learn to row efficiently’.
Roger Sinclair wrote in 1995 of newcomers ‘being taken to the training tanks on campus
Five Witsies selected for the national team that competed overseas in 1992 (clockwise from top): Iain McCaulay, Rolf Eichweber, John Madden, Gareth Ochse and Warren Bolttler.
The Wits crew that became South African eights champions in 1989 (left to right): Robert Hamer, Warren Bolttler, Justin Moyes, Rogan Clarke, Andrew Lonmon-Davis, Chris Roberg, Paul Brink, John Fotheringham and Matthew Stegmann.
Robin McCall was awarded seven Full Blues at Wits, four times Cum Laude.
where, under expert tuition, novices are exposed to the technicalities of the sport. Sitting in a simulated boat, they feel the full exertion of pulling a blade through the water and moving their body on the slide to increase the pressure of the stroke.’ Colleen Orsmond, the women’s captain, who had been rowing since she started her Bachelor of Commerce degree, wrote ‘being in the open and so close to the water is great but it is an amazing, almost indescribable feeling when the boat starts moving with rhythm and speed.’
Orsmond was selected for the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games. She and Helen Fleming were fourth in heat one of the women’s coxless pairs at Lake Sidney Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. After taking part in a repêchage, they struggled in their semi-final heat and did not qualify for the ‘A’ final. They were also up against strong opponents in the ‘B’ final where they finished fifth behind China, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Romania, but well ahead of sixth-placed Great Britain. Colleen spoke about ‘the newness to South Africa of the Olympic experience’ and she was determined to return in 2000.
qualifiers for the ‘A’ final and a medal was therefore a distinct possibility. Ultimately, it did not happen. Romania won gold, followed by Australia, United States, Canada, South Africa in fifth position and then Great Britain.
Greg Bayne was also at the Atlanta Olympic Games. He recalled waiting for the starter’s gun prior to the ‘C’ final. He felt a moment of awe when he and his Wits Olympic rowing pairs partner, Jonathan Callie, found themselves alongside the legendary British gold medal champions Matthew Pinsent and Steve Redgrave. ‘I glanced at them and realised where we were,’ he said, ‘we kept up with them for the first 250 metres and then they were gone.’
Bayne and Callie had a harsh disadvantage. As a lightweight crew weighing about 78 kilogrammes each, the teams they had to beat were heavyweight. Bayne and Callie were giving these competitors about 20 kilogrammes each. It was unrealistic to expect them to win in this class, but they were there and gained the experience.
In the last years of the 1990s, Wits struggled to compete for top honours at intervarsity level. At the 1998 SASSU rowing, Wits men were fourth and the women third. Sean Kerr, Nesh Turanjanin, Steven Kew (all Wits) made the ‘grudge’ crew and for the women, Sam Burne was selected for the ‘blues’ double, and Nicky Wolfe for the ‘grudge’ double.
Sean Kerr – who was elected as SASRA president – was selected to represent South Africa at the 1998 African Rowing Championships in Cairo.
In 1999, Wits men were placed third overall out of eight universities. Their best performers were the coxed fours, where they won the ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ events. Babette Nobel and Guy Du Sautoy were selected to represent the SASSU A team. Ruth Rogers, Anthony Saunders, Rod MacDonald and Gareth Norman represented the SASSU B crew.
Qualification for Sydney was achieved the hard way. According to Independent Rowing News, the women’s pair were eligible to qualify through an African qualification regatta, but the South African Rowing Union insisted that their crews qualify through the Lucerne regatta in Switzerland. The feeling was that if a boat could qualify in Lucerne it would be a competitive boat in Sydney, while the lack of depth in African rowing would allow less worthy boats to make the trip to the Olympics. Colleen Orsmond and Helen Fleming duly gained the approval of the rowing union and proved their worth at the games.
The rowing events in 2000 were held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith, a venue built specifically for the Olympics. That there were also increased efforts to draw in more countries to all events helped rowing set a new participation record of 51 nations. Orsmond and Fleming began their campaign in fine style, winning heat two by nearly three seconds. Australia, Canada, Russia and Great Britain followed in their wake. With Romania, the South Africans were one of two automatic
Guy de Sautoy, the Wits club president, suggested they look to the victors, Cape Town, to see that there is a value in depth; Cape Town’s top crews in the men’s division did not perform well, yet the performance of their crews in the women’s and lower men’s divisions led to Cape Town’s ultimate victory.
By the end of a decade in which South Africa returned to world sport, Rhodes had won the boat race for the tenth successive year and Wits had beaten Cambridge at Wemmer Pan.
Women’s rowing had improved as they were given more opportunities. At Wits they built a strong base and the women’s captain pointed out in her 1999 report ‘that women are no longer satisfied with second-rate equipment and second-rate boats. There has to be a change of attitude towards women and their training, as we do not take our training any less seriously than the men do ... at the boat race, the Witsies were the only team on the water with a wooden boat in both the “A” and “B” events.’
Moreover, the decade’s outstanding rower was Colleen Orsmond, who started her rowing career at Wits and impressed at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.
Colleen Orsmond represented South Africa at the Olympic Games at Atlanta 1996 and then Sydney in 2000 where she and Helen Fleming finished in a highly commended fifth position in the coxless pairs.
Colleen Orsmond (stroke) and Rika Geyser at the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne in 2002.
Sean Kerr was prominent in Wits rowing before becoming president of Rowing South Africa.
Rugby
The Pirates Grand Challenge followed a different format in 1989. The arrangement was that the top ten teams from the first round would qualify for a ‘super’ league whilst the remaining six sides would participate in the President’s League. The first round went well for the Witsies and they emerged unbeaten in their section. A notable victory was achieved over a strong Goudstad side that had finished second to Roodepoort at the South African club championships.
Wits’s start to the Super League was equally impressive. The first five matches were won –Krugersdorp, Diggers, Randfontein, Defence and Alberton. They needed only one further win from their remaining four matches to be certain of qualifying for the semi-final stage of the competition. The first test was the crunch encounter against the South African club champions, Roodepoort. It proved a thriller –Roodepoort winning 28-25 through a Cameron Oliver penalty in the dying seconds.
Defeats against RAU and Goudstad were disappointing if not unexpected. Wits lacked the sparkle that they had shown in earlier fixtures, but there was still an air of confidence that they would make the semi-final. With one match remaining against lowly Police, Wits had a clear two points lead over next in line, Defence, and with a superior points-for-and-against average as well. But they were beaten 23-16 by Police and Defence thumped Alberton 32-7. The Witsies were left to chew over what went wrong.
The 1990 season saw Wits hold their own and, to an extent, consolidate their position in Transvaal rugby. The First XV finished seventh, Second XV sixth, Third XV seventh and Fourth XV – Wits Old Boys (WOBS) – first. A highlight was a good performance to defeat Cape Town 26-15 during the July vacation. For the club’s highly respected coach, Norman McFarland, it was his third and final season. He had done much to ensure a vibrant club that played enterprising rugby and, along with his deputy, John Kruger, had moulded a senior group of players into a position where they were contributing significantly to Transvaal rugby.
In 1989 and 1990, provincial honours were achieved by James Small, John Mitchell, Deon Lötter, Cheese van Tonder and Gary Grant (Transvaal); Ashley Shafto, Steve McFarland and Milo Milasinovich (Transvaal B – Rooibokke), and Small, Grant, Milasinovich, McFarland, Paul Voorhout, Bradley Wahl and Mark Carlson (Transvaal Under 25). In addition, there was the selection of George Carey for Northern Universities versus Southern Universities at Wits.
The good work continued in 1991 with the First XV fifth, Second XV fourth, Third XV third and WOBS second in their respective leagues. James Small, John Mitchell and Deon Lötter (who would become a Springbok the following year) were selected again for Transvaal, with Gavin Lawless, Simon Berridge and John McCarthy representing Rooibokke. The club also raised R20 000 in order to embark on a memorable four-
day visit to Cape Town. They defeated False Bay 16-6 but went down 12-21 to Cape Town. The latter match was played before a capacity crowd and televised live by the SABC’s TopSport. John Lane resigned as chairman at the end of the season but was not lost to Wits rugby, as there was a rearrangement of the hierarchy. Jomo King became life president and Lane president. This was important as the latter had been innovative and ambitious – able to outmanoeuvre Sarfu president, Louis Luyt, in obtaining an Ellis Park suite for Wits rugby. He also shouldered responsibilities attached to player payments. The period of ‘shamateurism’ was never easy for a university club. Jomo King wrote:
Whilst the IRB and its laws banned any payment for playing the game at any level, rugby administrators from national to club level had become more pragmatic. They realised that skills and talents had to be paid for and that rugby players at higher levels gave up a tremendous amount in terms of time, entertainment and earning power to play rugby.
1989 (left
row): C. van Tonder, B. Carlson, B. Nelson, G. Carey, P. Voorhout, M. Milasivnovich, M. Rudolph (second row): G. Davies, J. Small, B. Wahl, C. Loser, S. McFarland, J. McCarthy, M. Julyan, P. Mosenthal (seated): J. Kruger (coach), I. Hume, J. Lane (chairman), A. Shafto (club captain), N. McFarland (coach), M. Carlson (captain), D. Shafto (manager) (in front): G. Puterman, G. Grant, N. Kinnear, K. Shafto (inset): D. Lötter.
The Wits First XV
to right –back
James Small about to score for Wits against Rhodes University at Ellis Park in 1989.
Consequently, during this period there was payment of what was called ‘boot money’ to players with the brown envelopes that were handed out either at practices or after matches. While this was well known to all involved in the rugby game at that stage, there was no admission or acceptance by the authorities that payment was being made.
Under Lane’s chairmanship, the under-20 section had also enjoyed a successful period. Jake White, the future World Cup-winning coach, had worked alongside Johan Prinsloo and club stalwart Rick Carlson. The under-20 A side finished second in the Transvaal league in 1990 and 1991. They had also more than twenty players to the provincial team over a three-year period: James Small, John McCarthy, Anthony de Villiers, Gavin Lawless, Peter Gordon, André Barnard, Campbell Stevenson, Adam Rosenberg, Dion Viljoen, Bruce Farr, Robert Levin, Henry Kemp, Eugene du Toit, Brian Mitchell, Greg Bruwer, Lee Stewart, Jamie White, Stephen Clarkson, James Moss, Andrew Gray and Nigel McGurk.
One player – James Small – went on to represent South Africa under-20 A in 1989. Two years later, he was Wits’s ‘Player of the Year’ and then in 1992, he was selected for the Springboks against the visiting All Blacks at Ellis Park. It was a match that marked South Africa’s return from sporting isolation. Small represented the Springboks on 47 occasions and in 1995 played his part in South Africa’s first World Cup triumph. Neil Stokes’s publication, 100 Years of Wits Rugby, records that Small’s affection for Wits was clear. He said it was ‘a privilege’ to play for the club and recalled his time there –1988 to 1993 – as being particularly memorable:
There was a certain energy at Wits, with a good mix of senior players, among them the Shafto brothers, and young players. There was a pecking order at the club, which is what you expect in rugby. I looked up to Ashley Shafto, who was the captain. He trained hard and played hard ... we had a backline that was almost all-Transvaal: ‘Gary Grant, Ashley Shafto, John McCarthy, Mark Carlson, Simon Berridge, Gavin Lawless …’
A highlight for Small was a match in which Wits beat the ‘cops’ and eliminated the influence of their key man: ‘Wits lock, George Carey, took
out Calla Botha in the first lineout, and we did Police – away.’
Braam Bruwer became club chairman in 1992. The Wits First XV had a fine season, qualifying for the semi-final of Transvaal’s premier competition and beating RAU in the local derby. The other senior teams were near the top of their respective logs and Rick Carlson reported that the under-20 A side had again finished second in the league; in a season in which they also defeated Tukkies and Maties, there were 60 players turning out to practice and ‘more Transvaal representatives than ever before’. Alistair Thompson, John Kruger, Ashley Shafto, Rick Carlson and Jake White provided coaching expertise and a powerful rugby base.
Unfortunately, while progress was achieved on the field of play in 1992, the financial side of the club was the cause of considerable concern for the university. It impacted on the seasons that followed. Denis Crawford, who took over as chairman in 1993, and his treasurer, Robby Wray, worked hard on a rescue act ‘to ensure financial stability, to re-engineer and re-focus where necessary, and to consolidate our resources and build for the future’.
With payment to players at all levels, problems were inevitable. Jomo King wrote: ‘At this stage, loyalty to clubs went out the window and club players, whether provincial or fourthteam, started to hunt for the clubs that paid the highest fees. The result was that the successful clubs and provinces became those which had the competent business managers and successful fundraisers …’
Performances in the league in 1993 were a little inconsistent but, said Crawford, there were some wonderful moments such as ‘the fine league win 45-31 against RAU; the magnificent performance in beating Natal University 30-9, and the narrow defeat 24-27 against the strong touring Oxbridge team.’ The match against the English students delivered fine running rugby in front of an appreciative crowd. Oxbridge’s strength was in their backline as they had Damian Hopley who went on to represent England. It needed some brave defence from Wits to keep him from scoring on several occasions. Wits’s three tries were scored by centre Peter Gordon (2) and winger Andrew Crawford. Dion Viljoen converted all three and added a penalty.
Robby Wray, who joined Wits in 1991 and became a first team regular, said his fondest playing memory from Wits was the match against the ‘Oxbridge’ side, narrowly losing to a team full of international players that went on to hammer the top varsities, including putting 50 points over the South African universities side. Unity in South African sport had been achieved and impacted on all sporting clubs. ‘The unification process was very important,’ said rugby chairman Dennis Crawford, ‘as the club could forge ahead with development and take steps to ensure the normalisation of rugby union.’ He pointed out that they had created a development committee and aimed to attract SATISU players to strengthen their ranks. Another influence on rugby was the Transvaal
Gary Grant represented Transvaal and then Western Province at scrum-half.
George Carey’s consistency was rewarded with selection for Northern Universities against Southern Universities.
Deon Lötter was selected for South Africa in three Test matches in 1993.
RFU’s decision to shift the sport’s junior level from under 20 to under 21 which meant there was no move upwards to bolster senior ranks.
In 1993, the club fielded four senior and three under-21 teams. The senior squad was coached by Jeff Squire, who made 29 appearances for Wales and toured New Zealand (1977) and South Africa (1980) with the British Lions. The under-21 section was under John Kruger (a Transvaal under-21 selector) and Ashley Shafto, with the development section being looked after by Sandile Swana.
In 1994, Wits hosted the Irish universities rugby team captained by fly-half David Humphreys. It was the visitors’ opening tour match in late June. The Irish referred back to previous South African encounters as a prominent part of their tour publicity. In 1957, the combined universities of Ireland had beaten South African Universities 12-0 at Ravenhill. Joe Kaminer of Wits was at centre. Then, in 1965, Irish Universities beat the Springboks 12-10 at Thomond Park, Limerick. Nearly thirty years later, Robby Wray recalled his delight in thumping the Irish universities.
Wray captained the Wits first team in 1995. They travelled to Durban to play in a curtainraiser to England’s match against Natal. They also played against an invitation team in Botswana. Colin Mitchell, Alex Hall, Steve Wetherall, Steven Stuart, Gareth Sochen and Darren Brown were selected for the SASSU regional side; Nigel Pickford and Gareth Sochen were chosen for Transvaal under 21; and Colin Mitchell, Angelos Antonie, Rob van Staden, Louis Coetzer, Danie Weiderman, and Nigel Pickford made the Transvaal senior squad. A welcome selection was that of Owen Nkumane for South Africa Under 21.
The rugby club’s annual report of 1995 said the club was engaged in rugby development programmes in the Gauteng province and transported players from Soweto to practices every Tuesday and Thursday. On campus there were black players organising and playing interfaculty league rugby and ‘amongst the teams participating in the Pirates Grand Challenge, only Wits could claim to be representative of the broader community’.
Two leading black players – Owen Nkumane and Macdonald ‘Mac’ Masina – represented Wits from the mid-1990s. St John’s College coach, Steve McFarland, had encouraged Nkumane to join the club and he played for the under 21s in 1995 and 1996. In 1997, he progressed into the Wits open ranks, captaining the side early in the season. Although these would be difficult times for Wits, Nkumane made remarkable progress. By 1998, he was playing for the Transvaal senior team. The same year, he was chosen for South Africa’s overseas tour, thus becoming the first black African to become a Springbok. He told Dan Retief:
The first time it hit me that I could be a Springbok was when I was picked for the South Africa under-21 side ... I can’t say that it was an overriding dream. … Then when I became a Bok it was the reaction of an aunt of mine that really drove home what an achievement it was. She said to me ‘you’ve just
done what every young white Afrikaner boy dreams of. You’ve done something people said would never happen in this country.’ … She was in awe of the fact that in the new South Africa I would be part of something that many black people felt to be the exclusive domain of whites.
In 1996, another former St John’s player, ‘Mac’ Masina represented Wits at centre, earned selection for the Transvaal senior team and played for the Springbok sevens team. Masina loved playing at Wits and commented some years later:
To me, Wits must be one of the best clubs in the world and is the only club where I have felt comfortable immediately. I loved the coaches, the managers and the team spirit, and I was allowed the freedom to play my style, so I enjoyed myself. ... With greater financial resources, the club could easily be number one in Gauteng.
A club report for 1996 stated that ‘several teams achieved encouraging results, and while most finished in the lower half of their respective leagues, several players showed the ability to perform at the top level’. Regular senior provincial selection slowed down but the club was well represented in the Transvaal President’s XV. Nigel Pickford was a reserve for the Transvaal senior side and was joined in the President’s XV by Alex Hall, Gavin Holsten, Owen Nkumane, Mac Masina and Steve Wetherall. Mac Masina was also a member of the South African students World Cup squad, while Gareth Sochen represented Transvaal under 21. A Wits side attended the SASSU winter tournament where they lost to Potchefstroom 60-3 but beat Transkei 90-0 and Rhodes 39-26.
Wits again embarked on an extensive drive to identify and approach talented schoolboys. They also ran a successful development programme. The newly formed Masakhane rugby squad fielded two sides in the inter-faculty league. The aim was full integration in the club.
By 1996, Masakhane was defeating traditionally strong sides such as Miners and Engineers. The team was composed entirely of black players – ‘We didn’t go out of our way to make it a black side,’ said coordinator, Dalisizwe Ndebele, ‘but when we combined the residences, notably Barnato, David Webster and Men’s Res, that’s the way it happened.’ The team obtained a sponsorship from the TRU Trust Bank and the Sowetan newspaper, and adopted the slogan: ‘A taste of things to come’.
The most important match that Masakhane played was at Ellis Park. In April 1997, the 36 260 rugby supporters who packed the ground to watch the Rugby Super 12 game between Lions and Natal Sharks, were given a glimpse of ‘development’ rugby. Wits made a fine impression when two of their leading inter-faculty teams, MTN Masakhane and Wits Engineers entertained the capacity crowd with a stunning curtain-raiser. MTN Masakhane defeated Engineers 24-22 – the latter having led 15-0 in the thirty-second minute.
Robby Wray’s involvement as player and administrator were important to the club in the mid-1990s.
Owen Nkumane toured overseas with the Springbok team in 1998.
Mac Masina played ‘sevens’ rugby for South Africa.
represented Wits during 1994-2006 before coaching at the club. After the collapse of the open section, he recalled coach Mike Charnas leading a revival that began in 1999 with the team reaching the President’s League final and being rewarded with promotion to the Pirates Grand Challenge.
Alastair Williams, the chairman of the club, was quite clear as to what needed to happen to Wits rugby: ‘We have to win games. Then players will want to join, and the provinces will start looking to us for talent.’ In the course of 1997, Wits struggled to field senior teams in the league and was on the verge of closing down. There were but fleeting moments of success. Against all expectations they came within a single point of beating Pirates, the 1996 runnersup, in a high-scoring game early in the season. Owen Nkumane and Mac Masina played for Golden Lions in the Vodacom Cup, with Nkumane also representing Golden Cats in the Super 12 and the Emerging Springboks against Wales. Nigel Pickford played for Gauteng Falcons. Other clubs waited to swoop on Wits’s talented under-21 side that reached the final of the league.
The university withdrew from the Pirates Grand Challenge in 1998. Les Todd, a member of Diggers for five years, said he had decided to join Wits ‘but found no more than three to six seniors turning out for practice’. A report by Jack Botha in the Sunday Times stated that ‘something must be wrong on the local rugby scene if such a long-established club could go under’. He investigated the situation and discovered ‘none of the other clubs had found any reason to be concerned. Wits’s trouble is very much their own and is not something other clubs have to be worried about.’
André Homan, Gauteng’s manager of amateur club rugby pointed to Wits’s strength in under-21 rugby and stated: ‘When these youngsters become seniors, Wits will be back in senior rugby.’ Unfortunately, this did not happen. The best players were lured away by promises of being paid generously for their talents.
Wits admitted mistakes had been made, stating: ‘The keys to this transition will be longterm financial planning, acquiring and retaining talented players, and a strong and innovative committee.’ After a year in which the club was decimated by players being poached by
Ski Club
In 1992, the ski club chairman, Graham Joyce, and some of his 210 members trained at the Alpine Ski Club and went grass skiing at Fotheringham Park, during weekends. Their major achievement was to finish fifth in the dual slalom national championships. An unofficial SAU – four universities as opposed to the required five – was staged at Champs Club, Maluti, in Lesotho during July. Toni Bold was third in the national championships, with three other Witsies – Steve Hartzipanis, Laurence Wolf and Oliver Swankhary – noted as finishing in the top ten.
A 1993 report stated that ‘the aim of the club is to develop the skills of our members and this mainly takes the form of grass skiing twice a month’. Traditionally new members were introduced to the club through a weekend of grass skiing at the club lodge in the Maluti
other clubs, Wits returned in 1999 to play in the President’s League. Marc ‘Sumo’ Barnett recalled that the under-21 side had remained strong during 1998 and when coach and chairman, Mike Charnas, began a revival the following year, there were ‘about twenty-four guys coming down to practices … the club grew from strength to strength’.
In 1999, the senior section of the club was resurrected. In the latter stages of the season, Wits beat Eldoronians 28-18 in the President’s League semi-final. They played Wits Tech in the final and were held 26-26 at full-time. Unfortunately, they went down 26-43 after extra time. The disappointment disappeared when it was confirmed that the club’s fine performance would be rewarded with promotion to the Pirates Grand Challenge.
Players earned representative honours. Duncan Githiri and Lucky Maduna were selected to represent Golden Lions under-21 academy against Blue Bulls. Julian Trombetta and Hennie Mulder were invited to Golden Lions B team squad sessions. Mike Charnas –the First XV coach – looked after the Golden Lions’ sub-union team. Witsies who represented the sub-union team included: Gavin Behr, Richard Hisack, Gerrie van Zyl, Hennie Mulder, Willie van Wyk, Honro van der Merwe, Julian Trombetta, Marc Barnett, Steve Giuricich and Grant Mitchell (captain).
Sports officer Conan Olivier produced a document, The Way Forward, as a blueprint for the club. He saw the value of seeking the abilities of ex-Witsies who had achieved success in the business world and asked for their active assistance in promoting the club. In 1995, ‘the club had raised in excess of R300,000 from Wits’s three rugby suites at Ellis Park but this figure decreased appreciably ... much needed to be tightened in terms of the structures on which the club relied.’
The major challenge in 2000 was to field four senior teams, two under 21 and one under 19.
Mountains, Lesotho, early in the year. Three week-long trips were organised in June when there was a high possibility of snow. The intervarsity challenge took place during one of these weeks, a competition in which Wits was dominant. Spontaneous trips were also organised at other times when snow had fallen.
The Tiffindell Ski Resort in the Eastern Cape was established in 1993. Ivan van Eck, the founding director, and his brother, Phillip, had been prominent in the Wits Ski Club during the 1980s. Their new resort covered 101.8 hectares and was situated on the slopes of the Ben Macdhui mountain in the southern Drakensberg near the Lesotho border. At 3 001 metres above sea level, it is the highest peak in the Eastern Cape, with snow a regular feature in the winter months. The resort was run as a successful ski lodge from 1993.
Marc ‘Sumo’ Barnett
Conan Olivier produced a document The Way Forward as a blueprint for the club’s future.
Electricity was available from Eskom and water provided via the numerous natural springs in the area. Minor amenities were available in the picturesque town of Rhodes, situated 26 kilometres away, while major amenities such as financial institutions, shops and medical facilities could be found in Aliwal North, approximately 150 kilometres away.
At the 1996 South African championships, Michael Schwankhart brought honour to Wits by winning the ‘best overall skiing and snowboarding’ trophy.
In late July and early August 1997, a Wits ski team participated in the South African national ski championships at Tiffindell. This was the main event on the skiing calendar for the year and was covered extensively by camera crews, radio presenters and photographers from various magazines and newspapers. The Wits team comprised Lewis Civin, Shaun Brassell, Rob Stockhill, Peter Nixon, Jeremy Jones and Kevin Hingst.
The following year, in 1998, Wits Ski Club
Skydiving
members were again conspicuous when the fourteenth national ski and snowboarding championships were staged at Tiffindell. Three Witsies gained top ten finishes: Stephany Blum was seventh in the giant slalom and fourth in the slalom, and Sue Spindler eighth in the giant slalom and sixth in the slalom. Of the men, Robert Kroger did best, finishing tenth in the giant slalom and ninth in the slalom.
The ski club’s 1999 report recalled ‘the highlight of the season was the South African national ski championships held at Tiffindell. The competition proved a lot tougher in 1999 than previously with more distinguished skiers taking part.’ The Wits Ski Club coped well against the best in the country, with four of its men in the top twenty for both the slalom and giant slalom events. The women also achieved good results, with a third and sixth position that earned the club its first bronze medal for the championships. For the second year running they received the ‘team spirit’ award for their outstanding support.
In 1990, the skydiving club was well established on campus and during the 1990 orientation week signed up 140 members. A first jump course was run by fully qualified, licensed and experienced instructors of the Klerksdorp Parachute Club which facilitated and hosted the skydiving. Students were taken through a thorough training course where every aspect of the jump was examined with emphasis on safety and control. John van Gottberg, student coordinator and treasurer of the Wits skydiving club pointed out that the sport was ‘safer than driving a car’. He added: ‘There is a public misconception that skydivers are a group of daredevils – in fact, skydiving is a very responsible sport and the risks are minimal.’ It was also reported that ‘since its inception in March 1971, the Wits skydiving club had produced three Springboks and fourteen full blues’.
In his club report in 1992, the chairman Philip du Plessis stressed the impressive competitive side of a club that had risen to 160 registered members. His report noted:
National achievements: Wits four national champions 1991 Provincial: Transvaal and Natal champions 1991; Bop and Transvaal champions 1992.
Achievements: SAU record 18-way formation. Approximately twenty demonstration jumps during the year, the highlight being the jump at the rugby international at Ellis Park on 15 August 1992.
There was enormous enthusiasm within the club. Fifty members competed in a club event in order to select the representative Wits team. Craig Hunter won the prize for the closest jump at the Wits competition and Sandra Oliver was the closest first jumper. The club organised a skydiving tour to the United States for December 1992 in order to allow members to tour drop zones in the States.
In 1993, a Wits skydiving spokesman said that they had the largest and most competitive university skydiving club in South Africa with an annual membership exceeding 150. The club also attended all major events and competitions. After 1993, there were no further skydiving reports in any of the literature associated in some way with Wits sport. The club seemed satisfied that it had made its point.
There was, however, a brief line in 1999 to say that ‘the skydiving club had a table during orientation week ...’
Ivan van Eck (pictured here) and his brother Phillip followed up their success with the ski club at Wits by opening the Tiffindell Ski Resort.
Soccer
Wits completed the 1980s having not finished lower than ninth in the NSL first division. Consistency in the 18-team Castle League saw the university achieve sixth place in 1985; seventh in 1986; ninth in 1987; seventh in 1988; and seventh in 1989. NSL News produced an ‘NSL Super Log’ over the five-year period. It placed Wits in fifth position (201 points) behind Kaizer Chiefs (245), Mamelodi Sundowns (226), Jomo Cosmos (224) and Arcadia/Dynamos (216). The university played 187 games during that time, winning 71, drawing 59 and losing 57. They scored 268 goals and conceded 232. They were ahead of teams such as Orlando Pirates, Bloemfontein Celtic, Hellenic, Bush Bucks, Moroka Swallows and AmaZulu.
Terry Paine, a member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad, took the reins in 1987 but was succeeded by John Lathan, a former Sunderland player, two years later. The most exciting footballer in the Wits side was Zane Moosa of whom it was said ‘the midfielder was a real dazzler with the ball at his feet’. He left in 1989 when he broke the South African transfer record by R1 – Mamelodi Sundowns paid R70 001 for his services. He had made 90 appearances for Wits and would later play five internationals for the South African national side. It was a period of change. Rod Anley left after ten years and was given a benefit season in 1989 before joining Orlando Pirates and then Dynamos. Others retired and turned to coaching: Davey Jacobs served as assistant coach and Mark Moca was involved with training.
Warren du Pont recalled turning professional while still at school, joining ‘Calvin Petersen, Mark Tovey, Jimmy “Brixton Tower” Joubert, Rodney Bush and all these other older guys that I’d actually only heard of. It was quite intimidating … it was the younger guys that I mingled with and at that stage it was the likes of Marc Batchelor, Peter Gordon and Steve Crowley.’ He recalled Wits was an exceptionally happy team: ‘Man, we used to laugh … the biggest character was Kevin Mudie. He was so funny ... constant jokes ... playing jokes on each other, playing jokes on (head coach) Terry Paine ... my time at Wits was fantastic.’
Wits University was not only one of the leading sides in the league but continued to do well in the cup competitions. In 1989, they were runners-up in the BP Top 8 and losing semi-finalists in the Bob Save and Ohlssons Challenge.
They were unlucky not to win the BP Top 8 (losing 1-2 on aggregate) after dominating the second leg against Kaizer Chiefs at Ellis Park. The Ohlssons’ Challenge against Kaizer Chiefs followed a similar pattern (losing 2-3 on aggregate) and the Witsies had only themselves to blame for not setting up a first-leg lead.
There was much to praise in the tremendous character that Wits showed in the run-up to the Bob Save semi-final. They defeated both AmaZulu (5-4) and Hellenic (3-2) after extra time, having been behind at important stages of the matches. Unfortunately, Moroka Swallows was a match too far, with Wits going down 0-2.
As South Africa moved towards sporting unity in preparation for a non-racial society, there was a sense that Wits’s NSL football side had not been fully appreciated. Wits Student commented on the disappointing crowds that watch Wits –except when they played big teams like Chiefs or Pirates. According to club president, Professor Ronnie Schloss, the crowds started dwindling in the early 1980s. ‘In the days of the (white) National Football League we used to fill the stadium with students. We were the second biggest drawcard and our following was mainly white students’. Schloss said the problem could be located within broader social attitudes.
‘Because of the nature of our society, whites tend to be scared to go to a stadium where there is a big black crowd,’ Schloss explained. ‘The challenge facing us is to change from grassroots level. We have to teach whites to mix.’ Schloss felt that the club played an important role in normalising sport in South Africa. He told Wits Student: ‘Wits was the first white team to play in a township. The whole team was once arrested for failing to produce permits to play in Soweto.’ He stressed the importance of supporting a university club. All the money generated from the team is ploughed back into the university. The squad comprises largely past students and at least five currently registered students.’
Wits seemed set for an exciting and successful 1990. In February, they reached the BP Top 8 final for the second year in a row. On the way there, they defeated the mighty Kaizer Chiefs in the quarter-final clash. After being 0-1 down, the students showed their mettle and won 2-1 with a penalty by captain Rod Anley and a terrific header from Derek Mills. In the semi-final, they faced the Cape Town side, Hellenic, at Milpark. They won 2-1 with goals scored by Albert Bwalya and Rod Anley. The final was played over two legs – at the Super Stadium in Attridgeville and at Soccer City. Sundowns were in menacing form and won the matches convincingly 2-0 and 3-0. The Witsies were unfortunate to face a team on top of their game but manager John Lathan was confident his side would soar to new heights.
On 22 September 1990 a new non-racial body,
Kevin Mudie was described as ‘the biggest character’ in an exceptionally happy team.
Rod Anley gave outstanding service to Wits football.
Coach John Lathan stresses a point to Abel Shongwe and Zane Moosa.
the South African Football Association (SAFA) was created for soccer. It took another year before the NPSL came on board. It was only after the 1991 season – on 8 December – when SANFA added its mandate that unification was complete. On 4 July 1992, South African football was back in the fold of the world governing body. Three days later the national team defeated Cameroon in Durban. Zane Moosa was in the team.
Wits were ninth in the NSL First Division in 1990 and twelfth in 1991, before achieving a highly impressive third place in the league behind Kaizer Chiefs and Hellenic in 1992.
Kevin Rafferty, Steve Crowley and Peter Gordon were called up for the South African squad to play Zambia – goalkeeper Crowley was forced to drop out through injury, but he would go on to play twenty internationals for South Africa.
In 1993, the NSL team slipped to fifth from the bottom and were just three points away from the drop. Paul Raath in his Soccer Through the Years said: ‘Wits rallied like true soldiers to win their last game of the season against fellow strugglers, Jomo Cosmos. ... Paine in his second spell was the nervous coach on the touch line that day’. The four teams below Wits in the tense finish were relegated as the NSL Division was cut from 20 to 18 teams.
Bradley Carnell recalled making his professional debut for Wits at the age of 16 during the 1993 season. He said: ‘When I arrived at Wits, I was welcomed by great players like Scara Thindwa, Peter Gordon, Benson Otiti, Black Sunday Masegela, Warren du Pont, Steve Crowley and others. … I am very grateful to have played for Kaizer Chiefs, the biggest team in South Africa, but I will always cherish the opportunity at Wits University to play professional football.’
In 1995, John Lathan, in his second stint at the club, brought much-needed inspiration and success. Although Wits finished seventh out of 18 teams in the NSL First Division in 1994 and eleventh in 1995, they again showed that they were doughty cup fighters.
‘Tenacious. Hard-nut-to-crack,’ said a report of the 1995 BP Top 8 semi-final. ‘One may eventually run out of words to describe the hardworking Wits team that booked a place in the BP Top 8 final.’ The ‘Clever Boys’, as the Wits team became known, contained Orlando Pirates with a goalless draw before booting them out on penalties. The report continued: ‘Wits’s gritty play is always a problem for the Soweto sides.’ And, turning to the final, it added, ‘Wits has always been Chiefs’ hoodoo side. No team has beaten Chiefs in cup matches like Wits.’
Inspired by some excellent goalkeeping by Paul Evans, the side rose to the occasion to defeat Kaizer Chiefs before a packed FNB Stadium. Chiefs boasted the likes of Doctor Khumalo, Neil Tovey, Wellington Manyathi and Thabo Mooki amongst others and Wits’s victory was described as ‘a defiance of all odds’. The score was 2-0, with both goals by teenager Bradley Carnell.
‘Soccer is a simple game,’ remarked Wits Student at the time, ‘but the hard part is keeping
Gordon would play 442 matches for Wits, scoring 57 goals and winning a cap for South
it simple. Chiefs complicated matters by playing long balls – treading on Wits’s strong point. At times they carried the ball too long, giving their opponents time to recover.’ Wits were more alert, released the ball in time and were first on the ball. They were also first to draw blood when Bradley Carnell’s long-range strike beat Brian Baloyi at the far post. ‘Chiefs pushed forward in search of the equaliser but,’ said one report, ‘they could not get through the Wits wall led by Peter Gordon’.
Teenage hero Bradley Carnell then slotted the second of his two extraordinary goals. He described it as ‘luck’, informing Wits Student’s Chris Rathebe, ‘I realised the ’keeper was way off his line, and I took a chance with a lob. … I was lucky because I didn’t control it well.’ Carnell was central to the success but good defending and tight midfield marking sealed it for the Clever Boys. There were references to Paul Evans, Peter Gordon, Warren du Pont (Wits), and Thabang Lebese and Neil Tovey (Chiefs) ‘as jewels of the day too’.
A few months after the BP Top 8 success, Wits overcame Orlando Pirates 1-0 in the Coca Cola Cup final at the FNB Stadium. Pirates were favourites as they were on the cusp of claiming the CAF Champions Cup title. But it was not to be their day. The Nigerian striker Benson Otiti was on target to score the crucial goal in the 44th minute that gave Wits the cup (later the Telkom Knockout – TKO). A young Sipho Sephadi, who started in central midfield that day, recalled ‘it was a tense affair as we were playing against a great Pirates team which went on to even win
Bradley Carnell played on six occasions for South Africa under 20 during his time at Wits, and later joined Kaizer Chiefs and then VfB Stuttgart. He represented South Africa in 42 internationals including the 2002 World Cup.
Peter
Africa against Nigeria.
Steve Crowley represented South Africa in 20 internationals as a goalkeeper.
the Champions league that year’. He added: ‘We applied ourselves and dominated in the important areas and I believe we deserved the cup … we were on fire.’
Winning two major competitions was a tremendous achievement, duly recognised by the university in awarding soccer the ‘Club of the Year’ trophy in 1995. The success also vindicated efforts by John Lathan and assistant coach, Scara Thindwa, to establish attractive, attacking football that was geared towards winning as much as entertainment. With more support, there would be more money and Wits could do even better. Lathan said it was difficult to secure the better players because they were competing against ‘teams like Chiefs and Pirates that have more money from their gate-takings and can afford the best’.
South Africa fell into line with the overseas football structure after the 1995 season. The inaugural Premier Soccer League (PSL) was played over 1996/97. Wits finished twelfth out of 18 teams in the first season under the new structure and achieved an improved eighth position in 1997/98.
Eddie Lewis returned to his former post in 1997 when Lathan departed. Roger De Sá also arrived at Wits to begin a long association with the club as goalkeeper and coach. He described Wits’s Milpark Stadium as ‘a fantastic environment where the supporters are situated really close to the pitch, as it should be’.
De Sá was impressed by the way Wits operated and remembered the club taking on a young goalkeeper from Benoni Northerns. ‘Amazingly,’ said De Sá, ‘the goalie wasn’t even a regular at the club, but Lewis obviously liked what he had seen.’ Rowen Fernández was immediately offered a bursary and a contract by Wits. ‘He came from a water polo background and because of that had very safe hands.’ He made 100 appearances for Wits before joining Kaizer Chiefs and subsequently represented South Africa on 23 occasions.
In 1998/99, Wits made progress in both the Rothmans Cup (quarter-finalists) and the Bob Save Super Bowl (semi-finalists) but they drifted along without real purpose in the league to finish in eleventh position. Lewis left after only one
year, and Lathan was reappointed in the course of major club changes designed to take them into the twenty-first century.
Ronnie Schloss announced a revamp of the coaching structure in June 1999. Wits became fully professional as the coach ran day specialist sessions in the morning and team training in the afternoon. Scouts from around the country were appointed to feed players into the already highly successful youth development system. The importance of developing talent from within the club was imperative and the club embarked on a development programme from under 6 to under 16 and a professional section from colts to premier league.
The Amateurs
Wits players were regularly contesting cup and league championships. In 1992, for example, while the professional club was in the last sixteen of Bob Save, the amateur teams were competing in the TFL play-offs and the Caltex Colts were in the national play-offs. There was a victory for the national reserve team in the Impala league play-offs and further success for Caltex Colts in winning their Transvaal league for the second year. Wits was a vibrant, winning club.
They also dominated the SAU, winning the Malcolm Taylor Trophy for the fifth successive year in 1989. Their success came in one of the most exciting of SAU matches. Wits scored in the last 30 seconds to snatch a dramatic 2-1 victory over Durban. Zoran Ilic, who played for the South African Currie Cup team, was named as SAU captain and awarded ‘player of the tournament’. Five other Witsies – B. Katzman, K. Boake, J. Jamieson, G. Bollo and E. Gander –were included in the SAU team.
The SAU sides under Derek Blanckensee and Jimmy Bakos reaped numerous rewards over the years. In 1990, Wits put in an excellent performance to win the SAU tournament for the sixth consecutive time and the eighth time out of the last nine tournaments. There were ten teams involved, yet six Wits players were chosen for the SAU ‘A’ side (Z. Ilic as captain, C. Bollo, D. Katzman, S. Koseff, D. Jamieson and D. Speechly) and another four for the SAU ‘B’ team (A. Macmillan, A. Lagesse, B. Grobbelaar and G. Blumberg).
In 1991, Wits won for the seventh successive time, with eight players making the SAU side (N. Raad as captain, J. Jamieson, K. Boake, A. McMillan, S. Kossef, D. Suchard, L. Schrier and C. Bollo). In 1992, it was eight in a row with eight players in the SAU ‘A’ team (D. Katzman – player of the tournament, S. Alladyce, A. McMillan, O. Sibiya, K. Boake, C. Bollo, N. Raad, G. Ewan ) and four in the ‘B’ team (N. Schloss, R. Jankewitz, D. Sucherd, R. Fihrer).
Major changes took place after the establishment of a unified tertiary sports organisation. The July 1995 SASSU tournament was hosted by Port Elizabeth Technikon. Dean Suchard, Ace Mkwanazi and Jason Valkan were selected for the SASSU team.
The club’s development programme began to take shape during the 1990s. The junior section
Absalom ‘Scara Thindwa played for Kaizer Chiefs until 1993 when he switched to Wits and later became assistant coach.
Rowen Fernández made 100 appearances for Wits and represented South Africa on 23 occasions.
Zoran Ilic enjoyed success in both the amateur and professional divisions of the club.
was expanded, and the internal university leagues grew in leaps and bounds. In 1994, a major new sponsorship from footwear distributors ASICS not only benefited the highest level of the club but was passed on to disadvantaged communities through a significant youth development programme. John Lathan, the sports officer, explained that while Wits’s soccer club was already involved with coaching clinics in Soweto and Tembisa, the intention was to embark on a proactive soccer development programme in Alexandra.
With South Africa making its return to international sport, students were able to take advantage of numerous opportunities. In 1994, Norman Raad represented the South African students at the World Student Games in Buffalo, New York. ‘It was the soccer Olympics for students,’ he recalled, ‘and although our team didn’t fare too well, the experience was unforgettable. There were over 10 000 spectators at each match, and we were given the opportunity to play against teams such as Ireland, South Korea, Nigeria and Australia.’
The following year, Wits players Frederick Mkhwanazi and Gordon Ewen, together with coach, John Lathan, participated in the World Student Games in Fuluoka, Japan. The South African side qualified for the quarter-finals where they drew 2-2 with Ukraine but lost the penalty shootout 3-2. After the play-offs, the team finished seventh out of sixteen teams, an improvement on the fourteenth place South Africa had achieved in 1993. Gordon Ewen, who played in all six matches, ‘learned a tremendous amount, both as an individual and as a sportsman from the incredible experience’.
In 1997, Junaid Hartley and Stanton Fredericks represented South Africa at the FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia. Marc de Castro also represented the South African under-23 team and Ashley Makhanya was selected for the Under-20 World Cup.
Numerous honours followed in 1998 and 1999. The club’s under-17 team won the USA Cup, a prestigious international youth tournament. Mark de Castro represented the SASOL under-23 squad that toured Australia. Steve Tlou and Sydney Hadebe were chosen for SASSU at the World Student Games and the Confederation of Universities and Colleges Sports Association of Southern Africa (CUCSA) Games in Zambia. Rowen Fernández, who played for the Wits first team in the PSL, was selected for the South African Under-23 (Ama Glug Glug) squad that competed against Togo in the Olympic qualifiers. He and Stanton Fredericks were then chosen for the Ama Glug Glug squad that competed in the 1999 All-Africa Games in Johannesburg.
Wits football had continued to take important strides forward during the 1990s. Unity had strengthened the game and notably so at Wits. In 1996, Wits Student’s sportswriter, Dumisani Mphalala, said he saw ‘the wisdom behind the racial mixture: where white players dominate in physique and defence, black players put more emphasis on skill and flair, making the game more exciting.’
Women’s soccer
Women’s soccer started seriously in 1995, with the formal premier league kicking off officially in April 1996. The Wits intervarsity squad emerged from this league. Not long afterwards, it won the SASSU regional tournament by outplaying Wits Tech 7-0 (Lily Morobane 2 and Charmaine Siwela 4) and RAU 6-0 (Stella ‘Makgorometsa’ Kurata 3).
Wits earned the right to represent the Gauteng region at the SASSU national inter-tertiary tournament at the University of Natal’s Durban campus. They finished fourth out of 11 sides. They might have done even better if it had not been for transport and administrative problems. They spent two nights on the bus because of road blockages caused by snow and ice. Then there was no accommodation on arrival. The team lost to Durban 3-4, drew 1-1 with the University of the North-West, but beat Venda 6-0 and Port Elizabeth Technikon 5-1. They finished second in their pool but then went down to Turfloop on penalties to determine positions three and four. The tournament was won by Cape Town, who beat Durban 6-0 in the final.
In 1997, Wits’s first major star emerged – Lydia Monyepao, who was leading goalscorer at the SASSU soccer championships in Cape Town. The following year, she was selected for the SASSU provincial team and then the SASSU national side that participated in the CUCSA games. In November 1998, Lydia represented the national soccer team Banyana Banyana in Egypt.
The Wits team, noted as the reigning champions, defended their SASSU champion club title during November/December. They had a strong side, featuring the likes of Lydia Monyeapao, Sarah Sono, Mary Mthethwa, Refilwe Dona and Thandi Merafe.
Stanton Fredericks made 115 appearances for Wits during 19952001. He also played for South Africa at under 20 and later senior level.
Lydia Monyepao represented the national soccer team Banyana Banyana in Egypt in November 1998.
Squash
Individual stars, such as Chantal Clifton-Parks and Martin Morris, spearheaded Wits’s efforts to maintain high standards in the late 1980s. In 1989, Wits was able to call on Roger Koep, an experienced international who had previously been runner-up in the South African national (closed) championships. He won the SAU individual title, but Stellenbosch and Rhodes were respectively the men’s and women’s section winners.
Seventeen Wits squash players travelled to the SAU tournament at Cape Town in July 1990. The men returned with first and third places in the team event; their first victory since 1983. The women were placed eighth overall. Another exceptional Wits player, Craig Wapnick, who would win the South African national championships in 1997, was selected as the number one player for the SAU team. Steven Nathan and Graeme Carrington were named as reserves for the side.
After Wits won the SAU tournament in 1990, they were again allocated two men’s sides in 1991. Natal indicated that they were not keen on this arrangement, but after discussions with the SAU Council, it was agreed that Wits be allowed a ‘multiracial’ team alongside their men’s and women’s entries. The three Wits sides trained under Craig Wapnick and Roger Koep.
Wits struggled at the 1991 tournament at Durban. The women’s team finished seventh, although Beverly Sawyer was good enough to be selected for the six-member SAU team. The men’s section, which comprised ten teams, was won by Durban on 165 points, with Wits A third on 136 points and Wits B a lowly 48 points. Kevin Mann was chosen for the SAU team.
Bruce Falcon, chairman of Wits squash in 1991, noted that the club had signed up 1 056 new and returning members during orientation week. He expressed disappointment that the Transvaal hierarchy should refuse to allow Wits first league status. An appeal was lodged but rejected. It seemed a pity, as the university boasted a squash complex good enough to host
the Dornat Transvaal Open, the South African national championships and the qualifying rounds of the World Open tournament.
In 1992, Jenni Chamberlain took over as squash chairperson. Her committee was kept busy as Wits hosted the SAU tournament that year, a competition in which Cape Town won both men’s and women’s sections. Wits men’s A side finished third out of ten teams, with Kevin Mann re-awarded SAU colours, but the B team was last. The women were sixth out of eight teams.
The squash club reported that 1 221 members (90 competitive) had registered to play the game. Wits entered ten men’s sides into leagues ranging from the reserve to the twenty-third, and three women’s sides to play in the second, seventh and tenth leagues. Kevin Mann, the club’s top student player, was selected to represent Eastern Transvaal at the Jarvis Cup interprovincial tournament.
An active, organised committee under Jenni Chamberlain resulted in the club’s improvement. At the 1993 SAU, both the men’s and women’s teams gained second places. Kelly Hein was chosen from the women’s team for the SAU side while Kevin Mann (for the third year) Bruce Falcon and Robert Lewis earned places in the men’s team.
Squash at tertiary level was unified in February 1993, resulting in a new body called Student Squash South Africa. Its first tournament was at Rhodes in July 1994.
Club membership at Wits surprisingly declined from 1 063 members in 1994 to 839 in 1995. There was also a disappointing performance from the Wits teams at the SASSU tournament at Cape Town in 1995. Wits men and women both finished seventh. The one high point in the season was the club’s second place at that year’s Rustenburg summer tournament.
The 1996 SASSU tournament at Wits proved to be a tremendous success both on and off the court. The ‘Go Big or Go Home’ slogan printed on the official SASSU T-shirts set the scene for an explosive week. There were numerous highlights. Wits’s Bonga Swana was soon engaged in an epic confrontation on Court 1 on the Monday against a Stellenbosch opponent in a match lasting 1 hour and 25 minutes. There was a titanic clash between Wits and Pietermaritzburg varsities. Wits nearly pulled off the upset of the tournament, narrowly going down 9-8 to the overall winners.
Both Wits men’s and women’s teams were drawn to play in 12-team ‘A’ sections. The women finished fourth and men seventh. The leading Wits players, Mandy van Zantwijk and Robbie McFadzean, were selected for the SASSU women’s and men’s teams respectively. Both played superb squash throughout the week, especially in the latter part where their fitness was the key factor.
Robbie McFadzean, who had captained the national under-19 side, was selected to represent South Africa at the world student
Wits 1990 – the men’s ‘A’ team dubbed the ‘dream team’ unsurprisingly finished first and their second team was third at the SAU tournament (left to right – back row): D. Nitch, S. Nathan, G. Carrington, M. Fowlds, T. Wills, M. Mulvaney (middle row): R. Lewis, C. Wapnick, K. Mann, B. Falcon, R. Hatfield (Entcom), J. Pitt (in front): B. Thompson (manager), A. McPhee, D. Craig (captain), J. Harrison (manageress), P. Sturrock, J. Hall, M. Andronikou.
Chantal Clifton Parks went on to represent the national team in three World Cups and become South African champion in 1995.
Bruce Falcon, who represented South African Universities as a player, was chairman of the squash club and one of the ASC representatives who signed the ‘Unity’ agreement in 1992.
squash championships in Maastricht, Holland, in 1996. The team of three men and two women were shocked at the strength of players taking part in the tournament – many were ranked in the top 100 in the world, some in the top 50. Out of the 90 players competing, McFadzean did well to finish twenty-first. After the individual tournament, the South Africans entered the team competition. They lost to Germany and Switzerland to finish third in their pool but ultimately achieved a creditable sixth position overall.
Wits disappointed at the 1997 SASSU tournament at Pietermaritzburg where 23 men’s and 15 women’s teams took part. The men’s ‘A’ section was won by Pietermaritzburg (166 points) with Pretoria (150) second. Wits (71) were eighth out of ten teams, finishing ahead of Rhodes (61) and Free State (57). The Women’s ‘A’ section was won by Cape Town (149) with Wits (31) ninth out of nine and relegated. No Witsies were included in the SASSU teams and manager, Mark Fleming, commented:
Both men and women struggled against highly competitive opposition. The men started the week slowly, losing to old rivals Wits Technikon, RAU and Stellenbosch. These defeats left the men teetering on the unthinkable – relegation. Fortunately, a good fitness base and excellent team spirit pulled them through. Brynn Barcza playing in his first SASSU tournament chalked up the most wins for Wits with his cavalier style showing he has the big match temperament and skill to form the backbone of future Wits sides.
Wits squash in 1997 was at a low point in its history. The league performances at this time offered no grounds for optimism. The men’s first team was in the Gauteng Reserve League and the highest women’s team was in the Gauteng fourth league. The club should have been doing better with its wonderful facilities and being in a position to field ten men’s teams, three women’s teams and two veterans’ in the Gauteng Squash League.
Table Tennis
Table tennis has flourished at various times at Wits and the trend continued during the 1990s.
In July 1991, Wits women won the SAU tournament with J. Rudolph and L. Strydom receiving Protea colours. The Wits men finished third.
Then, after a lapse of one year, the Wits Table Tennis Club reopened in 1993. An ‘interres’ tournament was hosted by the club with a total of 32 matches played on a knockout basis. The David Webster Memorial Tournament was another successful event, with 30 teams taking part. The club hoped to re-enter the table tennis league.
In 1994, the table tennis chairman, André van Zyl, reported a relatively successful year. It was their first year back into competitive table tennis, albeit a modest arrangement in which
At the 1998 SASSU squash tournament hosted by Port Elizabeth Technikon, Wits finished sixth out of ten teams. They were unlucky, as their leading player Bradley Harber arrived late because of examination commitments, and Wits were weakened for their first five matches. Cape Technikon won the tournament whilst traditionally strong squash teams such as Pretoria (seventh), Stellenbosch (eighth) and Durban (tenth) languished at the bottom of the table.
In 1999, the Wits men’s team finished second at the SASSU tournament hosted by RAU. There were two particularly strong players in the side, Bradley Harber (who was selected for the Gauteng senior side to compete at the Jarvis interprovincial tournament) and Gareth Schnehage. They were both selected for the SASSU team. Schnehage lost just one match to the Zambian number one, Patrick Chafunda and was named as number two in the SASSU team. Cape Technikon again emerged on top in the men’s section, with RAU winning the women’s competition. Wits women finished in eighth position out of ten teams.
Gareth Schnehage made a massive contribution to Wits squash in 1999. The club had 22 fixtures in the Gauteng Reserve League, and he did not miss a match, winning 20 out of 22 at number 1. He was second in the South African Under-19 Open and first in the Slazenger South African Junior Championships. Selected to represent South Africa at the All-Africa Under-19 Squash Championships in Botswana, he lost only one match and ended up fifth in the individual competition. The South Africans defeated Zimbabwe 2-1, Kenya 3-0, Botswana B 3-0 before going down to Egypt 3-0. In the individual competition, Egypt took top honours. Schnehage was the only non-Egyptian to defeat an Egyptian when he beat their number five, Mohammed Abdel Kader, 8-5 in the play-offs.
Schnehage, who began playing in senior competitions, finished in the top 20 in five men’s tournaments and won the plate event in the South African Open.
one team was entered into the Transvaal second league. Six players represented the side which performed reasonably well to finish sixth out of 11 teams.
The club went a step further in 1995 and participated in the SASSU tournament hosted by Potchefstroom University. The men performed admirably, finishing sixth out of 21 teams with Pankaj Pema selected for the SASSU training squad. Further success was achieved when the first team beat 11 other sides to win the Transvaal second league. The club’s star player, Xola Samqela, won 34 of his 35 matches. A second team made its debut in the league and there was praise for Senarath Abeywardena, the chairperson of the table tennis club, and Nedert Can. They were said to be largely responsible for the growth and development of the game at Wits.
Robbie McFadzean captained the national under-19 side and was selected to represent South Africa at the world student squash championships in 1996.
Gareth Schnehage was selected to represent South Africa at the All-Africa Under-19 Squash Championships in Botswana.
Dorothoe Noeres and Xola Sanqela formed a powerful mixed-doubles partnership. He recalled: ‘she was a good allrounder with a wicked forehand’.
Xola Sanqela had completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Transkei where he played table tennis and did well in the intervarsity games. He also represented Transkei where the game was ‘very organised and structured … we would practise and train two hours a day seven days a week … it was like an academy’. He arrived at Wits a seasoned campaigner and commented on the table tennis club at the time:
There was a huge gap in quality. Olwetu Kela, who was from the same team in Mthatha, came to Wits to study medicine and we upped the ante if I may say so. Nedret Can – Turkish from Istanbul – was also very passionate about the game. Senarath Abeywardena was one of the exciting players, I think he was from Bangladesh, and very good, excellent stroke play and easy on the eye to watch … his game lacked power but he was a critical member of the team. I was in the ‘A’ team with Alex Cooke whom I played when I was still in Transkei, Nedret Can, Senarath, Olwetu about
Taekwondo
Taekwondo made its mark in 1994, its first year of existence at Wits. Two members of the club participated in the 1995 Australian University Games in Darwin. Scott Crowder won a gold medal and Garreth Elston finished fourth.
Crowder and his brother, Darren, both third dans, were co-instructors of the Wits club from the beginning of 1995. Good progress was made and in 1996, the club entered the Masakhane Community Games in order to build taekwondo. Master Tony Slaney, a sixth dan and the British taekwondo coach,
five players … Nedret drove us around as he was the only one with a vehicle.
Table tennis enjoyed a memorable year in 1996 with home fixtures played on a Thursday night on the second floor of the Wits squash complex. The Wits ‘A’ team finished second in the first league, but they had the best record for the second half of the season. Xola Sanqela was their outstanding player again, unbeaten in a season in which he won all thirty matches that he played. He received good support from Nedret Can and Olwetu Kela.
At the 1996 SASSU national tournament in Durban, the Wits team (Olwetu Kela, Nedert Can, Xola Sanqela and Yanita Singh, a leading player amongst the women) reached the quarterfinal before losing to the Peninsula Technikon.
The Sanqela era was special for the table tennis club. He also appreciated the opportunity to play:
Table tennis was so good for me at Wits … just being around campus was a little unsettling, and the tranquillity and orderliness of Wits and its imposing overwhelming architecture, and the quality of the students, I would worry if I could articulate a question well in class, and so for me just to get into the environment and be comfortable there, I took huge solace in table tennis; and my confidence grew and I walked tall, even into the law library …
Dorothee Noeres who had the third best record in the first league in 1996, finished runner-up in the Gauteng closed competition to the 1996 South African champion. Sanqela remembered her well: ‘the German lady was so good, she could give the men a run for our money … a huge role model for the other women … I always enjoyed partnering Dorothee in the mixed doubles – she was a good allrounder with a wicked forehand from which you had to stay away.’
In 1997, when the SASSU tournament was hosted by Cape Town, Wits men were fifth equal and the women third equal. A.S. Cook received a mixed doubles silver medal.
performed a black belt grading for the Wits students, and the club hosted the Korean national team during its world tour.
By 1997, the Wits Taekwondo Club had been established for three years and was recognised by both the South African Taekwondo Federation and the World Taekwondo Federation. Scott Crowder, by then a fourth dan, coached the club in all aspects of taekwondo, covering practical self-defence for men and women, traditional taekwondo and fitness and competition training.
The table tennis team celebrate their success (left to right): Dorothoe Noeres, Olwetu Kela, Xola Sanqela and Nedret Can.
Tang Soo Do
‘Drop your pangas, your spears and learn to use another traditional weapon,’ was the opening line in a Wits Student article in September 1990 to promote tang soo do , the 7 000-year-old Korean martial art. According to Garth Chandler, the Wits instructor at the time, tang soo do teaches one to use one’s mind and body to enhance oneself: ‘It teaches you to compete with yourself, rather than with others.’ For this reason, the discipline does not concentrate on competition. ‘We don’t like to be referred to as a sport,’ said Chandler, but added that people trained in tang soo do to compete in tournaments.
Tang soo do is a complete martial art renowned for its high, flying and spinning kicks. A student also masters ancient Korean weaponry and unarmed combat, sound philosophy, pressure points, power breaks and healing techniques. Board breaking is used to build confidence and to test technique.
Tang soo do was first introduced to South Africa in the late 1980s by Master Eddie Jacobsen (fifth dan), then second dan in kubojitsu karate and third dan in tang soo do.
The Wits club trained on the Hall 29 balcony three evenings per week. In 1992, chairman, Greg Soloman, reported they had 20 members, including three women. They did not participate in competitions, but part of their external activities was to give demonstrations at schools, fairs, fetes, and at Wits.
Gregory Hart, who began training in tang soo do under one of Master Eddie’s first dans, Garth Chandler, became involved in the Wits dojang in 1993. He had become a member of the national team and trained and competed in London and in the United States under Grandmaster Kim (tenth dan), the head of the style.
Tennis
After narrowly retaining their position in section 2 of the provincial first league in 1988, the Wits women’s team finished first in 1989, winning 27 out of 28 matches. There were clear reasons for the upsurge in the women’s tennis fortunes. Jillian Muller arrived at Wits in 1989 after completing a degree at the University of South Alabama where she had been on a tennis scholarship. She joined Jane Soderlund, a junior Eastern Transvaal provincial player, to fill the number one and two positions, respectively. They were in impressive form and were well supported by Michelle Franklin, Anne Strauss, Jenny Zanker and Lindsey Strauss.
The men’s side that participated in the premier league section 1:2, was weakened by the departure of Daryl Weisz and Galen Perdikis, but maintained their position through consistent play from Greg Godwin, Craig Lupton-Smith, Clifford Goldberg and Kevin Aron.
Wits women finished third in the 1989 intervarsity hosted by Pretoria. Stellenbosch were victors in both the men’s and women’s sections. Free State finished second behind the Maties in
The Wits Tang Soo Do Club (also known as Alchemy Dojang) offered promotional grading and for the first two years did not have a single failure. It also took part in the South African moo duk kwan championships. In 1993, every Alchemy member that participated was placed in the top three.
Some members of the club did well in the second South African moo duk kwan championships which were held at the Olympians’ youth centre in Vanderbijlpark in 1994. Aliel Yilmaz was first in the sparring with Donald de la Cour second. Marshall Murdoch was second in both the sparring and forms (‘kata’ in Japanese) with Michael Sandler third in forms.
Wits was the only club in the area, and it was decided that it should fall under Western Transvaal for interprovincial purposes. By 1995, membership stood at thirty juniors and seniors.
In 1997, a small select group from the club attended the South African championships at Randfontein. Sheldon Damoense achieved gold in forms and bronze in fighting; Margaret Ann Fitzpatrick won gold in forms and fighting, and Meiya Nthoesane gold in fighting and bronze in forms.
By the late 1990s, the Wits Tang Soo Do Club (Alchemy) was considered one of the strongest in the country. It boasted a number of dan members (black belts) who were actively involved in training and teaching. The club instructor, Gregory Hart, was a third dan black belt who had won the South African championships twice and had been runner-up twice. In Britain, he won the overall grand championship in fighting, after placing first in his weight division. In Holland he took silver and at the world championships in the United States he was placed fourth.
both competitions but not without a fight. They were fortunate to beat the Wits women by a narrow margin in one of the semi-final matches. Jillian Muller’s excellent performances saw her selected for the SAU side with teammate, Jane Soderlund chosen as a reserve.
The Wits men had a run of good victories, which included one over Cape Town. Drawn to meet Potchefstroom in the play-offs, they narrowly lost, with every match going to three sets. Greg Godwin and Craig Lupton-Smith were chosen as SAU reserves.
In 1990, the women team was second. The university’s star player Gail Boon had been competing overseas. She missed the second term at Wits in three out of four years while playing club league for Rouchus in Dusseldorf, Germany. It was a successful experience as she was paid well; ranked in the top ten in Germany, and kept up with her studies: ‘In my final year, my Maths lecturer photocopied his notes for me so that I could go back and also complete the term.’ Her tennis achievements were rewarded when she received her full blue cum laude in 1991.
Gregory Hart – a long-serving club instructor who has been the driving force in a sport growing in popularity.
Gail Boon successfully combined her studies at Wits with playing club league for Rouchus in Dusseldorf, Germany.
In the December 1991 SAU, the Wits women’s tennis team were fifth out of ten while the men’s team emerged sixth out of ten.
Chairman Darren Sacks reported a membership of 261 in 1992, with tennis unified and a committee established. Generally, the tennis played was of a high standard. In the Transvaal league, the men’s first team (section 1.2) and second team (section 2.4) held their own but the third team (section 2.10) lost all its games. The ladies first team (section 1.1) finished in the top half of their league. At the December 1992 SAU hosted by Cape Town, Wits were sixth overall and Jane Soderlund was selected for the SAU team.
Wits had 20 courts at that time of which six were floodlit. Every year the club held its annual championship, which all members could enter and play for a position on the club ladder. The number one and two men in 1993 were respectively Ashley Nattrass and Kevin Rascher, and the women were Karen Haswell and Jill Montgomery.
Wits entered five teams into the league, with the lower teams offering players from the development programme the opportunity to compete. Development players also received coaching from a registered professional. As Wits was going through a transition with the advent of unity it was difficult to assess numberings and seedings within the club. Chairperson Karen Haswell said the team was comprised of four players formerly from SATISU and six formerly from the ASC.
Wits Student showed interest in the touring Oxford University side in 1993. Their reporter commented that ‘black tennis players had not previously had the opportunity to play opposition of Oxford’s calibre. Wits did not manage to overcome the Oxonians. They lost 7-5: the singles were tied but the visiting team won the doubles 3-1.’ According to Karen Haswell, the score was not a true reflection and she believed the club should have emerged victorious, especially as the visitors lost 11-0 to Stellenbosch and RAU.
The Oxford manager Jerome Wilson was impressed: ‘Today [at Wits] is the first time we’ve seen any real black representation. Some of the campuses are very conservative – it was a big eye-opener.’
At the SAU tournament that year, the Wits men were seventh out of 12 teams and the women seventh out of 11. Wits’s Karen Haswell was selected as a reserve for the SAU women’s team.
McLean Sibanda was very involved in tennis and served as chairperson of the Wits club in 1995. ‘The integration,’ he commented, ‘was very important as I always held the view that sport in general is a unifier and tennis is a game of love. We printed this on tee-shirts –“6-love 6-love” – and I found my wife at Wits through tennis.’ Sibanda coached beginner and
development players, believing it contributed to their growth – ‘some are now captains of industry’.
The men’s first tennis team was coached by American collegiate and professional tennis player, Clinton Banducci. In 1995, the SASSU tournament was hosted by the University of the Orange Free State with Wits still very much a mid-table side. The men were sixth and the women seventh, but Gavin Smith and Karen Haswell were selected for their respective SASSU teams.
University tennis was very competitive but the Wits players held their own. They had finished as one of the top six universities in four successive SAU tournaments, and were ranked as the top English-speaking tennis-playing university in a table based on intervarsity competitions. The standard of competition was raised further with the inclusion of technikons and colleges in SASSU tournaments. In 1996, Wits men finished sixth out of 28 teams, their women eighth out of 24.
There was always interest in the Wits club championships, the first event of the year. In 1997, Angie Nucci won the women’s section and club chairman, Errol Nattrass came out top from a large men’s entry. The men did well in the Sunday league in 1997, narrowly losing just one tie. There was unfortunately no traditional intervarsity that year. Instead, SASSU began its winter games, which were scheduled to be held every four years. It was designed to be an elite tournament with six players representing each region in men’s and women’s sections. Teams were selected from all the universities and technikons in each region.
Wits had one player in the Gauteng men’s side – Errol Nattrass – with Angie Nucci narrowly missing selection for the women’s team. Gauteng won both the men’s and women’s sections. For Errol Nattrass, his efforts to advance Wits tennis were just the start of a deep love for a game that he saw ‘as one of the great life-time sports that can be enjoyed by all’. He later travelled overseas, where he became a successful player in the New England men’s open circuit and thereafter a prominent figure in promoting tennis.
In the immediate post-Nattrass period, tennis continued to thrive with over 100 members in the club and Eric Thalmann and Brett Pearce were leading lights. In 1998, Wits men finished fourth out of eight teams at the SASSU tournament in Port Elizabeth. The following year, they slipped to seventh (out of eighteen teams) in the tournament at Cape Town but were delighted to achieve second place in the Central Gauteng league.
Women’s tennis was struggling but it was hoped that progress would be made when Rubina Khan took over as the sports officer responsible for tennis. As chairperson of SASSU tennis, she was very involved in the sport.
McLean Sibanda and Nakedi Mochaki preparing for a SATISCOWits league match prior to Unity
Errol Nattrass sees tennis ‘as one of the great life-time sports that can be enjoyed by all’.
Underwater
The underwater club was made up of scuba diving, underwater hockey, and spearfishing. Traditionally the sport had been dominated by men, but women were taking an active interest, particularly in scuba diving. The club membership in March 1990 was 170, with 40 of that number being women. Trips were planned virtually every weekend, with Saldanha Bay, Plettenberg Bay and Cape Vidal popular venues. Members were charged R200 for diving lessons; private companies at that time charged R700 to R900.
The intervarsity was always an important occasion on the calendar. The Wits underwater team put in a good performance in the 1989 SAU at Durban to finish in second place overall. They were behind Stellenbosch and finished ahead of Cape Town, Pretoria and Durban. The men’s underwater hockey and the women’s scuba diving team won their respective events at the championships. Two members of the Wits underwater hockey team (Anthony Koch and Gavin Goldblatt) were chosen for the SAU ‘A’ team and two (Steven Gore and Alan Honeybourne) for the B team. The scuba division saw three Witsies (Ian Riphagen, Else Westergaard and Marianne Corrie) selected for the SAU A side.
The club achieved numerous national and provincial honours. Anthony Koch was awarded Springbok colours for underwater hockey in 1990 and Wolfgang Knupp became a scuba Springbok in 1991. Steve Gore, Nuno Gomes, Suzie Westergaard and Danielle Wald achieved provincial selection in 1991.
Wits hosted the SAU underwater hockey and scuba disciplines in December 1991 but the spearfishing was staged separately at Sodwana Bay. Third place was achieved out of ten universities, with the women’s scuba team winning their event. Nuno Gomes, Verna van Schaik and Steve Gore were awarded SAU colours.
Chairman Christo Geyer provided a detailed account of underwater activities in 1992. He mentioned that the club had undertaken trips during the year to Sodwana, Cape Town, Wondergat, Badplaas, Aliwal North, Basslake, Groot Marico, Danielskuil, Bobbejaansgat and Vaal Dam. He also noted that Wits club members had dominated Transvaal teams during the past three years.
At the 1992 SAU hosted by Cape Town, Wits finished fifth out of nine universities. A number of Witsies were selected for SAU teams: Nuno Gomes (underwater hockey), Danielle Wald (underwater hockey), J. Bradley (underwater hockey, scuba), Tracey Thomas (scuba) and C. Thomas (scuba).
A separate SAU scuba orienteering competition was held in Cape Town. Nine universities participated in an event that was run as an underwater discipline. Orienteers were given flowmeters and sets of coordinates and had to use them and compasses in order to negotiate their way round certain buoys on a particular course. The winner was the one who was the quickest and most accurate when arriving at the end of the
course. ‘It is really a skill of how straight you can swim,’ said Wits’s Tracey Thomas. ‘The divers swim about three metres under the surface and are attached to cords so that they can be hauled out if they get into any difficulty.’ Tracey, who had never done any orienteering before the SAU, won the individual title and helped Wits women win the team competition. The men finished seventh.
The Wits scuba team continued to do well and in 1995 the men reflected progress: with Tony Castanheira prominent, they shone at intervarsity. The club also worked hard and practised regularly in the Emmarentia and Roodeplaat dams with other Transvaal orienteering teams.
Important strengths of the Wits Underwater Club were its large group of instructors and its ability to offer reasonably cheap courses. ‘We offer two-star and instructor courses with dive trips to the relevant training sites,’ said one article. Another commented: ‘Sodwana, Aliwal Shoal, Wondergat, Plet … we’ll go anywhere people want to go’. Tracey Thomas, who became chairperson of the club, spoke of the thrill of her first open water dive – ‘it was every bit as wonderful as I had imagined … we have some of the world’s most beautiful hard and soft coral reefs along our coast and the fish life is fantastically varied and rich’.
Cave diving kept the Wits club in the news. Nuno Gomes set about training for the next level of extreme deep diving. It was very much a team effort and he gradually assembled a team of divers who assisted him on expeditions to caves and sinkholes in southern Africa. In 1994, Gomes extended his personal deepest dives to 230 metres followed by 253 metres.
In April 1994, two leading American divers, Sheck Exley and Jim Bowden, went into the abyss of Mexico’s Zacaton cave system. Exley did not resurface from 276 metres and Bowden nearly ran out of gas and was extremely lucky to survive. Bowden was credited with an overall depth world record of 281.9 metres.
The news of Exley’s death affected all divers. A South African Deon Dreyer went missing in Boesmansgat in 1994 and Theo van Eeden, an experienced police diver, who was intent on finding Dreyer’s body, contacted Gomes to help. Pieter Venter wrote:
Nuno made the decision to dive. It took twelve hours to complete [and required the backup of eight divers, most of them Wits club members]. On this dive Nuno wore seven cylinders (2x18, 2x14, 2x10 and one 4-litre), weighing 135 kilograms – using 54 730 litres of mixtures of air: oxygen, nitrox and trimix. Helmet, fins, computerised gauges and pressure-resistant torches made up the rest of his gear. In doing the dive, he set up a cave record of 283 metres which was recognised by Guinness World Records
The SASSU competition at the University of Natal in 1996 consisted of underwater hockey, scuba orienteering and spearfishing. There were eight participating universities and Wits came third overall with Stellenbosch first and
Anthony Koch, a stalwart member of the club, was selected for the South African underwater hockey team.
Wolfgang Knupp became a scuba Springbok in 1991.
Verna van Schalk was awarded SAU colours at an early stage of an illustrious career in the sport.
Underwater photographer, Theo van Eeden, recorded Nuno Gomes’s record-breaking deep cave dive at Boesmansgat in 1996.
Pretoria second. The final result was the best Wits had achieved for some years. There were good performances in all three disciplines. The Wits men’s scuba orienteering was impressive (second) and might have been even better if the event had not been cut short by rain. Four students were selected for SASSU teams: Ross Wilson (underwater hockey and spearfishing), Michael Franze (underwater hockey), Tony Castanheira (scuba) and Lisa d’Oger de Speville (underwater hockey).
There were fun trips as well, rarely reported in detail. In 1996, the club went on trips to Sodwana, Aliwal Shoal, Mozambique and Cape Town. Nine members of the underwater club –‘Larry (skipper), Gilbert, Gur, Miguel, Chris, Tony and three others’ – made an exciting trip to Mozambique in 1996. It was ‘a rough type of holiday where there were no toilets, proper campsites or running water’. The group launched the boat from Club Naval, spent the day on an island, Chiffique, where they found huge cannons that had rusted on the beach, alongside unused shells. They thought Inhaca beautiful and while attempting ‘to locate a great wreck [also] dived to assess a 300-metre stretch of water known as “Hell’s Gate”’. They discovered an unofficial ‘campsite’ at R10 and made full use of the fish market near Club Marito.
In 1997, Lisa d’Oger de Speville received national colours for scuba orienteering and Ross Wilson was selected for the South African Trans-Tasman underwater hockey team which competed in a tri-nations tournament in Perth, Australia. In addition, underwater hockey provincial ‘A’ colours were awarded to Ross
Volleyball
Anja Schimpke and Susan Heyns were part of the Wits team that won the first intervarsity volleyball tournament.
Gabriela Petras played her last volleyball matches at Wits in 1989. The season began in February when Wits women participated in the inaugural SAU beach volleyball tournament at Port Elizabeth. The team (Loredana Raccanello, Susan
Wilson, Michael Franze, Lisa d’Oger Speville and Gavin le Roux, and provincial ‘B’ to Nuno Gomes, Monique Creamer, Ghita Erling, Lisa Gomes, Stan Kaczor, Kevin Jeffries and Wendy Wilcocks.
Wits was generally well represented in SASSU teams. At the 1997 tournament at Cape Town – where they managed a creditable third place overall – the SASSU scuba orienteering team (Jenny Corser, Peter Hodkinson, Gilbert Gunn, Martin Kleynhans) was virtually made up of Wits students. In 1998, Wits hosted the SASSU competitions. Three members of their team were selected for the SASSU scuba orienteering team (Peter Hodkinson, Ross Wilson and Jenny Corser) and four for underwater hockey (Lisa d’Oger Speville, Michael Franze, Stan Kaczor and Wendy Wilcock).
Graham Lowe was selected to represent the South African under-21 underwater hockey team in a tri-nations tournament in New Zealand in 1998. It was held in two phases – the first in Rotorua and the second in Wellington. There were six tests in Rotorua and a further four in Wellington. The team lost to New Zealand and finished second but their women were unbeaten and helped South Africa finish first overall.
Lisa d’Oger de Speville was selected to represent South Africa in the 1998 world championships. There were other 1998 selections: Nuno Gomes for South Africa ‘Masters’ and Joseph Emmanuel, Gavin le Roux, Ross Wilson, Lisa de Speville and Michael Franze for Gauteng A, In 1999, Gavin le Roux represented South Africa in the southern hemisphere underwater hockey championships.
Heyns, Anja Schimpke and Gabriela Petras) won the elaborate trophy on offer in convincing style.
The 1989 indoor intervarsity was staged at Stellenbosch, with eight universities taking part. Wits regained the champions’ title, overwhelming Cape Town 3-0 in the final. Gabriela Petras (as captain) and Susan Heyns were subsequently chosen for the SAU side.
Wits also represented the province in the South African club championships held in Port Elizabeth. They went down in the semi-final to Cougars after five sets and two-and-a-half hours of playing time.
Several students gained representative honours during the year. Gabriela Petras captained the Witwatersrand province to victory in both the RSA Cup and the South African interprovincial tournament. She was the recipient of a South African all-star award at the latter tournament. Other students to be chosen for provincial teams included Loredana Raccanello and Susan Heyns (Witwatersrand) and Anja Schimpke and Joan Koutoroussis (Transvaal). In addition, Heidi Steffan, Kim Carter and Irene Oberholzer played provincial ‘B’ volleyball.
For the Wits men, it was a year of rebuilding. Of the 1988 side, Springboks Terry Williams and Warren Venter, Witwatersrand player Claus
Hartmann and stalwart Ian Brenner had left the club. Only Dave French played ‘A’ section volleyball during the season; he represented Witwatersrand at the RSA Cup and the interprovincial tournament. Daryn Webb was unavailable for selection but newcomers who showed promise were Simon Hodge (selected for the provincial ‘B’ team) and Mohammed Omar.
Wits men were seventh at their SAU tournament at Stellenbosch in 1989 but improved greatly the following year to finish second. The women, in contrast, slipped to seventh. SAU colours were awarded to Claus Hartmann, Craig McLoughlin and Kim Carter. In addition, provincial honours were achieved by Claus Hartmann, Craig McLoughlin, Kim Carter, Loredana Raccanello and Susan Meiklejohn.
The volleyball club enjoyed an excellent intervarsity in 1991. The women narrowly lost to Stellenbosch to finish second, with Anja Schimpke, Kim Carter and Susan Heyns making the SAU side. The men were also second, just losing to Stellenbosch and had three players –Anton du Preez, Craig McLoughlin and J. Berry – named in their SAU team.
An impressive number of players achieved provincial selection: Craig McLoughlin, Simon Hodge, K. Ackhurst, Anton du Preez, Byron Northmore, Susan Meiklejohn, Anja Schimpke, Jo-Anne Innes, Susan Heyns and Paula Burns. The highlight was the award of Springbok colours to Craig McLoughlin.
The 1992 season saw many changes on both national and tertiary levels with a new national governing body, Volleyball South Africa. At tertiary level, universities, colleges and technikons were unified to form the South African Student Volleyball Union (SASVU). Although the Transvaal league was cut short, Wits men’s and women’s teams produced league results to ensure the university was still ranked amongst the four best teams in the Transvaal. The SAU in Durban was encouraging as the inexperienced Wits women’s team played well to finish fifth out of seven and the men were third out of seven, behind Cape Town and Durban. Craig McLoughlin and Andrzej Masztak were selected for the SAU team.
The club’s 1992 report noted that a number of players who were invited to provincial trials were prevented from doing so because of examinations. Congratulations were nevertheless extended to those who achieved recognition at provincial level: Simon Hodge, Anton du Preez, Craig McLoughlin, Byron Northmore and Paula Burns. The report also thanked Steve Tuffel and Dave French for their services in coaching the women’s and ‘beginner’ teams respectively, and Thierry Revert who came to the rescue of the men’s ‘A’ team and enabled them to make pleasing progress.
Volleyball was a popular activity at the time of unification and had a membership in excess of 90 students in 1993. It was unfortunate that there was no SASSU volleyball tournament in 1993 and attention focused on league matches played on Wednesday evenings on a home-and-away basis. Under the direction of Klaus Kremer, a former East German coach, Wits fielded two men’s and one women’s team in the Transvaal league.
The 1994 season proved particularly exciting. The SASSU tournament was hosted by Wits and their teams rose to the occasion. The men finished second out of nine teams with Medunsa (fifth) and the University of the Western Cape (sixth) entering for the first time. The Wits women were also second out of nine teams with their tournament welcoming the University of the North, Bophuthatswana and Fort Hare.
The University of Zululand then contacted the relevant institutions to invite them to the prestige SASVU champion of champions tournament in August 1994. It involved the two top institutions from each of the three structures – universities, technikons and colleges. Wits men and women were both amongst the top teams from the universities. According to Ralph Palliam, the organiser, the tournament was the first of its kind, ‘a somewhat grand affair with television coverage’.
In addition to the champion of champions competition, the SASSU national universities team played against select teams from the technikons and colleges. Wits were represented by R. Venkinson, Andrzej Masztak, Craig McLoughlin, and Byron Northmore in the men’s team and Neesha Padayachee and Paula Burns in the women’s side.
After the success of 1994, there was evidently a decline in enthusiasm during the following year, largely in the men’s section. Chairman, Joshua Jackson, reported in 1995 ‘there was no league, we had no coaching for much of the year and attendance at practices dwindled to really low levels near the end of the season’. There were nevertheless some highlights. At the SASSU tournament at Durban Westville, the Wits women were third. Jo-Anne Innes and Andrzej Masztak were chosen for SASSU teams and the World Student Games in Japan, with two other Witsies, Neesha Padayachee and Wendy Motha named as non-travelling reserves.
Jo-Anne Innes wrote of Universiade ’95 – the World Student Games in Fukuoka, Japan:
The high standard of competition we were to meet; the diversity of culture, language and talent we would encounter and the warm reception we would be offered by our Japanese hosts, far exceeded our expectations. We were most certainly taught valuable
Claus Hartmann executes a successful block.
Gabriela Petras received a record fifth full blue cum laude.
The 1997 women’s volleyball team that participated in the Australian Student Games (left to right – back row): Conan Oliver (tour manager), unnamed New Zealander; Rakesh Rama (coach), Derrick James (team manager) (front row): Ruth Branscombe, Shantal Desaraj, Malini Moodley, Pravashni Naidoo, Gabriella Palacios, Jeanna Jooste.
lessons in volleyball technique and disciplined in international sporting etiquette that will surely serve as impetus for future teams to travel abroad, proudly representing their country.
The entire women’s team was selected for the SASSU South Gauteng regional squad which participated in the SASSU national tournament in Durban in 1995. Three club members were selected for South Africa Under 21 and Shantal Desaraj made the senior provincial side.
1996 was an ambitious event. The women’s team came second out of 25, with the men seventh out of 26 teams. ‘The Wits ladies did us proud reaching the final,’ said Jackson. ‘They lost narrowly in a four-set match against University of the Western Cape.’
The 1997 season began well. Reports noted: ‘Forty players signed up during orientation week – t-shirts were a great advert and sold out quickly. Games were played to attract interest … a tournament was held, and the response was immense. Volleyball’s a great success after the first couple of months …’
In 1996, chairman Joshua Jackson described the year as ‘one of many crests and low points but with the majority of our experiences as a club being positive and enjoyable’. There was a steady decline in numbers attending practices, but this was partly alleviated by a nucleus of some twenty players who attended consistently. Also on the positive side, ‘we ran a development clinic in Mafikeng which was a great success. ... Our clubhouse, the Bunt, was cleaned out and is now in regular use ... and we had a league to participate in and great coaching from Dorian Botsis’. The women’s team came second in the league and the men’s teams sixth and ninth. The club was well represented in South Gauteng regional students teams and three were selected for the SASSU national team: Ruth Branscombe, Shantal Desaraj and coach, Dorian Botsis.
The SASSU tournament at Port Elizabeth in
Yachting
The Wits Yacht Club made a determined effort to succeed in the Lipton Cup Challenge during the late 1980s. The event takes place on an annual basis and is one of South Africa’s most prestigious regattas. Teams representing the country’s top yacht clubs compete against each other on identical 26-foot yachts (L26) for a magnificent trophy donated by Sir Thomas Lipton in 1921. Wits finished twelfth in 1986, ninth in 1987 and were fourth in 1988. In order to be successful, a sponsorship is necessary and for their 1989 race they were assisted most generously by Derek Rothman, managing director of Duna Engineering, and by Ray-Ban. An experienced crew was selected to take part, comprising Andrew de Vlieg, Bobby Lanham-Love, Martin Lambrecht, Ean van Vuuren and Paul Leenstra.
The season also concluded in an unforgettable way, with the women’s team participating in the Australian Universities Games in Melbourne. The opening ceremony gave an idea of the size and prestige attached to the Games. The people who attended also appreciated overseas representation and the Witsies were given a tremendous welcome. On the volleyball court, they were beaten in their first match, after leading 14-10 in the second set, but won the second game of the opening day comfortably. They then won the morning match on the second day but were well beaten in the afternoon. Unfortunately, they lost their next three matches to finish fifteenth out of 20 teams. It was nevertheless a wonderful experience for Ruth Branscombe, Shantal Desaraj, Malini Moodley, Pravashni Naidoo, Gabriella Palacios, Jeanna Jooste and coach Rakesh Rama.
Robyn John was appointed chairperson of Wits volleyball in May 1998. She and her committee coped well in difficult circumstances as volleyball in the province suffered through poor organisation of the league. Wits reacted by arranging friendlies against other universities.
There was success at the intervarsity, where Wits won the men’s competition and the university was second overall. Shantal Desaraj, a final year physiotherapy student, was selected to represent SASSU at the 1999 CUCSA Games. She was also captain of the South African team that participated in the World Student Games at Palma, Mallorca, where the team gained invaluable experience through competing against Japan, Sweden, Romania, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
The Wits crew – co-skippered by Lambrecht and Lanham-Love – were expected to be a major threat. Unfortunately, they had a bad start and found themselves fighting back from twentyfourth to thirteenth position. This regatta, unlike many others, stipulated that all six races count. Wits were out of the running at the outset but from the second race onwards showed some of their true ability, finishing eighth out of 32 entries.
The 1989 SAU competition hosted by Wits at Boskop Dam was an exciting event. Fickle winds raged from calm to gale force and fully tested competitors. Wits made good use of their experience to finish first in the Lasers competition and second overall – unable to beat a wellorganised Durban crew.
Wits were second again at the 1990 SAU,
The 1989 Lipton Cup team sponsored by Duna Engineering.
hosted by Durban at Midmar. There was always intense competition and in 1991 a strong Wits team had to be satisfied with third place out of a field of ten competitors at Hermanus in 1991. SAU colours on this occasion were awarded to Martin Prest (Laser), Adriaan Wentzel (windsurfer) and Craig Schweitzer and Jeremy Rossaak (Sprog).
Witsies excelled in various events during the early 1990s. At provincial level in 1991/92 Martin Prest was first in the Laser class at the Transvaal and Highveld competitions, and Adriaan Wentzel first in the windsurfer at the Transvaal championships. Craig Schweitzer was involved in five successive Stadt 23 victories in the Transvaal championships. Like a number of club members, he gained invaluable experience by crewing on boats in various classes at national level.
The commodore’s 1992 report referred to ‘a good year for the Wits yacht club although we have only had two weekends away at the Vaal – both enjoyable – at the home of Craig Schweitzer’s parents’. The Wits team was second out of nine yacht clubs in the Transvaal inter-club regatta (Martin Prest, Michael Magner, Darren Steele, Melissa Rossaak, Grant Richardson, Charles Young) amidst numerous other pleasing results. Most notable of these was second place at the Amstel single-handed regatta; first at the Easter regatta (Stadt 23) and second at the 1992 SAU hosted by Wits. The SAU team included Adriaan Wentzel (windsurfing), Jeremy Rossaak and Craig Schweitzer (Sprog), Martin Prest (Laser – reserve) and Byron Green (windsurfer –reserve).
The Wits yacht club’s Sailsure Rayban was involved in controversy in the 1992 Crystic Ocean Challenge held off Durban. Skipper Craig Schweitzer fulfilled all expectations in leading his Stadt 23 team to victory in every race aboard Sailsure Rayban, despite difficult offshore conditions. However, before the start of the first race, Sailsure Rayban, was involved in an incident with another yacht. As the race ended a considerable distance from the harbour, their protest was lodged three minutes late. It was therefore refused by the protest committee and Sailsure Rayban was forced into third place overall. Sometime later, however, the Appeals Board found in their favour and awarded them first place.
The decision enabled Schweitzer to enjoy an impressive run of success in the Crystic Week by achieving four successive victories during 1990 to 1993.
Of major interest to the yacht club during 1992 was the success of two recent graduates – Alec Lanham-Love and Martin Lambrecht – who won the 1992 Fireball World Championships at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. The first South Africans ever to win such a prestigious regatta were quoted in the Sunday Tribune as saying they had decided in 1989 that the political situation in South Africa would soon change and they hoped to be amongst the first sportsmen ready for it. In the next three national regattas ‘they notched up an incredible eight firsts and two seconds’, and were selected to represent South
Africa at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games in the competitive 470 dinghy, the closest equivalent boat to the Fireball.
The same year, a young sailor who would become a Witsie made a name for himself at an international level. Alon Finkelstein won the 1992 European Optimist championships at Svendborg, Denmark. He beat Ramon Oliden from Argentina, that year’s world champion, in the final. Said one report of the competition: ‘… to see the South African flag go up and the anthem played after years in the wilderness was very moving’.
In 1993, Craig Schweitzer, sailing Nashua North, won the KwaZulu-Natal Championships for the third time and the NCS Regatta. The same year, Melissa Rossaak, who had joined Schweitzer in the 1993 Crystic Week success, was the first lady skipper in the NCS regatta and achieved fifth place in the J22 international regatta.
Having been placed second in every Stadt 23 national championship from 1989, Craig Schweitzer was delighted to win the title in 1994. He was awarded a full blue cum laude and Jeremy Rossaak and Melissa Rossaak full blues.
The yacht club stated in 1995 that its aim was to teach people how to sail, enjoy the sun, the wind and the excitement of sailing. It also happened to be active in many dinghy and board regattas around the country, including provincial and national championships. It entered prestigious keelboat regattas such as the Crystic Week and Lipton Cup, with the annual intervarsity at Pietermaritzburg being a highlight. The club was also proactive in attracting new members, making available Lasers, Sprogs, a Fireball and windsurfer. It offered Tuesday social nights at the ‘Duck and Gybe’ behind the Charles Skeen Stadium and weekends at training venues at the Vaal Dam and Florida Yacht Club.
In 1995, Wits won the annual SASSU regatta. It was their sixth win since 1976 and their first in the wider competition after 1994 when students from tertiaries other than universities were invited to take part. Team racing in these competitions was held in Lasers, Sprogs and boards. A SASSU team was selected from participating sailors in the inter-tertiary regatta and continued the tradition of competing against an invitation team.
Having won the SASSU regatta in 1995, Wits hoped to represent South Africa at the Student
1991 Crystic Week winners, Tequila: Craig Schweitzer (skipper), Brian Schweitzer, Andrew Fulton and Tommy Kassleman.
1993 Crystic Week winners, Nashua North: Craig Schweitzer (skipper), Melissa Rossaak, Brian Schweitzer and Andrew Fulton.
Martin Lambrecht (helmsman) and Alec Lanham-Love handle their Fireball in 35-knot winds off Durban in 1992.
Alon Finkelstein won the 1998 Wits ‘Sportsman of the Year’ title.
Other Sports
Bodybuilding, powerlifting and weightlifting
When the new squash complex opposite Hall 29 offered a centre of fitness at Wits. It featured a super circuit, multipurpose gym, aerobics room and twelve squash courts. The strength and fitness club had 1 350 members in 1992. It comprised three sections – bodybuilding (98% of membership), powerlifting (nine members) and weightlifting (twelve members). The two gyms were well utilised – the east campus gym was used predominantly by the hard-core bodybuilding, weightlifting and power lifting. Gerard Correia broke the South African junior bench press record in September 1998 and went on to press 192.5 kilograms in October, which qualified him for full senior colours at national level Duathlon
In 1991, Springbok duathlon colours were awarded to Wits cyclist, Gregory von Holdt, who represented South Africa at the world duathlon championships where he was placed second in the junior section. Seven years later, in 1998, Nic Sacco, Mark Wadley and Marc Luyt received full blues for duathlon. Wadley and Luyt represented the South African under 24 team at the world championships in Spain. Wadley was also chosen for SASSU at the world student competition
Triathlon
At the 1995 Australian University Games in Darwin two triathletes represented Wits. Les Nobbs was fourteenth out of 80 entries, and Caroline Koll, seventh out of 30, in the standard triathlon –1.5-kilometre swim, 40-kilometre cycle and 10-kilometre run. In 1998 Warwick Radford was awarded a full blue on finishing forty-first in the Lausanne ITU triathlon world championships.
Yachting World Cup in Marseilles. Twenty countries would be taking part. The eightmember crew were prepared to do just about anything to pay for their flights – one even committed himself to selling his car – but the funds could not be raised. A promotion article (August 1996) headed ‘Dam Busters’ (written by journalist Kirsten Heras) stated:
There’s nothing quite as much fun as simply messing about with boats,’ said Toad in The Wind in the Willows. It’s a statement that could sum up the philosophy of the Wits yacht club. Undoubtedly, the sport has its appeal: the wind in your hair, the sun in your eyes, the water lapping beneath your feet. Team member, Campbell Habbitts, a computer science student, says that if there’s one word to describe what attracts him to sailing, it’s freedom. Neil Corigall, an industrial engineering student, has a more energetic approach: ‘It’s an adrenaline sport, like racing cars!’ Some might find it surprising that landlocked Wits would fare so well in water sport of this nature, but the university has done exceptionally well in both local and international events since its inception in 1968. What makes a sailing team good? Is it fitness, intelligence or brute strength? Neil likens sailing to a game of chess. ‘In the end it’s the cleverest sailor who wins. It’s tactical, not just you and a machine – it’s a thinking sport.’ To which Melissa Rossaak adds: ‘You have to have a feel for it, get lots of practice and have an instinct.’ And, of course, plenty of teamwork.
The inability to get to Marseilles was a major disappointment and the club did not perform as well as they hoped in competitions during 1996. They finished twentieth in the Lipton Cup Challenge in Table Bay and slipped a little in the SASSU inter-tertiary regatta at Port Elizabeth. At the latter competition, Wits A came fourth overall out of ten teams while Wits B was tenth. Two Wits students – Melissa Rossaak and Alon Finkelstein – were selected for SASSU.
A 1996/97 report stated that the club was participating in the J22 World Championships in
Cape Town, the Telkom international race week (formally Rothmans) and in the GP14 World Championships in Ireland. It added: ‘We have also made our presence felt in the “Round the Island” regatta (the largest inland regatta of its kind) held annually at the Vaal Dam; the Benoni regatta, the laser highvelds, laser nationals and others.’
An August 1997 report referred to the achievements of Judith Harold, first in the Transvaal Junior Open Catamaran Championships; Alon Finkelstein and Craig Soulsby fourth in the Fireball National Championships; Alon Finkelstein and Dale Hudson thirty-ninth in the J22 World Championships; and Anthony Parker and Craig Soulsby second in the GP14 National Championships.
In 1997, Rhodes University hosted the annual intervarsity tournament at Wriggleswade dam, near Stutterheim in the Eastern Cape. Seven tertiary institutions took part, with Wits sending two teams, each with eight members. Wits Sprogs finished second, the Lasers third and the boards fifth. This placed Wits A fourth overall out of ten competing teams. Two Wits members, Michael Magner and Alon Finkelstein were selected for the Protea team to compete against an invitation crew the day after the regatta ended.
Alon Finkelstein, who had been the European optimist champion six years earlier, confirmed his considerable ability in the sport. In 1998, he represented South Africa in the world team racing championships in Miami, achieving a creditable seventh place. The South Africans made a good start defeating ‘AUS 2’ from Perth and then ‘IRE 2’ from Dunleary (Dun Laoghaire), Ireland. They continued their good form and reached the quarter-final. Unfortunately, they then experienced a day when nothing went right. In a play-off, they beat ‘AUS 1’ to finish seventh out of fourteen teams.
Finkelstein also competed for South Africa in the J22 world championships in Italy, and was second in the GP14 national championships at Mossel Bay; eighth in the Fireball national championships at Vaal Dam and second in the NCS regatta in GP14s. He became Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in 1998 and later senior designer for the America’s Cup Stars and Stripes Team USA.
Noel Holman and Tanja Könighofer spent two years preparing for the world championships in the Dart class in Port Elizabeth in 1999. They had numerous successes: in 1998, they won the Northern Transvaal and interprovincial championships, and in 1999, the SYC Commodore’s League, Vaal Open Cat, Transvaal, Natal and interprovincial championships. And, in the NCS Resins Dart Catamaran World Sailing Championships held off Hobie Beach in 1999, they were in twelfth position after the fourth round.
In 1999, the yacht club extended its congratulations to international competitors who did Wits proud: Erica Herrmann, Alon Finkelstein and Barry Hundley, as well as provincial winners Craig Soulsby and Katherine Sadler.
Chapter 7
2000–2013: Attracting sporting and academic excellence
I was a very shy person coming from an all-Indian school in Lenasia to do architectural studies … I chose boxing because I loved the Rocky movies. I watched them and I always wondered why the ladies were the love interest and not the protagonist. I decided to go and look at the club at Old Mutual Sports and I could see all these men boxing and I sat and watched. A security guard could see I was interested and he kept telling me to go for it and to go and join the training.
Sakeena
Suliman, Wits’s first woman boxer and champion
Wits Sports Council
It was business as usual when the sporting year opened at Wits in 2000. Emily Craven, the chairperson of the Wits Sports Council (WSC), welcomed new students and hoped they would join at least one of the university’s more than 40 sporting clubs. She stressed that sport at Wits is not just about making teams and winning medals, but having fun ‘whether you are into chess or rugby, martial arts or underwater hockey’.
Craven’s message reflected the sporting environment at the university. The sports administration and WSC took pride in the number of clubs available to students. In theory, the different sports were treated equally, although club memberships varied and there were contrasting demands on the budget. Some clubs did not expect Wits to provide facilities, while others managed with little input from the sports administration.
Nicholas Mulder, the WSC chairperson in 2001 and 2002, was keen to set targets: ‘an increase in club membership numbers, greater visibility and awareness of sport on campus and, most importantly, the strengthening of sport management’. His successor, Eugene Botha, saw ‘sport as the external determinant of the university strength, and by ensuring that our students have the facilities available to them for training and all the support that sport administration can muster, we’re hoping to take sport at Wits to new and higher levels.’
In the first few years of the new millennium, there was some urgency in improving facilities. The golf driving range opened in August 2001. The WSC raised funds towards the heating of the swimming pool on the East Campus, and the pool on the Education Campus underwent major maintenance and upgrading. Progress was made towards developing the soccer stadium at Sturrock Park, and there were initial discussions on installing an Astroturf hockey pitch. The efforts were praiseworthy although plans to build Wits’s first artificial hockey turf were not complete until 2012.
Paul Hughes, the WSC chairperson in 2004 and 2005, thought the university had a responsibility to develop a holistic approach to education. He
said his committee would build on progress made over the previous years, adding that they ‘aimed to use sport as a tool for integration and socialisation to enhance the strength of Wits University on its road to becoming the premier tertiary institution in Africa’.
Successive WSC chairpersons were positive and progressive, but there is little published evidence that Wits sport was concerned by developments occurring elsewhere. The University of Pretoria launched southern Africa’s first elite high performance centre in 2002. They described it as ‘the training ground for tomorrow’s sporting champions’. A year later, in 2003, the minister of sport and recreation appointed a ministerial task team to investigate high-performance sport in South Africa. A new controlling body – the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) – was established in 2004.
Significantly, it took four years of intense negotiations for the South African Student Sports Union (SASSU) and SASCOC to reach consensus on high-performance sport and the way forward for universities. SASCOC ultimately accepted the unique nature of student sport universally, and that it should continue to exist independently in its current format, although the name SASSU would be changed to University Sport South Africa (USSA).
Central to the promotion of high-performance sport was the Varsity Cup introduced in 2008, with Varsity Sports created as an offshoot in 2012. They provided elite competitions that enabled South African universities to compete against one another in different sporting codes.
Wits joined the movement through the Varsity Shield in 2011. The question of what the other universities were doing became a real issue. Rival institutes had for some years focused on identifying and establishing high-performance codes. They had performed well in these sports and attracted favourable publicity.
John Baxter remained cautious and told Wits Vuvuzela that ‘other universities have a different perspective on sport and what it can achieve for
Eugene Botha, the WSC chairperson in 2003, saw sport as ‘the external determinant of the university’s strength’.
Liz Chase, an invaluable Wits Sport administration member and Olympic gold medallist, who was instrumental in securing Wits’s synthetic hockey turf.
the university. Their emphasis is placed differently and they use the publicity they get differently.’ Wits saw value in all sports and sometimes turned a blind eye to the university’s ruling that clubs should have 25 paid-up members. Some students could not afford the fees, which led to at least one coach paying out of their stipend.
There were 10 000 students registered with clubs and inter-faculty leagues. The WSC chairperson Brendan von Essen informed Wits Vuvuzela that ‘this exceptional campus presence is often lost on the university council and senior management’. The implementation of a high-performance sporting culture would clearly have an impact on the Wits community. For it to succeed, the support of top management was crucial, while close relationships had to be built throughout the university. Promoters of the concept stressed that high-performance sport could strengthen rather than compromise the university’s academic standards. It also offered marketing value in a competitive field, as well as an ability to unite the university.
A change in leadership at Wits Sport created an opportunity for the university authorities to outline their position on sport and to advocate closer cooperation. John Baxter retired as director of sport at the end of 2011 after 32 years’ service, and was succeeded by Size Vardhan on 1 February 2012.
Vardhan’s term of office was relatively short. Marius Henn and Quintin van Rooyen served as acting heads of sport for a short period in 2011 and then, after Vardhan’s departure, Henn acted again until Adrian Carter started in April 2014. Henn ‘pushed hard for Wits Sport to join the Varsity Cup family … it was the right time and direction to go’. He added: ‘Considering the funding that was available for sport in the university a blanket approach was just not practical if they were serious about competing in Varsity Sport.’
In its annual report of 2012, the university stressed the important role that sport played in student development. It noted that discussions had begun on ways to make sport at Wits a more effective recruitment and resource-generating instrument. The intended outcome was to see increased support for those codes with the ability to attract sporting and academic excellence. This was to be achieved without sacrificing Wits Sport’s generic programmes that encourage a healthy and active university experience through participation in sport and maintaining fitness.
In response, the sports administration identified several areas where improvements were necessary. There was a need for greater involvement in the university’s academic mission. The sports administration aimed to develop partnerships with health sciences and in particular, the physiotherapy department where sport could assist with practical curricular experience. Concrete measures and resources to bed down the partnerships were identified in the last quarter of 2012, focusing initially on making physiotherapy and sports injury management services available to top-tier sports.
Those involved in the administration of sport went through an extensive strategic planning review
in July 2013. The staff, coaches and the WSC were involved in the process to ensure inclusivity. It was the unanimous view from everyone attending the sessions that change was needed.
After two days of intensive strategising, a sports structure was recommended. ‘The planning review was crucial and strategic,’ said Marius Henn. ‘It was important for everyone to support the new direction that Wits Sport could present to the university. It was not welcomed in all circles, but was undoubtably the right decision for the university and sport.’
The proposed structure involved three highperformance sports – rugby, hockey and football. They would have core coaching programmes with full-time coaches; full support services (medicine/ science/ conditioning); scholarships with strict assessment of academic performance and assistance; flexible study policies; leadership development and mentorship; and facility access.
The framework was established with a focus on ‘Varsity’ sport. The codes selected were seen as the flagship sports that had marketing value and self-sustainability with reference to the South African sporting landscape. In 2013, Wits Sport invested in a high-performance gym on the Parktown campus to ensure that top athletes would have a top-class facility, while the hockey club was able to take advantage of their recently completed world-class artificial playing surface.
The proposed new structure also included three developmental sports – netball, cricket and basketball. They would have a core coaching programme; contracted coaches; limited support services; scholarships; facility access; and a USSA and league focus. The aim was to create further flagship sports at the university.
The third level comprised the remaining WSC clubs, where there would be ‘a student-led, coaching input, USSA and recreational focus’. Mass participation would be encouraged at this level. It would include staff and student wellness, a stated priority for the university.
The challenges posed by the introduction of high-performance sport could not be underestimated. Wits competed in three Varsity Sport competitions in 2013 with very limited success. They were eighth out of eight in the Varsity Cup rugby. All seven matches were lost and their points difference was minus 237. The football team won one match out of eight and women’s hockey finished eighth out of eight, with a goal difference of minus 25.
There was also a thought-provoking message delivered to those attending the 2013 Sports Awards presentation. Dr Jon Patricios, a sport physician and Wits alumnus implored students to ask critical questions: ‘Given the high risks associated with sport and the short career span, professional sport is not a good career option when placed into context.’
Patricios stressed ‘the focus of universities should be on creating professionals who can play sport instead of producing professional sportsmen … sport is important for the profile of the university, however, it is imperative to produce educated and engaged individuals who have sustainable careers.’
Brendan von Essen commented as WSC chairperson in 2011 that sport’s ‘exceptional campus presence is often lost on the university council and senior management’.
Marius Henn, who acted as Head of Sport during parts of 2011-2014, played a key role in introducing high-performance sport.
Jon Patricios, now Associate Professor in the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences, has been in sports medicine practice for more than twenty years.
Aerobics
Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength-training routines, with the goal of improving elements of fitness. The aerobics classes allowed participants to select their level of participation according to their fitness level.
The aerobics club entered SASSU tournaments at Technikon Northern Gauteng in 2000, the Peninsula Technikon in 2001 and Durban during December 2002.
Aquatics
In 2000, there was much optimism within the Wits aquatics club and in university swimming in South Africa. The sport was growing at intervarsity level. At the 1999 SASSA championships, there were eight institutions, 84 competitors and 449 entries. A year later in 2000, 11 institutions entered, bringing 153 participants and 635 entries.
Wits aquatics had some outstanding performers. Cheryl Ballard Tremeer represented South Africa in the world biathlon championships in 2000. She was placed ninth in the event in Monaco. Brynn Andrew became a record-holder for the men’s 200-metres butterfly at the 2000 All-Africa Games.
Andrew was also chairman of a well-organised club. They participated in all disciplines except for women’s water polo. The diving team had increased over the past season to ten divers including Tandi Gerrard and Protea tumbler Leandra Harrison. The synchronised swimming team led by junior South African representative Kate Black was one of the strongest in the country.
Wits’s women swimmers were third and men fifth at SASSU in 2000, resulting in third place overall behind Stellenbosch and Cape Town. Cheryl Ballard Tremeer broke her own 50-metres freestyle record in a time of 28.62. She was also second in the 50-metres backstroke; second in the women’s 200-metres individual medley and third in the 800-metres freestyle. Others to excel were Justine Hunt (first in the 100 and 200-metres backstroke; third 50-metres backstroke); Joanne Sharpe (first 50-metres butterfly); Candice Morrison (second 100-metres freestyle) and Kathryn Cronje (third in the women’s 200-metres individual medley). Wits took the first three places in the men’s 50-metres butterfly with Andrew Jarvis, Grant Saggers and Ian Stewart finishing in that order. There were further points collected in the relays to produce a pleasing overall performance.
Wits women emerged as the diving champions, with Tandi Gerrard winning the individual title. She had an impressive year. At the South African championships, she was first on the three-metre board, platform and three-metre synchronised diving, and second on the one-metre board. She competed in the World Cup in Australia, and FINA grand prix competitions in Canada, Mexico, England and Australia. She qualified for the Sydney Olympic Games but was not selected
Aerobics became a national sport in 2002 and Wits had success in the championship held at Stellenbosch in August of that year. Didintle Bantobetse competed in the singles event and won a bronze medal. Phephile Simelane and Lethukuthula Buleni took part in the doubles and achieved silver medals, while Matlhogonolo Mogoera and David Matlala won bronze in the same event.
The Wits aerobics team also performed in demos consisting of jazz, funk, step, tae bo and hip hop at the PSL football games held at Wits.
by South Africa’s National Olympic Committee. Gerrard’s diving at Wits was the beginning of an outstanding career that saw her leave South Africa and compete overseas. She became a three-time British diving champion and a bronze medallist for the synchronised springboard at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. She also represented Great Britain at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games – where she and her partner Jane Smith finished fourth in the synchronised springboard – and at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
At Wits, water polo became the most popular of the events associated with aquatics. While the swimming section declined in the course of the decade, the installation of a new bar facility made the Wits aquatics clubhouse one of the best on campus. Tony Garstang remembered it was kitted out with leftovers from the maintenance department: ‘We designed, built and paid for the bar ourselves by making 30 cents per beer we sold for R2.50’.
The fact that the pool was heated in 2001 meant that the club was able to continue training throughout the year under swimming coach Dale Williamson.
Outside the water polo achievements, there were individual and team successes at various times. In 2001, Sasha Flexser represented South Africa swimming at the Maccabi Games, and Kate Black was selected for the senior ‘A’ provincial aquatics team. When Wits hosted SASSU in 2003, the women won the diving in the course of a most successful event. The amphitheatre had stands placed all along the fence and these were filled for the evening galas.
Tyron Venter set a new SASSU record in 2004 for the 1500-metres freestyle event, breaking the old time by 23 seconds. He became South Africa’s leading long-distance swimmer. He won the South African national 25-kilometre open-water swimming championship; swam the third fastest 7.5-kilometre Robben Island crossing in history; and, at an event staged at Wits, swam the furthest solo distance (57 kilometres) in South Africa’s first officially recorded 24-hour swim. He is also the only person to swim around Robben Island twice (20 kilometres) at one go, setting a new record for a single lap of 2 hours 37 minutes.
Tarryn Gabler, a medical student, was an outstanding member of the club during 2005/06, winning her full blue in both years. In 2006, she achieved first (one-metre platform) and
Tyron Venter set a SASSU record in 2004 for the 1500-metres freestyle, and later set more unsual records such as swimming around Robben Island twice at one go.
Brynn Andrew served aquatics as both efficient chairman and a leading swimmer.
second (three-metre platform) places at the Gauteng championships. She followed these achievements with a first in duet, second in 10-metre and fourth in the 3-metre platform at the South African championships. In addition, she was placed second overall at the South African three-metre platform championships.
There was a revival in the university’s swimming at the 2008 USSA tournament held in Pretoria. A report stated that ‘Wits swimmers were impressive with most of them reaching a final or two’. The swimming section was ranked third and the club was fourth overall.
Nicholas Pawley received a full blue award for springboard and platform diving. In 2008, he won the one-metre and three-metre titles at
Athletics
Wits sent seven male athletes but no women to the 2000 SASSU meeting at the University of the North. Raymond Fletcher recalled the event being affected by ‘an aphid outbreak, there were millions of them like a plague out of the Bible; they were crunching underfoot as we ran on the tartan.’ He still managed to lead the way for Wits at a competition that attracted athletes from 37 institutions. He won the high jump, jumping 2.15 metres, and was selected but unavailable for the SASSU team to compete in the Confederation of University and College Sports Association (CUCSA) Games in Mozambique. Nicholas Brink was third in the 100 metres but Wits were far down the field with just 15 points.
‘We had “constructive conversations” with Wits Sport, recalled Fletcher, ‘but the university was not in a position to buy athletes or to put in a tartan track. We could only attract athletes who couldn’t study their field elsewhere such as medicine ... With support, we could have been as competitive as the other top universities.’
The athletics club continued to attract interest in the distance events, participating in the Sabie 32km, Knysna half-marathon and races at Hartebeespoort dam. These were usually a social experience with the degree of competitiveness left up to the individual.
The women’s section did well in the longer distances with Michelle Williams and Kim Laxton representing the provincial senior ‘A’ team in 2001. That year, Williams represented South Africa in the Zambian Southern Region 21-kilometres championships, finishing fifth. She also represented SASSU at the World
the Gauteng Open and then went on to claim the national title for both events at the South African championships. In addition, he won the three-metre synchronised event with partner Brandon Livanos. He was named the ‘most improved diver’ in the competition. His other achievements included competing at the AT&T FINA Diving Grand Prix at Fort Lauderdale in the United States, where he was 29th.
One of South Africa’s leading swimmers, Tannith Prout, strengthened the club in 2009. She won four gold, four silver and two bronze medals at the Gauteng championships and qualified for six finals in the national competition. She also represented South Africa in the World Student Games in Belgrade, Serbia.
Student Games in Spain, and was outstanding at home, finishing second in the SASSU cross country, third in the SASSU half-marathon at Port Elizabeth, and third in the South African half-marathon at East London.
Fletcher triumphed in the high jump and the decathlon at the 2001 South African championships in Durban and was selected for the national under-23 team. He also won the decathlon and high jump (2.15) in the SASSU meeting at Port Elizabeth, while fellow Witsie Sylvestor Moleko took the gold medal in the half-marathon in 1:06:28.
Fletcher accumulated 6 755 points in the decathlon at Port Elizabeth in April 2001 and jumped 6.98 in the long jump at Germiston in March 2002 as part of the ten-event decathlon. He also represented Wits with distinction at cricket and played rugby for the medics team. The inter-faculty rugby ‘became competitive to the point that the doctors would get Netcare to sponsor their side and the engineers persuaded CAT to assist them’.
In 2002, Michelle Williams was second in the Cape Town half-marathon and won the Johannesburg 15-kilometres. She was selected to represent South Africa in the half-marathon but an injury prevented her from competing. She would later turn to the marathon and in 2010 recorded a commendable 2:56.04 in the event at Nelspruit.
Nicholas Brink and Raymond Fletcher were selected for the provincial senior ‘A’ team in 2002. The latter achieved the distinction of a third successive SASSU high jump title at the Kenneth McArthur stadium in Potchefstroom,
Nicholas Pawley as the South African diving champion received a full blue award for both springboard and platform competitions.
Tannith Prout, a leading South African swimmer, was selected for the World Student Games in 2009.
Raymond Fletcher won the high jump and the decathlon at the 2001 South African championships in Durban.
Michelle Williams is pictured competing in the Wally Hayward marathon in 2001. She was selected for SASSU and South Africa that year.
and won the South African under-23 high jump and decathlon at Belville, Cape Town.
There was little doubt that Raymond Fletcher was one of the finest high jumpers in the country. He was second in the event at the South African championships held in Durban in 2004, clearing 2.15. A year later, he crowned a successful athletic career at Wits by winning the SASSU high jump again.
Kim Laxton had a wonderful year in 2005. On a chilly Johannesburg morning, she won the SASSU half-marathon championship in a record time of 1:15:50. It beat the previous best performance by nearly three minutes. Selection followed for the World Student Games at Izmir, Turkey where she was placed twelfth in the half-marathon in 1:20:44. Her outstanding performances resulted in her winning Wits’s Sportswoman of the Year.
After the news-making achievements of Raymond Fletcher, Michelle Williams and Kim Laxton, the athletics club experienced a quiet couple of years, save for Neo Nong being rated the fourth fastest sprinter in the country in 2007.
Wits athletics enjoyed a good all-round year in 2008. Sports scientist Zac van Heerden worked with athletes in designing individual training programmes. The centre for exercise science and sports medicine was a supportive partner, and coaches Lungile Bikwani, Bheki Zungu and Richard Meyer sacrificed long hours to help club members at the Charles Skeen Stadium.
There were pleasing individual achievements and the university was well represented at various events around the country. Janine Webber was second in the long jump at the SASSA meeting in 2008. She was selected for the South African student team that travelled to the Federation of African University Sports (FASU) All-Africa University Games in Uganda where she was fourth in the long jump, but won gold in the 4x100-metre relay race.
Marko Bucarizza was selected for the Gauteng team that took part in the South African cross-country championships in 2008. He and Kgosietsile Lefifi were prominent in representing Wits and USSA and provincial events. Bucarizza ran the 1500 metres in 3:51 to claim silver in the Central Gauteng series.
The club had 87 members in 2011 and sent sixteen athletes to the USSA track and field at Stellenbosch. Bucarizza was the only athlete to reach a final, finishing 12th in the 1500 metres.
David Okharedia, a computer science honours student, was an exciting acquisition. He started running when he was in primary school but the high school that he attended dropped athletics. In 2013, his natural talent was noted at the Central Gauteng competitions where he won the 200 metres at under-23 level and the 100 metres at the senior championship.
He stopped training with Wits, as the club was not geared for the shorter distances. He then joined University of Johannesburg students at Ruimsig stadium in Roodepoort. It was not ideal; he not only skipped lectures to get to Ruimsig on time, but had to pay for the training.
The 2013 USSA track and field championships
at Durban were a disaster. ‘The athletes from other universities stayed in hotels,’ said Okharedia, ‘but because our budget was so low we were put up in a terrible backpacker place. Our coaching staff wouldn’t stay there.’ The athletes felt let down and produced disappointing results. Only Marko Bucarizza – third in the 1500 metres –achieved points for Wits.
On the bright side, a major achievement during the year was that of former Witsie Kim Laxton, who was second in the South African marathon championships in Oudtshoorn in February 2013. Her excellent form continued in the Cape Town Marathon where she recorded a personal best time of 2:43:23 in taking second place again. The fine achievements earned her an invitation from the Comrades Marathon Association to run in the Xiamen Marathon on 2 January 2014. A field of 77 000 lined up for the event, and she recalled the ‘elite’ female runners congregated in the lobby of the Xiamen International Seaside Hotel:
… each runner was allocated a Chinese volunteer, who waited on us like we were royalty … at 7:40 the female athletes were ushered to the start-line. The pistol went and we started our race, my first time running in the international arena … I was energised by the crowd, the yelling of encouragement, the dedication of my fellow competitors and the excitement of the occasion ... I had no idea of my position and only when I crossed the finishing line did a bubbly volunteer place a Number 6 tag around my neck.
Another highly commendable achievement was Raymond Fletcher’s comeback in 2016, when he broke the South African Masters high jump record (2.01) in the 35-39 age-group, an achievement that ranked him first in the world masters’ list for that year. This was without stepping on an athletics track for ten years as he was focusing on his career.
Marko Bucarizza is pictured leading the pack at the USSA championships
Kim Laxton was elected ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ after a memorable 2005 that included selection for the World Student Games in Izmir.
The badminton team during the successful mid-2000s (left to right – back row): Aryln Culwick, Sarah Rice, Richard Mundy Castle (middle row): Willem Landman, Nevenka Bulovik, Sibongile Magquabe, Charlotte Bhembe (in front): Matthew Hannington, Alfred Kunutsor.
Tshepo Ditshego was invited to join Soweto Panthers who were South Africa’s representatives in the William Jones Cup in Taipei, Taiwan.
BELOW: The basketball players were a closely-knit group (left to right – back row): Merlin Knott, Ashraf Lodewyk, Keith Hlongwane Quintin Denyssen (in front): Onkgopotse Ndlovu, Judd Simantov, Tshepo Ditshego, Lambotharan Kanagaratnam, Tshiamo Ngakane, Mfundo Dube.
Badminton
In 2005, badminton returned to Wits after an absence of several years. Forty-five members signed up, although it was ‘a core of approximately fifteen players that kept the club going’. Sarah Rice, a physiotherapy student, was the club’s secretary, and Alfred Kunutsor became chairman. The best players invariably administered the small clubs.
Advantage was taken of the courts in the Old Mutual and three sides participated in the Southern Gauteng league. Two teams were entered into the 2005 SASSU tournament at Cape Town. The ‘A’ side finished first in the ‘B’ section and their second-string third in the ‘C’ section.
Sarah Rice and Alfred Kunutsor were accomplished players. Rice was selected for the 2005 SASSU team and represented her province at the Melville Cup, the highest provincial level, while Kunutsor was selected for Southern Gauteng at the Woodroffe Cup, a second-tier provincial level. They became the first badminton full blues since 1980.
In 2006, the club did well to attain third place in the SASSU ‘A’ section and second in the ‘B’ section. At the conclusion of the tournament at Pretoria, Sarah Rice was selected for the national students’ team to compete at the FASU Games in Tshwane. The team was first, while Rice received gold for ladies’ doubles and two bronze medals. She was also selected for the FISU Games – world
Basketball
The Wits basketballers ended the millennium firmly entrenched as the ‘Club of the Year’. They won the Emily Smidman trophy in 1999, and then for a second time in 2000.
Wits entered four teams in the 2000 Central Gauteng Metro league: men’s premier, men’s second team, senior ladies, junior ladies. The men finished third in the Super 7 challenge; second in the Central Gauteng Metro league, and third in the Campus Basketball League (CBL). They were also second in the SASSU tournament, with the women third.
At that stage, the men were particularly strong. Maieane Nkhahle (as captain), Tshepo Ditshego, Mfundo Dube and Quintin Dennysen were selected to represent SASSU Gauteng at the Winter Games in Durban. Ditshego, Dube
university championships – in China. Kunutsor was unable to accept his FISU selection because he was not a South African citizen.
In a memorable year, there was also representative selection for Matthew Hannington, Claire Booyjszen, Louise De Villiers, Sibongile Magquabe, Arlyn Culwick, Geraldine Fenn and Luel Culwick.
Badminton was described as an ever-growing club – they had 58 members in 2006 – but did not do as well in 2007. Membership dropped to 31, with Wits finishing sixth in the ‘A’ section of the SASSU tournament and fifth in the ‘B’ section. Nevenka Bulovik, Charlotte Bhembe, Richard Mundy-Castle, Arlyn Culwick, Alfred Kunutsor, Sarah Rice and Matthew Hannington were recognised for their achievements.
Rice was named as non-travelling reserve for the SASSU team to Bangkok, and selected to play for SASSU in the Melville Cup.
Reports suggest that Wits badminton held their own over the next few years. In 2010, they hosted the USSA tournament when ten institutions took part, involving more than 90 players. Pretoria dominated, taking gold, with Wits fourth.
The first indication that badminton was struggling occurred in 2011. It had become ‘a practically non-existent club’ but would, however, experience another revival and achieve success.
and Dennysen played for the SASSU team that won the CUCSA gold medal in Mozambique. Ditshego was also invited to play for the Soweto Panthers team that represented South Africa in the William Jones Cup in Taipei, Taiwan.
Wits attracted some good players during 2001 to 2003. Lambo Kanagaratnam coached the side from 1999 to 2003, a task he enjoyed:
We got very close as a team and I felt they were younger brothers to me. I always wanted to look after them and make sure we all got through our exams in order to pursue good professions. Many of the team members are successful at what they are doing now.
The club’s representative honours were numerous. At the highest level, Denyssen and Lesego Molebatsi were selected for the South African senior team; Molebatsi and Onkgopotse Ndlovu were chosen for the South African squad at under-20 level.
Denyssen, Molebatsi and Ndlovu represented SASSU at the World Student Games – the 21st Universiade – in Beijing during August and September. Kanagaratnam Lambotharan was the women’s basketball coach. It was a glorious event, with no expense spared to make sure of its success. The local organisers proved splendid hosts, welcoming a then record 6 757 participants from 165 countries.
The Witsies did well. Lesego Molebatsi and Quintin Denyssen were two of the top performers in the most successful SASSU basketball team
to attend the event. They won three games; Molebatsi was South Africa’s ‘player of the tournament’ and Denyssen was the highest points scorer.
In 2002, the men’s first team won the Metro Basketball Premier League title. Quintin Denyssen, Onkgopotse Ndlovu, Tsepho Ditshego, Wisane Chauke and Lebo Maepa were part of the Gauteng ‘A’ team that won silver at the SASSU winter games in Pretoria. Games were televised and positive publicity received. There was also praise for hosting the annual regional high schools’ tournament that attracted 30 girls’ and boys’ high schools.
Quintin Denyssen enjoyed another outstanding year in 2003 and was named Wits’ Sportsman of the Year for the second time. He was chosen for South Africa to play in the 2003 All-Africa Games in Egypt, and for SASSU at the World Student Games in Daegu, Korea where he was rated the best scorer and rebounder in the team. He recalled:
Although my mum is an alumna of Wits – she studied music – it was because the Wits basketball programme was the best in Gauteng that I decided to go there. It enabled me to travel the world – the world championships are indescribable – 10 000 people in an athletes’ village and everyone for their country … it’s amazing, a once in a lifetime experience that I got to experience multiple times.
Tshepo Ditshego, who served as chairperson, recalled their efforts to promote the club:
We would advertise on campus and we had cheerleaders and a clothing label to sponsor our kit and we opened a tuck-shop at Men’s Res which I ran and the proceeds went to the Wits Basketball Club; we got televised on SABC and exposure for Wits and we held a big tournament on campus sponsored by YFM which had just been launched in Gauteng –we had music and artists performing.
By 2004, the Wits Basketball Club had built itself up to being one of the most respected clubs at Wits. It achieved both on and off the court with the acquisition of talented new players and dedicated coaches, as well as excellent facilities – three indoor and three outdoor courts strategically positioned close to the university residences. The club received a handsome sponsorship from Standard Bank, which was used to sponsor the internal league, host the annual inter-schools tournament, set up basketball’s website and establish the Standard Bank Academy. Basketball became ‘Club of the Year’ again in 2004, and chairperson Ntsiki Mzibomvu received the 2004 student sports administrator award.
Surprisingly, the club struggled after 2004. There were some hard times for the sport, with national and provincial structures struggling to service the game. Interest in basketball diminished slightly as well, but this was not the first time that the game had faced a challenge. Wits had individuals willing to assist the club through a difficult period. Lydia ‘Skillz’
Monyepao graduated with a BCom in 2001 and joined the sports administration. She believed ‘students attract students and those of us who enjoyed playing basketball at Wits would encourage other women students to come and join us.’
Also prominent was Manyani Maseko, a first team player who has contributed her all to Wits women’s basketball. She studied law and became involved as a player and coach: ‘I’m a Jo’burg girl. I joined Wits in 2004 and played until 2008 … back then we had one team and it was the diehards who played at school and continued at varsity’.
Tshiamo Ngakane, a former player from the men’s section coached the ladies side from 2005 to 2009. His results reflected improvement over the years:
USSA national championship – 2007 (6th), 2008 (5th), 2009 (4th)
Willie Matlakala succeeded him, and Maseko helped by coaching the second team. The latter spoke enthusiastically about her involvement:
I am a lawyer by day and coach by night. Going to the basketball club is the highlight of my week. I know I am going to my ‘kids’ and that every one of them will show up for practice. Willie and I are both fully involved, we are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, advisors, counsellors, so over and above the coaching and drill we have to be engaged with the human and how they are and whether they ate that day. We’re a family and we need to trust each other.
The men showed glimpses of form in 2007. The club fielded two men’s and one women’s team in the Metro league. The men’s first team finished third in the premier division and the seconds won the first division. They were also third at the SASSU tournament after which Thami Kukulela was selected to travel to the World Student Games in Bangkok.
In 2008, the new chairperson Peter Makhubela focused on ‘getting our ladies’ teams into the thick of things’. Lenny Mogoba was selected for the national women’s under-19 side in 2008. A talented all-rounder from Victoria township, she had been president of her high school’s student council and prominent on the basketball court. The surroundings, she said, are very different from trendy Braamfontein, and she missed playing basketball there: ‘They play without expecting anything — just to give their all and enjoy the game. Playing at Wits, people kind of expect basketball to give them something in return. At home we had to buy our own balls, we had to make it happen ourselves.’
Despite problems at provincial and national championships, the 2008 season was reasonably successful, with the men’s first team reaching the league semi-final stage. They weren’t able to negotiate their way past old rivals Vaal University of Technology and were eventually
Maseko Manyani has given enormous support to Wits basketball since joining as a player in 2004 and later serving as a coach. She is one of a close-knit group of basketball alumni who turn out in their numbers for the Ashraf Lodewyk Memorial and Wits Lady Bucks tournaments.
Quintin Denyssen recalled his mother had studied music at Wits but he went there because of the basketball programme: the game enabled him to travel the world.
placed third. The men’s second side was eleventh and the women fifth.
Thami Kukulela had a memorable year in 2009. He and Wayne Mhlongo, attended the World Student Games in Belgrade, Serbia. Arguably South Africa’s key player, Kukulela led the scorers with 21 points in their 23rd/25th classification match. They were defeated narrowly 83-82 against United Arab Emirates.
The Wits club was delighted to welcome Pumla Sathula, a South African international and later captain. She had played for Hamilton College in Clinton, New York in 2004-08, during which time she scored 1081 points, the seventh-best in the college history. The web-site D3hoops.com named Sathula in an All-American team for their NCAA division. Not unexpectedly, she made an impact at Wits as she was selected as a USSA All-Star at the 2009 tournament and helped guide the university to the Gauteng league play-offs..
Xoli Mahlangu, a metallurgical engineering student was prominent from 2009. She captained Wits ‘Lady Bucks’ from 2010 to 2013, and recalled: ‘I had an amazing time at Wits and basketball played a big part in this. I was encouraged to play by a medical student, Lenny Mogoba. In my first year she saw me shooting hoops and invited me to come to practise at Hall 29.’
In 2010, there was no league so Wits’ men and women played friendlies against local teams such as Braamfontein Blues, UJ, Alumni, Soweto Raptors. Four players were selected for USSA’s national team to play at the CUCSA Games at the University of Botswana: Lebesa Selepe, Wayne Mhlongo and Mlungisi Shongwe participated, but Lenny Mogoba withdrew because of injury.
USSA Gauteng began a league in the second part of the season. Wits men finished second, going down by six points in the final, and the women’s team reached the semi-final. Filip Golubovic, Rorisang Mabotja and Lebesa Selepe were included in the South African under-20 team that competed in Mozambique in December.
Wayne Mhlongo was selected to play in the 2011 AfroBasket qualifiers, and he and Lebesa Selepe represented South Africa at the AllAfrica Games.
The women’s team was progressing. Xoli Mahlangu believed her team’s commitment and their understanding of the intense focus and discipline required of each player helped them develop into a winning team:
Apart from playing together we socialised together. When you know each other very well, you learn how to read each other and how to play to each other’s strengths. Most importantly, you also learn to deal with any frustrations or fallouts, discuss them and get over them. As captain, if any of my team members were having a disagreement, I would assign them to wash the kit together so that they were forced to face the issue.
The University of Johannesburg was the top team during Mahlangu’s time and in her final year in 2013, Wits beat them at the USSA but were subsequently knocked out in the semi-finals. The Wits men’s basketball team had its cham-
pion in Rodney Genga who did his undergraduate degree in Kenya at the University of Nairobi. He captained the basketball team and in his last year they won the national championship. He was studying mechanical engineering and given a full academic scholarship to do his master’s at Wits. He recalled:
Professor Lesley Cornish was my supervisor and an incredible inspiration to myself and after graduating I had a conversation with her about how I got to South Africa and how it has been an incredible ride. She said it was because of basketball that she knew I would acclimatise well – she said people who play sport have a far higher chance of acclimatising. She did my interview in Kenya and when I came for the interview I was sweating, I had been running as I had to drop off the basketball kit as I was the captain and that was it for her.
Genga attended the Wits trials in 2010. It didn’t take 15 minutes before he was playing as the main team centre or power forward. He recalled:
The time was a challenge. We were very competitive back in Kenya and I was used to lifting the national trophy and I came with the same hunger and drive. Wits was a cyclic team but the top era had passed and the new era was in a bit of a trough. I took every practice really seriously, winning starts with every drill. We pushed ourselves in practice; every practice had to be harder than the game. Our biggest opposition was Vaal: they were feisty and quite aggressive and we became the two national rivals from 2011. In 2010 we started picking up but in 2011 we started to make a lot of noise.
The 2011 basketball season began with victories over the Seychelles and Mauritius touring teams. Wits was well prepared for the USSA tournament. Thirteen teams took part in the tournament at Pretoria where they were beaten by Vaal University of Technology (VUT) in the final. The Wits women were defeated in the quarter-final and finished sixth.
Six Witsies were selected for the USSA national teams: Rorisang Mabotja, Wayne Mhlongo, Lebesa Selepe and Ryan Maroun for the men’s team, and Lenny Mogoba and Modiegi Mokoka for the women’s side.
‘We had a lot of talent,’ said Genga, ‘but came short in the finals. VUT had a gear they could hit that we just couldn’t match but our programme really started to pick up. We also focused seriously on the academics so that our promising talent could do well and we would not lose players because of academic challenges.’
Genga set a fine example in basketball’s election as ‘Club of the Year’. Even after injury and with his leg in a cast, he never missed a game. He was captain in 2011 until he completed his doctorate three years later.
In 2012, Wits slipped to fourth place in the SASSU tournament and the women improved to fifth position. Genga won an all-star award and Modiegi Makoka was subsequently selected to represent South Africa.
Genga and coach Tshiamo Ngakane, who re-
Wayne Mhlongo receives an award from Roger de Sá after he had participated in the World Student Games in Belgrade in 2009. He would later represent South Africa at the All-Africa Games in 2011
Lebesa Selepe represented South Africa at the All-Africa Games in 2011.
Rodney Genga was team captain from 2011 to 2014, while studying for a doctorate in metallurgy and material science engineering.
turned to Wits in 2013, aimed to build a basketball legacy and winning culture, to bring strategic planning into basketball through ‘attracting students who will embody our culture. We would watch them at school tournaments, talk to them and see how they played and assess their grit and attitude. When they arrived at Wits, we put in support structures to make sure they developed into top players and strong academics.’
Boxing
In February 2007, Gwendolyn O’Neil of Guyana challenged Laila Ali, the daughter of legendary professional boxer Muhammad Ali, for a WBC super-middleweight world title fight at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg. Nelson Mandela was amongst the 2 800 spectators at the ringside when Ali outclassed O’Neil in the first round to win with a knockout. South African boxing promoter Rodney Berman ‘wanted to fulfil Ali’s wish for his daughter to fight on the continent’ but said ‘I won’t do it again … I can’t watch women taking punishment … For me it’s not a sport for women.’
The Wits Boxing Club had different ideas. It saw a steady increase of female members over the years. Sakeena Suliman arrived in 1999 as a shy young woman from Lenasia to do architectural studies. The following year, she was the first female at the club and the only female for that year. She recalled:
It was a bit odd being the only lady and on top of it Indian and Moslem. I had a natural affinity for the sport and I progressed well, I sparred with the guys. They were a really nice bunch of guys and the rule for everyone was ‘pull your punches’, stressing skill and movement. Other clubs had other ethics, stressing brute force and so I got bruises.
At the end of 2000, the coach Mbulelo ‘Popla’ Mxokiswa graduated and left Wits. ‘Facing closure’, said Tando Melapi, ‘I decided to give up boxing and started coaching.’
It would take time. In 2013, the basketball men again reached the final of the USSA tournament, but they were unable to prevent VUT from taking the title for the fourth successive year. The same season, Fortunate Bosega was crowned Wits Sportswoman of the Year, having been selected for USSA, the South African under-20 team that competed in Zambia and the Limpopo senior provincial team.
Wits’ million dollar
babes hold no punches
The enthusiastic basketball players who won ‘Club of the Year’ in 2011 could not wait for guest of honour, Bruce Fordyce, to hand over the trophy (left to right): Lydia Monyepao, Lwazi Ndlela, Lebesa Selepe, Thato Meka, Wayne Mhlongo and Rorisang Mabotja.
Fortunate Bosega won her first ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ trophy in 2013.
Sakeena Suliman recalled boxing at Wits being popular with male and female students.
Sakeena Suliman described Melapi as ‘a go getter, he didn’t pull punches even with his words. He never looked at me like “you can’t do this” or “what are you doing here” and that helped me a lot to address my self-esteem and my fear of people as everything was so different at Wits.’
She added: ‘There were only a handful of boxers, male and female then. We made posters for the tournaments and we would use female boxers as the background image on the posters but at the club we didn’t emphasise “female” or “male” boxing, our t-shirts said “We train boxers”.’
Thobile Shiba-Dlamini was in the Wits boxing team from 2000 to 2003, and over the next ten years, the women were most successful in producing some notable fighters.
The club was affiliated to the Johannesburg Amateur Boxing Organisation (JABO). Once a boxer had mastered the basics of boxing, they were graded and allowed to box.
Nicknamed ‘The Stable’, the Wits club held a tournament at the Old Mutual Sports Hall in early 2001. Six clubs from Johannesburg attended. Guy McLoughlin won his first fight by a knockout. Another tournament was staged in August and a strong team was gradually assembled, good enough to win that year’s USSA tournament.
McLoughlin was selected to represented SASSU in the CUCSA Games in Swaziland in 2002 but injury prevented him from taking part.
In 2003, the club embarked on a massive campaign to recruit women to the club. It paid dividends, with a number of female students signing up and making a mark in boxing circles. Sakeena Suliman was the club chairperson, and at the end of the year was voted ‘the best senior woman boxer for Gauteng’ when she won her weight division at the province’s amateur championships.
She remembered being stopped by a man ‘who said “you’re the boxing chick, you are so good you could go pro” which was so nice for me’.
Wits won the SASSU tournament in 2003. It was held at Technikon Northern Gauteng in July. Guy McLaughlin won gold in the 67kg division and was selected to represent SASSU at the South African National Boxing Organisation
(SANABO) Games. Bakang Moeng won the women’s 67kg and Sakeena Suliman the 54kg division.
After Suliman graduated, she coached at Wits in 2004 and part of 2005: ‘It was so surprising how many ladies joined. By the end of 2005 it looked like there were more female boxers than men … We would train in a circle and as the coach I told them that the word “can’t” doesn’t exist, you just have to push.’
Wits hosted the SASSU tournament in 2005. It was run by Kit Markotter and Wits proved to be a dominant force. Mbongisi Dyantyi coached the side, allowing Tando Melapi to return to the ring. He and Luke Sinwell won gold medals, Bakhangele Masabalala and Winston Nxumalo received silver, and Vusi Memela bronze. Masabalala, Melapi and Nxumalo were selected to represent the SASSU team at the SANABO championships in June 2006.
In 2006, the club established a ‘space’ boxing programme for those who did not want to be competitive but wanted to do the training and become fit. There was such interest that classes attracted about 30 students.
A Wits team of four was placed third overall at the 2006 SASSU championships at the University of Zululand. Tshepo ‘Lion King’ Lesiba, a bantamweight, fought in the bout voted the best of the tournament. He was selected for the SASSU team that participated in the SANABO Championships in 2007.
Wits hosted a successful SASSU tournament in December 2007. They also did well to finish second out of the thirteen institutions that took part.
In 2008, Lesiba – the USSA champion in the 51kg division – was chosen to represent South Africa at the World Student Games in Russia where he reached the quarter-finals.
Sipho Malambi was the star in 2009, winning gold at the USSA tournament and being selected for the 2010 World University Boxing Championships in Mongolia. He was subsequently elected Wits’s Sportsman of the Year.
During the 2010 USSA tournament, Wits won four medals – two gold and two silver – and took second place overall. The medallists were Sipho Mhlambi (silver), Njabulo Mahlalela (gold), Scott Yarham (gold) and Winston Nxumalo (silver).
Wits did not have a coach for most of 2011 but chairperson Bakholise Mabuyane said that they ‘worked together as a team and fought hard and smart’. It paid off, as Wits won the USSA tournament at the Old Mutual Sports Hall in December 2011. Sakeena Suliman, who had returned to the university to do a one-year journalism course, wrote in Wits Vuvuzela: ‘Wits University’s boxers left their opponents punch drunk after serving them with a flurry of punches and fancy footwork’. It was a fair assessment of a team that won seven gold medals.
The ‘best male boxer’of the 2011 championship, Khayelihle Maseko, ‘proved the old one-two goes a long away after a crowd-stirring win in the light welterweight division’. Lightweight and
The boxing club was known as ‘The Stable’.
Sipho Mhlambi was selected for the 2010 World University Boxing Championships in Mongolia, and subsequently named Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’.
Winston Nxumalo and Scott Yarham display their medals after the 2010 USSA championships.
USSA’s ‘best female boxer’, Hedda Wolmarans, did not get to show much of her skills after her opponent threw in the towel during the second round. The other medallists were the twice light heavyweight champion Njabulo Mahlaela, threetimes super heavyweight winner Scott Yarham, and middleweight champion for the second time Sipho Mhlambi. The light bantamweight championship medal went to Monwabisi Botha, with Nosipho Mtshali taking the women’s bantamweight medal.
Former Wits USSA medal-winner Winston Nxumalo received the award for being the tournament’s best coach.
Dr Tando Melapi returned as head coach at the ‘Stable’ in February 2012. He recalled: ‘We had more than 70 boxers on our first day, with an average of 50 boxers attending our training sessions.’ The USSA games, he added, ‘represent a pinnacle of our effort and training all year round. The programme that we embark on is simply preparation for these championships.’
Wits had a strong squad for the USSA championship at Richard’s Bay. It included Hedda Wolmarans, the woman that Melapi described as ‘our most-celebrated, most happening boxer …’ Wolmarans had fallen in love with boxing in 2011 while studying mechanical engineering at Wits. Her successes quickly mounted, starting with her first amateur fight, which she won ‘in eight seconds or something like that’. She became the South African National Boxing Organisation’s champion in the 60kg division and the university’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’.
Club member Nodumiso Gwala described Wolmarans as ‘an icon … other girls were inspired by seeing her train’. Hedda ‘the Shredder’ would go on to win two South African championships as an amateur, and twice take gold in the USSA championships. It also became impossible for her to hide her boxing secret from her parents any longer.
Wits were USSA champions again in 2012, taking home trophies for winning both the male and female sections of the tournament. ‘Only two of the team members were defending champions,’ said Melapi, ‘and five out of ten males and two out of three females were USSA virgins … Anathi Bukani, Njabulo Mahlalela and Hedda Wolmarans won gold, and there were a few silvers.’
According to journalist David Isaacson, Wolmarans became ‘consumed by pugilism’ and later turned professional. She switched to a degree in sport management at the University of Johannesburg so that she would know what to do with her conditioning. After doing her honours in sports science, she worked as a strength and conditioning coach, with boxers and female rugby players among her clientele.
In March 2013 an article ‘Female boxers take over Wits Boxing Club’ was written by Pheladi Sethusa and published in Wits Vuvuzela. The majority of female students said that they were boxing to improve their fitness levels and lose weight. They did not mind training with members of the opposite sex; they joined the club ‘to achieve their own goals and were not there to look pretty for the boys’.
Prior to the 2013 USSA tournament, Melapi said: ‘We’ve had a champ every year since the games started.’ He put the success down to the system that Wits had in place to groom amateur boxers rather than rushing them into the professional arena. Sipho Mhlambi, PhD in Microbiology and three-time USSA champion, was testimony to the success of the programme. He took up boxing in 2007 to get fit and for selfdefence, but fighting in the ring soon became an addiction. ‘Once you get past the fear of fighting,’ he said, ‘you do it for the thrill.’.
Njabulo Mahlalela won gold at the USSA tournament in 2013 and was selected for the World Student Games in Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city to hold a summer Universiade. The three-time USSA champion fell out after the second round along with the other South African boxers. ‘It’s a different ball game,’ he commented. ‘It’s almost like you are boxing in the Olympics. We have a lot to learn.’
The period 2000 to 2013 had been immensely exciting for boxing, not least for the progress by the women members. In a 2013 article, ‘Women Should Not Be Boxing?’, Forbes Woman Africa commented:
Still they come, female and proud with gloves on. It is a Friday morning in the gym at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, three young women are punching bags like they hate them. One of them is Cebile Mlotsa, an engineering graduate who weighs less than 50 kilograms and has a quick jab. ‘I don’t really pay attention to money, but I just want to turn professional and follow my passion.’
In 2013, Mlotsa joined the Wits boxing gym because she saw people running around campus looking fit and followed them: ‘There are no girls or boys in our gym, we run with the boys, we are sparring with the boys, everyone is a boxer.’
Hedda Wolmarans, ‘our mostcelebrated, most happening boxer …’ became a South African National Boxing Organisation champion and Wits’s 2012 ‘Sportswoman of the Year’.
Anathi Bukani, a USSA gold medallist, in action against his NorthWest University opponent.
Alan van Coller, who was Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’ on three occasions competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, finishing eighth in the 500-metres K1 ‘A’ final.
Canoeing
The canoeing highlight of 2000 was Alan van Coller’s selection for the South African team to compete in the Sydney Olympic Games. The Wits postgraduate ecology student finished eighth in the 500-metres K1 ‘A’ final. He was also placed 13th overall after the semi-finals of the 1000-metres K1 event. In addition, he was the first South African to win medals in a World Cup event when he was placed third in the 1000 and 500-metres K1 in Curitiba, Brazil. It gave him a fifth overall world ranking in 2000. These were tremendous achievements in a year in which he was re-elected Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’.
Former Witsie Ruth Nortjé competed for South Africa at Sydney. She earned her best finish of seventh in the K1 500-metres event at her second Olympic Games. Three years later, she became an American sprint canoeist who would win three medals for the United States at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo.
The Wits club was successful in various areas during 2000. Three members were senior national representatives: Alan van Coller, Piers Cruickshanks and Hayden Hartley. The latter two also represented the provincial ‘A’ team.
There were other outstanding individual achievements during the year. Mark Perrow won the Dusi Canoe Marathon with Piers Cruickshanks fourth; Graham Bird was third in the World Cup canoe marathon in England; the national K1 and K2 marathon champion, and won Canoeing South Africa’s Grand Prix award with Perrow runner-up. Piers Cruickshanks also formed a successful partnership with Bird in winning the Fish River Canoe Marathon (K2) and the South African K2 10 000 metres.
The Wits Canoe Club was a key participant in the development of canoe polo. Games were played in the Wits swimming pool. Three Witsies – Michèle Verdonck, Cliff Andrews and Peter
Piers Cruickshanks’ enthusiasm for canoeing led to the book Confluence, a non-fiction story of a Duzi canoe marathon partnership of himself, a seasoned canoeist who had won multiple gold medals in the Duzi, and Siseko Ntondini, ‘a paddler who had come up through the ranks of the Soweto Canoe Club and whose dream was to win a gold medal in the Duzi’. It was also the story behind the successful film ‘Beyond the River’ that was made by Craig Freimond, a Wits drama graduate.
Geach – represented South Africa in the world championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Wits canoeists were prominent at the highest level over the next three years. Graham Bird, Allan van Coller, Piers Cruickshanks, Brendon Stead, Alice Rawlinson, Michèle Verdonck, Cliff Andrews and Peter Geach were senior provincial ‘A’ and senior national representatives.
In 2002, Bird was the South African 10 000-metres K1 and K2 champion for the second successive year. Van Coller was Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’ for the third time, and victor ludorum at the South African sprint championships in 2002. That year, he was fourth in the 500-metres K1 at the World Cup in Belgium. Another fine performance, said Wits Sport, saw him break the South African 500-metres K1 record that he had set in Milan:
South Africa’s sprint champion Alan van Coller smashed his own South African 500-metres K1 record in the semi-finals of the 2002 world championships in Seville, Spain. He was third in his race, four hundredths of a second behind secondplaced Australian Nathan Baggaley. It cost him the chance to progress to the ‘A’ final.
Wits possessed another fine sprint specialist in Brendon Stead. He preferred the 1000 metres but enjoyed 200 metres and 500 metres. He is now a sprint technical coach with British Canoeing. A series of developments in 2003 changed the way the canoe club operated. According to the annual club report ‘valued and famous oldboy members moved on to other clubs, allowing Wits to take on a student vibe and focus’. Sports bursaries saw some promising canoeists join the club, while a contribution towards the Dabulamanzi Canoe Club’s new R2-million clubhouse allowed students access to their facilities at Emmarentia Dam.
The departure of experienced canoeists weakened Wits’ teams when it came to competing against increasingly strong opposition. It signalled the subsequent decline in canoeing at the university, albeit delayed temporarily by the success achieved by two students.
In 2003, Alice Rawlinson was first woman in the K1 event at both the Lowveld Croc and Drakensberg canoe marathon. She was awarded Gauteng colours for K2 and then national colours when she represented South Africa at the World Cup marathon championships in the Czech Republic.
Alan van Coller was in fine form in 2004, setting a new South African 1000-metres K1 record (3.29.9) at Racice, Czech Republic. He brought further honour when he competed in the Athens Olympic Games. In the third semi-final, he was up against a field that included current world pacesetter Adam van Koeverden of Canada, and Australian world champion Nathan Baggaley. ‘In the last 100 metres I was going in overdrive,’ he recalled, ‘the horizon was moving in front of my eyes. There is no way I could have gone any harder.’ He was edged out of the third
qualifying position by Italian Andrea Facchin who burst into the final sprint with a spectacular charge.
Canoeing South Africa’s secretary general, Dave Macleod, commented ‘Alan is obviously disappointed right now, but he must know that he has inspired an entire generation of paddlers in South Africa and flown the flag for his country with distinction. He is an exceptional athlete and role model.’ He had been South Africa’s K1 sprint champion for five successive years up to 2004 and set national records for the 200-metres K1 (36.3); 500-metres K1 (1.37.1) and 1000-metres K4 (2.59).
The major event for club members in 2004 was a trip to northern Spain to take part in the Descent of the Sella. The team comprised Nick Longley, Shaun Chamberlain, Peter Fish, Alice Rawlinson and David Collett. Longley described the venture ‘as an absolute success ... the team performed admirably and cemented the dedication of these paddlers to Wits canoeing’.
They took part in three races. Longley and Chamberlain were twenty-sixth in the Descent of the Sella, with Rawlinson eighth in the ladies K1. The Witsies then teamed up with the South African contingent in the Sella international K4 event. Alice Rawlinson’s women’s K4 team finished third and the men with Longley and Chamberlain were fourth. In the Nalón river event, Chamberlain was eighth in the men’s K1 and Longley and Rawlinson third in the mixed doubles.
The club hoped to build on their Spanish venture and welcomed new members. They continued to offer a wide variety of canoeing disciplines: white-water, river marathons, sprints and canoe polo. They were also well-equipped in providing ‘a brand new double surfski, a number of K4s, K2s, K1s, white water and polo canoes’. Peter Fish produced a dramatic promotional piece in a 2006 publication:
You hear the terrorised beat of your heart reverberating in your head as you stare unbelieving into an unforgiving chasm of vicious, churning water. There’s a teetering moment when your mind realises your canoe will be crushed, and you’ll be pulled under, never to surface again. It’s fleeting. You’re pushed
Chess
There were two outstanding players from the 1990s still at Wits, namely Denis Ovcina and Michael Masungwini. They continued to excel. Wits chess won the SASSU championships at Pretoria in 2000 and defended their title at Durban in 2001.
The chess club report in 2001 noted that the club had three teams playing in the Gauteng chess leagues. The first team competed in the premier competition and finished fourth in 2001. The second team played in the Gauteng South first division.
In 2002, the club proudly noted that it was home to five nationally recognised players. Ovcina, who also served as coach, had competed in numerous international tournaments and was
over the edge by the relentlessly powerful flow. It’s begun. The last thing you smell before you disappear into the void of omnipresent water is fibreglass – as the hidden rocks savage your cocoon of safety, your grip tightens, squeezing the life out of the paddle. You emerge unscathed, lungs screaming for air; violently you fight the unpredictable currents for your balance. Just forty more adrenalin-fuelled kilometres of treacherous rapid-strewn river then you guzzle down a replenishing meal and prepare for the next leg.
The club was again represented at the Descent of the Sella in August 2007. The canoeists who took part were Peter Fish, Rob Crichton (a provincial junior), Brendan Currin and Sarah Saunders. Crichton remembers the club had been greatly reduced in numbers by the time he started paddling, but there was success at the Descent of the Sella when he and Saunders won the mixed doubles category.
Wits canoeing operated for a few more years – Murray Burgess winning the last canoeing full blue in 2011. By then, the club had become increasingly reliant on Dabulamanzi’s facilities at Emmarentia Dam. Weekly beginner introductory classes were held most Saturdays at no cost and were available even to non-members. Canoeists of varying abilities began congregating at the clubhouse where they could make use of change rooms, bar and braai facilities.
Towards the end of 2013, the Wits University Canoe Club no longer existed. It was noted in a February 2016 issue of Wits Blitz that the club had been inactive for two years. There was an accompanying advert that stated:
Dabulamanzi Canoe Club, founded in 1979 and based at Emmarentia Dam, is recruiting Witsies. On Friday 5 February, Dabulamanzi club members joined in the last day of Wits Sport’s Orientation week recruitment activities. It proudly claimed it had a 1200-strong membership base, and that extending its membership drive to Witsies was ‘a timely development’.
It was a sad development, one that did not improve the structure and strength of the sport in the province.
ranked as one of South Africa’s top 25 players. Wits won that year’s SASSU championship at Rhodes University against fifteen higher institutions of learning.
Denis Ovcina was honoured at the annual SASSU dinner as he had won the SASSU ‘best player of the tournament’ in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. It was also the fourth consecutive year that Wits had won the championship. Ovcina and Michael Masungwini, who were were placed as numbers one and seven, respectively, were selected to represent South Africa in the Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU) Games in Malaysia in 2004.
In 2004, Ovcina was again selected for SASSU, while Thabo Mohale won the world under-21
Peter Fish competing in the 2008 Brak Challenge
Rob Crichton (above) and Sarah Saunders (a Wits student but not a club member) won the mixed doubles in the Descent of the Sella in 2007.
Peter Hewson represented both USSA and South Africa at chess.
amateur chess championships held at Cape Town.
The following year, Leon de Bruyn represented South Africa at the World Junior Chess Championship in Turkey. Also in 2005, a women’s team was described as being ‘very strong’ and the club hoped ‘more ladies would join Ms Sanna Dipuo Rabaloi in ensuring the ladies continue to dominate the squares’.
In 2005, Mohale and Ondela Tywakadi were selected for the South African student team but SASSU’s entry in the world university championships did not materialise.
Wits had four teams in the Gauteng chess competitions in 2006: the first team were fourth in the first league and the second team won the second division. As part of the development strategy, an internal league was started with Men’s Res the inaugural champions.
Wits participated in the national SASSU championships at the Tshwane University of Technology in December 2006. The men’s team won their section ‘by far’ and overall Wits were placed third. Thabo Mohale and Lawrence Motala were selected for the SASSU team to participate in the World Students Games in 2007.
Dale Pon remembers starting chess at Wits in 2008 ‘which was basically people meeting at lunch and playing games – I signed up and started playing a bit more’.
The Wits chess team won the USSA tournament in 2008. The same year, Thabo Mohale travelled to Novokuznetsk (known as Stalinsk until 1961) in Russia for the World University Chess Championships. He finished 31st out of 33 competitors.
Peter Hewson was third at the USSA tournament at Wits in 2009 and selected to participate in the CUCSA Games in 2010. The latter year
was challenging for Wits chess, not least because of the sudden departure of the chairperson. Dale Pon was the interim replacement and notes the difficulties attached to the position:
For most of 2010 my sports officer’s focus was on soccer and the World Cup. So trying to get anything done for chess, one of the smaller and lesser sporting codes was very, very difficult. It was difficult to try and meet with him, difficult to organise venues for the chess trials or the USSA championships in the Western Cape, while organising funding and resources was a bit of a challenge ... It was quite difficult to keep a team together because we were in a low tier playing teams in distant places like Soshanguve, and we would rely on those amongst us who had a car.
The club competed in the second division of the Gauteng chess league where they achieved first place and were thus promoted to the first division (the second highest division).
The Wits men also achieved first place in their section of the USSA championships held at the University of the Western Cape during December. Ntando Zwakala finished eighth, Peter Hewson ninth, and Dale Pon eleventh. The women were unable to raise a team.
Of the 2010 team, Dale Pon recalls that he, Muzenda Solo, Peter Hewson, Ntando Zwakala, and Mikael Mendes all played provincial level chess, with Solo, Hewson and Mendes representing South Africa internationally. Ntando Zwakala, he adds, is currently ranked 18th in South Africa.’
Wits chess successfully defended their 2010 title by winning the men’s section in the 2011 USSA nationals at the University of Fort Hare in December 2011.
The Wits chess team that won the men’s event at the 2010 USSA championships (at the back): Mikael Mendes (middle row): Peter Hewson, Isheunesu Jairosi, Thabiso Phoka, Dale Pon, Mandlenkosi Dube, Ntando Zwakala (front row): Muzenda Solo, Robert Saasa, Mahlatse Maraba, Derrick Mndaweni.
Dale Pon served Wits well as an interim club chairman and key player.
Ntando Zwakala was best-placed of the Wits men’s team that won the 2010 USSA tournament. He became a highly-ranked player in South Africa.
Mikael Mendes played provincial level chess and represented South Africa at an international level.
Cricket
The 1999/2000 season always promised but never really delivered. The club was fortunate to have Lee Irvine, former Test player, and John Sierra as first/second team coaches. There was also promising talent – Gareth Flusk played for Gauteng ‘B’ before Easterns recruited him; Matthew Street represented Gauteng, and Ryan Sierra the SA Students XI and Gauteng ‘B’.
Six teams were entered into the Gauteng leagues. The first XI began the season well but lost their way a little. They were on course to beat Khosa, Soweto and Wanderers but in successive matches were somehow beaten. Continuous rain in the latter part of the season saw four out of eight matches washed out. There were ten points separating eight teams on the final log and Wits could so easily have finished six places higher. They ended 14th out of 17 teams.
The 2000/01 programme opened with Wits staging a remarkable comeback against an Old Boys XI to win the annual Walter Milton match. Old Boys made an imposing 282/9 (Alex Comninos 90, Gareth Flusk 73) but guided by a well-structured unbeaten 131 from skipper Andrew Irvine, the students reached their target. It went down to the last ball, with Wits needing four runs to win the match. Irvine pulled the delivery to the leg-side boundary to secure a five-wicket victory.
A year later, Wits Old Boys avenged their defeat in a match hosted by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Norma Reid, and her husband, Sir Derek Birley, a leading cricket historian, who was president of the Wits Cricket Club. Rob Sharman was also there, having returned as chairman for two seasons following Murray’s retirement from Wits in 2001. The latter was elevated to club president when Birley passed away in May 2002.
Wits was able to field some fine players during 2001 to 2003. David Terbrugge, a highly regarded fast bowler, played seven Tests for South Africa, taking 20 wickets at 25.85. He performed admirably in his one Test against Australia at Durban in March 2002, capturing four wickets in the Protea victory, and the following season took 5 for 46 against Bangladesh.
Matthew Street, Jon Buxton Forman, Siraaj Conrad and Matthew Harris were provincial representatives. Darren Helwick played for SASSU against the visiting Kenyans in 2001 and a year later, Siraaj Conrad, Alex Greig and Matthew Harris were selected for SASSU in the year they played the touring Dutch Academy team. In 2003, the club again had three caps in the SASSU side: Matthew Harris, Dylan McDermott and Kurt McBain-Charles.
There were highlights for the club in the different competitions, most notably their performance at the SASSU tournament in December 2002. Playing in the ‘A’ section, Wits exceeded expectations by finishing third. They achieved four victories in their five matches.
Lee Irvine’s ambition of winning the Premier League continued to prove elusive. According to Bruce Murray, he had particularly high hopes for the 2003/4 season, a year in which Matthew
Street, Matthew Harris, Siraj Conrad, Patrick Thompson, and Blake Snijman all caught the eye of the provincial selectors. Garnett Kruger, the Proteas fast bowler, played no more than a couple of games for Wits due to provincial and international commitments, while the captain Jon Buxton Forman was out for nearly half the season due to injury.
‘Placing sixth in the league was a creditable performance under the circumstances,’ commented Irvine. ‘I am really proud of our lads. I believe having five provincial players and an international at one time is a real achievement for the Wits Cricket Club’ but conceded that ‘this success ultimately proved to be something of a doubleedged sword’. With players often on duty at a higher level, the university fielded depleted sides. When Irvine left after five seasons at Wits, Murray acknowledged his contribution:
Lee offered his charges excellent technical advice and was also a great motivator. Wits certainly became competitive again, qualifying for the semifinal of the Premier League, which had been divided into two sections, losing at that stage to Rand Afrikaans University.
Irvine was clear on the way forward. ‘An indoor facility could make all the difference,’ he said. ‘It would enable us to practise in all weathers and at any time.’ He was succeeded by his son, Nick, as player-coach.
Matthew Street and Phumelela Matshikwe were selected for SASSU in 2005, while Eddie Leie played for the provincial ‘B’ team.
A senior title was won in 2006/07, when Wits defeated Old Edwardians in the final of the premier one-day competition. The game, played under lights at the Wanderers, was a great experience. Wits recovered from a poor start to win the match convincingly by 63 runs and bring silverware back to the university for the first time since 1997.
‘After the one-day triumph of 2006/7,’ wrote Bruce Murray, ‘it was all bad news as Wits was relegated a season later, mistakenly I believe, to the “B” section of the Premier League.’ He continued:
Policy up until then was that university teams
cricket’s SASSU
2003 (left to right – standing): S. Reeves (scorer), P. Ferreira, L. Hlengani, K. McBain Charles, D. McDermot, N. Stephton-Poultney, D. Botha, N. Winspear, Professor B. Murray (seated): S. Conrad, C. Tomsek, M. Street (captain), N. Irvine (coach), M. Harris and G. Smith.
Wits
team
Professor Bruce Murray succeeded Sir Derek Birley as president of the Wits Cricket Club. He had previously served two stints as chairman during which Wits achieved much success.
should not be relegated – they were too valuable as ‘nurseries’ and were particularly vulnerable to swings of fortune given their ever-changing composition – but the new priority was to secure the place of teams of colour in the “A” section. That Wits fielded a mixed-race team, that it was in the process of internal transformation, counted not at all; it was simply deemed a historically white or privileged club. Ironically, for a number of seasons Wits provided the Highveld Lions with their only home-bred African players in Eddie Leie and Pumi Matshikwe.
Wits finished fifth out of 16 teams in the 2007 USSA tournament. The weather interfered and the last two days were washed out. Of the matches played, Wits defeated UCT by six wickets on the opening day with Neil Winspear scoring an unbeaten 62. They then overwhelmed Rhodes by nine wickets. Andrew Kirkland batted superbly for an unbeaten 109 off only 85 balls and Pumelela Matshikwe claimed 4 for 16.
On the third day, Wits went down to the Free State despite a good all-round performance from Russel Tindale (58 and 3 for 47).
In 2008, fast bowler Matshikwe was Sportsman of the Year. He was selected for the USSA XI that travelled to England to play against the British Universities XI. He also played for the Lions Academy and the provincial team, the Highland Strikers. He recalled, ‘I had a great time overseas. We had beaten the British XI when they were in South Africa, so we wanted to repeat the feat on their home turf, which we did. I think we’re stronger mainly because of our grounding in the game and the strong school system that we have here.’
After their relegation from the Premier league, Wits languished in the ‘B’ section, finding it
difficult to recruit talented players. Aldo van den Berg took over as coach of the Premier and President’s league teams. He was an experienced cricketer, having captained the South African Academy team during their tour of Ireland and Scotland in 1999, and also played for Gauteng, Easterns and Mpumalanga until 2007.
Wits finished out of 16 in the 2010 USSA tournament hosted by the University of the Western Cape. Two players – Gareth Benton and Eddie Leie – were selected as non-travelling reserves for the SASSU team. A season later, they were demoted to the ‘B’ section. Eddie Pumelelo Matshikwe represented South Africa ‘A’ but it was leg-spinner Eddie Leie who would make significant progress. A regular in the university’s premier league side, he earned his international place by virtue of sterling performances for Highveld Lions. He was selected for the South African ‘A’ side that toured Australia in 2014 and for the Proteas’ T20 squad to tour Bangladesh and India. Sadly, a promising career was cut short ‘for receiving a payment to fix in the 2015-16 Ram Slam tournament’.
Hancke von Rauenstein, a former Free State first-class player, took over as first team coach. He said: ‘We have to gain promotion into the top division, it’s as simple as that. With the number of players available, the facilities on offer and the way the club is run, there is no doubt that Wits should be competing in the top league.’
Club captain Mark Waspe, who would later play two years of league cricket in England, spoke of ‘a rebuilding period but that does not have to be a negative. Everyone is starting from scratch again and there will be plenty of competition for places.’
Von Rauenstein began well in the opening matches of the 2011/12 Premier 45-overs league, scoring 336 runs (average 112.00) with a highest score of 152. Duwal Patel, Nono Pongolo, Gareth Benton, Nico Raudbenheimer and Yusuf Fredericks provided good support. Wits student Daniel Gallan, who now writes for London’s Evening Standard, covered the period for Wits Vuvuzela, stating: ‘There are challenges and issues that need to be addressed before Wits can return to the glory days. Depth of talent is a problem, with many of the bigger clubs like Old Eds and Glenvista attracting young players.’
To address this, Wits launched a 20/20 inter schools knockout tournament featuring some of the top schools in the city. Marius Henn, a senior sports administrator at Wits, believed the university had not done enough to promote themselves amongst pupils and recruit cricket talent from high schools: ‘We cannot compete financially with other universities in the area to attract top-notch athletes; however we need to make the schools aware that we also provide sport here with top facilities.’
There was frustration that Wits could not escape the ‘B’ sections. They finished ninth at the USSA tournament in 2013, losing in the final of the ‘B’ division to Free State.
Eddie Leie made great strides as a leg-spinner for the university’s premier league side, before earning places in first-class and international cricket.
Pumelela Matshikwe showed considerable promise and was ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in 2008.
John Paul Pearton was twice ‘Sportsman of the Year’ at the Wits. Here he is pictured with Selwyn and Christopher Pearton at the ‘Sports Awards’ evening in 2006.
Cycling
In 2000, a message went out on orientation day: ‘For all you keen cyclists out there, you will be pleased to know that the cycling club is up and biking.’
The following year, the SASSU cycling championships were held in Cape Town. Wits won the women’s section and were highly-placed in the men’s event. The club was heartened by their success and announced: ‘We plan for the Wits cycling team to be a prominent force in the cycling world.’
This was not a wildly over-ambitious aim. There was a pupil writing matric at the time – John Paul Pearton – who wanted to study engineering at Wits. He had competed that year in the world junior championships in Vail, United States.
The 2002 Wits cycling club report triumphantly stated: ‘The SASSU cycling was held at Bloemfontein and JP Pearton won the event hands down.’ It added: ‘JP is more commonly known for his achievements as a national and international mountain biker.’
In November 2002, Pearton featured prominently in a press article that referred to top achievers in their disciplines being honoured at the annual South African ‘cyclist of the year’ awards banquet. He was the country’s ‘male mountain bike rider of the year’ and was honoured at a black tie function at Kyalami:
The top mountain-biker’s award in the men’s section went to 18-year-old John Paul Pearton who, still racing as a junior this year, won the inaugural Mazda Drifter Enduro Series. Pearton’s skills offroad are notorious, but he also stunned the roadracing community this year by winning a stage in the South African junior tour and finishing up second in
and
the South African championship road race.
Pearton was an annual recipient of national colours. While at Wits, he represented South Africa at world championships in Austria (junior), Italy (elite), France (under-23) and Norway (elite).
By 2003, he was also chairperson of the club, a role he shouldered for the next four years.
The Wits cycling club accommodated both road cycling and mountain biking. ‘We kept our numbers in the 15 to 20 range,’ he recalled, ‘most of the members were casual and cycling was more social for them.’
The SASSU championships were the major event in the year. In 2005, it was hosted by Tshwane University of Technology in Nelspruit. Pearton won the event again by taking four of the five stages.
In 2004 and 2006, he was crowned Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’. It was a welldeserved award for a national competitor whose remarkable achievements were such that no other Wits cyclist was referred to in a club reports over five years. He does, however, point to two other cyclists, Wayne Jennings and Megan Brinkley, who took part in a number of SASSU and local races.
After Pearton graduated, there was no cycling report in 2007. That year he participated in the men’s elite tier in the world championships at Fort William, Scotland, and the Coupe du Monde in Houffalize, Belgium. He was also fourth in the 2007 African continental mountain bike elite championships at Windhoek.
John Paul Pearton continued to be a prominent force in the cycling world but Wits cycling once again slipped away unnoticed.
Wayne Jennings
John Paul Pearton at the 2005 SASSU Cycling Championship in Cape Town.
Fencing
Fencing was thriving in 2000. The annual report commented: ‘The new Gauteng team tournaments have brought the Wits fencers to impressive new levels by dominating all junior events and smashing away at the rankings of more veteran Gauteng teams ... We have managed to take absolute beginners and turn them into fine fencers.’
They were inspired by Jacqui Amm, the rising star of South African fencing. The national junior champion in 2000, she was selected for the junior Commonwealth championships in Scotland.
A record-breaking 43 students joined the club at the beginning of 2001. The quality and quantity of the equipment also improved ‘with Wits obtaining a new set of portable electrics, acquiring more weapons and also setting up its own permanent pistes.’
The team did remarkably well as their results included winning a summer SASSU tournament and finishing second overall in the winter SASSU competition. Amm was in great form, winning three gold and three silver SASSU medals. She was then selected to represent South Africa at the African championships in Egypt; the world junior championships in Poland, and the World Student Games in Beijing.
Wits achieved second place in the 2002 SASSU fencing tournament held at Pietermaritzburg, with Peter Lydall and Jacqui Amm prominent in the club’s successes during the year. The latter was selected for both the junior and senior national teams. Ranked number one in South Africa for women’s foil, she represented the national side at the Commonwealth competition and qualified for the world championships.
There were three current and former Witsies at the 2002 Commonwealth Fencing Championships in Newcastle, Australia. Amm was joined by Ruth Stenhouse, who had been placed seventh in the African tournament in 2001 and was national champion in 2002. Also competing was Marguerite Langton, who had won bronze in the foil and silver in the sabre at the national championships in 2002.
In 2003, Gavin Oberholzer was selected to represent South Africa in the sabre discipline at the world championships in Havana, Cuba. He also helped Wits take second place overall at the 2003 SASSU championships in Pretoria. He won silver in the sabre and bronze in the foil, but the tournament’s exceptional performance was by Peter Lydall, who achieved gold at épée.
The women’s team, said the club report, ‘performed with flair and an Amazonian fierceness that resulted in Jacqui Amm receiving gold in foil and bronze in sabre, and securing victory for Wits in the mixed sabre competition’.
In 2004, Wits sent a relatively inexperienced team to the SASSU tournament at Cape Town. They did well and were placed third overall. Gavin Oberholzer was chosen to represent South Africa at the All-Africa Student Games.
Oberholzer received a full blue in 2005, the year he competed in the world championships
at Leipzig. He was placed third at the South African championships, and joined by fellow student, Ryan McKelvin, in the Gauteng team that won the interprovincial competition.
Then, after a few years of considerable success, Wits fencing slipped backwards. The 2007 club report noted that ‘it was quiet period for fencing although they participated in Gauteng championships’.
The cancellation of SASSU tournaments affected enthusiasm for the sport. It was admitted that ‘there were concerns about the future of fencing at universities in general, especially Wits’. However, the re-introduction of the USSA competition in 2009 reignited interest in the sport.
In 2010, Wits achieved four bronze and four silver, finishing second only to Cape Town in the overall rankings. The chairman Dominic Leeburn worked tirelessly to support the club and was awarded the university’s student administrators’ award. He and Thomas Shamuyarira served on the Gauteng Fencing Association committee.
Wits hosted USSA in 2011, the tournament taking place in the Old Mutual Sports Hall. Leeburn remembers the event ‘was a success with all teams sharing fond memories. Wits won a team medal in sabre.’ He and Mikesh Harrilall were selected for the provincial team.
In August 2012, the Wits fencing club was delighted to end a four-year medal drought by winning six at the Gauteng Fencing Association (GFA) tournament held in Johannesburg. Mikesh Harrilall (gold), Dean Grisillo (silver), Thomas Shamuyarira (bronze) and Wikus Koen (two silvers in the under-20 division and bronze) were the successful competitors.
‘Traditionally we do well in the épée category,’ said Thomas Shamuyarira, the chairperson of the club, ‘but weirdly we won medals in the other two.’ He concluded: ‘It’s not so bad considering we coach ourselves.’
Mikesh Harrilall and Dean Grisillo fought each other in the sabre final which lasted for nine minutes and ended with a score of 15-11.
‘Harrilall is the first fencer to win a gold medal in any event for the club in over four or five years,’ said Shamuyarira.
Harrilall only started fencing in his second year at Wits: ‘My family all play table tennis and when I joined the table tennis club in first year I watched the fencers across the room. I knew that next year I would do that. They just looked like they were having so much fun.’ Such was his progress that he would later represent South Africa in épée.
At the 2012 USSA tournament, Wikus Koen brought home an individual bronze and a team bronze medal (Koen, Thomas Shamuyarira and Alek Gallo). Overall, Wits fencing finished fifth out of 10 institutes.
In the 2013 USSA tournament, a small but spirited Wits team gave a good account of itself, taking home a bronze medal for the épée and a silver for foil.
Jacqui Amm was ranked South Africa’s number one in foil and selected for national junior and senior teams.
Mikesh Harrilal began fencing in his second year at Wits and later represented South Africa in épée.
Golf
After a relatively quiet period in its long and highly impressive history, the Wits golf club emerged strongly in 2001. A team participated in the SASSU competition in Bloemfontein and finished joint-second, with some members of the side not losing a game.
The golf driving range was opened at Sturrock Park in August 2001. It helped make golf more accessible to students, the university hosting two Remax long-drive competitions.
The 2002 golf report stated that over two years the membership had ‘grown exponentially; a revival which may soon see the club back as one of the top university sides in the country’. That year, Wits hosted five student golf days at prominent Johannesburg courses, implemented a coaching programme for the SASSU squad, and entered provincial SASSU events.
A team of eight men and two women attended the 2002 SASSU national championship. Mohammed Tayob made the provincial senior ‘A’ and the senior national teams. He was awarded the first Wits full blue since 1995.
There were fine performances in 2004, notably by Bronwyn Hubbard who won the SASSU ladies’ golf tournament and represented the South African students at the World Student Games in Thailand. She and Patrick Spindler were the last Wits students to receive full blue golf awards. The latter was a nontravelling reserve for the SASSU team that participated in the Thailand tournament.
In 2005, the Wits Golf Academy was opened. This provided the club with coaching and an organised driving range run by Greg Smith, an experienced golf professional. The club hosted two 36hole events during the year, in addition to social golf days, the annual Wits club championships and the inaugural Wits Classic. They were successful, closely contested events.
The 2005 SASSU championships were hosted by the Tshwane University of Technology. Thanks to an increase in talent within the club, Wits sent two men’s and one women’s team. Bronwyn Hubbard was again Wits’s most successful player, finishing third in the stroke play event and second in the match play. The men’s ‘B’ team qualified for the ‘D’ division, but the ‘A’ team tied for first place in the ‘B’ division and lost in a very close play-off.
Gymnastics
The gymnastics club announced in 2000 that they ‘take gymnasts from beginner level to advanced … every year we attend the annual SASSU gymnastics and take honours in the tumbling events’.
In 2001, the club reported ‘we have complete sets of men’s and women’s apparatus and gymnasts are trained by experienced coaches. The club is involved in three major competitions during the year: SASSU, Gauteng and the national championships.’ It added: ‘The club were crowned the SASSU national tumbling champions and one of the senior gymnasts became the South African senior national champion.’
For the first five years of the new millennium, the gymnastics club received little coverage in the Wits Sport magazine. There were no reports on the achievements of Shalene Arnold who had proved herself one of the country’s leading junior rhythmic gymnasts. She and then Odette Richard had attended international competitions in various parts of the world and continued to do so at Wits. They were also joined at university by another accomplished competitor, Ross Ferguson.
In 2007, a large field of 160 players representing 20 institutes attended the SASSU tournament hosted by the University of Johannesburg. With 72 holes of individual stroke play over the first two days and then two sets of team match play rounds per day held over the remaining three days, it was a demanding competition. Wits was especially well represented in the individual stroke play with three players finishing in the top ten. Chad Niemann was second, Greg Callaway sixth and Craig Lindsay Smith ninth despite a 66 in the second round, the lowest of the tournament.
Unfortunately for Wits ‘A’ the rest of the team did not fare well in the stroke play and they did not qualify for the five-team ‘A’ division. They then achieved relatively disappointing results in team play matches and finished second in the ‘B’ division. The Wits ‘B’ team was fourth in the third division, a good performance against other universities’ ‘A’ teams.
Golf should have taken off at that stage, the club’s close association with the academy and driving range enabling students to be in a good position to improve their games. A further initiative was introduced when Greg Smith and the academy teamed up with the Wits Business School to ‘teach students about the game and its fundamentals both in terms of the theory and practice’. Smith explained:
Using golf as the vehicle we bring in aspects like stress management, psychology, health and nutrition. A further element in the equation is that of decision-making and decisiveness … a business decision makes use of the same basic tenets that selecting the right club and shot to get onto the green does.
The well-meaning efforts did not succeed. Smith recalled ‘I had to leave Wits where I had my driving range and fitting facility due to them wanting the ground for soccer.’
In 2009, the golf report stated that the club ‘sees an all-women golf committee in office and who will focus on encouraging the ladies at Wits to play golf’.
A sports officer’s report in 2011 stated ‘golf has been dysfunctional … various attempts were made to convene meetings but the interest was very small.’
Shalene Arnold was third in the 2005 South African championships in Durban and represented South Africa at the Aphrodite international competition in Cyprus. She was selected for the South African team at the World Student Games in Ismir, Turkey, in August 2005. A little more than a month later, she and Odette Richard competed in the world rhythmic gymnastics championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. They were made aware of the heights that the sport had reached at elite levels.
Arnold and Richard participated in the 2006 Commonwealth Games where they were fifth in the all-round group event. In the all-round individual competition, Richard was tenth and Arnold eleventh.
The top Wits gymnasts enjoyed a good year in 2006. At the SASSU gymnastics tournament, Nadia Joyce and Palesa Bofolo won gold and bronze medals respectively in the tumbling event.
In 2007, Odette Richard was ranked the top rhythmic gymnast in South Africa and on the continent. She competed as far afield as Ukraine,
Ross Ferguson was selected to represent South Africa at the World Student Games in Bangkok and the senior national team in the All-Africa Games of 2007.
Portugal, Spain, Bulgaria, Israel, France, and the world championships in Patras, Greece. This all culminated in her being placed in the ‘A’ group (the best in the world) with a personal best overall score that qualified her for the Olympic Games in Beijing.
The 2007 SASSU gymnastics tournament returned to Wits for the first time in a number of years. It brought considerable success in the tumbling competition, where Wits gymnasts showed their skills. Mandla Gobiyeza, Nadia Joyce, Tyrel van der Merwe and Tebogo Pooe were in excellent form and dominated the discipline. Palesa Bofolo finished third in the rhythmic gymnastics competition and Pearl Mashigo fourth.
Wits’s two international stars excelled in front of their home crowd. Odette Richard won five gold medals and was selected to represent South Africa at the World Student Games in Bangkok, Thailand where she finished twenty-fifth. Ross Ferguson won two gold and two silver medals at the SASSU competition and made the final of the high bar in Bangkok, ending up in a commendable sixth position.
During a memorable year, Ross Ferguson showed his adeptness on both the high bar and in the artistic events. He had broken his wrist and been unable to take part in the trials for the AllAfrica Games held in Algeria in April. But three weeks before the competition, he was asked to replace an injured gymnast and compete as part of the team that finished third.
The fine achievements of 2007 also included those by Alexandra Demianenko, an acrobatic gymnast who held the title of national acrobatic champion and competed at the highest level possible in the sport.
Odette Richard – Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 2007 and 2008 – took part in the Olympic Games at Beijing. She was deeply impressed by the unrivalled efficiency and aweinspiring scale of the event, as well as the quality
of the facilities from the Olympic Village to the ‘Bird’s Nest’ stadium. She recalled:
The Olympics were unforgettable. I can’t really compare them to any other competition. I gave it my all and I was pleased with my performance. It’s not easy being away from the centre of the sport, which is Europe ... We don’t really have a culture of gymnastics in this country, which is something they possess. Even so, whenever you compete against the top gymnasts, it’s a great experience.
Eight Wits gymnasts attended the 2009 USSA competition hosted in Cape Town, but the club grew in the course of the year. In 2010, there was a particular interest in artistic gymnastics, ranging from beginners’ to senior Olympic level: ‘Mike Szabo’s coaching experience was of high calibre and contributed to Wits gymnasts’ accomplishments.’ They trained two or three times a week in the mornings for artistic and in the evenings for rhythmic.
Wits excelled at the 2010 USSA tournament at the North-West University. In the women’s artistic gymnastics, Busiswe Mtshali and Robyn Taylor brought back an overall gold in the level one and level six respectively. Zama Mbambo and Richard Dobson procured gold medals in the men’s mini trampoline novice and elite levels respectively. The rhythmic gymnasts Violet Chabalala and Queen Molekwa won level two gold and silver medals, respectively. Danuta Sosnowski achieved gold for the level two and three combined category for rhythmic gymnastics.
Under chairperson Danuta Sosnowski, the club maintained a high standard during 2011. The USSA tournament was hosted by Pretoria. Richard Dobson won gold in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics (MAG) level 6 and bronze for mini trampoline elite level, and Mukhtar Nagdee was awarded bronze for MAG level 1. Dash van Enter, Violet Chabalala, Shelley Buck and Juvaine Rajamany were also recorded as performing well.
Wits fielded a strong team in 2012. The Wits Sport spring party helped raise funds, with the gymnasts running a bar that featured their signature ‘Lickety Splits’ sangria. A small but strong team of eight gymnasts participated in the USSA tournament at Stellenbosch: Shelley Buck, Richard Dobson (4 medals and the victor ludorum trophy), Catherine Honegger (2 medals), Samantha Vieira (2 medals), Zama Mbambo (3 medals), Robyn Taylor (3 medals), Danuta Sosnowski and Makgotso Tibane. They were third in the men’s, women’s and overall competitions.
The 2013 USSA squad came close to emulating the impressive performance of the previous year. The competition took place at Pretoria with seven Wits gymnasts winning medals: Andrew Jackson, Nonkululeko Mdluli, Daniel Rimbault, Juvaine Rajamany and Robyn Taylor each won one medal, while Richard Dobson and Samantha Vieira won three.
Odette Richard competed in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and was Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 2007 and 2008.
Men’s Hockey
The Wits men’s and women’s hockey community won the university’s ‘Club of the Year’ title in 2001 and 2002. Wits ran nine teams in the Southern Gauteng league, with both first sides in the premier league. The women’s section produced some exciting stars at national level, but the men made an important contribution to Gauteng hockey by fielding numerous fine prospects.
The Wits sports magazine reported Thornton McDade being chosen as Southern Gauteng’s ‘most promising men’s player’ in 2000. Subsequent editions mentioned the deeds of Morgan Knight, Geff Jaspan, Robbie Jaspan, Brian Dixon, Jarrard van Zuydam and Ryan Sutton Price.
In 2002, the men finished in the top eight for the first time in three years under the leadership of Alistair Fredericks. Morgan Knight won ‘student administrator of the year’. Jonathan Gay was selected for the senior provincial team, and Brian Dixon, Jarrad van Zuydam, Stuart McDade, Ryan Sutton Price, Greg Ronaldson and Greg Tundbridge for junior provincial teams.
Hockey was moving forward. Wits had ten teams playing in the 2003 Southern Gauteng league. Former South African internationals coached the teams: Jonathan Martin looked after the men and Gareth Murray the ladies. Practices were held at Parktown Boys on Monday and Wednesday. Jarrad van Zuydam, Greg Ronaldson and Richard de Martinis were selected for the senior provincial ‘A’.
A 2004 report remarked:
‘Wits has rightfully taken its place as one of Johannesburg’s best hockey clubs. As one of the largest clubs at Wits, we are able to cater for a variety of players from the international hopeful to the first-timers.’ The combined men’s and women’s sections comprised over 130 members, ‘Socially,’ the report continued, ‘the hockey club is without doubt the be-all and end-all of campus life. We boast the most packed social calendar this side of the North Pole.’
In the course of the next few years, Wits contributed to provincial senior and junior teams, namely Greg Ronaldson, Jarrad van Zuydam, Warren Smith, Richard Demartinez, Edward Helefe, Evan Lai, Richard van der Bijl, Kish Chetty and Sean None.
From 2007, the club was assisted by a generous ABSA sponsorship. Wits hockey had both men’s and women’s first teams in the premier leagues but numbers had dropped and they were down to 108 in 2007.
Women’s Hockey
For a decade in the early years of the twenty-first century, South Africa rarely fielded a women’s international team without including past and present Witsies. In 2000, the Wits captain Parys Edwards represented a South African invitation team against Australia. There was also a group of players – Sophie Mayer, Kim Tucker and Sharné Wehmeyer – who were selected for junior national teams.
Sophie Mayer captained the under-21 hockey team that competed in the junior World Cup in Argentina in 2001. She scored in a 1-1 draw with Germany and in a crucial 1-0 win against England in an elimination match. The latter goal enabled South Africa to finish sixth out of 15 teams. Later in the year, Mayer was on the national women’s team that travelled to the United States.
In 2001, hockey won Wits’s ‘Club of the Year’;
Wits men were demoted at the conclusion of the 2008 USSA tournament at the North-West University, Potchefstroom, There was nevertheless optimism within the club. Three social teams in 2008 boosted membership to 152. It helped raise funds towards hiring coaches and paying for Astroturf fees for the 2009 season.
Arthur da Mata took over as the men’s first team coach, while Wits continued to produce provincial players at under-21 and senior levels. In addition, students were chosen for Gauteng Country District sides over the next few years. They came from leagues lower than the first division, with one of the players, Dave Spratt, selected for the South African Country Districts team.
When the University of the Free State hosted the 2009 USSA tournament in Bloemfontein, there were 660 players and officials in 34 teams from 17 tertiary institutions. It was the biggest hockey tournament in the country. Stellenbosch won the men’s and women’s titles, and Wits returned to the top level having won the ‘B’ Section after their demotion in the previous year. They were unbeaten in three group matches; defeated Tukkies ‘B’ 6-1 in the semi-final, and drew 2-2 with Rhodes in the final, but won the tournament on a golden goal.
Wits were tenth out of 11 teams in the Premier league in 2011, winning one and drawing one of their matches. The lower teams performed well with the ‘B’ team second in the second league and the ‘C’ team third in the fourth league. Individuals to shine included Matthew Poval (Southern Gauteng ‘B’, although he played for the ‘A’ side indoors), Mark Tatham and Geoff Scott (both Southern Transvaal under-21 ‘A’).
The same players shone again in 2012: Matthew Povall representing Southern Transvaal ‘A’ and Mark Tatham and Geoff Scott Southern Transvaal ‘B’.
By April 2012, plans to build Wits’s first artificial hockey turf were underway. Budget constraints had halted previous plans to build the new structure, complete with lighting, fencing and the clubhouse. ‘Many Wits hockey players find practising off campus an issue,’ commented Shane Skinner, Wits hockey chairman, ‘… the new turf will be a relief for those players as Sports Admin does not provide transportation.’
Hockey – the university’s ‘Club of the Year’ in 2009 and 2012 –was well prepared to take advantage of the wonderful new facility. In 2013, they were in the top four of the Southern Gauteng Premier League.
Sophie Mayer was ‘Sportswoman of the Year’, and Belinda Larson won the sportsmanship award. There were a number of players selected for provincial teams. Sophie Mayer, Sharné Wehmeyer and Kim Tucker represented Southern Gauteng, a team that won the annual interprovincial tournament.
Wits women enjoyed another memorable season in 2002. The first team finished third in the league under the guidance of Brett Tucker, and hockey again won ‘Club of the Year’ at the annual sports awards dinner. Kim Tucker, Sophie Mayer and Sharné Wehmeyer were selected for the provincial ‘A’ team, and Tucker and Wehmeyer for SASSA’s national side.
The first women’s international Champions Challenge took place at the Randburg hockey stadium in Johannesburg in February 2002. Participating teams were England, India, Russia,
Sharné Wehmeyer’s 117 Test caps included two World Cups, the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
South Africa, South Korea and the United States. Sophie Mayer and former Witsie Caroline Birt participated in a tournament in which the South Africans finished ahead of the United States and Russia.
When South Africa beat Malaysia in the Manchester Commonwealth Games in July to August 2002, South African forward Sophie Mayer scored in the third, fifth and eleventh minutes to record one of the fastest hat-tricks in the history of international hockey. She was again prominent in the match that decided fifth place as she opened the scoring from a penalty corner against Scotland after nine minutes. In a closely-contested encounter, a golden goal from Pietie Coetzee gave South Africa victory after the game had finished 3-3 in normal time.
Sharné Wehmeyer enjoyed a winning debut in a series victory over the Netherlands in November 2002. Having played in the South African under-16, under-18 and under-21 sides, she was no stranger to top-class competition, but found stepping into the senior ranks was ‘physically more than I had ever experienced’. South Africa’s 2-1 series win against the Netherlands provided a strong platform for the next stage.
The South Africans headed almost immediately to Perth, Australia, to compete against the top 16 hockey nations at the women’s World Cup, beginning in late November 2002. Sophie Mayer scored in the 6-0 win over Ireland and Wehmeyer in the 3-1 win against Ukraine. South Africa finished 13th out of 16 teams, while the Netherlands were silver medallists.
Wits in the meantime had attracted Fiona Butler, who would become a leading South African player, and junior national representatives Kim Cullen and Joanne Moore. The club’s depth was further evident in top junior players emerging each year such as Leeanne Nielson, Linda Kotta, Francis Meyer, Tarryn du Toit, Amie Dixon, Kathryn Robinson and Kerry Ehlers.
Butler joined Birt and Wehmeyer in the senior national team in 2003. In early October, South Africa won the All-Africa Games in Abuja, Nigeria, beating the hosts 10-0 in the final. Later in the month, they travelled to Hyderabad to play in the first Afro-Asian Games hockey. India won gold and South Africa silver in a tournament
featuring eight sides. The South Africans beat India 3-1 in their pool match but luck eluded them in a final that was lost 5-4 on penalties. Tournaments were played in Holland and China, before Butler, Wehmeyer and Birt represented South Africa at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. They thrashed Germany – the gold medal winners – 3-0 in the group stage, with Wehmeyer scoring the opening goal in the fourth minute. The South Africans then struggled before defeating Spain after extra time and sealing ninth place.
Fiona Butler was Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 2004. She was joined that year by Leeanne Nielson in the Southern Gauteng team, but Wits found USSA ‘A’ section elusive. They reached the final of the ‘B’ section, but fared poorly against Cape Town in the match to decide promotion.
South Africa won the Africa Cup of Nations at Pretoria in 2005, with Butler, Wehmeyer and Birt continuing to play important roles and earning selection for the March 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. In their preliminary round matches, they beat Nigeria 4-1 and drew 2-2 with India, the defending champions and that year’s silver medallists, but went down unexpectedly 1-2 to Malaysia. Eliminated at the group stage, they finished seventh out of ten teams.
As Africa Cup champions, the South Africans qualified for the women’s World Cup in Madrid from September to October 2006. The results were disappointing but closer scrutiny suggests the team held their own against strong opposition. They lost 1-0 to Australia the tournament runners-up, and 1-0 to India in the deciding match for eleventh place. They also drew 0-0 with South Korea and 2-2 with Argentina.
In July 2007, South Africa won the African Olympic qualifier tournament in Nairobi, Kenya. They scored 45 goals without reply in six matches to secure their place in the 2008 Olympic Games. Over the next 12 months, the programme was hectic, with tournaments in China, Argentina, Ireland, Holland and at home, as well as Test series against Australia, Ireland and Canada. In between, there were training camps.
Fiona Butler was a first choice for South Africa although she missed part of the campaign through injury. The team disappointed in Beijing as they conceded 18 goals in five defeats. Their best performance was a 4-1 win over New Zealand in the play-off for eleventh place.
ABSA’s sponsorship was important in helping Wits hockey achieve greater consistency, particularly as they had returned to the ‘A’ section of USSA. In 2008, the first team finished seventh overall in the Southern Gauteng premier league and in fifth position at USSA. The year also saw Ncedisa Magwentshu and Julia Cass selected for a dominant South African team at the junior Africa Nations Cup in Cairo. They were unbeaten in group matches and defeated Egypt 6-0 in the final, with Magwentshu scoring one of the goals.
Wits battled hard to hold their place in the ‘A’ section at the 2009 USSA tournament
ABOVE and BELOW: Fiona Butler
– Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 2004 – represented South Africa from 2003 to 2008.
Julia Cass, a regular member of the South African team, was elected Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 2010.
in Bloemfontein. They eventually defeated KwaZulu Natal 2-1 in the play-off for seventh position out of eight teams. Midfielder Ncedisa Magwentshu was chosen for the USSA team and named ‘Wits’s Sportswoman of the Year’.
Julia Cass was selected for South Africa in their first internationals since the Beijing Olympic Games. She had little time to study in 2009 as she played against Germany at Stellenbosch in February, the Spar Cup fournations tournament in June and the Africa Cup of Nations in July, when she scored the last goal in an 11-0 rout of Egypt. The junior World Cup took place in Boston in August with both Cass and Magwentshu taking part. South Africa finished 11th out of 16 teams and won the ‘fair play’ award.
Julia Cass was elected ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ as hockey maintained a high profile in women’s sport and was elected ‘Club of the Year’. The university acknowledged their achievements by awarding 2010 scholarships and bursaries to Kirsten Morley-Jepson, Kelsey Stuart and Melissa Whitecross (University Council); Ncedisa Magwentshu, Priantha Reddy and Robyn Johnson (Gauteng Department of Sport); Julia Cass and Robyn Taylor (Skye), and Kirsten du Toit and Demi du Toit (ABSA).
Wits held their own in the competitive Southern Gauteng premier league, finishing sixth in 2009 and 2010. There was no USSA tournament in the latter year because of the soccer World Cup, but a university quadrangular was arranged in Pretoria during the mid-year holidays.
In 2010, South Africa played 12 Test matches in three weeks against Olympic silver medallists China. Julia Cass was included in the team with Tsoanelo Pholo who later coached at Wits.
Wits finished eighth out of 11 teams in the 2011 Premier league with several players winning representative selection. Julia Cass was chosen for Southern Transvaal; Jaime Martin and Demi
du Toit for South Africa under-21, and Priantha Reddy for Southern Gauteng under-21.
Demi du Toit, a fine defender and penaltycorner specialist, arrived at Wits, having played for South Africa at under-18 level. At university, she played for national under-21 teams at indoor and outdoor hockey. In the latter code, she represented the South African under-21 team that won the Africa Cup of Nations by defeating Ghana 4-0 in the final at the Randburg stadium.
In 2012, Wits hockey was again ‘Club of the Year’. According to Du Toit in a Wits Vuvuzela interview, they ‘ended the season in sixth position in the premier league, accompanied by a good performance at the USSA tournament.’ She attributed the team’s improvement to a new coach, Pete de Lange, who ‘came into the team with a world of knowledge. He changed our attitudes, pushed us hard and taught us so much.’
Du Toit impressed when playing again for South Africa under-21 in that year’s interprovincial tournament at the Randburg Astro, not least when she made a spectacular diving clearance on the goal line during the last minute of play, to secure a 1-1 draw against Western Province. In the same tournament, Witsies Kirsten Morley-Jepson, Gabriela Garcia and Jaime Martin (as captain) represented the Southern Gauteng ‘B’ side.
Wits eagerly anticipated the following year’s demanding schedule. They would, however, fall victim to the ever-changing momentum of student sport and finish last out of eight teams in the inaugural Varsity Cup. They began with a 1-1 draw against Cape Town at Potchefstroom when Demi du Toit scored and Kirstie Thompson was named ‘player of the match’, but experienced little success and were beaten 2-0 by NMMU in the play-off to decide seventh position. A disappointing season also included relegation from the USSA ‘A’ section.
Sophie Mayer, scorer of a hat-trick in eight minutes during the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games, was ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 2001 and 2002.
The Wits team that participated in the 2013 Varsity Cup (left to right – standing): Kirsten du Toit, Ursula Lesar, Phil Real, Demi du Toit, Philippa Nettleton, Kirsten Morley-Jepson Ashley McCrindle, Shannon White, Izzie Inder (in front): Aimee Waterson, Zimi Shange, Lisakazi Maseti, Gabriella Garcia, Jaime Martin and Kirstie Thompson.
Demi du Toit impressed as a South African under 21 player during her years at Wits.
Judo
Judo – the ‘gentle way’ – had appealed to Wits students since the 1950s. An impressive number of club members represented South Africa. Others simply enjoyed competing in a martial art where one club report explained:
Judo students are trained in throws, hold-downs, strangles and arm locks. All judoka are taught the art of falling without injury (break falls). With the correct training any judo expert will be able to throw an assailant, strangle an attacker unconscious within 3 to 5 seconds, break an opponent’s arm or just hold a person down. Judo is fun, try it out, you will soon make it a way of life.
At the start of the new millennium, Adrian Hammond was the club’s outstanding performer in a martial art in which he had won national honours at junior (1999) and senior (2000) levels. In 2001, he represented South Africa at the British championships and the South African junior team at the British junior open championships.
Hammond and Chris Saidie achieved gold medals at the SASSU tournament in 2001. Precious Hawadi and Florence Anabwani won silver, with Hawadi also winning a bronze in a higher division. Hammond represented SASSU at the World Student Games in Beijing. He won his first fight but then lost against the world champion in his division.
Wits were runners-up at the SASSU championships at Bloemfontein in May 2002. Later in the year, two judoka, Adrian Hammond and Roxanne de Villiers, and two officials, Stephen Field and Coen van Tonder, attended the World Student Championships in Yugoslavia.
Hammond experienced an active year because he had earlier competed in the Jigoro Kano Cup in Japan and achieved a creditable seventh place. This was the best result achieved by a male South African in any world ranked-tournament.
By 2003, Wits Judo Club had 32 members with 10 women and 22 men. Coen van Tonder (fifth dan) was club coach, assisted by Stephen Field (first dan). The top judoka, Adrian Hammond, was joined by Thomas Jordi, Marc Humphries and Kim Cvitanich in that year’s provincial senior ‘A’ team.
Wits finished second in the SASSU championships held in Cape Town in May 2003. Five members of the team received SASSU colours: J. Niemann (under 57kg) and L. Hammond (under 63kg) in the women’s section, and Paul Nthoba (under 60kg), Adrian Hammond (under 66kg) and Marc Humphries (under 100kg) amongst the men.
It was an exciting period for Wits judo and club members were selected to represent the university and SASSU at an international seminar and tournament in Strasbourg during December. They included three women: Florence Anabwani (under 52kg), L Hammond (under 57kg) and Kim Cvitanich (under 78kg), and two men: Adrian Hammond (under 66kg) and Bruce Humphries (under 90kg).
In 2004, Wits hosted the SASSU tournament and opened its new Judo Centre of Excellence. Once it was complete and fully functional, it served as a wonderful venue for training.
Adrian Hammond was seventh in the AllAfrica championships in 2004. His consistently high standard continued in 2005 when he was both SASSU and South African champion, and represented the national side at the German Open. He was deservedly named Wits’s Sportsman of the Year.
Marc Humphries, Kevin Smith and Richard Almeida joined Hammond in the 2005 SASSU team. Another highlight that year was Wits’s combined judo and water polo tour to Australia. They competed in the inaugural Indian Rim Asian University Games, held in Perth in November. Thirty institutions from Japan, Singapore, South Africa, China and Australia took part. The accommodation and sporting facilities were impressive and Memory Zimba came home with a silver medal.
There were major individual achievements in 2006. Adrian Hammond won a bronze medal in the under 66kg category at the 2006 Commonwealth championships in Derry. The fast-rising Richard Almeida was first in the South African Closed and second in the Open championships, and represented South Africa in the junior African championships where he was fifth in the under 81kg division. Almeida, Melissa Florczak and Christian Haas were selected for the SASSU judo team, with Florczak and Haas competing at the World University Judo Championships in Suwon, Korea.
In 2007, the judo team again travelled to the Asian Rim University Games in Perth, Australia. They performed well, netting the highest number of gold medals of any team at the event.
Wits finished third in the 2007 SASSU championships. Gold medals were won by Natasha Glassford and Allerdyce Fulton, who were subsequently selected for the SASSU team at the World Student Games in Thailand. They both finished ninth in their respective weight groups. This was an impressive achievement because it was an Olympic qualifying event and they were highest-placed South Africans.
There were further honours for the two Witsies. Glassford won both the South African national closed and open judo tournaments, while Fulton was fifth in the Africa Games; fifth at the Egyptian Open, and second in the Mauritius international championships. At the South African Olympic qualifiers he posted a fourth place in the senior event.
Glassford continued to be a top achiever for the club. In 2008, she was first at the USSA tournament in the under 63kg division. She won further gold medals at the South African championships in the under 63kg division and at the African university games (FASU) in Uganda.
In 2009, Glassford won USSA gold medals in the under 63kg and open divisions, and was selected to represent South Africa at the World Student Games in Belgrade, Serbia. She capped
Adrian Hammond was an outstanding judo exponent at national level, and elected Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in 2005.
Natasha Glassford – Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 2011 – dominated her judo weight group in USSA and South African competitions.
another fine season by finishing fifth in the AllAfrica championships in Mauritius.
Six judoka were awarded sports bursaries in 2010. Five went on to represent Wits provincially and two nationally.
The highlight of the year was the USSA tournament in Port Elizabeth hosted by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, at which Wits achieved the highest tally of medals and trophies awarded. Glassford won a gold medal for both the women’s under 57kg weight group and the women’s open, as well as the ‘Best Lady’, ‘Lady Prestige’ and ‘most promising judoka’ awards. Amanda-Lee Grobler dominated in her weight group by winning gold and silver in the women’s open. The two outstanding women judoka were selected for South Africa.
The Wits men showed great tenacity with Ebrahim Nadat winning gold in the under 56kg weight group; Graham Wookey taking bronze in the under 66kg weight group as well as bronze in the under 77kg men’s open. Richard and ‘JP’ Almeida were described as the ‘double dragons’ of the tournament, each winning a medal in their respective weight groups. Finally, Lionel Isaacs received gold for the 100kg+ group and a silver for the 81+kg men’s open.
Natasha Glassford became Wits’s Sportswoman of the Year in 2011. She had enjoyed an enormously successful judo career at the university and was again ranked number one in the South African under 63kg category. She represented the national side in the African judo championships in Dakar and USSA on their tour to Portugal.
Karate
Wits’s leading karateka at the beginning of the new millennium was Warren Levi. In 2000, he was placed first in kata at the South African all-styles and Japan Karate Association (JKA) championships, and first in kumite and unison at the latter competition. On the international circuit, he was first in kata and unison at the International Japan Karate Association world championships in Budapest and third in kata at the JKA world championships in Wales.
The following year, he captained the South African Shōtōkai team at the world championships in Tokyo. He was the undefeated Grand Champion at the South African Japan Karate Shotokan championships, and won the senior men’s kata at the South African and SASSU championships. He had become a significant figure in the karate world and has since established his own martial arts centre in New York.
Seven other members of the Wits club won medals in the national South African JKA championships in 2000. Lorraine Marais won bronze in the women’s kata category and Liesl Lohlun bronze in the mixed kata category. In the men’s development kata category, Xolisa Luthi won gold and Ezlam Ngwenya silver. Wits did almost as well in men’s development kumite. After several hard bouts, Peter Maseema won the silver medal and Xolisa Luthi the bronze.
Glassford was succeeded by two fine competitors, Caitlin Wild and Candice Wagener who wrote:
I did judo as a kid in junior school and I trained with Caitlin and we parted ways for a long, long time until I saw her in orientation week signing up the judo people and that’s when I joined. It was cool to reconnect with her and it was the first year I was in the USSA tournament. I was chosen along with Caitlin and Calvin Fourie for the 2013 WSG in Russia. Calvin was the only one who went as Caitlin and I couldn’t get the funding.
About 12 000 students from 150 countries attended the Games in Kazan, Russia. The South Africans finished eighth overall. First-year economics student Fourie won two fights and lost two, which earned him ninth place out of 34 in his division.
Another important member of the judo club, Rudolf van Schalkwyk, was Wits’ Sportsman of the Year in 2013. He had qualified for the African kata championship where he finished in second place in the ‘katame-no-kata’; was awarded Protea colours, and finished first in his division in the SA Open championships. He and Calvin Fourie were awarded full blues cum laude. The club completed the era by dominating the 2013 USSA tournament, winning the team event and receiving the coveted championship trophy. The judo club enjoyed some wonderful achievements during 2000 to 2013. ‘It was something a lot of people talked about,’ said Candice Wagener. ‘It really did stand tall.’
Thulani Jiyane also did well in the youth category, coming back with the gold medal for kumite and the silver for kata.
The club noted its appreciation to Wits karate sensei Keith Geyer. He had given team members a great deal of additional training to prepare for the competition. He was also set to leave the club and establish a new karate centre in Australia. He subsequently served as head of the Karate Alliance Australia, chief instructor of the Shotokan Karate Coalition (SKC), and national chief instructor for the JKA-SKC Australasia. It was more than 30 years since Geyer had started karate in 1969 under Stan Schmidt. Much of the time was spent in close association with Wits, initially as a student but for the greater part as coach. He was a member of the Springbok karate team from 1975 to 1988, and won the South African all-styles open kumite title on six occasions. He coached the South African national team from 1992 to 2000.
Geyer was largely influential in establishing Wits as a powerful centre in the karate world. An awe-inspiring figure when directing large groups of students in electrifying, highly-disciplined training sessions in the Old Mutual Sports Hall, he was graded seventh dan in Tokyo by a panel headed by JKA chief instructor Motokuni Sugiura Shihan.
Amanda-Lee Grobler enjoyed a successful 2010 USSA tournament and achieved selection for South Africa.
Rudolf van Schalkwyk – Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year in 2013’
Warren Levi captained the South African Shotokai team at the 2001 world championships in Tokyo.
His lifetime dedication to the art of karate, and his achievements as a karateka, were recognised in February 2015 when he was honoured by being appointed a member of the Japan Karate Association’s Shihankai (Masters Association) panel.
On Geyer’s departure, Mark Wainman took over the coaching duties but for the major part of the period until 2013, the club was under the instruction of the Karate Syndicate (a part of the South African JKA) represented by the husbandand-wife team Bruce Smith and Karyn Smith.
In 2001, Wits finished third out of 27 institutions in the SASSA tournament at the University of the Western Cape. Christel Cauvin won the women’s open kata, the women’s open kumite and finished second in the under 60kg women’s kumite. Gaopalelwe Mogapi won the kumite under 53kg women’s section and Warren Levi won the men’s open kata. Xolisa Luthi came third in the men’s open kumite. In the team events, Mogapi and Cauvin won the women’s team kumite, while in men’s unison Levi, Luthi and Peter Maseema came second.
Karate was flourishing at Wits. In 2003, Gabby Meyerson, Ezlam Ngwenya and Gao Mogapi were selected for SASSU, and Meyerson, Ngwenya, Mogapi, Xolisa Luthi, Kgotsofalang Papola and Emmet-Lee Taaibosch for the provincial senior ‘A’ team. The Wits club achieved a top-five ranking at the SASSU tournament for the third consecutive year.
Hopes of a SASSU tour overseas in 2004 did not materialise but enthusiasm was not affected. In 2005, the club had a membership of 80 from beginners to advanced. They participated in the SASSU tournament at Cape Town, and it is a little surprising that a club report should state that they achieved no more than a modest top ten position.
A relatively small team participated in the SASSU championships at the Tshwane University of Technology in 2006. They finished eighth. A relatively large team then represented Wits at the 2007 SASSU tournament hosted by KwaZuluNatal. They were successful in winning 13 medals, but the new committee elected for 2008 was not satisfied. They hoped ‘to return Wits karate to the legendary status that it held in the 1980s’.
One of the coaches, Karyn Smith (by then a fifth dan), stressed the need to achieve the
Mountaineering
Wits’s ‘East Africa Expedition’ was organised over December 1999 and January 2000: ‘The group under expedition leader, Richard Stewart, included Gavin Rech, Michael Abbott, Steve Dunnett, Elizabeth Kleinhans, Beth Spottiswoode, Martin Kleinhans and others.’
During 1999/2000, SASSU incorporated mountaineering into its annual intervarsity competition calendar. Wits was invariably well represented in the lead and bouldering events that followed. At the turn of the millennium, the 2000 South African national competition saw club member Mark Seuring placed second.
discipline required to progress in a martial art ‘that is founded on a hierarchy system’. She was concerned that students were not helped by the relative lack of interest demonstrated by the administration: ‘uninterested sports officers made a great club weak and ineffective’.
The Student Affairs department noted in the university’s 2008 annual report: ‘Students are developed holistically and guided by the department in key areas such as strategic planning, club administration, financial management and an array of life skills that will benefit in the long term.’
Where a particular sport might struggle through indifferent student administration, the relevant sports officers were expected to provide guidance. The karate problem was addressed and Marius Henn was appointed to the sports officer post.
In July 2011, a team of seven flew to Cape Town for the USSA tournament. Against strong opposition, Binita Morar (silver – kumite) and Sheena Vangethasamy (bronze in kata and kumite) won medals.
Considerable improvement took place as a strong karate group was assembled that would enable the Smiths to enjoy a very successful final period of coaching at Wits. Excellent results were achieved in the 2013 USSA tournament. Priscilla Garvey, an engineering student, represented South Africa and was awarded her full blue (cum laude).
Dylon Adam won a gold medal in the 2013 national trials and was rewarded with selection for the following year’s South African team that would attend the JKA Funakoshi Gichin Cup in Japan. Trisha Rajkumar and Andrew Hank achieved provincial selection and were awarded full blues.
Karate won the Wits Club of the Year award in 2013, the first time they had been honoured since 1991. By the end of the year, Wits Sport reported that the club had built a strong platform for 2014:
It had more than 100 members, including many new faces, much work has gone into building the newbies into strong karatekas. Whether it’s tackling the dreaded burpee or figuring out the complexities of age-old katas, the karate club has proven over the course of the block that no challenge is impossible to overcome.
The 2001 intervarsity was hosted by Wits. The club offered ‘some of the best facilities in Gauteng with a well-equipped bouldering wall in the clubroom, excellent training walls, tons of equipment and a great social experience’. Six universities participated, with Wits finishing second to Cape Town.
Wits was placed third in the SASSU competitions that followed. Top-three positions were achieved by Mark Seuring, Shaun Kroukamp, and Dominique Dix-Peek who was described as ‘one of the most skilful woman climbers in recent years’.
Keith Geyer made an enormous contribution to Wits’s karate over a period of thirty years.
Priscilla Garvey, an engineering student, represented South Africa in 2013 and was awarded her full blue (cum laude)
Dominique Dix-Peek won the SASSU title in 2006 and was elected ‘Sportswoman of the Year’. Greg Borman photographed her climbing in Vietnam and Thailand during 2007.
The club was one of the most active at Wits with ‘meets’ nearly every weekend, as well as members venturing overseas to climb and explore. With a strong focus on a structured introduction to the sport, they had beginnerfocused events, ranging from afternoon trips to the crag to long weekends. A strong sense of camaraderie pervaded the sport; the club appointing a development officer to oversee and encourage new climbers.
During 2005/2006, the club renovated their clubroom, visited local spots such as Melville Koppies, Strubens Valley, Chosspile, Bronkespruit and the Magaliesberg, attended the Rock Rally climbing festival in the beautiful Waterval Boven, and staged the formal dinner in Grootkloof – ‘a great evening with lads in suits and gals in dresses, out in the open under the night sky’.
Wits won the SASSU competition in 2006 and Dominique Dix-Peek was crowned the individual winner. She had a wonderful year that included being placed first in the women’s section of the national bouldering league by 2000 points; completing a grade 23 climb in Waterval Boven, and being elected as Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’, a first for the club.
Christina Fatti produced a superbly-written club report in 2007. It began:
We specialise in rock climbing, bouldering (both indoor and outdoor) with some members also venturing into hiking and ice-climbing. The clubroom is next to the Flower Hall – a cozy room with a microwave, coffee, a kettle and beanbags –a real home away from home. About half the wall space and part of the ceiling has been covered and transformed into a bouldering cave. The clubroom is almost always open and at lunch one can always find a host of people hanging out on the grass or hanging upside down in the cave. Beginners’ meet is in the awe-inspiring Tonquani Kloof and the popular ‘welcome meet’ in Harrismith. The rest of
the year is then spent in a frenzy of travelling almost every weekend to Bronkhorstpruit, Strubensvalley, Hartebeespoort Dam, Swinburne and Waterval Boven to crank on the best rock we can find. Climbing also has competitions, and the highlight of the year is undoubtedly the SASSU tournament and the associated road trip.
Emma Boyd, who became chairperson in 2007, maintained Wits’s success in the SASSU competition. Seventeen climbers took a ten-day trip via Durban and the Transkei to Grahamstown for the event. Four of the climbers made the finals, two of them women, and Emma Boyd received a full blue for her second place at the competition. In 2008, chairperson Christina Fatti won the student administrator of the year award. Her club had made sure its presence was felt at various competitions. The national bouldering league saw three Wits club members make the final, namely Emma Boyd, Catherine Beneke and Christina Fatti. In the USSA competition in Cape Town, Wits made the semi-finals of the lead and bouldering events. Emma Boyd received a bronze medal for her fine effort.
Wits University Mountain Club celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2009. The chairperson wrote to club members:
Hi everyone, Wits University Mountain Club (WUMC) is celebrating its 50th this year … and the overall plan is to go climbing in all nine provinces! (Plus another country – Namibia). All current, and past members of WUMC are invited.
‘Snort’ (real name Charles Edelstein) – one of the club’s great climbers – wrote to Emma Boyd: ‘Dude, as an old WUMC member I find it a little whacko that your climbing venues (other than Spitzkoppe) are so unattractive to me. WUMC defined climbing in the Magalies, Wilgepoort, Blouberg, Die Hel, Skeerpoort …’
Emma Boyd responded: ‘Hi Snort, yes, I think times have changed … the club is now predominantly about sport climbing, but we’re trying to get the trad going again …’
It was a tremendous anniversary followed by relatively quiet years in 2010 and 2011. In the latter year it was noted that apart from the outings, Tiffany Wells was second in the women’s open lead at ‘nationals’; John Wade led early morning core training sessions, David Wade is the first person to successfully send and open Tannie Coetzee’s Mystical Brew suggested grade 25, and the Wades built ‘Mount Doom’ a climbing wall at their house in Benoni.
Under chairperson, Luke Worster, the club enjoyed a memorable 2012. Outings included Waterval Boven, Bronkhorstspruit, Swinburne, The Wilds, Strubensvalley, Chosspile, Fernkloof, Wellington’s Dome, Harrismith, Ice Climbing in Lesotho, Umgeni and Shongweni. They also attended the Barn’s annual birthday competition, the Rory Lowther Memorial Challenge, the Boven Rock Rally, the Everest challenge and USSA held at St Peter’s. That is not to forget the Wits Sport street parties where WUMC ran one
of the bars with their signature ‘Fizz Pop’ shot. Sixteen Witsies qualified for the NBL provincial final of whom Tam Scheidegger won the ‘novice female’ section and Catherine Honegger was placed third in the ‘open female’. Witsies who qualified for the NBL national final included:
Worster was re-elected chairperson for 2013 and another action-packed year was experienced in terms of outings, events and fundraising. At the Barn’s annual birthday competition, Tiffany Wells was placed first in open female; Dylan Vogt was first in open male, and Calrin Curtis second in open male.
Wits hosted the NBL at which two members of the club excelled in qualifying for the national final. Jeanne Boyat was first in the open women’s competition and Calrin Curtis second in the open men’s event. The latter had an impressive background, having competed in world youth championships in Imst in 2011 and Singapore in 2012 and was the highest-placed African climber at both events. He was then first in the open men’s section of the national lead climbing competition with Christopher Brown first in the novice event.
Boven (Mpumalanga); Formal Dinner: Magaliesberg (North-West); and Holiday Bouldering: Rocklands (Northern Cape/Western Cape).
Christina Fatti on Ramset Crag in Montagu, Western Cape, where she became the subject of Benjamin Graham’s spectacular picture in 2008.
Christina Fatti is photographed by Greg Borman while climbing in Vietnam in 2007.
Netball
The netball club had a successful season in 2000. They changed leagues on a temporary basis to Gauteng West, played some excellent netball, and were rewarded when four of the team made provincial and South African squads. Amy Philpott played for Gauteng West at the national tournament in Belville. Claudette Francey represented the Gauteng West under-19 side that was second at the national tournament in Stellenbosch. She was then selected for the South African under-19 team – a fine achievement. Jenny Rolland represented Gauteng in a SASSU tournament in Durban, and was selected to play in the CUCSA games in Mozambique. Wendy Wilcock was also chosen for the SASSA national team during the season.
Excellent administration paid dividends, and the club’s chief organiser Lindsay Waner was duly presented with the 2001 WSC student administrator’s award. Wits had three talented teams, with the first team winning the super league, and the two second teams finishing first and second in the ‘A’ league. The first team squad visited Cape Town for the 2001 SASSU tournament where they were sixth out of 24 teams. By then they had a sponsor in Novartis/ Voltaren and boasted eight Central Gauteng players: Andy Grabman, Lorien Swemmer, Claudette Francey, Lauren Johnson, Preshanta Vanderyor (all Gauteng under-21) and Phatiswa Mbanjwa, Lindsay Waner, Liana McCloghrie (Gauteng under-21 ‘B’).
Another successful year was experienced in 2002. The club had four teams participating in the Central Gauteng league. Joanne Bruins was impressive in a first team that won the super league for the second year in a row. They finished third in the SASSU tournament at Pretoria, and had a strong presence in Central Gauteng teams that participated in the under-19, under-21 and open tournaments. Claudette Francey was again selected to represent South Africa, this time at under-21 level.
There was depth in Wits’s netball ranks and club minutes recorded other players coming forward such as Kerry Black, Jennifer du Toit, Simone Cooper and Nichola Carte.
Netball was ‘Club of the Year’ in 2003, and chairperson Kerry Black won the WSC student administrator’s award. Such achievements underlined the club’s excellent progress. A sound administration, improved standards of play and membership growth had contributed to their success. The Wits first team finished second in the Central Gauteng netball league in 2003; the second team was second in their league, and the third team performed well.
Claudette Busschau (nee Francey) says ‘the truly wonderful thing about playing netball at Wits was the amazing group of ladies I got to meet and now 20 years later we are all still great friends and prior to Covid had dinner every month together. That bond of friendship forged over the netball court is special to us all.’
A golden era for Wits netball, however, was unfortunately drawing to a close. They
experienced tough opposition in the ‘A’ division of the 2003 SASSU tournament at Port Elizabeth and were demoted.
In 2004, the University of Cape Town won the ‘B’ section of the SASSU tournament. Unbeaten in wintry Potchefstroom, they defeated Wits in the semi-final. Back in Johannesburg, the Wits women were fourth in the Central Gauteng league.
A major frustration was that netball was poorly administered in Central Gauteng and, at various times, there was no league. Wits returned to West Gauteng in Roodepoort where the opposition was relatively strong and they developed a rivalry with the University of Johannesburg.
Apathy on the part of the local administration appeared to affect interest in netball. At Wits, reports did not elaborate on a statement that there was no Gauteng Central league during 2007 to 2009 and that teams remained in the Gauteng West league.
In 2008 and 2009 the Wits women participated in the ‘B’ division at the SASSU tournaments at NMMU and UJ, respectively. The 2008 season was taken as a stepping stone, as there were many new players, but in 2009 they wanted to win the ‘B’ divison. Keneiloe Kagi assisted with funding flights and kit over the two years and Wits duly earned promotion. Robyn Phillips was awarded a full blue and netball was nominated for ‘team of the year’.
There was no lack of enthusiasm for netball at Wits in 2010. They had three teams in the
Netball forged a bond of friendship that has lasted twenty years for a group of Wits ladies who include (left to right): Liana McChloghrie, Claudette Francey, Lorien Swemmer, Lauren Johnston, Lindsay Shapiro.
Netball won the Wits’ ‘Club of the Year’ award in 2003 (left to right): Kerry Black, Lindsay Shapiro, Jen Du Toit, Lauren Johnston, Liana McChloghrie, Simone Cooper and Lorien Swemmer.
Lindiwe Radebe, Tshireletso Mahuma and Keneilwe Manganya.
Gauteng West league and a club report stated ‘they did really well, winning the majority of their matches’. Alex Stevenson, Bukela Makapela, Ivy Seolwana, Lungako Mwell and Robyn Phillips represented the Gauteng West under-21 team that year and Lisa Spark was selected for the open ‘A’ team. Unfortunately, there was no USSA tournament because of the soccer World Cup. Robyn Phillips, who received a full blue in 2009, recalled joining the netball team and becoming chairperson, while she assisted the rugby club as a student physiotherapist. It was a busy time, managing studies, playing netball and coping with her work experience, but she graduated nevertheless. In her last season, 2011, the club ‘moved from Gauteng West to Gauteng East to gain more game time – (Bukeka Makapela and Robyn Phillips made the provincial under-21 side) – but it was tough competition in the SASSA ‘A’ division.’
The netball club signed up 93 members in 2011, as opposed to 41 in 2010. Four teams were registered in the league (Open ‘A’, ‘B’, under-21 and under-19). Optimism prevailed but everything went against them: the university opened late;
Orienteering
Orienteering started to grow in South Africa from 2000. This development was partly the result of teams attending world championships during the 1990s. WITSOC (Wits Orienteering Club) had reacted quickly and in the late 1990s established itself as one of the leading clubs in the country.
In 2000, Wits was a dominant force. When SASSU was held in the Grabouw State Forest, they won the men’s short-distance trophy (Nicholas Mulder); the women’s short and classic distance trophies (Michele Mulder), the men’s relay trophy (Nicholas Mulder, Eugene Botha, and Gary de Klerk) and the overall club trophy. The winning form continued at the Gauteng relay championships in May, where once again the men’s team won, but this time were joined in their success by the women (Michele Mulder, Elizabeth Kleynhans and Beth Spottiswoode).
Internationally, Michele Mulder represented South Africa at the junior world championships in the Czech Republic in July with a best performance in the short distance. Eugene Botha and Nicholas Mulder were involved in training camps in the
there was no coach and a lack of training; the club could not raise funds to cover transport; committee members were unable to take the stress, and players deregistered because they were not receiving attention. Eventually, the provincial coach agreed to bring the Gauteng team to Wits and coach the sides together.
In an entertaining article, Lindiwe Radebe wrote:
‘By mid-April we could barely put out two teams but the true passionate ones stayed … The USSA tournament was a great experience and Wits Sport ordered fresh kit for the teams … we were promoted to “A” league against the likes of Pukke and Maties, but we remembered that we came to prove to ourselves why we love this game … we beat UCT.’
Tribute was paid to Lydia Monyepao ‘our pillar – we went crying to her and with open arms she embraced us, she helped us where she could and kept motivating us! She also assisted us with the internal league which consisted of ten teams.’ Said Radebe: ‘We know our faults … We are still motivated and still love the game.’
In 2013, a Wits netball report began: ‘Nineties kids all grew up with the saying, “the early bird catches the early worm”.’ This could not have been more appropriate for Wits netball. The first team started training in January and a week after orientation, newly signed players joined the squad. Simnikiwe Mdaka was responsible for the foundation training and midway through the year the new sports officer, Lorraine Masibi, took over. The club participated in the Varsity Series for the first time. This consisted of an elite group of universities within the Gauteng area that played matches before the USSA tournament. Wits again entered the East (Ekhuruleni) league and benefited from a strong base in their internal competition that had grown to twelve teams.
Czech Republic and Finland respectively.
A year of good performances followed in 2001.
At the SA Championships in Cape Town, Nicholas Mulder won both the short and classic distances, with Michele Mulder taking second place in the two events. She was first in the Gauteng championships, where Andrew Spottiswoode and Gregory Benvenuti also won their categories.
To complete an exciting year, Wits orienteers furthered their experience overseas. Michele Mulder and Eugene Botha competed in the highly technical Swedish terrain, while Nicholas Mulder represented South Africa in the equally technical five-day and world orienteering championships in Finland.
In 2002, WITSOC accepted ‘adventure racing’ as its second sporting code due to the proximity in nature of both sports. The club became known as Orienteering and Adventure Racing. The latter involved teams of four with at least one person of the opposite sex. Events usually included any three of a variety of disciplines such as mountain biking, horse riding, running, kloofing, abseiling
Robyn Phillips was awarded a full blue in 2009.
Wits’s 2011 SASSU team (left to right – back row): Keneiloe Kgasi, Robyn Phillips, Tshiamo Tebele, unknown, Novuyo Nkombane (in front): Bukeka Makapela,
Nicholas Mulder was not only a model organiser, but was selected for South Africa.
or climbing and swimming or paddling. Team Wits astounded opposition in 2003 by finishing the Magaliesburg 107-kilometre race in sixth position, only five minutes behind one of the country’s top teams.
There was much else to be encouraged by in 2002, notably club membership increasing from 16 to 28 members. At the South African Orienteering Championships, Wits produced two champions in Michele Mulder (W21) and Mpho Sethole (M20), while the relay team managed an excellent second place. On the non-competitive side, the club raised funds for its various activities by hosting parties and other social events at its attractive rustic pub situated on the West Campus.
Gary de Klerk initiated the Gauteng schools league, a project that was continued by Eugene Botha in 2003 when competitions were held every week with at least 100 pupils from different schools taking part.
In 2003, Wits hosted the SA Championships, which took place at Belfast Forest over three days. The star competitor, Michele Mulder, was selected to participate in the world championships that were held in Sweden.
The departure of key members of the club in 2004 had an enormous impact and for three years, the club barely existed.
The Wits orienteering club was revived in 2007. It was an eventful year in which the club dominated the Gauteng short-course series and fared well in the classic distance races. Wits also competed in the Salomon sprint adventure series involving ‘off-road multisport’ events. A Wits team won the team category at Xterra Gauteng.
Highlights of the 2008 orienteering year were the club’s trip to Cape Town for the SA championships, and two club members – Alex Pope and Dylan Hemer – attending the junior world championships in Sweden.
The adventure racing year in 2008 saw members competing in numerous sprint distance races. Wits had one member in the 150-kilometre race at the beginning of the year and hoped to have a more substantial presence in 2009. On the mountain-biking front, the highlight of the year was the Mugg & Bean 24-hour team race. Other interesting events in which the club competed were the 100-mile running team relay, the Capestorm Rogaines in Dullstroom, the 94.7 cycle challenge and various triathlons.
The main goal in 2009 was to increase participation. This was Michael Crone’s first year at Wits: ‘I decided that I would try orienteering and I have loved it ever since. I was lucky that one of my brother’s friends ran the university club and so it was not very daunting.’
Highlights in 2010 included the SA sprint championships, where the club took first place in two categories with outstanding runs by Dylan Hemer (open) and Michael Crone (M20). Another member, Chantal Helm, was awarded third place in the women’s open category for the shortcourse series. Crone was selected to represent South Africa at the junior world orienteering championships which were held in Denmark. It was extraordinary progress, just one year after he had started the sport.
The 2011 season saw Sarah Pope, Stephanie Courtnage and Anthony Stott selected for the South African team that participated in the junior world championships in Poland, and Michael Crone selected for the senior national team at the world orienteering championships in France. A highlight for Crone that year was winning the South African sprint championships at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town: ‘[It] mirrored the atmosphere that I have now come to expect in international competitions. Running through crowds of people, often completely oblivious to what you are doing definitely creates a stir.’
For Crone, further international competitions took place at the world championships sprint qualification in Switzerland in 2012 and the World Games in Columbia in 2013. His performance in Lausanne gave him particular pleasure: ‘An eleventh place allowed for me to qualify for the WOC sprint final later that afternoon. I became the first South African to ever qualify for a WOC final.’ Crone, a medical student, was at his peak in 2012 and later recalled:
I would probably have to say that my proudest achievement was my entire 2012 season. It was my last opportunity to dedicate a significant portion of my time to training (training becomes very difficult during the clinical years because of calls and other commitments). During the season I managed to win the Gauteng sprint series, qualify for the WOC sprint final, win the SA middle distance and the SA long distance championships. I was also awarded the Wits ‘Sportsman of the Year’ award, the first orienteer to receive the award.
He summed up his enthusiasm for the sport by stating: ‘It is both a mental and physical challenge. It doesn’t help to just run fast. It teaches you to make quick decisions under extreme pressure, instantly punishing you for mistakes.’
2012 in which his achievements included becoming the first South African to qualify for the World Orienteering Championships’ sprint final, and winning the South African middle and long distance championships.
Michele Mulder represented junior and senior South African teams, and did much to set the pace in women’s orienteering.
Alex Pope is pictured in the 2008 junior world championships.
Michael Crone enjoyed a wonderful
Andrew Polasek, who was Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in 2007 and 2009, represented South Africa at the Rowing World Cup as well as senior and junior world championships.
The women’s 2004 crew (left to right – back row): Colleen Orsmond (Coach), Georgina Westcott, Lisa Termorshuizen, Victoria Addington, Ruda du Plessis, Alessia Fowler (front row): Don Cech (Olympic medallist and guest speaker at the regatta), Monica Green, Hilda Kempff, Bronwyn Jackson and Kate Crail.
Rowing
In 2000, a spokesman for the boat club proudly announced that they were ‘the champions of the SASSU boat race (men) and the best dressed club at any official dinner hosted on campus’. The report continued:
For the past ten years, Rhodes University has dominated this event, but this year we took the trophy back and showed that we are the new crew to watch out for in the new millennium. So join us and be part of a new chapter in rowing history.
The boat race was an important event on the rowing calendar, a time when Port Alfred was ‘rocked by the sounds of hooting and squealing tyres as supporters chased rowing boats down the river’. South Africa’s top university crews and their supporters descended on the Kowie River for an event that involved men’s races over six kilometres and women’s over four.
The Wits students had strong squads in 2000 and were also organised and well-prepared for the men’s and ladies’ races at the SASSU sprint regatta. Two members – Guy du Sautoy and Gareth Norman – were selected for the SASSU national team that year.
A club report gave some background to Wits rowing at that time:
The club trains at Wemmer Pan, a seven-minute drive from the main campus, and at Roodeplaat Dam on weekends, and the Vaal Dam for distance training. We are the proud owners of our own fleet … The boat shed is home to many boats, including the eight-oared shell. Rowing is an intense and extremely physical sport, but this is balanced with an awe-inspiring social side. We have our own pub at Wemmer Pan.
It was always going to be difficult for Wits to defend their men’s boat race title, but the club’s subsequent decline in fortune was unexpected. In 2001, the men’s and women’s crews finished third. In 2002, the men’s ‘A’ crew came third, the women’s ‘A’ crew fifth and men’s ‘B’ crew third
against stiff competition. But in 2003, Wits fell some distance behind as serious challengers; they were even struggling to compete. After a poor performance in the early-season sprints regatta, ‘the boat shed at Wemmer Pan was locked and not to be opened again’.
Bronwyn Jackson attended the 2003 boat race as a coach for a rival university and realised immediately what Wits was missing. ‘I reached out to a few of the people that had attended the sprints earlier in the year and we had an AGM with only eight people in attendance. We started making plans for the revival.’ Her uncle, John Stark, who had rowed in the 1980s crew, provided guidance, and alumni ‘put their hands up to offer support, ideas and encouragement – especially Wig Dreyer, Sean Kerr and Colleen Orsmond. Wig had saved the club more than 30 years prior to us, it is actually amazing how the lessons were the same.’
A 2004 club report stated that over the past season they had ‘undergone a revival’. It was an encouraging statement but Wits’s hopes of reaching the top again were further dampened by the impact of the Afrikaans-speaking universities. Wits’s neighbours, the Rand Afrikaans Universiteit (RAU), attracted attention when they won the women’s race in 2003 and repeated the feat in 2004. Equally disappointing was that they won the men’s event in 2004 and 2005.
‘2004 set us up for 2005,’ recounted Jackson, ‘where instead of taking just two crews to the boat race – we took five crews! Three men’s eights and two women’s eights!’
In 2006, Wits rowing came to the fore when they won the SASSU sprint regatta for the first time in ten years and were ranked as the top university at the South African championships. They then performed well at the boat race where the women received the ‘most improved trophy’, having finished second to Rhodes in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ finals. Further demonstrating the club’s depth, Wits men won the ‘B’ crew final by beating the University of Johannesburg (formerly RAU).
On the international front, Brett Pachonick, Bruce Morris, Brad de Jager and Lou du Plessis competed in a coxless four at the World Student Games, and Andrew Polasek received his Protea colours for representing South Africa in the lightweight sculls at the world under- 23 championships. The boat club was duly elected ‘Club of the Year’, and Bronwyn Jackson, a key figure in rebuilding the club, won the student administrator’s award. She served the boat club from 2003 to 2008 and was president for three of those years.
The Wits’ men’s ‘A’ eight made a good start to 2007 when they were the best-placed university team at the Grand Challenge competition at the Vaal regatta in February. But the women’s crews again outshone them at the annual boat race. In the women’s ‘A’ eight final, the Witsies built a healthy lead early on, but could not hold off a resilient Rhodes crew that crossed the finish line first. The men’s ‘A’ eight were placed fifth, having battled in the head race against the rough
conditions created by opposing winds and tides over the Kowie.
Wits ended third at the SASSU sprint regatta in 2007 and were again elected Wits’s ‘Club of the Year’. Also contributing to the award was the success of the club’s dedicated fundraising campaign in purchasing a rowing machine or ‘ergo’ that would provide perfect training within the university.
Andrew Polasek was named ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in 2007. He was an experienced rower, having attended the junior world championships as a schoolboy. In 2007, he was the winner of the senior lightweight single sculls at the Victoria Lake, Gauteng and South African rowing championships. He also represented the national squad that participated in the rowing World Cup in Austria.
Polasek was selected for the SASSU blues crew but his particular wish was that Wits could end a lean spell and win again on the Kowie River. The squad’s training programme had been demanding in 2007 and was no less so the following year. They began in April with two sessions every day during the week. Morning training consisted of 90 minutes in the gym or on rowing machines and afternoon sessions involved rowing or more gym training. In addition, the men’s ‘A’ crew would travel to the Vaal River on Saturdays and Sundays to train over a 20-kilometre section.
The rewards came in 2008. The Vaal River regatta saw the men win the diamond sculls and the ladies were first in the ‘A’ eights. At the Buffalo regatta in East London, the men triumphed in the ‘A’ doubles and came third in the ‘A’ eights. Further success occurred at the SASSU sprints where the men’s and women’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ eights won their races. Overall, the men won their section, the women were third and the university was placed second.
The women’s crew were having a great season. They then travelled to the South African championships in East London where they continued their winning streak in the ‘A’ eights and came first in the coxless fours. ‘The ladies’ crew,’ commented Wits Vuvuzela, ‘are all petite, with captain Tiffany Rolando often mistaken for a lightweight cox rather than a rower.’
Adding to the season’s momentum, the men’s
‘A’ eight were preparing to return to the Royal Henley regatta in England after a 25-year hiatus,. They would take on other university crews in the Temple Challenge Cup. The campaign opened with ‘a fantastic qualifying regatta, but [Wits] unfortunately lost in the first round at Henley to a crew that went on to win the event’.
Many long hours on the water and gruelling gym sessions prepared the club for the 2008 boat race in September, the culmination of the season and the most elite event. The men’s ‘A’ eight finished first, outpacing the University of Johannesburg, and the women’s ‘A’ eight beat Rhodes in the most exciting final the boat race had seen for many years. The fine results made rowing the ‘Club of the Year’ for the fourth year in a row.
Ruth Oldert – (president of the boat club in 2009 and 2010) – and her committee had the task of emulating the achievements of 2008.
ABOVE: The Wits men’s crew in action at Henley in 2008.
TOP LEFT: The men’s 2008 crew that competed at Henley was in the order that they sat in the boat: 1. Andrew Polaseck, 2. Barrie-Jon Mulder, 3. Simon Spooner, 4. Bruce Morris, 5. Alexander Cruickshanks, 6. Anthony Lester, 7. Bradley de Jager, 8. Brett Pachonick, Cox: Conan Riebling, Coach: Sean Kerr.
The Wits women’s 2008 ‘A’ eight that won the boat race (left to right – back row): Tarryn Wright, Helen Jervis, Georgina Westcott, Ruth Oldert, Claudia Hazelwood (front row): Samantha de Reuck, Tiffany Rolando, Bronwyn Jackson and Meredith Stevens.
The Wits women’s 2009 crew that
the
race for the second successive year: cox Anna-Belle Mulder; stroke Samantha de Reuck; 7 Tarryn Wright; 6 Georgina Westcott; 5 Meredith Stevens; 4 Ruth Oldert; 3 Sarah Smith; 2 Lori Evans and 1 Claudia Hazelwood.
The women’s section remained strong and won the boat race again. In the final, said Oldert, the crew did not have a good start but ‘hauled in Rhodes and reached the critical corner slightly ahead. After a risky move from the cox [AnnaBelle Mulder], Wits gained the upper hand and drew clear of Rhodes, passing under the bridge to secure the title for a second year in a row.’
Polasek was a dominant figure in the 2009 USSA sprint regatta, winning the skulls, doubles, fours and eights. He represented South Africa in the world rowing championships in Poznan, Poland, and was elected Sportsman of the Year again.
In 2010, one man and three women were selected for the blues and grudge teams. The women were third at the boat race with the ‘B’ crew second in their division. Claudia Hazelwood, who had started rowing at Wits five years earlier, was selected to represent South Africa at the World Student Games in Hungary in a coxless four that was placed sixth in the ‘A’ final.
Maxine Pinto – the women’s captain in 2011 and 2012 – recalled the club undergoing a major rebuilding phase from 2010. The majority of the rowers from the men’s and women’s winning boat race eights were graduating or had stopped racing competitively. In 2011, Wits won the men’s coxed four and women’s lightweight double at Vanderkloof. The club struggled a little to put together two men’s and women’s eights, but Ruth Oldert and Stephen Mattushek were selected for blues, and Samantha de Reuk, Michael Marshall and Maxine Pinto for grudges.
Wits men’s captain Stephen Mattushek commented that he had not won many races in 2011. ‘I’d finished in second place many times. But of those second places, some were crucial in my rise to international level.’ He competed at the under-23 world championships in Amsterdam, where he and Marcus Crowther were placed second behind Germany in the ‘B’ final. He had just finished the race when he was asked by the national coach to keep rowing and join the senior squad.
Stephen Mattushek, Sisanda Msekele and Samantha de Reuck were selected for the South African team to compete at the 2011 world rowing championships in Bled, Slovenia. Msekele was a blind student at Wits and represented the female senior squad. De Reuck as the cox and Mattushek rowed in the adaptive boat crew.
In 2012, the Wits men’s rowing team returned from the university boat race empty-handed. The university also failed to put together a women’s team. The ‘A’ boat qualified for the ‘C’ final, where Rhodes outpaced them by two boat lengths. The Wits ‘B’ boat qualified for the ‘E’ final,
and claimed seventh position through beating Stellenbosch and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University by three boat lengths.
The coach, Alex Pullinger, believed it was important to put the team’s performance in context and to consider the level of the Pretoria, Cape Town and University of Johannesburg crews that took the top three positions. ‘Most of the Tukkies oarsmen are internationals,’ he said, referring in particular to Matthew Brittain, the son of a former Wits rower. The younger Brittain had recently won gold in the men’s lightweight coxless fours event at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
In 2013, Stephen Mattushek became president of the Wits boat club with Lloyd Tinney and Tamlin Johnson his men’s and women’s captains. There was much to be done and notable achievements were few and far between. At that year’s USSA sprints, Stephen Mattushek and Cara Eddey made the grudge crews and at the boat race, the men’s ‘A’ eight were placed fifth and received the ‘most improved trophy’.
The men were sixth in the boat race at Port Alfred, while the club report added: ‘The girls’ team needs attention – they were missed at this regatta.’
Still competing at a high level in 2013 was Claudia Hazelwood, a Wits lecturer and parttime student, who competed in the double-scull rowing class at the World Student Games in Kazan, Russia. She and her partner were knocked out before they could make it into the finals but, said Hazelwood, to experience the Games, ‘was a real privilege and so exciting ... being knocked out was one of those pills you need to swallow, take it in your stride and learn from it.’
The period 2000 to 2013 had seen the boat club experience the highs and lows of student sport. Winning the boat race was as important as ever but student sport had become increasingly competitive. Wits rowers had lost ground to institutes benefitting from the implementation of a high-performance sporting culture.
won
boat
Stephen Mattushek competed for South Africa in 2011 at the under-23 world championships in Amsterdam and the world rowing championships in Bled.
Samantha de Reuck represented Wits in their 2008-09 boat race successes and competed for South Africa at the world championships.
Anthony Lester collected the ‘Club of the Year’ award from Richard Nortje in 2008. He was later part of the Thames Rowing Club team that won at Henley in 2015 and 2016.
Rugby
Wits rugby appeared to make progress in 2000. It entered four senior teams into the Golden Lions Grand Challenge league as well as under-21 and under-19 teams. The interest that existed in the game at the university was further demonstrated by an inter-faculty competition that provided opportunities for players not wishing to commit themselves to league rugby.
In 2001, the club nearly folded again, with sometimes only fifteen players making practices and junior members leaving for Wanderers. Neil Stokes provides intriguing detail of the club’s position in his 100 Years of Wits Rugby. He begins by referring to a memorable function to celebrate the 21st anniversary of WOBS, the Wits Old Boys team. He wrote that the celebration was attended by 90 old boys, some arriving from other South African provinces and overseas and. They decided to do something about Wits rugby:
Gary Davies formed a strong new committee of old boys for the 2002 to 2004 seasons, radically overhauling all aspects of the club’s playing affairs, administration and finances. Major fund-raising initiatives were instituted, with input from old boys, and the significant FNB sponsorship was secured. The club became the most racially integrated and harmonious in the union in that decade, with several black coaches, a black manager, and certainly no need for racial quotas and targets on the playing side.
Rugby’s sports officer Conan Olivier began the 2002 club report: ‘What a lot can happen in a year! A year ago, the club was in danger of closing, until a concerned group of old boys intervened … a highlight was the first team winning the Senior Grand Challenge knock-out trophy at Ellis Park’. There was also individual success, most notably Tsepo Kokoali being part of the successful South African under-21 team that won the IRB under-21 World Cup.
The coaching staff reflected an exciting blend of youth and experience. Dalisizwe Ndebele was appointed first team coach. One of the longserving players, Marc Barnett, thought that ‘this was the turning point for the club … Dalis had a special way of making the players believe in themselves and the momentum started to gain pace.’ Ndebele was assisted by a national sevens player ‘Mac’ Masina; former Transvaal number 8 Kenny Smit was in charge of the second team, and the juniors were guided by Att Shields and Riaan Viljoen.
Wits was one of very few clubs in Gauteng to exceed quota requirements, ‘not because we had to, but because of our ongoing transformation of the club’. The development programme involved adopting Kagiso Primary School whose rugby players were ferried twice weekly to Wits to train under Matthew Higginson and his team of coaches.
The 2003 season was even more successful. The first team won the Senior Grand Challenge, defeating Eldoronians at Ellis Park in a closely contested final. The under-21 and under-19
teams reached their respective finals, while the second and third teams were second in their leagues.
Club members worked hard in all aspects of the game. The Kagiso school project was a thriving operation, with players representing Wits over weekends in under -13, -15, -16 and -18 teams. In addition, a women’s team was established. Conan Olivier commented:
With 300 players registered in the mainstream teams, including sevens and women’s rugby, some 80 schoolchildren in our development programme, and then the 200 players involved in inter-faculty rugby, we are second only to RAU as the largest club in Johannesburg.
After the highs of 2003, the first team struggled in the top division of Gauteng rugby in 2004. The experience was nevertheless invaluable, not least the impressive performances of the lower teams. First team captain and scrum half Trevor Crouse was selected for SA Maccabi, Quaggas and led the Golden Lions’ amateur team; Ryan Dube and Arthur Mate were chosen for Zimbabwe; and Wayne Pollack won senior provincial honours.
After relegation in 2004, the Wits first team won the Neser Cup in 2005, and Mike Rowley and Stefan Hartman received senior provincial call-ups.
Louwrens Badenhorst was appointed firstteam coach and Tony Purchase succeeded Gareth Weinrich as chairman in 2006. Purchase had completed a civil engineering degree at Wits during 1975 to 1978 but played rugby for the club until 1999. He then coached the under-19s from 2003 to 2005. He had played through rugby’s dramatic changes in the shift to professionalism: ‘Gone were the days when there were annual membership fees to join the clubs. Now people won’t play rugby unless they get paid.’
He recalled working with Goodwill Moyo who would succeed him as chairman: ‘ex-St Stithians, he arrived in the ’90s and was a staunch Witsie, serving as a player, coach, chairman etc.’
According to Barnett, Wits were unbeaten for virtually the entire 2006 season. Randfontein were thrashed 50-23 but the match that stood out was the Senior Grand Challenge final against Wanderers at Ellis Park. Wits scored a try after the full-time siren and the teams were locked at 29-29. Barnett remembered the captain, Craig Folly, addressing the players during the break: ‘Guys, we have come this far and we are not leaving the field without a win.’
‘From a man of few words,’ said Barnett, ‘the statement was telling.’ Wits piled on the pressure as Wanderers wilted. Twenty-one points were added during extra-time to reach 50 and take the title comfortably.
In an exciting season, the second and third teams topped their logs, while the under-21s and under-19s finished second in their respective leagues. Ashwin Willemse and Solly Tyibilika played for Wits at a time when they were also playing for the Springboks.
Tsepo Kokoali, was part of the South African team that won the IRB under-21 World Cup in 2002, and was later called upon by Free State Cheetahs, Sharks and Golden Lions.
Trevor Crouse, Wits captain during 2003-04 and twice named ‘Player of the Year’, represented the Golden Lions Sub-Union.
Tony Purchase, player, coach and chairman over more than thirty years.
In 2007, Wits were seventh overall in the Pirates Grand Challenge. The first team finished in mid-table, with the under-21s fifth and the under-19s sixth. The season was partly disrupted by the union’s decision to institute the highly unpopular semi-professional ‘Predator’ competition. A Wits spokesman Charles Kirsten described it as ‘just irritating’.
The situation did not improve and Tony Purchase described the 2008 season ‘as tough as it gets.’ Wits battled hard but with little success in the short-lived Predator league. In the course of numerous late league schedule changes, Wits won the Senior Grand Challenge; the under-19 side lost in the final of the Pirates Grand Challenge and the under-21s went down in their semi-final. Rewards followed for Michael Sephton-Poutney, Devin Montgomery, Charles Baggott, Cairan Haynes and Mwezi Macingwane who made the provincial under-19 team; Tyrell Tittinger the under-21s and Pierre du Toit and Chris Eyre the senior amateur side. Wits celebrated a memorable centenary in 2009 during which many events took place. It was Tony Purchase’s last year as chairman and he recalled ‘the importance of the centenary publication and a gala dinner at the Montecasino with about 500 people. All the former players came, some from overseas; there was a table for the Springboks … Wilf Rosenberg, Richard Prentis, Alan Menter, Joe Kaminer, Clive Ulyate, James Small, Piet Kruger.’
Andy Royle took over as rugby coach and manager during 2009. He recalled a decent season, but 2010 was unusual as they hosted the Netherlands during the football World Cup. Wits gave up their facilities to the visitors, and made use of the Sturrock Park fields.
‘It was an exciting time for rugby,’ said Royle. ‘We heard Varsity Cup could expand into Varsity Shield, so with chairman Goodwill Moyo, we put together a plan for a ‘B’ division Varsity Cup. We sent it to Francois Pienaar at the beginning of 2010 and the Varsity Shield was born a year later.’
In 2011, Wits was accepted into the Varsity Shield to compete against the University of the Western Cape, Central University of Technology (CUT), University of Fort Hare and University of KwaZulu-Natal. The competition was hosted
over two rounds, home and away, with the top two teams competing in the final.
The club started focusing on the students playing in the junior levels. The Varsity Cup in 2011 stipulated 16 out of 23 players had to be students and the rest could be any players under 25. It opened up opportunities for youngsters to play at a higher level. Wits supported the competition’s aim to encourage students to study and the gradual move towards entire squads being made up of full-time students.
In the Varsity Shield in 2011, Wits won six out of their eight matches and topped the log on points. It earned them the right to host the final against CUT Ixias, a match that was lost 25-18. It was disappointing, but promotion to the Varsity Cup hinged on the following year’s tournament.
The same two sides reached the final in Bloemfontein in 2012. It was a dramatic encounter. A strong home side generally held the advantage for much of the first half and at the first strategic break led by 11 points to a penalty by Wits’ flyhalf Kyle Peyper.
Wits lifted their game when play resumed and were rewarded when lock Rinus Bothma crashed over for a try from a line-out drive. The conversion from Peyper levelled the scores, but Wits went ahead 15-10 on the stroke of halftime.
The second half opened with both sides kicking penalties. Drama followed as Wits were rocked by two yellow cards. CUT battled to capitalise, but Wits rose to the occasion in defence and stunned the crowd by striking the next blow. Peyper kicked a sensational drop goal from near the halfway line that restored the seven-point lead.
Ten minutes from the end, Wits’s defence finally cracked when CUT’s forwards forced their way over near the right corner. They were unable to convert and Wits held on to their slender 19-17 lead. It was a gutsy performance that saw them become the first team to earn promotion to the Varsity Cup competition.
Wits had an official ceremony where team captain Devin Montgomery handed over the Varsity Shield trophy to Vice-Chancellor Professor Loyiso Nongxa, himself a former player for Fort Hare’s ‘Baa-baas’ team. The ceremony was held on the Wits Great Hall steps during the university’s lunch break. Speeches were made and students and supporters gathered to celebrate an event broadcast live on the ‘Voice of Wits’. The university’s annual report for 2012 stated:
By far the outstanding sporting success for the university in 2012 was Wits’s promotion to the toptier national university rugby competition, the Varsity Cup. This achievement brings a new and exciting dimension to sport at Wits, and continues to set a benchmark for other clubs. Promotion to the Cup tournament not only secures a bigger competition fee from the sponsor, but will significantly increase television exposure for the university …
Wits did not win a match in the Varsity Cup in 2013, but were given a second chance the following year.
Wits First XV players celebrate winning the Senior Grand Challenge in 2006.
Richard Hiscox was selected for the junior provincial team and Quagga.
Devin Montgomery led Wits to victory in the Varsity Shield in 2012.
Soccer
Prior to the 1999/2000 season, head coach John Lathan warned that he would ‘crack the whip and steer the club to a new era of professionalism.’ He thought it important that he had been employed on a full-time basis. And during the season his hardworking Wits side made progress to finish in sixth place in the PSL. Mamelodi Sundowns with 75 points were the champions for the third successive year, 24 points ahead of Wits’s 51. The university was nevertheless satisfied with 12 wins, 15 draws and a 36-29 goal difference in their 34 matches.
One disappointment was the departure of two key players at the end of the season. The inspirational captain Peter Gordon retired after playing 442 matches, scoring 57 goals and winning a cap for South Africa against Nigeria. He was followed by Kevin Rafferty, a successful player from the Wits academy, who joined Moroka Swallows after representing the ‘Clever Boys’ on almost 300 occasions.
Half of the playing squad at the beginning of the new millennium were students. There was an element of inconsistency in their play, which showed in 2000/01 under their new coach, Scotsman Jim Bone. Wits slipped to 13th, winning 8 and drawing 14 of their 34 matches.
The following year, Roger de Sá was appointed head coach and he immediately restored order. They finished seventh in the PSL in 2001/02, thanks to a 3-1 victory on the final day of the season over Orlando Pirates. Wits won 13 and drew 11 of their 34 matches, with a 39-30 goal difference.
In February 2002, the club announced a major multimillion sponsorship deal with the Bidvest Group Limited. Chairman Raymond Hack told a newspaper: ‘Through this sponsorship, the club is going to create opportunities for the players to enable them to have something to fall back on through education and sport’.
Under De Sá, Wits secured a third-place finish in the PSL in 2002/03. Orlando Pirates (61) and SuperSport United (55) were ahead of the ‘Clever Boys’ (54) who won 15 and drew 9 of their 34 matches. They also reached two semi-finals, the SAA Super 8 and the Coca Cola Cup, while Benson Nhlongo, Gert Schalkwyk, Tsietsi Mahoa and Wayne Roberts made the national team. In the end-of-season awards, Roger de Sá was named PSL’s ‘coach of the season’.
Kaizer Chiefs were top of a league reduced to 16 teams in 2003/04. Wits finished fourth, winning 13 and drawing 13 of their 30 matches, and returning an impressive goal difference of 41-18. However, the club failed to build on this success and the following season surrendered their top-flight status.
It came as a shock when the 2004/05 season took a turn for the worse; one source blaming De Sá’s ‘ultra-defensive tactics, coupled with a mass player exodus at the start of the season’. The side scored just 24 goals in 30 league matches to finish bottom of the league. Having finished fourth the season before, it was a record fall to automatic relegation for any PSL side.
The ailing Wits team nevertheless had a remarkable run in the 2005 ABSA Cup (later Nedbank Cup). They drew 0-0 with Kaizer Chiefs in the last 32, but won 4-3 on penalties. They defeated Moroka Swallows 2-1 in the quarter-final and Dynamos 2-0 in the semi-final. A tough clash followed in the final against Pitso Mosimane’s Supersport United. Wits went down 1-0 and Roger de Sá left the club, only to return in 2007.
At the start of 2005-06, Boebie Solomons –from Santos, Cape Town and Maritzburg United –was appointed as head coach. Thanks to a healthy cash investment from Bidvest, the students were able to bounce back immediately. They started the season with six successive victories in the Mvela Golden League sponsored by Tokyo Sexwale’s Mvelaphanda Group. The second tier of South African football was won comfortably and Wits returned to the PSL in 2006/07.
Bidvest had been involved in football for a few years when, in 2006, the conglomerate bought a 60 per cent majority shareholding in the university club. At that time, Wits were renowned for their youth development, but later the club changed the model and became a ‘buying club’ as Brian Joffe began flexing his financial muscle and targeting the newly named Absa Premiership.
Success did not come overnight. Wits struggled to replicate the same form that made them finish among the top four teams. They were thirteenth out of 16 clubs on their return in 2006/07, winning 9 and drawing 8 of their matches. Marcos de Jesus scored eight goals but there was a 29-34 goal deficit,.
In June 2007, Roger de Sá rejoined the club after a two-year absence. He replaced caretaker Eric Tinkler, who had succeeded Boebie Solomons during the 2006-07 season. ‘When I was there with Eric,’ De Sá told the Sowetan, ‘we had a budget of around R6-million per year and the club was sustainable. We were winning and made money by selling many players to the big clubs.’
Wits were 12th in 2007/08 – a season when Moeneeb Josephs was selected for the African Cup of Nations in Ghana – and sixth in 2008/09. The captain Tefu Mashamaite said a loss of focus in 2009/10 saw Wits struggle in the second round of the league after a blistering start to the season: ‘After we beat Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns, we thought we had arrived. We became complacent and paid the price.’ In the end, they finished tenth – Calvin Kadi scoring 11 goals, third most in the league.
Bidvest Wits appeared to have their focus back towards the end of 2009/10, just in time for the Nedbank Cup (formerly ABSA Cup) competition. They reached the semi-final against Free State Stars at Olen Park, Potchefstroom. The Stars began positively and had the lead inside five minutes through Zimbabwean international Kingston Nkhatha. But from then on it was largely Bidvest Wits in control. Kennedy Mweene in the Stars’ goal was forced into making a number of fine saves before the ‘Clever Boys’ were rewarded
Charles Yohane, a Zimbabwean international, represented Wits on 268 occasions during 1997 to 2006. He was later a development coach at the university.
Neil Winstanley played for Wits and Bidvest Wits on 194 occasions between 1995 and 2010. During this period, he also spent time playing for Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns, and represented South Africa in 19 internationals.
two minutes after half-time. Nyiko Tshabalala made ground down the wing and crossed to Marawaan Bantam who showed good composure in levelling the scores.
Mweene then kept Bidvest Wits at bay and the game went into an additional 30 minutes. Eventually, the Stars cracked with three minutes remaining. Mark Haskins chipped the ball over a helpless Mweene to put Wits in front. Moments later, Vilakazi struck the post twice, his first effort rebounding to safety. The second fell into the path of Haskins, who sealed the win with a firmly struck goal.
The final against AmaZulu was played at the magnificent Soccer City on 22 May 2010, the first competitive fixture to be hosted at the iconic venue that would stage the FIFA World Cup final that year. The match brought down the curtain on a tough PSL season, which was congested due to the following month’s World Cup programme.
With a total prize purse of R19.3-million, including R6-million for the winners, R2.5-million for the runners-up and R1-million for the losing semi-finalists, the Nedbank Cup was the most lucrative domestic soccer competition in Africa. The 71 956 fans delighted in the occasion and, according to Sport 24, ‘rocked and rolled inside the new stadium and played their part in celebrating the opening of this incredible soccer cathedral by creating a tremendous festive atmosphere.’
Bidvest Wits went into the final very much the underdogs, but dictated matters in the first half and dominated possession for the better part of the game. They created more chances and AmaZulu goalkeeper Nicolas Gindre was called into action on several occasions in a scrappy opening half. A measure of the pressure that AmaZulu’s players were under was shown in the awarding of three yellow cards. In contrast, ‘man of the match’ Michael Morton played a sterling role in keeping the Wits defence solid and the Usuthu’s strikers under control.
The second half saw a superb battle, with AmaZulu putting the pressure on Bidvest Wits initially through a number of shots on goal. Wits’s goalkeeper, Francis Chansa, was never really troubled and his side gradually built their ascendancy. Bantam had to come off in the 50th minute as he struggled with an injury, and his place
was taken by the Brazilian midfielder Fabricio Rodrigues, who made an impact late in the game. With thirteen minutes to play, the stalemate was finally broken. Bidvest Wits’s Sipho Mngomezulu set up the goal with a sublime cross chip towards the far post. Goalkeeper Gindre and his defence were caught out of position and unable to stop Rodrigues side-footing the ball into the net.
AmaZulu coach Neil Tovey immediately threw caution to the wind in making substitutions. But the ‘Clever Boys’ seized control at the death. In the second minute of injury time Sifiso Vilakazi picked up the ball in space on the left and beat Gindre with a neat shot into the far corner. Another goal came two minutes later when Sifiso Myeni’s well-executed pass between AmaZulu central defenders put Vilakazi in the clear. Gindre was beaten on a one-on-one, enabling Bidvest Wits to romp to a stunning 3-0 win.
Bidvest Wits promptly contributed R1-million of their R6-million winnings to Wits University to support students who performed well academically but were in financial need. Bidvest CEO, Brian Joffe made the announcement at an event held on the library lawns to celebrate the historic Nedbank Cup victory. ‘This is an expression of our commitment to supporting Wits students,’ said Joffe. Wits’s deputy vicechancellor (academic), Professor Yunus Ballim, thanked Bidvest, adding, ‘We have great plans to develop soccer [at Wits] and in society, for it is through sport that we can cross boundaries, promote meaningful transformation and step into the world of the “other”.’
Over the next three seasons, Bidvest Wits returned to their unpredictable ways. In 2010/11, they were sixth, but in Roger de Sá’s last season in 2011/12, they dropped to a disappointing 12th on the league table, winning seven and drawing 12 of 30 matches.
Changes were made to the club structure. Jose Ferreira was enticed to Wits by Brian Joffe at the beginning of 2012 to run the club‚ as well as overseeing the hiring of Gavin Hunt as coach in May 2013. De Sá departed and Antonio López Habas, a former Spanish coach, stayed briefly. Clive Barker, who was once at the helm of Bafana Bafana, was called in as interim coach for the last five months of the 2012/13 season. In guiding Wits to fourth place behind Kaizer Chiefs, Platinum Stars and Orlando Pirates, he secured the all-important top-8 finish in the PSL.
Ferreira publicly thanked Barker for the remarkable work he had done and commented that ‘Clive will always be remembered as an important part of our initial efforts to turn things around at our club.’
The Amateurs
The amateur section of the university’s football was built on the Wits Internal Football League (WIFL). It comprised 28 teams in 2000 made up of ‘societies, faculties, residences and friends’. It had three divisions (premier, first and second) and two competitions (Schloss Cup for the first division and Baxter Cup for the second division).
Mark Haskins played for Bidvest Wits before becoming Head of Football at the university.
Bidvest Wits players celebrate winning the 2010 Nedbank Cup.
Roger de Sá, one of South Africa’s best-known football personalities.
For many years the amateurs provided support for the professional side. Players such as Shaun McKay, Gareth Devine, Nathan Venter, Rudi Costa, Sydney Nkalanga, Junaid Mashamaite and Katlego Pule moved through the ranks to the PSL team.
The amateurs also endeavoured to prove themselves within their own structures. They played in the Rand Central League and the SASSU club championships. Some players earned selection for Gauteng teams that participated in an interprovincial tournament in mid-year.
Various honours were achieved over the years. In 2002, Wits finished second in the SASSU club championships in Durban. A year later, Wits won the SASSU Gauteng league and the university’s under-20 team emerged triumphant in the Metropolitan Cup in Cape Town.
There were individual achievements. Talent Shiburi represented the SASSU provincial squad that won the SASSU interprovincial tournament at Pretoria Tech, and Tony Coyle, Rudi Costa and Sydney Nkalanga were selected for South African squads that played in the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) youth championships.
By 2006, the internal league had grown to 36 teams, and the following year launched a website where members could obtain information on fixtures, results and upcoming events. Wits finished second to Tshwane University of Technology in the 2007 SASSU Gauteng league and qualified for the national championships in December at the University of Johannesburg.
There were 40 teams in the 2010 internal league. Student sides were selected to play in the USSA Gauteng and Phillips competitions, the latter a level lower than the South African Breweries (SAB) league. Wits finished second in their stream of the Phillips league in 2010, and sixth in the USSA Gauteng league. Rory Graggs
Women’s soccer
At the start of the new millennium, women’s football at Wits revolved to a great extent around Lydia ‘Skillz’ Monyepao. Her involvement in soccer began at school when she was invited to play in a five-a-side match and her teacher spotted her exceptional talent. She took the sport more seriously while studying for her Bachelor of Commerce degree at Wits and played for the national side, Banyana Banyana, 20 times. She was part of the team at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) African women’s championships in Nigeria in 2002 and again back home in 2004. She also helped Banyana Banyana finish runners-up at the 2003 All-Africa Games in Nigeria.
‘I was nicknamed Skillz, because of what I did on the field,’ she recalled. At club level, Monyepao led the Wits team that won the SASSU student championships in 2002, and she then played for the Soweto women’s team that won the national club title in 2004. While at university, she also represented the South African team at the World Student Games in
and Katlego Pule were selected for the USSA national team that participated in the CUCSA games in Gaberone.
A major boost for university soccer occurred in 2013 when the Varsity Football Challenge was launched. It was the latest addition to the popular Varsity Sports initiative, with the new competition pitting the country’s best university men’s teams against each other in a format designed to boost the sport at tertiary level.
Eight universities participated in the first competition. Qualification was based on the 2012 USSA championships, and required teams to be registered with Varsity Sports.
Wits qualified as a losing quarter-finalist and should have done better in their first tournament involvement in 2013. They struggled from the onset, and won just one match 1-0 against Cape Town. In finishing their campaign seventh on the log, they failed to progress through to the knockout phase of the tournament.
During a year of opportunity, the Bidvest Wits under-19 team played in international tournaments overseas. They were invited by Danish giants Brondby IF to take part in a twoday competition, as well as the Lyngby Cup. It was Wits’s third appearance at the Brondby Cup. They achieved second place in 2011 and then went on to clinch the cup in 2012 with some breath-taking performances that saw them score a total 34 goals on their way to victory.
The Bidvest Wits academy was playing its part in youth development. In June 2013, former under-19 player Lebogang Phiri signed a fouryear deal to play for Brondby’s first team after impressing at the youth tournament. He was described in the club report as ‘just one of many young talents nurtured by Bidvest who have gone on to become professionals. Stanton Fredericks, Josta Dladla, Sibusiso Vilakazi, Sifiso Myeni are but a few of the academy’s luminaries.’
2001 (China) and 2003 (South Korea), as well as various CUCSA Games. In February 2012, she was appointed Banyana Banyana manager and accompanied the team to the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Wits women’s football progressed through the 2000s. They won the Rand Central league in 2004 and were ranked fifth in Gauteng for several years. In time, they entered two sides in the Rand Central league, finishing fifth in division one and third in division two in 2010. Marcel Kutumela was selected for the USSA national team that participated in the CUCSA Games in Gaborone in July 2010. Important developments took place with the advent of Varsity Football. Qualification was based on the 2012 USSA championships. To qualify, women’s teams needed to be one of the semi-finalists, and also be associated with Varsity Sports.
Wits’s first significant achievement was when they qualified in 2013 for the USSA tournament. They made exciting progress over the next decade.
Sifiso Myeni made 126 appearances for Wits and five for South Africa.
Lydia ‘Skillz’ Monyepao played for Banyana Banyana on 20 occasions.
Marcel Kutumela was selected for the USSA national team and participated in the CUCSA Games.
Gareth Schnehage is pictured at the South African Open at Menlyn Shopping Centre where he played Craig Ruane in a first round match. He was eventually knocked out by an Englishman Simon Parke – former world number 2 – in the quarter final. This photographic design was the cover of Squash South Africa’s website and brochures for a few years.
Squash
The squash club offers first-class facilities and has always been one of the largest sports on campus in terms of membership. In 2000, nine men’s and two women’s sides were spread across the various Gauteng leagues.
Wits also participated in the annual SASSU tournament. In 2000, they travelled to Cape Town, where the men finished fourth and the women sixth. Gareth Schnehage and Mampye Matlou were selected for their respective SASSU representative teams. Schnehage was included in the national students’ side to compete in the World Student Games in the Czech Republic, and for Gauteng ‘A’ in the men’s interprovincial tournament.
The squash club had 15 courts and 500 members in 2001. They had just five men’s teams participating in the reserve, fifth, ninth, fourteenth and nineteenth leagues, but there was a rise in enthusiasm amongst the women and three teams played in the second, fourth and fifth leagues. The club hoped to strengthen its top levels and widen the sport’s appeal to more social players by introducing an internal Wits league.
The men’s first team was promoted to the premier league in 2002, but the club was down to two women’s sides in the second and fifth leagues. Both men and women entered teams into the SASSU tournament at Pretoria in July. Lloyd Barcza, a second-year BSc student, was selected to represent South Africa at the World Student Games in Linz, Austria, in August. He also played for Gauteng East in the men’s interprovincial Jarvis Cup tournament.
In 2003 there was a further decline in competitive players. The club had four men’s teams in the first, fourth, seventh and tenth leagues, and one women’s team in the fifth league. Part of the reason was that Wits had begun to host internal tournaments that ‘proved to be entertaining and highly competitive each year’.
Lloyd Barcza continued to impress and by 2005 was a national top 20 player as well as a national student team representative. Wits players were also doing well in the lower leagues. In 2005, the club won the seventh and eleventh men’s leagues, which resulted in their receiving the runner-up award in Gauteng’s ‘best overall league club’ competition. Further success came through winning the SASSU men’s ‘B’ section, with Barcza named ‘best player’.
Squash continued to receive awards in 2006. They won the ‘best men’s Gauteng league club’ title, having finished victorious in the seventh, tenth and twelfth competitions. Adding to their laurels, they were named the ‘most improved club’ in the Gauteng league.
The internal competitions promoted interest amongst social players and from 2007, the club had men’s teams in Gauteng leagues ranking from first to eleventh for men and third to fourth for women. The sixth and eleventh leagues were won and a runner-up placing was achieved in the men’s fourth league.
A boost for squash at the university was the
opportunity to host an annual tournament in the Gauteng Grand Prix series. Some of South Africa’s top-ten men and women would take part.
Wits squash struggled to compete against the Afrikaans-speaking universities because they did not have the financial backing to offer similarly attractive bursaries to top players amongst school-leavers. RAU (later University of Johannesburg) won SASSA’s overall squash title in 2004 and with Pretoria dominated the competition over the next decade.
Long-serving squash administrator, Roland Skinner, noted that Wits aimed to improve their standing in squash by entering a Monday-night business league at Parkview. From 2006, it gave promising student players exposure to opponents from the first and reserve leagues. The top Wits men were in the fourth league but, said Skinner, ‘after three six-month seasons of business league, and taking into account advice from squash legend Craig van der Wath who ran the business league, we received the nod that our players would be competitive, and Wits fielded a first league men’s team.’
Christopher Cherry, Jacek Lyzwa, Andrew Pfister, Patrick Khumalo, Zweli Makgalemele, Tagara Hove, Jaishal Chiba and Sebongile Seroto (the leading female player) rose to the challenge and were part of the teams that played business league, opening the door into first league in 2010. Also key to the success were alumni members Andreas Bergmann, Udo Bergmann, Vimal Lala, Dhiren Parbhoo and Roland Skinner who helped fund the business league exercise.
A player of interest was Alexis Francois, who studied at Wits for a year as part of an exchange programme between Wits and his university in France. The top player at Wits during that year, he had been ranked within the top 70 in France at the time. He played for the Wits first team in one of the lower leagues. He did not lose a league match.
The Wits squash club was competitive in 2011 under coach Gary Plumstead. They finished eighth out of 16 teams in the USSA tournament, and the men performed well in the Gauteng second, third and fourth leagues. Patrick Khumalo, Grant Woodward and Jaishal Chiba were selected for the Central Gauteng provincial team.
The University of Johannesburg were USSA champions in 2012 and 2013 when 17 institutions took part. Wits finished seventh on both occasions. Their star player was Paul Cresswell, who was selected for the SASSU team in 2013. When the USSA committee presented their ‘special’ awards, he was named the ‘most promising player’.
Wits played in the Central Gauteng first league from 2010 to 2012 when they were demoted. They had two teams in the reserve league in 2013 as the second team had come up from the second league. The arrangement lasted just one season as the Wits first team won the reserve league and was promoted.
Gareth Schnehage
Roland Skinner recalled Wits producing quality players in terms of first league squash such as Stainly Katoposha (player/ coach), Grant Woodward (a top student player), Christopher Cherry, Byron Roos, Andrew Pfister, Jacek Lyzwa, Emmanuel Musefwe (player/coach; ranked sixteenth in South Africa), Kyle Maree (the first student player who could hold his own at number 1), Tagara Hove, Patrick Khumalo, Zweli Makgalemele, Lithemba Velleman, Paul Cresswell (a top student player), Sheldon Erasmus, Ushir Purbhoo and Michael CamdenSmith.
Of those listed above, Grant Woodward, Kyle Maree, Patrick Khumalo, Zweli Makgalemele, Paul Cresswell, Armin De Weerdt and Jaishal Chiba represented Central Gauteng whilst playing for Wits. Gary Naidoo played for Kwazulu Natal; Sheldon Erasmus for Northerns and later Central Gauteng, and Michael CamdenSmith for Easterns.
In terms of ladies’ squash, Wits has always had the aspiration to field a first league team, but did not have the depth. Sebongile Seroto (who later represented Central Gauteng/ Jo’burg Squash)
Table Tennis
was part of teams that were at the top of ladies’ second and third leagues, but Wits never had the numbers to field a full first-league ladies’ team.
At the Wits table tennis club, fine players invariably arrive suddenly, surprise other universities and then disappear. In 2000, Sherissa Ramchundra was selected for the SASSU national team. The following year five members of the club represented Gauteng at the South African open and interprovincial championships. They included senior men Kurt Geneapril and Quinton Volkwyn; senior women Lorna and Milly Volkwyn, and an under-20 player known as ‘Shahan’. In the South African open, Shahan lost in the semi-final and coach Edwin Sisya in the quarter-finals. Three Witsies were included in the subsequent South African rankings: Sisya (12th), Geneapril (13th) and Quinton Volkwyn (14th).
Quinton Volkwyn noted that ‘Milly is my mom and Lorna my aunt’. He grew up in the Johannesburg suburb of Bosmont, where table tennis was a big sport. He received national colours for table tennis at high school and qualified as an international umpire. He explained the Wits’ connection:
We hosted the Wits club and then amalgamated with them. We were called the Wits team even though quite a few of us, including myself were not students. There were far better facilities at Wits than the recreation centre. I was the chairperson of the club and administered the internal league which was competitive. We really enjoyed playing on campus and getting to know the students. The administration supported us with everything we needed. It continued for two or three years until I went overseas.
The 2002 club report noted that Quinton Volkwyn was selected for the provincial senior ‘A’ team. It was the year Oteng ‘Zah’ Tlapeng arrived at Wits, and in time became a major figure in university table tennis. He had learnt to play the game at Selebi-Phikwe Senior Secondary School in Botswana, where he captained the school team and in 1996, became the national under-23 champion. He also excelled in his studies and the Debswana diamond mining company sponsored him for his medical degree at Wits.
He joined the table tennis club and became involved with the governing body of South African table tennis as an ‘additional’
committee member. He was later appointed as the secretary of the committee.
Sketchy reports suggest that the Wits club was active at that stage. Four members were chosen to represent Gauteng at the 2004 SASSU tournament, and the following year the club registered 19 members during orientation week.
Three players represented Wits in the 2005 SASSU table tennis tournament at the Tshwane University of Technology (Soshanguve campus). Chris Lau came fourth in the men’s singles. Matt Hubber and Mlungisi Mabedia finished in the top eight in the same event. Hubber and Lau were also third in the men’s doubles. All three players were selected for the SASSU national team, and Oteng Tlapeng was elected SASSU national coach and ex-officio member of its executive committee.
Wits continued to do well in 2006, Matt Hubber was chosen for the FASU Games team, whose head coach was Tlapeng. The talented Chris Lau won two gold medals at the South African championships and was subsequently selected for the Gauteng senior men’s side.
Tlapeng became increasingly involved in South African table tennis. During the 2006 All-Africa University Games hosted by South Africa, he was the team coach and head of the local organising committee. He was head coach of the South African team at the World Student Games in Thailand in 2007 and at the African universities championships in Uganda in 2008.
By then, Tlapeng was serving as a medical doctor at Gaborone’s Princess Marina Hospital. He continued to play table tennis and in April 2010 won the Botswana Cup singles title. Tragically, a few months later he was killed in a car crash. The Wits club set up an annual tournament in his memory.
In 2010, Wits had three teams in different divisions of Central Gauteng table tennis. They also finished third in the USSA national club championships, which were held at the Northern Cape Further Education and Training College in December.
Wits were down to two teams in the Gauteng league in 2011 – one in premier, one in second – with both teams making a poor start.
Wits’s strong 2013 team (left to right): Chris Britz, Michael CamdenSmith, Armin De Weerdt and Paul Cresswell.
Tang Soo Do
Tang soo do means ‘the way of the T’ang (Chinese) empty hand’. It is one of the oldest of the Korean fighting arts, most of which were later combined into taekwondo. ‘Tang soo do, however, maintained its unique character,’ wrote Velani Kona, ‘and encompasses all ranges of fighting, teaching devastating kicks, powerful hand strikes, grappling, pressure point knockouts and weapons training ... students progress through ten coloured belts to a probationary black belt and then onto the dan levels of black belt.’
In 2001, several tournaments culminated in the selection of national and president’s teams. Wits instructor Gregory Hart, a third dan black belt, Lisel Whillier and Reggie Muzariri travelled to Athens as part of their respective teams to compete against six other countries. All did well, with Whillier winning gold for green-belt forms and Muzariri the same in red-belt fighting. Hart won silver in the men’s senior black-belt division.
The club continued to build and hold successful gradings with students reaching higher belt levels. Wits was co-host of the South African championships in the Old Mutual Sports Hall in 2008. They collected four gold, five silver and two bronze medals for the various forms: sparring, weapons and team events.
The awarding of medals at all tournaments became an attraction and encouraged membership. So did regular, successful grading sessions. Wits awards were also important and in 2009, Ané van der Merwe, a highly accomplished exponent of the art, became the club’s first recipient of a full blue and was awarded a bursary.
Katrijn Thys, who became Wits’ co-chairperson pointed to another key factor in the club’s success: ‘We try to participate in as many competitions as we can …’
In 2010, tang soo do was named Wits’s ‘Club of the Year’. A major contributory factor was the achievement of six students who competed in the South African championships held in Bloemfontein. They came back with 14 medals, seven of them gold.
Wits was almost as successful at the 2011 South African championships, winning 13 medals, of which five were gold. One of the winners, Ané van der Merwe, was selected for the South African team that competed at an international tournament in Poland.
A particularly impressive performance occurred at the 2012 Free State championships in Bloemfontein where five students won 20 medals. Katrijn Thys, Ané van der Merwe and Zama Mbambo each won five, Titus Masike three and Ngwato Kekana two in a competition that attracted four clubs. Van der Merwe was named the Haedong Kumdo senior student of the year.
In 2013, Titus Masike became the club’s second full blue. Five years later, he would receive the honour cum laude
Ané van der Merwe was a winner at the 2011 South African championships, and selected for the national team to compete in Poland.
RIGHT: Katrijn Thys was prominent as both administrator and competitor in developing tang soo do at Wits.
Tsegofatso Titus Masike received a full blue in 2013, and was awarded cum laude five years later.
RIGHT: The 2011 ‘Club of the Year’: Celeste Jonker, Portia Moketla, Master Gregory Hart, Katrijn Thys, Quintin van Rooyen (Sports Officer) and Ané van der Merwe.
Tennis
The 2000 season ended on an encouraging note when Wits finished third in the annual SASSU tournament. For the first time in a decade the men’s team defeated Stellenbosch and Potchefstroom universities. Another pleasing aspect of the progress made was the revival in women’s tennis. A team performed well in the ‘B’ section.
Four students – Eric Thalmann, Rob Conroy, Alex Moss and Taryn Esrock (who had previously added depth to the Southern Illinois University team) – were included in the Gauteng team to participate in the SASSU winter games at Durban. Thalmann and Conroy were subsequently selected for the SASSU national squad to compete at the CUCSA games in Mozambique.
In 2001, the Wits women’s team were placed in the SASSU ‘A’ section at the KwaZulu-Natal tournament. With the men maintaining their ‘A’ section position, Wits tennis was where it wanted to be. The one area of concern was that the club decided to enter only one men’s team in the Gauteng league. They played in the relatively low 2:3 section while the women competed in 1:2.
Wits secured a professional tennis coach, Fanie Hartman, for the latter part of 2001. He coached the men’s and women’s first teams every Thursday, while Alex Moss was responsible for the intermediate and beginner tennis members on Tuesday evenings.
Coaches changed regularly over the decade. Marius Masencamp, who had played on the professional tour in the 1980s, took over in 2002. A highlight of the season was the intervarsity league. It involved spending one Friday night a month playing strong opposition at Pretoria, Potchefstroom or Bloemfontein. Improvement showed and Wits did well in the August/ September Johannesburg league and fought determinedly at the SASSU week.
The 2003 season held much promise for the tennis club with a record number of students signing up for tennis and attending practices. A club report claimed greater depth than in previous years with both men and women fielding first and second teams. The season concluded with the SASSU tournament at Port Elizabeth where the men were placed sixth and the women seventh.
The lack of tennis coverage in the university publications between 2004 and 2006 suggests a relative lack of progress. A successful year followed in 2007. Membership grew from 65 members in 2006 to just over one hundred. The club also welcomed a new coach in André van Rooyen, a qualified professional who taught out of Old Parktonian Sports Club. The men’s first team participated in two leagues: the Sunday morning league, which ran from the beginning of July until the end of August and the night league, which was held during October. In both leagues the first team performed well, finishing third and second respectively.
The 2008 tennis report recorded a challenging but rewarding season. It noted that the club was sorry to bid farewell to coach André van
Rooyen, who had emigrated to New Zealand: ‘Thanks to his guidance and some heated interWits competitions, the men’s tennis team under new captain Tim Lloyd successfully retained their position in the USSA first league.’ Women’s tennis also began a new era under the leadership of captain, Kate Wood. They showed a membership increase and the team chosen for USSA performed well at Potchefstroom in December 2008. Under testing on-court temperatures, they managed to overcome a few injuries and secure a bronze medal in the second division.
The strong finish to the 2008 season translated into a consistent 2009 season for the whole club, with a commendable showing for both the men’s and women’s squads during the winter leagues. It was also the start of a capping tradition ahead of the 2009 USSA tournament hosted by Rhodes University. Men’s captain, Tim Lloyd, along with vice-captain Daniel Trollip, fondly recall the inaugural ceremony in the Bozzoli Pavilion:
Mindful that Wits is known for its strong academic, cultural, and sporting history, we wanted to instil a sense of pride among the players selected for USSA tournaments, and for their achievement to be recognised. This was the spirit at the 2009 capping ceremony with parents in attendance applauding each squad member on receipt of their Wits badges on the eve of the tournament. Players’ parents were wined and dined (read one food platter, two six packs of beer and a bottle of entry-level wine) on the tennis club’s menial budget, in a sincere attempt to convince them that two 21-year olds had it all under control and would take it upon ourselves to return all in one piece after seven days of tennis tomfoolery in Grahamstown. A hard sell.
Overall, the 2009 USSA tournament was another successful outing for the Wits tennis club – the men maintained their position in the first league, coming out on top in the relegation match against Tshwane Technikon, and the women were promoted to the first league.
The 2010 club championship was won by Kaylea Sher, an outstanding player who arrived at Wits with an impressive record. She had won the South African under-18 singles title as a 14-year-old, coming back dramatically from a set and 3-5 down to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. She had also played in many parts of the world, representing South Africa in a junior Federation Cup event, and participating in the junior world championships.
Clinton van der Berg wrote in a glowing Sunday Times report, that she was ‘an aggressive baseliner with a booming forehand – “it’s my best shot”.’
Kaylea Sher started at Wits in 2010 at the age of 16 turning 17. The Wits team ‘was super friendly and I felt most welcome there. They made tennis fun for me as we would socialise after the games and it was a good change from the highly competitive high school tennis I played’.
Wits tennis was delighted that their number one women’s player should dominate the 2010
Eric Thalmann
Kaylea Sher (above and below) was undefeated at the 2010 USSA tournament and was selected for the national student team.
USSA tournament. Kaylea Sher was undefeated and made the 2010/11 USSA tennis squad. She recalled representing USSA at the 2011 World Student Games in Shenzhen, China, a massive tournament, all students but including ATP and WPA ranked players from around the world:
That was one of my highlights, it was amazing, they re-did the whole town for the tournament; they built tennis courts, a stadium, accommodation, everything was brand new, a dining hall with everyone’s flags and every type of food. The whole world was there. How did I do there? I lost in the first round in a mad three-hour three-setter against a girl who was in the top 100 in the world.
Ultimate Frisbee
Ultimate frisbee (Ultimate) became competitive in South Africa from the early 2000s. It is a sport that incorporates some rules from netball and American football, whilst following a similar flow to hockey and soccer. According to a Wits club report the game involves:
… two teams (consisting of men and women), a plastic disc and a full field with two end zones, with the objective of the game being to score by catching the disc in the opponent’s end zone. Cool jumps, huge throws, and banter are involved. There is no referee; instead, the players on the field enforce the rules and decide the best way to solve on-field issues.
The size of an ultimate squad usually varies between ten and eighteen people but only seven players from each team can be on the field during play. During the year there were ultimate competitions for mixed, women’s, and open teams, with most attention in South Africa and the Wits club given to the mixed division.
Before official recognition by Wits Sport, ultimate frisbee was nurtured by Mike Weston who organised casual games at the old athletics stadium. Upon graduating, he passed the baton of developing and formalising ultimate to Dale Kitchin, Robert Freeman, and Mark Mthombeni Ka Dlamini. It was under these
What I took away from that tournament, I thought to myself that I am playing so well, I can make it and that is when I went to North-West (Potchefstroom) University in 2011 as they offered me full bursary. They had amazing sporting facilities; it was high performance geared with a gym and physio, but I was injured there from overuse and I had to have a wrist and elbow op.
Wits could not compete for players on a sporting level but could do so academically with Sher returning in 2015-17 to obtain her LLB (cum laude). ‘I kept up my academic side throughout,’ she said, ‘but I knew my arm was never going to be the same … I coached during that time – we used the Wits courts – but I didn’t play as I was in rehab for my op.’
The tennis club, to their credit, battled hard to succeed. Howard Esply-Jones, the head coach at the Wanderers club, spent several years assisting players at Wits, and WSC tennis bursaries were awarded. Kaylea Sher was a recipient in 2010, along with Kent Davis (the men’s captain) and Katherine Wood.
Alyson Rudman succeeded Kaylea Sher as the Wits women’s champion. Carla Farina was elected captain in 2011 when a pleasing influx of first-year players saw club membership rise to 70 men and 50 women.
Another top-class player joined Wits in 2013, a year in which the men’s team beat UCT by one set at USSA and were placed fifth. Tremayne Mitchell, Wits’s number one player, was selected for the national students’ team. But he did not stay long at Wits as he was offered a tennis scholarship to Winthrop University in South Carolina.
three that the formal procedures of establishing the club with Wits Sport occurred during 2010.
A trial year was a success and in 2012 the club was formally established and received a clubroom. Here, many legendary debates would be eagerly contested, parties with the neighbouring clubs enjoyed, and pool or table tennis matches played. The buzz of the clubroom was ‘a cornerstone for the many vibrant and thriving friendships that were made by all members of the Wits Ultimate Club over the years’.
One year after becoming a recognised club, a Wits team qualified for its first ever ‘mixed nationals’ tournament at East London in 2013. Deo Amaro (2013 chairperson) recounted fondly that ‘we went in with the mindset to see how frisbee can be played at the highest level in South Africa and gain experience’. Wits finished 14th out of 15 teams.
The Wits’ players were expected to compete in five major tournaments each year: ‘Binnelanders’ which the club hosts, ‘mixed regionals’ (qualification tournament for ‘mixed nationals’), ‘mixed nationals’, ‘open’ and ‘women’s nationals’, as well as “Rocktober” (a mixed division tournament hosted in Gauteng annually). The listed tournaments offered players the opportunity to compete against the best players from the country’s twenty-plus active and competitive clubs.
Tremayne Mitchell went on to enjoy success at university in South Carolina
Underwater
The committee of the underwater club met on a weekly basis in the equipment clubhouse. They announced early on in 2000 that ‘in the new spirit of transparency and openness, members are welcome to join the agony and sit in on committee meetings’. The club had approximately 150 members in 2000 of whom about 110 were students. They catered for scuba diving, scuba orienteering, social members (sundowners every Thursday), spear-fishing and underwater hockey.
The underwater disciplines had become very competitive by the end of the twentieth century. In 2000, Gavin le Roux and Ghita Erling were senior national underwater hockey representatives, and Graham Lowe and Mike Franze played underwater hockey for Gauteng ‘B’. SASSU team members included Graham Lowe (underwater hockey) and Lisa d’Oger de Speville, Lisa Dowson and Elizabeth Kleynhans (scuba orienteering). D’Oger de Speville was first in the South African national scuba orienteering championships.
Nuno Gomes, a Wits graduate in civil engineering, was the holder of a world deep-dive record. The Guinness Book of Records stated in 2001 that his dive of 282.6 metres in a cave in the northern Cape had yet to be broken. The women’s world deep-dive record was established by Verna van Schaik on 28 November 2001. She had joined the Wits club as a novice diver and had previously made an impressive dive in the Badplaas asbestos tunnels near Carolina. There she reached 141 metres. With her support team of mainly Wits divers, she improved on this by plunging to 186 metres at Boesmansgat, Northern Cape.
At the sport level, the club offered introductory courses that took a diver to 18 metres. More advanced courses were offered, all recognised internationally. Interest in the club was such that graduates were the focus of a Carte Blanche television documentary.
Club numbers surprisingly dropped to 100 members in 2002 of whom approximately 45 were students. It was a more manageable membership for a stable club that had been founded in 1960. It had a membership of more than 100 in 1964 when diving wasn’t the safe recreational activity that it became: ‘buoyancy compensators [bc] were generally considered a luxury and 250-metre swims with full scuba (sans ‘bc’) to the closest reefs were the norm.’ Forty years later, club members were able to receive international certification in a number of dive courses from novice to caving and nitrox.
The exploits of Wits divers became well known. Nuno Gomes was asked to plan and lead dives for the coelacanth expedition in 2001 off the coast of Sodwana. The dives were to have a fairly long bottom time of 18 minutes. An experienced Wits club diver, Gilbert Gunn, was a member of the team involved in the search. He said that they ‘were diving to 115 metres and obtained some great video coverage of this prehistoric fish. It was the first time that the fish was seen and filmed in its natural habitat by scuba divers’.
Long-serving Wits chairman Gareth Lowndes
commented on Wits’s enviable underwater history. In October 2003, the club dived the Griqua wreck lying 55 metres off Durban. This was a technical sea dive. Each diver carried tri-mix gas and decompression cylinders pumped with oxygen. In November 2003 a challenging cave dive to 194 metres was successfully completed at Kuruman in the Northern Cape. The club was always seeking new challenges.
In October 2004, Verna van Schaik established a new deep-cave record. The world record of 221 metres was made at Boesmansgat and took five hours and 29 minutes to complete. This bettered her previous dive at the same venue by 35 metres. Gareth Lowndes, who had dived at Boemansgat, said: ‘Technical divers have been using it for years. It is the world’s third largest water-filled underground cave and it is ideal for deep, technical diving.’ Lowndes supported both Verna van Schaik and Nuno Gomes on their record attempts.
Gomes was also in the midst of an assault on the world record. Lowndes recalled at the time:
Although [Nuno] has been diving for 23 years and has done over 5000 dives it was not until 1988 that he started diving with Trimix (oxygen, nitrogen and helium mixtures) and established the Africa depth record with a dive to 123 metres. In the following years he progressively broke his own Africa records by going to 153, 177, 230, 253 and then to 282.6 metres (record) in 1996.
In 2004, Gomes attempted a deep-sea dive. He had previously established the Red Sea depth record of 271 metres, but it was not the world record. One of his team, Pieter Venter, took up the story under the heading: ‘The Legendary Nuno Gomes’:
In 2001, Nuno received news that John Bennett descended to 307.8 metres off Escarcia Point, Puerto Galera, Philippines. The achievement inspired Nuno’s next project which was to reclaim the overall and scuba world record in the sea. He liked the coelacanth dive
verified and approved by Guinness World Records).
followed his 1996 cave-diving record by establishing the sea water record at the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt near Dahab in 2005.
Nuno Gomes became the holder of two world records in deep diving (independently
He
Verna van Schaik (above and below) established a new world deep-cave record at Boesmansgat in 2004.
system, which laid the foundations for a record dive in the sea. Nuno and his team started training in earnest. Nuno stepped up his already hectic gym programme and went diving every weekend. Sponsorship was obtained, flights booked, arrangements made, there was no turning back.
The team arrived in Dahab [in Egypt] in April 2004 and started preparing for the dive. After a 150-metre dive Nuno declared that he was ready, only two weeks after seeing the Red Sea for the first time. He descended alone to reach 315 metres. The dive did not go well.
A technical problem denied Nuno the world record and he could not resist trying again. His sponsors kept their faith and provided further backing in order to make another attempt. One year later he returned to Dahab. Rather unceremoniously he was pushed into the water and disappeared. He resurfaced after sunset exhausted but elated. Later he remarked: ‘318.25 metres/ 1044 feet (321.81metres/ 1056 feet with rope stretch). I still cannot believe it! I have done it, with the assistance of my team.’
Each dive made was built on manageable incremental increases in difficulty over a very long period of time. Each new encountered problem was solved before the next dive. Nuno always does build-up and acclimatisation dives. He calculates decompression stops conservatively; doing long decompression time is seen as a privilege not a punishment. He plans a contingency for every foreseeable problem. He will never be pressurised into an unmanageable dive. He
Volleyball
The Wits Volleyball Club should have been highly successful during 2000 to 2013. It was the only club in Gauteng to have seven courts on campus as training and tournament venues. There is also a beach court that is situated outside the Old Mutual Sports Hall. Wits was able to stage major tournaments and in 2001 hosted the SASSU interprovincial championships and the Developmental Cup.
There were glimpses of what could be achieved: in 2000 Chris Govender was selected for the SASSU national team, in 2001, the club finished in the top three of the Gauteng league, and in 2002
knows himself. He knows his equipment. He knows his team. He loves diving.
The entire Dahab community greeted Gomes on his return to the harbour. The total dive time was 12 hours and 15 minutes; the descent took 14 minutes with 4 minutes spent at the bottom. Said Gomes: ‘… it was not easy, no world record is. It was my second try at the sea record (also the last one). I was not prepared to have another go at it, even if I had not been successful this time around; it is just too much work, not to talk about the cost.’
When the club assessed their position in 2010, the official report stated they were ‘extremely honoured to have in our midst two scuba diving world-record holders, for both men and women.’ It also stressed that the main objective of the club was to offer the students of the university diving training of the highest standards, yet keeping in mind the fact that students have limited financial means. ‘What makes Wits special and remarkably different to other dive organisations is that we are a non-profit club and the passion of every club member is what ensures our continual growth and success.’
The club had 156 members, ‘roughly half of which are Wits students, the remainder being non-students, but many of these being alumni,’ adding ‘we at Wits don’t believe our members to be “clients” but rather friends.’
it started an internal league as a grooming ground for the Wits team to play in SASSU.
Wits hosted the Volleyball South Africa interprovincial tournament in 2003, while Central Gauteng league games were played on Wednesday nights. Kandice Vardhan was a senior national representative, selected to compete in the All-Africa Games qualifier in Zimbabwe in May, against Mauritius in August, and at the AllAfrica Games in Nigeria in October. Sandwiched in between, she participated in the World Student Games in Daegu, South Korea. To conclude an action-packed year, she was named joint ‘Sportswoman of the Year’.
Progress thereafter was surprisingly slow and in 2007, a club report commented: ‘with the facilities we have, the volleyball club has the potential of being one of the best at institutional level and also in the country.’
The Wits’ men’s and women’s volleyball teams were readmitted to the premier division of the Gauteng league after both teams had finished in the top three positions of the ‘development’ division. Another promising sign was the club’s participation in the 2007 SASSA tournament held at the University of the Western Cape. They finished in eighth position overall, the men having made it to the quarter-finals in a tournament that featured 21 teams.
Two students – Aleksandar Popović (who was chairman of the Wits Volleyball Club) and Juliane Weber – were included in the SASSA team to compete in the 2007 Universiade that was hosted in Bangkok.
Nuno Gomes published Beyond Blue: Journey into the deep about his experiences.
Kandice Vardhan was named ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 2003 after a year of fine performances at national level.
Aleksandar Popović was selected for the national universities’ team that competed in the 2007 Universiade in Bangkok.
Water polo
In 1999/2000, the Wits men participated in the Central Gauteng first league, winning three games and losing 12, often by only one or two goals. Four players – Carl Pretorius, Matthew Zylstra, David Baxter and Randall Kan – represented Central Gauteng under-20 ‘B’. Tony Garstang, who served as coach and captain, thought that the 1999/2000 season had placed Wits water polo firmly on the map again. Twenty-eight players represented the club during the season.
In the 2000 SASSU aquatics tournament, Wits finished fifth in the men’s water polo. A club report expressed confidence that in 2001 Wits would be stronger, stating: ‘We have two men’s water polo teams participating in the first and second leagues and we are in the process of building up a women’s team.’
A star player had already emerged in Michelle Cloete, who was selected to represent the province in the women’s water polo at the Currie Cup in Durban during March 2000.
The pool was heated in 2001 which meant that the club was able to train throughout the year. Ryan Weidemann and Gareth Warburton – with Alex Nice as manager – were selected for the SASSU water polo national team that attended the 21st Universiade at Beijing, and Rick Diesel was selected for Gauteng and South Africa at under-21 level.
By 2002 Wits boasted strong men’s and women’s teams. They were also well represented in both the men’s and women’s SASSU national teams through Murray Stewart, Vaughan Thompson, Rick Diesel, Lauren Wickens and Michelle Cloete. The following year, Rick Diesel and Denzil Wait represented South Africa in Egypt.
In December 2003 Wits hosted the SASSU tournament. David Baxter remembered ‘the amphitheatre had stands placed all along the fence and these were filled for most games as well as the evening galas’. To the delight of the large crowd, the Wits women crowned a meteoric rise to success by emerging champions.
In a memorable year, Wits women also won the Central Gauteng water polo league. Key players in their success were Kristie Bloom and Hayley Duncan who represented the provincial senior ‘A’ team. Goalkeeper Hayley Duncan won the university’s Sportswoman of the Year title for her excellent club performances and subsequent selection for South Africa on a tour to Sweden and England.
Kristie Bloom represented the Central Gauteng ‘A’ team from grade 12 and kept her place for several years while representing Wits. ‘I played for Wits for 10 years,’ she recalled. ‘It was an exciting time when Wits ladies had a small but very strong, fit team. For example, in the SASSU tournament that we won at Wits in 2003, we only had eight or nine players in our entire team and only one sub in the final game when normally sides fielded a squad of 14 players’.
Wits did endeavour to grow the club; experienced players were recruited and novices
taught how to play. According to Bloom, ‘the men’s and ladies’ teams would often train and host league matches together so there was good camaraderie.’ Events and parties were held at the pub that were ‘very well attended and part of our fundraising and to inform other students what the aquatics club was all about’.
The arrival of Nicolette Poulos as an MBA student strengthened the 2004 side. She enjoyed a highly impressive career in the game, representing South Africa during 1997-2011 and serving as captain for the last eight years.
Wits won the Central League for the second year and then triumphed at the SASSU tournament.
Three members of the team – Nicolette Poulos, Pam Watts and Morgane Anderson – were selected for the SASSU national side. Poulos as captain and Duncan were further honoured when chosen to represent South Africa on a successful tour to Sweden.
The men held their own. In 2004, Andrew Egbers was chosen for the SASSU national team and Diesel and Wait (as referee) for South Africa. An additional achievement was the club’s ability to field three men’s sides with the introduction of an under-20 team.
Funds were raised for a trip to Australia. David Baxter recalled ‘hosting parties with live student bands, quiz evenings and braais at the Wet Spot. We had to really hustle to find the funding ourselves.’ He added: ‘Our men’s ’polo team trained through the winter.’
The team competed in the inaugural Indian Rim Asian University Games, held in November 2005 in Perth, Australia, in which 30 institutions took part. Bronwyn Cartwright reported:
The water polo men looked stunning in their blue and yellow costumes which had all the ladies in Perth swooning as they took to the pool each day. Besides the team being fashion icons, they were great in the pool, winning five games and only losing 19-13 in the final against the hosts, the University of Western Australia. Congratulations to the coach Denzil Wait and the team. Rick Diesel, a late addition to the team, was named player of the tournament and had the highest goal average at the event.
Wits women had been impressive in winning the Gauteng league for the third successive year in 2006. They were deservedly given the opportunity to participate in the Indian Rim Asian University Games in 2007. After seven games, including an exhibition match against a local women’s team, the Witsies were offered a training session with the Australian national men’s water polo coach. To conclude a grand tour, the Wits women emulated their men by winning silver medals, losing the final narrowly 13-12 to their hosts, the University of Western Australia.
In 2008 the USSA tournament was held in Pretoria. The men’s team did well in reaching the semi-final. Despite their hard work and perseverance they lost the game and finished in fourth position. The women were placed sixth,
Rick Diesel was outstanding for Wits and South Africa during the early 2000s.
Hayley Duncan – Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 2003 – was selected as goalkeeper for South Africa.
Nicolette Poulos, the South African captain, was a great asset to Wits water polo.
with the tournament report suggesting they did not realise their full potential.
Hayley Duncan was selected to represent South Africa in the water polo section of the world aquatics championships in 2009.
After a quiet period, the Wits Sport magazine
Yachting
The yacht club continued to flourish in the early years of the twenty-first century. One report summed up its aims and achievements as follows:
announced that ‘the women’s water polo team is on the rise’. Ilona Welman was the key player and represented the Gauteng ‘A’ side in the 2010 Currie Cup tournament. The report added that in the 2010/11 season, ‘they are in the top eight of 15 teams playing, a big improvement on the previous two years’.
The men’s side also showed improvement after moving from the second league into the premier ‘B’ league. Steven Nortje and Matthew Steele played for the men’s Gauteng ‘C’ side in the Currie Cup in April 2010 and Matthew Steele was selected for the second year in a row for the USSA tournament team in December 2010. It was the one success at a tournament where the men finished seventh out of eight teams and the women were last with seven teams participating.
A disappointing period for the club’s water polo continued with the men’s team finishing last out of ten teams in the Gauteng Premier ‘B’ league and the women seventh out of eight teams in their Premier ‘A’ league.
Steven Nortje recalled that they went through ‘a rough time without a permanent coach and there wasn’t a lot of structure … until Kelsey White came back from the United States to coach us. There was a good buzz around water polo at the time … the highlight was meeting my wife (who played for Tuks) at SASSU in 2012’.
We teach beginners how to sail and improve the skills of those who are already competent. We provide sailors with opportunities to sail in some of the most competitive racing in the country or to contently cruise around on dams or the ocean. Members are constantly being given opportunities to crew aboard various racing keelboats. Those opportunities give our sailors knowledge that would otherwise cost thousands to obtain through a private sailing course. We also compete in various regattas around the country, the most popular being the Round-the-Island race at the Vaal Dam in February, the MSC regatta in Durban in July and the intervarsity championships in December.
In 2000, Wits had a relatively strong yachting club. Sean Egner and Noel Holman were national representatives, and Craig Soulsby was a full blue recipient. They were joined by Graeme Willcox, a mechanical engineering student during 2000 to 2005. He received his full blue in five of the six years he was at Wits. He was selected for SASSU in 2000 and 2002 to 2005. New members were informed ‘you do not have to own a boat’, as there were a number of singlehanded and double-handed dinghies available to sail. Moreover, social weekends at Hartbeesport and Vaal Dam provided the club with access to some 22-foot yachts, a fewer smaller boats and a fleet of windsurfers.
Brief club reports refer to ‘many accomplishments including national and local titles as well as good-inter club results’. They also point to the highlight of the year being ‘the SASSU regatta, which is a team-racing event against eight other tertiary institutions.’
It was reported that 2004 ‘saw the club’s best achievement over the last few years as we put together an entry to the prestigious Lipton Challenge Cup in Cape Town where we finished seventh out of 25 teams to be the first inland and university club’. The Wits’ North Sails team comprised Paco Mendes (bow), Andrew Jones (pit), Hans Rogotski (trim), Paul Willcox (tactics) and Graeme Willcox (helm). It was the first time that the Lipton Challenge Cup was held at Cape Town’s historic Victoria and Albert Waterfront and it gave the event a great deal of publicity. Sailing magazine added ‘the crew of the North Sails will definitely be worth watching in years to come ...’
The prediction was correct and the Witsies fought for top honours when the club entered the Lipton Challenge Cup again in 2005. The crew on this occasion was Alan Haylet (bow), Trevor Donald (pit), Richard Tanner (trim), Paul Willcox (tactics) and Graeme Willcox (helm). They were in the lead after the first race and remained in contention with third places in races 2 and 3. As a serious storm was approaching the Cape Peninsula, the fourth race was staged on the same day as the third.
It provided a dramatic conclusion. The Royal Cape Yacht Club’s Greenlight secured victory by one point over Wits Yacht Club’s North Sails
The Wits water polo team at the Indian Rim Asian University Games in Perth in 2007 (left to right – back row): Juan Eekhout (team physio), Shayne Schwendenwein, Jocelyn Bretherick, Kirsten Potgieter, Kristie Bloom, Bronwyn Cartwright (manager) (front row): Siobhan Williamson, Kerryn Akerman, Ilona Welman, Alexandra Kirkman and Michelle Walford.
Ilona Welman
Graeme Willcox received five ‘full blues’ and was skipper of the Wits crew that was second in the 2005 Lipton Cup Challenge.
Springbok skipper and nine-time champion Rick Nankin, who was sailing Daly’s Insurance, finished third.
On completing his studies in 2005, Graeme Willcox was part of the winning Lipton Cup crew when sailing for Theewaters Sports Club. The year 2006 brought a wonderful ‘double’ for him as he was also in the winning team in the Cape to Rio race. Victory came after 16 days on board the RP-37 Windsong.
One of the finest sailors in the history of the Wits club, Willcox, ‘hosts a huge variety of sailing experience and race victories’. He holds 20-plus national and provincial titles in eight classes (505, 49er, Fireball, L26, IRC) and various local South African classes (Sprog, Dabchick, Pacer 27)).
He became a designer, stating: ‘It made sense with my composites engineering background and understanding of both spars and sailing, that North Sails would be a good application of my skills. I think it does help to have an understanding of all components of the aero package and how they work together.’ He is currently sail designer for INEOS Team UK as they campaign for the world’s most prestigious sailing event, the America’s Cup.
The Willcox era was immediately followed by that of the remarkable Robinson family. Their impressive record at Wits began in 2006 when Ricky Robinson won the Mirror class at the South African championships in Port Elizabeth.
In 2007, Wits had three boats sailing in the Mirror dinghy class world championships with their best, Ricky Robinson, finishing in seventh place overall out of over 80 entries. Described by Wits Sports Review as ‘an intrepid aquatic adventurer’, Ricky Robinson received his Protea colours for the second time, won the Round-theIsland race and, with brother Brennan, competed in the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) world championships and Olympic qualifier in the 470 class dinghy.
In the same year, Robyn Bruce sailed on a Stadt23 keelboat that finished first in its class in the MSC regatta. Fellow club members Graham Lohrman and Jason Hartford competed in the coastal Inhaca race and Amy Langbridge did well in the Vasco da Gama challenge from Maputo to Durban.
A 2008 report states that members had participated in the Mirror class national championships, the Round-the-Island regatta, Sprog Highvelds, King of Clubs, MSC Shosholoza regatta and, on the international scene, the J22 junior world championships (placing a respectable thirteenth out of 35) and 470 youth world championships. They also took part in the USSA national regatta at the Midmar Dam in Kwazulu Natal, where they finished second overall.
On an individual front, Ricky and Brennan Robinson represented South Africa at the 470 youth world championships in Zadar, Croatia. Amongst other achievements, Ricky Robinson finished second in the rebel (double-handed) class at the USSA tournament, and won gold at the Mirror class national championships, having won every race.
Over the next few months, the yacht club reported a continued ‘improvement in club activity, club numbers and member involvement and participation’. In 2010, they had their largest participation in the Round-the-Island race at Vaal Dam and the MSC regatta at Durban. Ricky Robinson skippered the Royal Natal Yacht Club’s entry Orion Challenger in the Lipton Challenge Cup and achieved third place. He and Brennan continued to challenge for the Lipton Cup annually as skipper and tactician on the same team, and after coming close again twice, managed to win the coveted cup in 2012, sailing again for the Royal Natal Yacht Club.
The Robinson brothers competed in the Mirror world championships in Australia in January 2011, Ricky placing fourth and Brennan sixteenth out of 61 teams. They also took honours in the Midmar 9-hour endurance race and Brennan was on the winning crew of the Vasco da Gama coastal race. Cousin Bradley Robinson represented South Africa in the 2010 Dart Worlds which were hosted in Weymouth, England.
Wits enjoyed a successful 2013, a year that included second place in the USSA regatta. Their preparations for the next Cape to Rio race began in mid-year and naturally created interest in a club driven by an ambitious committee. A promotional report written by commodore Alexa Brown and vice-commodore Bradley Robinson stated:
The Wits Yacht Club has a rich history of producing sailors that compete at the highest level ... The club tends to focus on dinghy sailing, and will have a fully operational team racing fleet by August 2014. We also travel far and wide to quench our thirst for exciting offshore keelboat sailing and plan to use this as a platform to launch members into recognised international sailing circuits. We plan to expand into kite and wind surfing in the not too distant future and are looking to attract people with such expertise. Wits Yacht Club is on the rise, will you be part of the rage?’
The Robinson family were to play a major part in the continued success of Wits yachting. Ricky and Brennan Robinson set a fine example; here they are pictured in action at the 470 African championships, hosted offshore Cape Town in typically strong ‘south-easter’ wind.
Ricky and Brennan Robinson were presented with bursary awards by All Sports Council chairperson Palesa Bolofo.
Other Sports
Flying
In 2000, the Wits Flying Club offered ab-initio and advanced training seven days a week. It provided a high-quality service that competed favourably with prices that were available from commercial organisations. A club report noted that the approach was informal to encourage enjoyment, but there was ‘no compromise on safety standards and these are strictly maintained at all times’.
Effectively a ‘flight school’, it offered fixed-wing flight training to its members seven days a week. It trained pilots for the private pilot’s licence, night rating, commercial pilot’s licence, Airline Transport Pilot Licence, instrument rating and instructor’s rating. The club had a Cessna 150, three Cessna 172s and a Piper Arrow that were used for hire, and fly and pilot training.
Although the flying club was rarely drawn into other matters, it did enter the news in 2001 when devastating floods hit Mozambique. Club members and instructors supported the fundraising drive by collecting over R260 000 which was used to secure and fly supplies to the flood-stricken areas.
The club was registered with the Central Aviation Authority and operated from Lanseria Airport. Over 100 members made use of a clubhouse at the airfield, and a fleet that increased to eight aircraft in order to cover the full spectrum of flying training. In 2004 alone there were over 40 different types of pilot licences and ratings achieved by Wits club members.
Over the years, theoretical studies were catered for through regular ground school courses covering the required subjects such as navigation, human performance and meteorology. The written examination of these subjects could be completed in the CAAapproved online centre located at the clubhouse.
Ski Club
Every year, during the winter break, the ski club headed off to the Maluti Mountains for what was until 2005 a ‘please let it snow so we can ski’ week. The new Afriski resort, which opened for a full season in 2005 changed that to a guaranteed three full months of snow from the beginning of June through to the end of August. Witsies also participated in the annual South African snow-ski and snowboard championships held at the Tiffindell ski resort.
Under chairperson Dean Cowley, the club became particularly well organised, with regular meetings at which immaculate, detailed minutes were taken. By 2012, there were 45 men and 35 women signed up.
Strength and Fitness
During his years at Wits, Gerard Correia was the South African powerlifting champion in the 125kg category. He broke the South African record in bench press and was awarded national colours, representing South Africa in the junior world powerlifting championships in Chiayi, Taiwan (fifth), in 2000 and Sofia, Bulgaria (seventh) in 2001. He competed internationally for some 20 years, finishing eighth at the world bench press championships in Germany in 1998 and seventh in the world classic bench press championships in Potchefstroom in 2016.
A total of 3 320 students and staff were registered at the Wits gyms in 2012.
Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a traditional Korean martial art, creating a balance of body and mind. It develops fitness, strength, confidence and selfdiscipline. It is a very technical martial art, providing effective and spectacular kicks and movements. One of the highlights of 2001 was organising a demonstration team under the highly skilled guidance of Master Lee Sang Kune.
Wits had a relatively strong club with senior national representatives in Scott Crowder, Fabian Langermann, Clifford Hage and Bethany Fabricius. In 2002, three members went on a month-long trip to South Korea. They trained at the Keimyoung University, where they came under Korean grandmasters who exposed the students to the martial arts’ heritage.
Under the instruction of Scott Crowder, Wits continued to be at the forefront of the sport in South Africa. They also benefited from the coaching of Master Lee Sang Kune, a fifth dan in taekwondo.
By 2007 it was noted that the Wits Taekwondo Club was the home of Fabian Langerman, the South African national middleweight champion, Makila Carlos, a featherweight in the Angolan national team, and Mpumelelo Shongwe, a flyweight who represented Swaziland.
The following year marked the end of an era, as Makila Carlos replaced the departing trainer Tobin Lottering who had made a considerable contribution over the years. Taekwondo at Wits was experiencing a challenging phase as tournaments were not taking place as frequently as they could. Another concern was the centralisation of the sport in Gauteng and less formal structures in other provinces. It affected the level of competitions.
In 2009, Mpumelelo Shongwe became the first and last recipient of a taekwondo full blue.
War Games
Wargaming became a fully recognised sports club in 2005. It was affiliated to Mind Sports South Africa and responsible amongst other activities for the promotion of computer games at Wits. A club report said it was ‘home to a collection of games of strategy and cunning’ and noted Kurt Wibmer and Sabelo Masuku to be prominent in provincial tournaments. The club produced South African team representatives in Ryan van den Bergh and David Vannucci who participated in the wargames world championships.
Yuishinkai Kobujutsu
The year 2001 marked the twenty-first anniversary of Yuishinkai Kobujutsu and Tai Chi Chuan. Both of these systems have flourished with Kobujutsu offering students the discipline and martial application of Okinawan karate and weapons training and Tai Chi offering the health benefits of a slow and gentle art with its emphasis on balance and flow. During the year, practitioners travelled to Japan to attend a seminar and further their training under the top instructors.
Lee Jardine became the Wits instructor and was a third dan by 2011. He noted that ‘an important aspect of kobujutsu is that all of its techniques are well suited for male and female, beginners and pros of all ages, sizes and disciplines. No “macho” man requirements needed.’
Chapter 8
2014–2022: Revitalising Sport at the University
It cannot be emphasised enough that at university, pursuing a healthy lifestyle in general, and participating in sport in particular, contributes to a balanced approach to successful academic studies.
Dr Pamela Dube, Dean of Student Affairs, Wits University, 2014
Introducing a ‘High Performance’ culture
Adrian Carter became head of sport at Wits in 2014. At the time of his appointment, he was given the task of ‘revitalising sport’ at the university. It involved the implementation of a high-performance sporting culture to match Wits’s impressive academic standards. The main aim for Wits Sport, he stated, was to develop student athletes holistically through the creation of sporting opportunities that would ultimately lead to a better-quality Wits graduate.
The university’s sport had slipped in recent years and elements of high-performance activity were lacking, although Carter could point to a wonderful sporting history going back many decades. The change in leadership at Wits Sport created an opening to address problems and seek opportunities to reclaim a place in the competitive echelon of South African university sport. In drawing up a vision and strategy for the future, Carter was confident that much could be achieved with top management’s support.
Sporting excellence had over the years been a significant marketing vehicle for universities and an integral part of their spirit and prestige. Carter believed it was ‘imperative for Wits to achieve
high performance or elite sporting success, not only for its significant contribution to the morale of the university, but because the world of student sport is increasingly competitive, and Wits competes at the highest level in whatever it does.’
From 2014, the sports administration built on its strategy for high performance participation. It was motivated by the importance of competing at Varsity Sport level, a platform from which it could project Wits’s academic image and rich history to current and prospective stakeholders. To demonstrate the university’s commitment, the vice-chancellor, Professor Adam Habib, signed up with Advent Sports Entertainment and Media (ASEM), the company that former Springbok captain Francois Pienaar had formed in 2009. Significant resources are invested in South African student sport, with major brands realising the value that can be derived through exposure to Varsity Sport and the development of future national stars. According to Carter, the advances taking place ‘contribute to a university developing a competitive edge over its rivals without compromising academic standards and integrity’.
Sport administrators, Sharmin Naidoo (cricket and hockey manager), Michael Dick (head of sport 2020-21) and Adrian Carter (head of sport 201419), with Kass Naidoo who made her cricket broadcasting debut at the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Adrian Carter
The selection of high-performance codes at Wits attracted a lengthy and rigorous debate. With limited resources, the university needed to play to its strengths and select sports codes that ‘they could support optimally from a financial, human resources, facilities, bursary and systems perspective’. Those chosen initially were basketball, cricket, football, hockey and rugby, with netball securing a place in 2019.
The concept of an ‘Elite Athlete Friendly University’ (EAFU) was introduced. It was initiated in Australia in 2004 ‘to identify and promote universities that focused on responding to the specific needs and holistic development of elite student athletes by encouraging new and existing policies and practices that attract and assist these students to take up sporting opportunities while pursuing and achieving academic excellence.’
In developing the concept, it was important to build strong relationships throughout the university. Wits became committed to assisting the elite student-athletes, with the full support of the vice-chancellor and members of senior management, registrar Carol Crosley, and the academic support and recruitment officer Kerry Yates. It was possible to negotiate and implement guiding principles across the university environment and provide support.
Carter, who had previously headed the highperformance programme at the University of Johannesburg, believed strongly in the calibre of coaching staff: ‘People are largely drawn to a university club or side because of the reputation of the head coaches and the performances achieved through them.’ He also supported the argument that success in sport relied heavily on capable administration, backed up by excellent facilities, solid constitutions, and cooperation with local, regional and national sporting bodies, as well as principals, and schools in the greater Gauteng area and beyond.
‘Winning is important for us,’ acknowledged Carter, ‘but we know that if we want to be the high-performance sporting university of choice, we need to achieve the following: recruit excellence, offer world-class coaching, be an elite athlete-friendly university and offer worldclass academic studies.’ It also became necessary to match the range of sports scholarships and bursaries that other top sporting universities offer: ‘This is essential to compete with the best, and at the same time to advance transformation in sport.’
A high-performance structure emerged rapidly, with student achievements testament to the successful implementation of the strategy. Basketball’s men won the first ‘Varsity Sports’ tournament in 2018, while achieving USSA victories in 2016, 2017 and 2021. No other code has won a ‘Varsity Sports’ title, although all of them have qualified. Several sports –men and women – have won USSA and league competitions. Rugby has held its own in the highly popular Varsity Cup, and achieved victory in the Pirates Grand Challenge for the first time since 1967. The football team finished second in 2019 in both Varsity Football and the world elite university tournament at the South China
University of Technology, defeating Cambridge University 3-2 in the semi-final.
A financial system was established to support a wide range of recreational and competitive clubs. Efforts were made to ramp up the number of opportunities for these codes to attract members. The system worked effectively where organised clubs were quick to take advantage and in some cases increase their membership. Not all clubs were able to attract the requisite 25 members. Long-serving judo coach Coen van Tonder was disappointed that pressure was applied, stating:
In the past 30-odd years the aim at Wits sport was to expose students to various sports that they were never exposed to in the past, as many came from poor and rural backgrounds. This proved successful as many students started judo at Wits and within their study period became SASSU, USSA and national contenders. Registrations for the club pick up throughout the year but this was not acceptable and the situation became untenable. Favour was skewed towards the high profile sports in our opinion.
The fencing club chairperson, Andrea Cabanac, commented on the need for young people and particularly in the context of South Africa to keep as many sports alive as possible: ‘… it breaks my heart that the badminton club closed down, as sport does unite people, and sometimes I get worried about my club as you can’t always trust students to keep a club alive.’
These were key issues and will continue to be as Wits Sport strives to establish a culture of achievement at all levels. The sports administration recognises that attention should be paid to areas such as: appropriate funding; coaching provision and coach development; comprehensive planning systems for each sport; talent identification and development; scientific research, notably the partnership with Wits’s centre for exercise science and sports medicine; effective systems for monitoring athlete progress; and well-structured competition programmes at local, national and international level.
Adrian Carter left Wits at the end of 2019 and was succeeded by Michael Dick, who had more than 20 years’ experience in high-performance sport management, and had played an integral role in setting up high performance structures at Wits since 2015. He had graduated with an MBA in Sport Management from the European University of Madrid in conjunction with the Real Madrid Foundation. He was a Varsity Cup Board member; a 10-year veteran of the USSA Rugby Executive, and had lectured at the University of Johannesburg in Sports Marketing as well as Human Resource Management in Sport. He would head the sports administration until the end of 2021.
Kabungo Mubanga, Wits Sport’s senior manager operations, served as the interim head of sport for several months before Yoliswa Lumka, a former director of sport at Nelson Mandela University, held the position until early in 2023.
Michael Dick
Kabungo Mubanga
Yoliswa Lumka
The HighPerformance Clubs
Basketball
The Wits Basketball Club offers both men’s and women’s high-performance sides. They compete in Varsity Basketball tournaments, University Sport South Africa (USSA) tournaments, the Gauteng University Basketball League, and the Inner-City Super League. The club also hosts annual events that are well supported, such as the Ashraf Lodewyk memorial and Lady Bucks’ tournaments. The basketball alumni are a closeknit community, keen to pull together whenever help is needed, and they turn out in their numbers.
The era of high-performance basketball began in style, when Wits Lady Bucks achieved gold at the 2014 USSA tournament. They had been knocked out at the semi-final stage in 2013, but one year later, swept all before them to capture th e women’s title at the University of Pretoria. They beat Vaal University of Technology (VUT) 66-62 in the final, an outstanding achievement because everyone believed the reigning champions were unbeatable. VUT had been champions six years in a row, and with the Cape Town University of Technology (CUT) were Wits’s toughest opposition.
The Lady Bucks’ captain Modiegi Mokoka was voted ‘most valuable player’ of the tournament. ‘We were tired of defeat,’ she said ‘… our losing to VUT constantly by two points pushed us to our limit.’ The team’s dynamics were based on the simple maxim ‘to play as a team, to win as a team’, but individuals had opportunities to pursue their own goals. In a crucial adjustment, the ‘win at all costs’ attitude in 2014 replaced the ‘everyone must play’ approach of previous years.
Former captain Xoli Mahlangu paid tribute to the men who had coached Wits Lady Bucks. Tshiamo Ngakane, who had since become the men’s first team coach, and Willie Matlakala, the women’s first team coach from 2010, were responsible for their growth and achievement: ‘They are,’ claimed Mahlangu, ‘two of the best coaches in South Africa.’
The Wits’ men – the ‘Horny Bucks’ – were defeated 63-50 by VUT in the USSA semifinal, despite leading 36-29 going into the final quarter. They had to settle for third place, beating University of Johannesburg 85-40 in their playoff. They were nevertheless honoured when three members of the team – Rorisang ‘Rori’ Mabotja, Ryan Maroun and Jonathan ‘Jono’ van der Bijl – were selected for the USSA squad for the Confederation of University and College Sport Associations (CUCSA) Zone VI Games in Lusaka, Zambia. In addition, Tshiamo Ngakane was named as coach.
Basketball was well rewarded for its efforts. Rodney Genga, who had captained the men’s side since 2011, Fortunate Bosega, Modiegi
Mokoka and Yowana Nyangu were all awarded full blues. The university’s Sportsman of the Year was Rodney Genga, who had represented Kenya, and the ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ Modiegi Mokoka, who had played for a South African invitational team against Virginia University, the NCAA champions. To complete their wonderful achievements, the basketballers were named the ‘Club of the Year’.
Early the following year, the strength of Wits basketball was acknowledged by national selectors from two countries. Modiegi Mokoka, Bronwyn Tyler and Fortunate Bosega were included in the South African women’s side, while Yowana Nyangu was named in the Zimbabwean team. In addition, Jonathan ‘Jono’ van der Bijl made the South African men’s side and Andrew Gonese the Zimbabwe team. The national teams participated in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Zone VI qualifiers in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The women’s team emerged unbeaten, qualifying for both the AfroBasket tournament as well as the All-African Games
Ntshembo Vukeya took over as the basketball sports officer in 2015 from Simon Modise. He was particularly impressed by the interest in basketball amongst the women. Their progress was remarkable, he said: ‘If you go to the first ladies’ team you will find almost 90% of the players there started in the second team. Many of them did not play basketball at high school but the coaches turned them into first team players.’
The 2015 USSA tournament proved a little disappointing. The Lady Bucks were unable to defend their title at Fort Hare but did well to reach the final, where they were defeated 65-58 by VUT. The men’s team beat UKZN 75-41 but were then recipients of a controversial forfeiture ruling after allegedly arriving late for a game. This resulted in an unsatisfactory eighth place, having finished second and third in the previous two years.
Coach Tshiamo Ngakane argued: ‘We were disqualified unfairly when we were the favourites to win the tournament.’ The team did, however, react sensibly to the incident. The senior players made it their mission to work harder than before in order that they might prove a point at the USSA tournament at Wits in 2016. The advantage of playing at home would enable them to ‘settle in much quicker than other teams’.
The tournament saw Wits teams evoke considerable comment in winning their opening games, with the women thrashing Maties 110-
and Fortunate Bosega.
TOP RIGHT: Bronwyn Tyler, a medical student and national basketball representative, learned to play the game in the United States.
‘Sportsman and Sportswoman
the Year’, Rodney Genga and Modiegi Mokoka.
TOP LEFT: Wits Lady Bucks won the gold medal at the 2014 USSA tournament. Their team (clockwise from left): Ofentse Ikaneng, Thato Meka, Bronwyn Tyler, Modiegi Mokoka, Yowana Nyangu, Lenny Mogoba, Divine Muland, Patience Gumbo
Basketball produced the 2014
of
Modiegi Mokoka represented South Africa and was Wits ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 2014.
31 and the men’s team demolishing North-West University 95-29.
The Horny Bucks were largely unchallenged in their campaign as they won all their group games and the quarter-final. A convincing 20-point victory over University of Johannesburg in the semi-final gave them good reason to believe they could win the tournament. The momentum was maintained in the final where Wits took the honours by outplaying former champions VUT 68-58. Ngakane was thrilled: ‘For a team to knock over opposition like that throughout the tournament shows just how good the squad has been. It will be celebrated for a while to come.’
Winning the USSA championship was an important step forward for the men. Angelo Quinn, a second-year student, described winning the competition as being ‘huge for us’. Another second-year student, Siphesihle Buthelezi, emphasised how good he felt to be part of the team as ‘there was a lot of responsibility but it was also a fun experience’.
For Jonathan van der Bijl, it was a memorable year . He was selected for USSA, named in a national league ‘all-star’ team, and subsequently represented South Africa against Senegal, Mozambique and Egypt.
The Wits women also excelled. They reached the finals of the USSA tournament, the Gauteng university basketball league and the inner-city super league. It was abundantly clear that they had exceptional players. Modiegi Mokoka and Fortunate Bosega represented South Africa in Zimbabwe, the Seychelles and Cameroon in 2015. They were also three-time recipients of all-star awards following their excellent performances at USSA competitions. In 2016, both were influential in the USSA women’s team, winning the 2016 CUCSA Games in Harare, Zimbabwe. Bosega was voted the ‘most valuable player’.
Wits Lady Bucks were a formidable presence at the 2017 USSA tournament. It was guaranteed to be a memorable intervarsity, with teams from across South Africa gathering for a week’s action at the picturesque Stellenbosch campus. ‘The tournament had 16 women’s teams and 16 men’s teams and every one rose to the occasion,’ remarked USSA basketball chairperson Frans Mamabolo. Matches began on the Monday with the round-robin stage of the USSA tournament and by the time Friday came, the venue was reported to be ‘full of enthusiastic supporters trying to figure out who was going to take it home’.
The women’s final was played between VUT, the reigning champions, and their closest rivals, Wits, who had ‘run the rule over all the teams on their way to the finals’. The game was a close affair, although Wits put in an inspired performance and appeared to have the ability to move up a gear whenever necessary. They also had more to offer from the bench and in the fourth quarter cast their opponents aside to record a comfortable 52-42 win.
The Wits men then took on University of
Kwazulu-Natal, a team that had upset the University of Johannesburg by two points in the semi-final. After going unbeaten in the five games played up to the final, the Horny Bucks made light work of their opponents. The odds were stacked against the smaller Kwazulu-Natalians but they demonstrated great determination and at times pressured Wits into making mistakes. The crowd backed the underdogs, hoping for another dramatic finish, but the final outcome was never in doubt and at one stage Wits opened up a 20-point gap. Although their lead was halved, the Horny Bucks were never in danger of losing their way. A dramatic dunk sealed a 6353 victory and their second USSA success.
Fortunate Bosega received USSA’s coveted ‘most valuable player’ award and was selected for their ‘all-star’ team. The USSA men’s ‘allstar’ team included the Wits men’s point guard Angelo Quinn and power forward Miguel Ferrão. There were further honours. Bosega, along with fellow Witsies, Ipeleng Nyatlo and Jana Cupedo, played for a South African team at Cape Town against the touring Virginia Commonwealth side. Busega and Cupedo also represented South Africa at the preliminaries of the ‘AfroBasket’ tournament. Ferrão’s fine form in ensuring the men’s success earned him a place in the national team to play in the BRICS Games (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
Fortunate Bosega, South African international player and twice Wits ‘Sportswoman of the Year’.
Jonathan van der Bijl represented USSA and South Africa.
Angelo Quinn, a USSA ‘all-star’ is well-known for his remarkable ball-handling skills.
The advent of Varsity Basketball
‘Varsity Basketball’ was formally introduced in 2018. It is played under the Varsity Sports brand for the top eight male teams and top four women’s teams in the USSA rankings. It became the latest tournament to be added to the growing and diverse Varsity Sports’ schedule, joining athletics, cricket, football, hockey, mountain-biking, netball, rugby and rugby sevens.
It was also announced that Varsity Basketball would feature an innovative ‘power play’ where for two minutes, every point scored would count for double.
The first tournament was spread over two weekends in October and hosted at Wits’s Old Mutual Sports Hall. The non-stop action involved the University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Johannesburg, University of Cape Town, Nelson Mandela University, Tshwane University of Technology, University of Pretoria, Vaal University of Technology and Wits University.
Wits, who were unbeaten, and Cape Town, qualified for the first final. The hosts made the better start, bagging a two-pointer, but Cape Town responded almost immediately. The game was played at a frenetic pace, with Wits enjoying the early exchanges as they were more accustomed to playing quick ball. Angelo Quinn also made his presence felt early on, scoring a three-pointer from the central part of the court. This enabled Wits to establish a 17-9 lead after the first quarter.
Cape Town’s Kyle Maclean kept his side in the picture and troubled the Wits defenders who were playing a high press. His effectiveness saw UCT add a further 11 points to their tally, but this wasn’t enough to make an impression on their opponents who were in rampant form. By halftime, Wits had built a commanding 41-20 lead.
Wits’s Evaristo Pasipamire was prominent in the third quarter. Twice he sent the crowd into raptures when he managed to slam dunk the ball into the basket. A terrific atmosphere prevailed inside the arena, with the vast majority cheering for the home team. Cape Town’s captain Siphumle Qanya was a heroic figure in blocking successive waves of Wits’ attacks but also able to net a few points for his side in a losing battle. At the end of the third quarter, Wits were firmly in control with the score 68-42.
Cape Town lifted their game in the final quarter in a desperate bid to make up the leeway. Their efforts created excitement, but the contest concluded with Wits being crowned the inaugural champions, defeating UCT 77-55. Pasipamire, who had played a decisive role and contributed 28 points for the winners, was named the ‘most valuable player’ of the tournament.
Angelo Quinn, Miguel Ferrão and Evaristo Pasipamire also enjoyed success in the semiprofessional National Basketball League. The experienced Ferrão had played overseas for Queluz in the Taça Nacional, as well as the Centro de Alto Rendimento, prior to representing Portugal at the Estudiantes tournament in Spain. Pasipamire turned out for national champions Tshwane Suns, and represented the Zimbabwean national team.
On the USSA front in 2018, the Wits men and women claimed silver and bronze, respectively.
In 2018, Wits became the first Varsity Sports’ basketball champions. The team comprised (left to right – back row): Ngoza Mazarura (manager), Everisto Pasipamire, Kgoagelo Sathekge, Miguel Ferrão, David Mbamalu (middle row): François Mutombo (conditioning coach), Nompumelelo Ramatsoga (assistant coach), Siphesihle Buthelezi, Thamsanqa Nyawa, Briarley Klassen, Kotseng Makena, Kgotso Ntuane, Angelo Quinn, Romario Ferrao, Makoye Mapani, Mvelo Buthelezi, Mehmet Sesli (in front): Clinton Meela and Bulelani Mabudusha.
The Horny Bucks came desperately close to defeating VUT in an exhilarating final. Extra time was needed before Wits eventually succumbed 72-71. Miguel Ferrão – the tournament’s ‘most valuable player’ – Angelo Quinn, Mvelo Buthelezi and Mosibudi Clinton were chosen for the USSA ‘team of the year’, while Quinn was also named in the USSA ‘all-stars’ alongside Evaristo Pasipamire.
The Wits women’s team defeated Cape Town 42-31 in the 2018 third place play-offs. Modiegi Mokoka, Fortunate Bosega, Ipeleng Nyatlo and Jana Cupido were selected for the USSA ‘team of the year’, with Bosega and Nyatlo also chosen for USSA ‘all-stars’.
Lady Bucks enjoyed another rewarding year. In the annual Ashraf Lodewyk memorial basketball tournament involving 42 teams, they beat Phoenix Flames 69-66 in the final to achieve their first success in the tournament’s 14-year history. Other highlights included winning the inner-city super league, the biggest basketball tournament in the country, and the Gauteng university basketball league.
Eight Wits basketball players were selected to represent South Africa in the CUCSA Games in Botswana in 2018. They were Angelo Quinn, Miguel Ferrão, James Owen, Mvelo Buthelezi and the assistant coach Nompumelelo Ramatsoga from the men’s team, and Modiegi Mokoka, Fortunate Bosega, Ipeleng Nyatlo, Lungile Mtsweni and head coach William Matlakala from the women’s squad
The 2019 USSA basketball championships were held at the University of Cape Town. The Wits men’s and women’s teams were involved in play-offs for third/fourth places. The Wits men defeated VUT 62-59 to take bronze but the women were beaten 49-42 in a clash against North-West University. Ipeleng Nyatlo – the women’s team’s guiding influence – and Miguel Ferrão from the men’s team received ‘all-star’ awards. Both sides qualified for that year’s Varsity Basketball – again staged at Wits – with the women’s competition being held for the first time.
Pasipamire, a Zimbabwean international, was ‘most valuable player’ at the 2018 ‘Varsity Basketball’ tournament.
Everisto
Ipeleng Nyatlo represented South Africa against a touring Virginia Commonwealth side.
Wits, the defending men’s champions, came out guns blazing against Cape Town in a repeat of the 2018 final. They won their opening roundrobin encounter 93-74 but were then humbled 76-69 by Pretoria. They finished a point behind the log leaders, University of Johannesburg, at the end of the round-robin phase, but level on points with Tuks. As Wits had an inferior points difference, they narrowly missed out on a place in the final and the opportunity to defend their crown. A new champion was guaranteed and the University of Johannesburg students came from behind to defeat Pretoria 64-57.
The first women’s Varsity Basketball tournament was also played at Wits’s multi-purpose sports hall. VUT went undefeated in the round-robin competition to secure a smooth passage into the final, where they were joined by the North-West University. After a see-saw battle, the match was tied 58-58, leading to a shoot-out which determined that VUT would be the first champions.
Although the national trophies did not go the way of Wits in 2019, they were the dominant force in the Gauteng university basketball league where they came up against VUT, the University of Johannesburg and North-West University (Vaal
Cricket
Wits cricket’s position as a high-performance club was based on and strengthened by its long and impressive history. It had achieved at all levels of the sport, including winning leagues and competitions, and releasing players to provincial and national teams. In 2014, the cricket club registered teams in the Gauteng premier ‘B’ league, president’s league, Sunday ‘5’ and Saturday ‘2’. Interest in cricket was also encouraged through a vibrant internal competition, limited to 12 teams from faculties and residences. Despite its social character the league proved competitive.
Administratively, the club was strong. Stationery firm Croxley was a long-standing corporate partner. Their assistance made it possible to award cricket bursaries and subsidise some of the costs of running a club. The new head coach, Neil Levenson, made a difference after his appointment in July 2014. Not only did he put good programmes and structures in place, but he also brought talent to the university through his extensive knowledge of the Gauteng schools’ network and his own coaching connections.
Campus). Horny Bucks and their second team, Yong Bucks, finished top, winning all ten of their matches in their respective divisions. The last game of the league was the highlight for coach Tshiamo Ngakane, as Wits defeated University of Johannesburg 68-63. ‘UJ is our biggest rival,’ he said, ‘so that’s always a great game for us.’
Lady Bucks won their first division for the second successive year, and were placed second in the lower division. They also won gold at the Sasol North-West University (Vaal) senior tournament, where Ipeleng Nyatlo received an ‘all-star’ award.
Individual players continued to achieve at a high level. Evaristo Pasipamire was selected for Zimbabwe at the AfroCan qualifiers in 2019. Mvelo Buthulezi, Clinton Meela and Miguel Ferrão represented South Africa at the CUCSA Games in 2020.
After most of the 2020 season was wiped out by the pandemic, Wits returned impressively the following year at the Nelson Mandela University. The Horny Bucks won the 2021 USSA tournament and the Lady Bucks were third. The Wits men were unbeaten, defeating the defending champions, University of Johannesburg, 54-48 in the final, while the Lady Bucks won the bronze medal by beating their University of Johannesburg counterparts 52-35.
The achievements of the teams of 2021 maintained a proud record that the university has duly recognised over the years. The basketballers have excelled to such an extent that they were the Wits Club of the Year in 2014, 2017 and 2019. They also produced the ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in 2014 and 2019, and the ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 2013, 2014 and 2017.
‘We have this unique character,’ observed Miguel Ferrão, ‘where basketball is more than just a sport for us. It is a thing of pride when we play, a sense of togetherness.’
Together with Wits Sport, the club recruited extensively and managed to attract some of the province’s top schoolboy cricketers.
A good sign in September 2014 was Wits’s defeat of the Old Boys in the annual Walter Milton encounter. Wits scored 190 for 8, while the Old Boys were bowled out for 173. The students also won the second-team game by four wickets, a match in which the former club chairman Zain Fredericks was in a class of his own, bludgeoning 101 off only 54 balls.
In 2014, Wits wanted to escape the ‘B’ tag associated with playing in the second divisions of the premier league and USSA tournament. The USSA ‘A’ cricket week comprised 16 institutions and the ‘B’ week varied between 10 and 12. The competition’s best sides qualified for the televised Varsity Sport T20 competition held annually in January and February. In terms of student players furthering their careers, the tournament became a good stepping stone.
The promising Wits batsman Nono Pongolo spoke of his team batting well in the premier ‘B’
Colin Venter was named ‘Deaf Cricketer of the Year’ at the SA Cricket awards dinner in 2012 and 2013, and in the 2014/15 season, he captained the South African Deaf XI.
Miguel Ferrão had achieved representative honours in Portugal before his selection for South Africa in the BRICS Games.
Wits players react to winning the 2021 USSA tournament.
league and ‘posting big scores so that we can have a chance of bowling the opposition out twice’. The league was played to a time format with two innings a day and 60 overs. In the first innings there were 10 wickets and in the second, five. Pongolo saw the disadvantage in being a young team but they were proving ‘difficult to beat’. Greater consistency was necessary, a perennial problem in student cricket.
Michael Dick recalled that in 2015 cricket ‘seemed to be in a good place and it looked as if things were going in the right direction’. Levenson was running a comprehensive programme; the team was unlucky not to win the premier ‘B’ league, mostly as a result of rain and cancelled games, while the chance of promotion to Varsity cricket was ruined when USSA called off its tournament because of ‘FeesMustFall’ protests.
In the middle of 2016, the club was suddenly placed in some difficulty when both coach Levenson and long-time cricket manager Marius Henn resigned a couple of weeks apart. As a stopgap, it was decided to appoint a head of cricket who would coach and handle the administration of the club. Former national player Garnett Kruger was appointed, with Bongi Ntini as his assistant and second coach.
Kruger’s tenure started sensationally when Wits won the first Gauteng T20 championship. They were unbeaten in the round-robin stage, and defeated Old Edwardians in the semi-final at the Wanderers Stadium. They were then drawn to meet the University of Johannesburg in the final.
After losing the toss, Wits were sent in to bat first in a game reduced to 18-overs-a-side due to rain. They were placed under immediate pressure by a competent University of Johannesburg attack led by Juan Landsberg. In difficult conditions, Wits scraped together a modest total of 103 for 9. It was a target well within the range of the strong University of Johannesburg batting line-up.
An absorbing cricket contest unfolded in the tense atmosphere of the Wanderers’ ‘Bullring’. Fortunes changed dramatically as wickets tumbled at regular intervals. Wits skipper Nono Pongolo maintained a tight grip through clever bowling changes and field placements. The batting disintegrated, with the pace pair of Brad Morrison and Bryce Cressy taking three wickets apiece. In no time, the University of Johannesburg was blown away for a dismal 62.
The T20 victory remained Wits cricket’s one major highlight for some time to come. The sparkling cameo inspired by Nono Pongolo was alluded to by New Frame: They wrote of him: ‘He bats, he bowls, he catches everything in sight and, crucially, he embraces the successes of those around him more than his own.’
Recruitment was inevitably hindered by not playing premier first league cricket. In the course of three frustrating seasons, Wits teams were well positioned to win the second league, only to lose their way when the pressure mounted. Similarly, their performances in the USSA tournament were disappointing as the team struggled to assert itself in the final stages of the competitions.
Wits finished fourth in Pool ‘B’ in successive USSA tournaments. They began well at Pretoria in
2017, bowling out Rhodes for 172 (Ridwaan Daya 5 for 23) on the opening day, and scoring 173 for 4 (Liam Peters 102 not out) to win by 6 wickets. They were unable to build on this initial promise, a situation that was subsequently repeated at Stellenbosch in 2018. It was astonishing that the University of Fort Hare should bounce back from a dismal 6 all-out in a disastrous semi-final to overcome Wits by two wickets in a third/ fourth place classification match. The favoured Johannesburg students were bowled out for 131, a target that Fort Hare chased down in 44.1 overs. Farhaan Sayanvala was selected for the South African team for the 2017 Hong Kong Sixes tournament, where he proved a valuable member of the side and opened the batting in all eight games. The South Africans were crowned champions when they beat Pakistan in the final. Sayanvala was named Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in 2018 and became captain of the Northern Cape senior provincial team in all three formats of the game.
Sayanvala was also named Cricket South Africa’s ‘player of the week’ in early 2018. He had returned the remarkable figures of seven wickets for two runs when Wits reduced Florida to just nine all-out in a record low-scoring premier ‘B’ league fixture. Sayanvala recalled the players arriving at the game and deciding: ‘Look, it’s cloudy, it’s cold, let’s try to get the game over with. We won the toss and chose to bowl. I got a wicket in the first over, and from there, I don’t know, they just collapsed.’
Fast-medium bowler Matthew Lovatt was selected for the USSA XI that played in the 2018 Cricket South Africa Future Cup. He created interest at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley when he helped his team overcome the South African Rural XI by 29-runs in a triangular T20 tournament. Lovatt won the ‘man of the match’ award after producing figures of 4 for 16 in four overs.
Liam Peters and Hendrick Macheke were chosen for the Gauteng cricket clubs’ eleven. Peters was later part of the Mpumalanga firstclass team while bowler Hendrick Macheke was invited to play for the Gauteng Strikers in 2018, a feeder academy for the Highveld Lions. A former Wits player, Nandre Burger, was called up for the Highveld Lions. A left-arm mediumfast bowler and useful batsman, he became one of South Africa’s most promising prospects and was selected for the Proteas’ tour to Pakistan in 2021.
Nono Pongolo
Farhaan Sayanvala
Matthew Lovatt
The university took a step in the right direction when they appointed former Westville Boys’ High director of sport, Sharmin Naidoo, as cricket and hockey manager. He made an immediate impact in every area in which he was involved. One of his early acts was to challenge the provincial cricket union about Wits’s position in the Premier ‘B’ league. After Wits finished third in the league in 2018/19, the decision was taken to promote the university to Premier ‘A’ league status for the 2019/20 season. Strengthening Wits’s cause was the success of their second team. They won the President’s ‘B’ league in 2018/19 and were promoted to the ‘A’ division, the highest league in which they could play.
Garnett Kruger’s contract came to an end and Bongi Ntini was appointed the new head coach for cricket. He had been building a reputation for producing black provincial schoolboy cricketers for the Lions through his academy at Queens High School in Johannesburg. The combination of Naidoo and Ntini, together with their assistant coaches Manny Segale and Vincent Jordaan, produced results. ‘The initial plan was simple,’ said Naidoo:
We wanted to control the things we could control first. We began to instil important traditional cricket and team values by ensuring we played and trained on top-class facilities, and enhanced our highperformance training programme, which included an organised strength and conditioning component. We endeavoured to recruit the best possible student athletes and human beings into the system and we made sure we looked good on and off the field.
In 2019/20, Wits finished fifth out of 12 teams in their first season back in the Premier ‘A’ League. It was a praiseworthy feat with a new look first team that included many first-year students. They also reached the final of the 2019 USSA ‘ B’ section tournament. An ideal start was made when Liam Peters struck a splendid 105 in 97 balls in a 120run victory over North West University (Vaal). The momentum was maintained but, as fate would have it, heavy summer rain proceeded to engulf Gauteng, and the crucial promotion decider against the University of Free State was not played. There was considerable optimism within the
club, as some fine cricketers were being attracted to the university. No one was more delighted by the progress made than Bruce Murray, who was chairman and later president over a period of more than 30 years. The emeritus professor of history and stalwart of Wits cricket died in 2019, having been the club’s guiding influence during many of their most successful achievements.
To honour his legacy, it was decided to rename the annual old boys’ fixture the ‘Bruce Murray Memorial Match’. The first game was played on Sunday, 8 September 2020. The current first team overwhelmed their more fancied predecessors, winning the match by a comfortable 78 runs. Liam Peters top-scored with 97, and was supported by an equally fine innings of 81 by Keagan Williams in a competitive total of 256 for 5. Wits Alumni were always behind the run rate and lost wickets at regular intervals before being dismissed for 178 in their allotted 40 overs. Keagan Oschger and Stephen Riedel did the damage for the students.
While Covid-19 interrupted progress in sport at the university, the cricket club – as ‘Wits Kudus’ –joined the LPL. According to Sharmin Naidoo, it provided ‘the perfect pre-season shortened format tournament … the white ball and coloured clothing just makes it that much more inviting.’ Wits was the first university in the country to participate in the LPL, although the tournament was subsequently halted because of Covid-19.
Despite the pandemic, some cricket was played. The 2020/21 season started off with a close loss to Jeppe Quondam – eventual 2020/21 league winners – but the club reached its best finish in 27 years by going unbeaten for the rest of the season. Wits were third in the 2020/21 Premier League, beating the University of Johannesburg in a play-off. A key factor in the success was the impact made by the arrival of postgraduate student Juan Landsberg. The star all-rounder made a clean sweep of the individual prizes at the annual Central Gauteng Lions end-of-season awards ceremony. He won the Enza Premier League ‘batsman’ and ‘bowler’ awards, as well as being named the league’s ‘cricketer of the season’. A press release stated that he scored 317 runs at an average of 79.80 with a highest score of 158, and claimed 14 wickets with his leg-spin bowling at an average of 16 in six innings.
‘The rise of the cricket club,’ said Sharmin Naidoo, ‘has been nothing short of phenomenal given the time frame in which it has happened.’ In 2018, the university’s first team had become used to finishing mid-table in the Premier ‘B’ league: ‘They were now near the top of the ‘A’ section, while the second team lost in the final of the President’s League ‘A’ and the third team finished fourth in the SU2 league.’ An additional Wits team joined the Central Gauteng SU4 league, finishing top of their group and narrowly losing the league final.
In December 2022 Wits achieved their next goal by winning Pool ‘B’ of the USSA Cricket Week and qualifying for both Section ‘A’ and the Varsity Cup. They defeated the Central University of Technology by 159 runs in their section final; Josh Streak winning ‘man of the match’, scoring 83 and taking 3/15.
Wits First XI at the 2019 USSA Cricket Week (left to right – back row): S. Patel (S&C coach), K. Williams, T. Maphaka, M. Sekgetho, A. Nzimande, M.S. Ahmad, J. Arnott, S. von Staden, H. Bowman, B. McCabe, V. Jordaan (fielding coach) (seated): M. Segale (assistant coach), S. Riedel (vice-captain), L. Peters, S. Naidoo (coach), M. Lovatt (captain), A da Mata (manager), J. Masojada, B. Morrison.
Nandre Burger was selected for the Proteas’ tour to Pakistan in 2021.
Liam Peters captained Wits and represented Mpumalanga.
Juan Landsberg dominated Gauteng Lions’ end-of-season awards in 2020/21.
Women’s cricket
Wits women – past and present – are demonstrating an interest in cricket. Firdose Moonda is one of the best-known personalities in the game as she is a journalist who writes about the South African men’s team. Once a reporter for Wits Vuvuzela, her work now appears in the mainstream press as well as Cricinfo, Other cricketing alumni who have been in the news include Tamara Reeves, a wicketkeeper who played as a student for the Proteas during 2002 to 2005, and Dr Kerith Aginsky, a biokineticist at the Wits Centre for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, who conducted research for South Africa’s cricket side on a throwing technique that helps cricketers get the ball back more rapidly to the stumps.
On 1 August 2019, Khomotso Makgabutlane wrote in Wits Vuvuzela that she had been a cricket fan since she was 13-years old and ‘I think I know enough to fill in for Kass Naidoo in short bursts even though I’ve never played the game. My older sister, a meteorologist by profession, explained it to me very early on and only 20 minutes later I found myself screaming at the TV as South Africa dropped a crucial catch in a tight Test match.’
Not long afterwards, Lwandile Shange reported on the women’s cricket club being launched on 14 August, with only one player turning up to the first practice. She wrote that Zeenat Laher, ‘a firstyear audiology student was a little disheartened
at the practice turnout but hoped more players would join her’. They did. A second attempt was made on Friday, 15 August, when twelve women participated, enough to make up a full cricket team.
Wits Sport’s Sharmin Naidoo told Wits Vuvuzela that it was always his goal to form a women’s cricket section. ‘We are the first university in the province to start a ladies’ team which is fantastic and we are hoping that it is going be a successful programme.’ He hoped to get the number of players to around 20 women, ‘hopefully mostly Wits students although we have opened the club up to students from other campuses’.
An important development on the part of the cricket club was to enter the first-ever women’s team into the Gauteng women’s cricket second league. The team was coached by a first team player and provincial cricketer Bathabo Isaacs, with fixtures taking place on Saturdays.
‘There’s still a lot to learn from the basics,’ said Isaacs, ‘but there’s hope because some of the ladies know how to play.’ One of the players, first-year mining engineering student Rethabile Tsebiso, said that she had been interested in cricket from a young age.
Wits merged teams for the Covid-affected 2020/21 season but participated in the President’s League in the following season.
Hockey – The Astroturf
A major step forward in Wits hockey was the establishment of a world-class artificial playing surface, a clubhouse and highperformance centre. The new facilities, situated at the university’s Education Campus, were officially opened on 22 February 2014. The R12-million hockey turf project required a huge collaborative fundraising effort. Several alumni, notably Steve Jaspan and Cathie Markus, contributed generously to the project, as did Helpmekaar (R5-million), a private high school adjoining Wits in Braamfontein. The National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund contributed R3-million, with the university and the Wits Foundation making up the balance of R4-million.
Olympic hockey gold medallist and outstanding hockey coach, Liz Chase, was instrumental in securing Wits’s longawaited synthetic hockey turf. She was appointed to the staff of
Men’s hockey
The Wits hockey report for 2014 noted the club had grown in leaps and bounds. ‘We have gone from playing our “home” games at neighbouring turfs to hosting an intervarsity tournament and our own summer league!’ It paid tribute to the generosity of those who gave their time and money towards ‘making Wits hockey the phenomenal club it is today’.
Overall, the men’s section had mixed fortunes in the course of 2014. They competed in the Varsity Hockey tournament, where they weathered two tough early rounds to earn seventh place in the
Firdose Moonda, once a reporter on Wits Vuvuzela, is now a highlyrespected journalist in world cricket.
the Johannesburg College of Education in 1983 and joined Wits in 2000 following the teaching college’s amalgamation with the university. The success of the campaign to establish the hockey turf was recorded as a tribute to Liz’s dedication. ‘It began in 2000,’ she said ‘when John Baxter was director of sport ... It is great that it has become a reality; it really raises the bar for Wits hockey.’
To commemorate the achievement, Wits men and women played exhibition games against a South African invitational men’s side and Gauteng provincial teams. In time, the facilities were able to attract international events to South Africa, most notably the 2017 World Cup qualifiers and men’s series against France and Germany. Visitors commended the quality of the playing surface as well as the excellent lighting and watering systems.
eight-team event after a play-off against Rhodes. Their star player in the competition was captain and goalkeeper, Cole Zondagh. Greater success was achieved in the Southern Gauteng leagues with the first team finishing fourth in the premier division and the second team runners-up in the reserve league.
The club was sorry to say goodbye to coach Mark Sanders who had served Wits well from 2012 to 2014. In this time, he helped the men’s first team win the ‘B’ section of USSA, as well as maintain their fourth position in the Southern
Gauteng premier league and compete in the first Varsity Hockey tournament. A club report stated that ‘systems, values and a strong culture had been established, and the players had grown a huge respect for the game’.
Ricky West was appointed first-team coach from 2015 on a three-year contract. He had an inauspicious start as Wits immediately slipped back to the USSA ‘B’ section at Kwazulu-Natal’s Greenfields turf. But West was committed to high performance; his aim was ‘to develop a burning desire to win rather than just be a number in the league’. The 2015 season also marked changes where, said West, ‘the culture started to shift to high performance and the hockey club managed to recruit quality students, postgrads and learners’.
Wits coasted to ‘B’ section victory when they hosted the 2016 USSA tournament, and had seven players selected for the Southern Gauteng and Witwatersrand teams at the national interprovincial tournament at Randburg.
They also reached the semi-final of the 2016 Varsity Hockey tournament, where they played against the University of Johannesburg. Jonathan Cook wrote vividly of an encounter involving the ‘out-and-out underdogs Wits University’:
Unsung heroes Wits, playing the most inspired brand of hockey you could ever imagine, scored four goals in seven minutes of absolute, utter mayhem between the 28th and 34th minutes of this unforgettable match.
The brilliant Brandon James scored Wits’s first, then made the vital passes to set up Thabang “Smiley” Modise and Stuart Brown for goals two and three … and to add further delight to the rank underdogs’ camp, that third strike came during a power play, which earned Wits a bonus goal and a seemingly unassailable 4-0 lead ...
Sadly, for the many romantics amongst us, fairytales don’t always end in “happily ever after”, and so it proved as UJ dug as deep as it is possible to go in mustering up the courage, energy and just about every other useful resource one can think of, to bring about what is arguably the most extraordinary comeback in South African hockey history.
Amidst the Wits euphoria, both teams knew that there were still a weighty 26 minutes left in the match – and the more experienced UJ side gradually clawed their way back into this thrillerin-a-thousand.
The contest ended with the teams locked 4-4: ‘Into the penalty shoot-out showdown this amazing match went – and once again the bigmatch temperament of the UJ men prevailed as goalkeeper Matthew Martins played a key role in his team taking the shootout stakes 3-1.’
In June/July 2017, Wits hosted the USSA tournament for the second year in a row. Sports administrator Erika Venter saw the event as being tough and unpredictable: ‘All the players are bona fide students – all under the age of 26 – so you have a good mix between the experienced players playing in their last USSA and the young players trying to make a name for themselves.’ The tournaments were highly competitive and ‘only the top eight sides qualified for Varsity Hockey, so teams put everything into their preparation and
planning. Any one of the eight universities could win at any given time.’
Wits put on a good show. They swept past the group competition but came up short in their semifinal. Wits made a promising start against Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) when Brandon James gave his side an early lead in the first chukka. NMMU replied with a goal from the penalty spot and then scrambled another for a 2-1 lead at the break. Wits attacked from every angle in the latter stages of the game but solid defence earned NMMU a place in the final.
It was the first time that both the Wits men’s and women’s teams qualified for the ‘A’ section semi-finals, following ‘B’ section contention for the men in 2016 and the women in 2015. In a successful two-year period, Wits made the semifinal stage seven times in eight tournaments during a two-year period, including the men’s Varsity Hockey 2016, women’s Varsity Hockey 2017 and the Southern Gauteng men’s and women’s league in 2016.
In 2018, Wits experienced another suddendeath shoot-out at the semi-final stage of a thrilling Varsity Hockey encounter. In chilly highveld conditions, Wits established an early lead against Tuks through goals from Kingsley Botes and Brandon James. Their opponents responded well to draw level but James – the ‘player of the match’ – gave Wits the lead again with ten minutes left on the clock. A match report commented on the unrestrained excitement of the final period of play:
The last five minutes saw a frenzy of goals in which the lead exchanged hands twice as Sherwood gave Tuks the lead for the first time in the match as he bagged his hat-trick before James secured his own hat-trick and gifted Wits the lead once more.
The drama continued right until the stroke of fulltime as Peabo Lembethe smashed in a goal to bring the score to 6-6 which forced the teams into a penalty shootout which Tuks won 5-3 and ensured their passage into the Varsity Hockey final.
It seemed inevitable that success would eventually come Wits’s way. It did – several times over during the next few years. In 2018, a 7-0 win against Crusaders secured the university’s number one spot in the Southern Gauteng league. Wits produced a goal in the first five minutes but good goalkeeping prevented any further scoring in the first half. After the interval there was a notable shift in momentum to set up an impressive win. Ricky West was delighted as he thought the season had been particularly tough. ‘To win a league,’ he told Wits Vuvuzela, ‘requires consistent performance. The fact that we won means that we performed consistently.’
As a consequence, Witsies Rusten Abrahams, Thabang Modise and Chris Makaba made the South African men’s hockey ‘additional players’ squad’ for 2018.
Further success was achieved at the USSA week in July 2019. Tshepiso Mametela reported that ‘Ricky West’s astro-turf warriors sizzled their way to maiden USSA tournament glory’, having beaten Maties 2-0 in a penalty shoot-out in the
Brandon James
Thabang Modise
Ricky West was appointed Wits first team hockey coach in 2015.
final. The match ended with the sides at 1-1, but the Witsies were determined and delighted that the silverware on offer should not elude them. Michael Marki who captained the side, hailed the team’s performance ‘as the best they had ever played as a unit’.
Wits’s Chad Futcher was top goal-scorer and named ‘most valuable player’. It meant a great deal to him because of circumstances leading up to the tournament. A ‘visibly emotional Futcher’ told Tshepiso Mametela:
My dad passed away on the morning that the team were leaving for tour, and so I’d stayed behind … However, later that day, I decided to leave for the tour because he would’ve wanted me to go and not let the team down either.
It is definitely a tournament that I will never forget.
West summed up their record: ‘We’ve lost on shootouts and won on shootouts. Winning the USSA ‘A’ section three years after we won the B section was a really cool achievement for us.’ He added that ‘there was no Varsity Cup for the boys in 2019 but we won the Southern Gauteng premier league for the second time in a row’.
The key moment in the second premier league triumph was possibly their 4-1 victory over the University of Johannesburg in their penultimate game. Chad Futcher scored three goals to leave his side unbeaten and top of the log. The following week they completed the unbeaten season by defeating Wanderers 3-2 in their final match. It was a fantastic effort.
Wits’s international forward, Rusten Abrahams, told Wits Vuvuzela that they had ‘adopted a new mantra which was “find a way to win”. We’ve gone from losing a game to winning or drawing the game’. West attributed the bulk of the success
to the powers that be at Wits Sport. ‘When we started this programme four years ago, Wits Sport wanted to know what our needs were. Since then, they have been very much able to provide everything that we have needed; from bursary funding to additional staff.’
It was more than just this support, however, that enabled Wits to develop into ‘one of the behemoths of the sport, in such a short period
Wits hockey’s winning team at USSA 2019: (Left to right – back row): Reece Hammil, Khavish Harry, Gilbert De Villiers, Ricky West, Chris Makaba, Thomas Workman, Sharmin Naidoo (middle row): Rholisizwe Nyandeni, Kamal Ramburuth-Hurt, Duncan Fischer, Chad Futcher, Gareth Riley, Lukhanyo Salavu, Michael Horan, Bradley Riley, Kyle Reddy (front row): Michael Van den Berg, Thabang Modise, Sean Donaldson, Kingsley Botes, Michael Marki, Rusten Abrahams, Cody Van Wyk, Brandon James, Josh Finlay.
Chad Futcher was top goal-scorer and ‘most valuable player’ at the 2019 USSA tournament.
Rusten Abrahams, a national indoor and outdoor player, represented South Africa at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
of time’. In an interview with Mametela, West maintained that belief was at the forefront of what propelled his players. ‘We’ve instilled within our group the ethos that if we believe it, we can achieve it. With world-class facilities available to the players, it became a case of working hard to attain all that we have managed.’ He might have added that it was not only the first team that excelled. The second team won the Southern Gauteng promotion league in both 2018 and 2019, while the thirds won the M02 League to earn a place in the Southern Gauteng M01 League.
The club was fortunate in that it was in a position to meet transformation expectations, and that they should supply players of colour to the South African squad was admirable. They also had a good inflow of players of colour from leading hockey schools such as Jeppe, King Edward VII, Parktown and St John’s College. Yet one of the challenges was that the depth in transformation in schools’ hockey nationally had not grown. Strong hockey-playing schools often did not have players of colour in their ‘A’ teams.
Wits hockey had often done well in its contribution to assisting development. In 2017 a hockey development project was initiated by Kamal Ramburuth-Hurt, who had chaired the WSC and was a first-team player. The programme involved two days of world-class coaching during a weekend camp. Fifty young players between 12 and 13 years old who played at hockey clubs in economically disadvantaged communities were coached at the Wits stadium. The aim was to grow the skills base of these young athletes, as well as build their confidence and love of the game. Wits hoped this initiative would grow into a sustained project that could be built upon.
When Sharmin Naidoo started at Wits in 2018, he was immediately aware of the club’s good fortune to have top men’s – Ricky West – and women’s – Pietie Coetzee-Turner – coaches. He decided to add two assistant coaches to both teams
Women’s Hockey
The women’s hockey club experienced a happy season in 2014. They learnt to adapt to their new facilities and to play under a highly accomplished hockey international, Pietie Coetzee-Turner, who was world record-holder for most international goals by a female player. They could not have asked for more, but it was always going to be tough for them to find their way back into the USSA ‘A’ section from which they had been relegated in the previous year. With Wendy Panaino conspicuous, they did well to finish second in the B-section of the 2014 event, winning four games in the process and losing only to the eventual section winners Varsity College.
Kirsten Morley-Jepson, a medical student and the club’s ‘player of the year’, spoke highly of Wits hockey at the time: ‘The Wits coaches are very cool and our team is always improving. We had a 20% influx of girls participating at trials this year.’ She urged fellow students not to miss out on the Wits hockey experience: ‘it’s been the
and recruited them. He wanted the first teams to train in larger squads to create more depth. It improved transformation through more players of colour being exposed to a higher level of the game. It also gave Naidoo the chance to add two good coaches of colour – Emanuel Segale (Oman) as assistant coach to the women’s first team and Kyle Reddy as coach of the Wits women’s second team. As the former was a teacher/coach at St David’s and the latter director of hockey at Parktown Boys, it helped close the gap between school and university.
The men should have competed in the Varsity Hockey competition in 2020, but it was not possible because of Covid-19. Administrators and players battled to keep the game going. Rusten Abrahams, Cody van Wyk and Chad Futcher formed part of the 45-man squad from which the Olympic team would be selected. Only 18 of the players made the final team that headed to Tokyo in 2021. Abrahams was one of them. Wits graduates were also involved: Gareth Ewing as head coach and Christy Meulender as the video analyst.
At USSA 2021, Wits won two medals. The men’s first team beat Maties 4-0 to win the bronze medal. The Witsies were one of the best teams in the competition and extremely unlucky not to play in the final. There was some compensation in that their second team played in the USSA ‘B’ section and won the gold medal after dominating all opposition during the week.
The 2022 first team came close to matching the previous year’s result, but this time was defeated 4-2 by Maties and finished fourth. The club can be encouraged by the consistency displayed at a high level, while two promising players – Reece Govender and Calin Hannie were selected for the South African under-21 squad preparing for the 2023 FIH junior hockey World Cup. Govender was chosen as ‘goalkeeper of the tournament’ at the Junior Africa Cup in Egypt.
highlight of my student years ... a good social sport, particularly at Wits. It sets us apart from other varsities.’
The club was proud of its social atmosphere and events, but it was also keen to continue its marked improvement on the field of play. Through a stroke of good fortune, Wits returned to Varsity Hockey in 2015. Varsity College had earned the right to participate in the tournament by virtue of being pool winners, but had not yet concluded the necessary contractual arrangements with the tournament organisers. Despite the team picking up only one win in the opening round of the tournament in Potchefstroom, coach Coetzee-Turner believed they were on track towards achieving their goal. Out of four games played, Wits tasted defeat twice with losses against Maties and Kovsies. They also drew against NMMU before recording a 3-0 win against the University of Cape Town in their fourth game, to leave them in fifth position on the standings.
Cody van Wyk formed part of the squad from which the Olympic squad would be selected.
Kirsten Morley-Jepson played at provincial level for four years.
Chad Futcher with Sharmin Naidoo.
In the next round, they defeated Potchefstroom 3-2 and drew the same team in the play-off for fifth place. This time they were beaten 2-0. ‘We were a bit disappointed after the game,’ commented Wits’ captain Wendy Panaino, ‘but we are happy achieving sixth in the tournament.’
According to Pietie Coetzee-Turner, they exceeded everyone’s expectations. ‘I think my players performed really well. There are certain things in which they were outstanding, notably sticking to team structures, and then of course getting a win against UCT and a draw against NMMU, which was very crucial for us.’ Toni Marks thought they ‘did well against Kovsies and against Maties when we held them until the last chukka. It was a great challenge for us … we only have about four senior players, the rest of us are all first years. So we’re learning a lot, having lots of fun and working really hard.’
Varsity Hockey was excellent preparation for the USSA tournament at Pietermaritzburg. Wits enjoyed an excellent week’s hockey culminating in their 3-0 defeat of the University of KwaZuluNatal. In doing so they secured promotion, replacing Varsity College in the ‘A’ section for the following year’s tournament. They would face tough competitors including the formidable Stellenbosch side.
Wits’s young players were soon attracting interest at a higher level. Nomnikelo ‘Nicky’ Veto and Nthabi Maine were selected for South Africa’s under-21 squad to play in the junior world cup. The university was also well represented in Gauteng teams selected to play at the interprovincial tournament in Randburg. Fourteen players were chosen for the Southern Gauteng and Witwatersrand teams.
There was healthy competition for places in the Wits team, especially at goalkeeper. Petro Stoffberg was the Namibian under-21 keeper and Zimisele Shange had been selected for the South African ‘A’ women’s squad. The keepers supported each other and trained together. ‘Zimi didn’t see me as under her. She treated me as a team-mate,’ said Stoffberg who had won the ‘goalkeeper of the tournament’ award during a four-nations series the previous December. ‘At training, we encourage and work together,’ explained Shange, ‘and if a striker gets a ball through then we do push ups’.
At the 2016 USSA event, the Wits women battled hard to earn sixth place overall in the ‘A’ section. It was important that they maintained their position as they were part of a progressive movement that produced some impressive performances. In between tournaments, they were fully tested in the Southern Gauteng league, where they qualified for the semi-final.
In May 2017, Wits’s inspirational captain Kelly Wrensch led her team into the top four at the Varsity Hockey tournament. They played exhilarating hockey in the group stages. One of Nompilo Thenjwayo’s most pleasant recollections was Wits’s memorable encounter with NMMU (which became Nelson Mandela University from 20 July 2017). ‘We were down 3-0 in the first half but managed to win the game 7-3.’
Wits
in their
Danielle Quinn, Lisa Bone, Marcel Lamont, Michelle
The semi-final was against Pretoria, a team against which they had lost 1-0 earlier in the tournament. The side that lost would have to wait another two years before entertaining hopes of reaching the final – the one downside of the tournament’s annual gender-rotation arrangement. Unfortunately, Wits bowed out of the tournament by a narrow 3-2 margin. A goal from Nicole Smith had enabled them to draw level in the third chukka, but Izelle Verster’s response proved to be the winner for the Pretoria side.
Kelly Wrensch thought teams had underestimated Wits in the course of the tournament: ‘I think they were taken by surprise at how well we played and how far we got.’ In the semi-final, ‘the crucial difference between the teams was that Wits didn’t take all of their chances when it mattered most’.
The next event on the calendar was the USSA competition, co-hosted by Wits and the University of Johannesburg. When the two universities met in an enthralling semi-final, Wits pulled out all the stops in an attempt to end the success of their local rivals. Mametela drew attention to ‘a dominant display in the closing stages that saw Wits ace Nicky Veto penetrating the UJ 25-yard area and causing problems, while an off-load to Toni Marks came precariously close to hitting the mark’. The tie headed for a penalty shoot-out, where Wits fell short 3-0.
‘We’ve had an exceptional campaign,’ remarked Pietie Coetzee-Turner, ‘ had we reached the final, it would’ve been extraordinary’. Many might have agreed with her assessment that ‘we were still the better team on the day. When you get to a penalty shootout, it’s very luck-based. It was a good game nevertheless and I’m very proud of the team.’
It had been a terrific achievement for a side that had competed in the ‘B’ section in 2015 and finished sixth in the ‘A’ section in 2016. ‘We started building this team three years ago in the “B” section of the tournament,’ said Wits captain Luché Klaasen. ‘So I don’t really think it that disappointing. I’m actually quite happy…we are
Toni Marks made her senior international debut for South Africa against Scotland in 2014, and participated in the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.
Petro Stoffberg represented Namibia at the African Cup of Nations indoor hockey tournament in 2017.
celebrates their 2019 USSA ‘B’ success (left to right – back row): Denise Polson, Marcel Lamont, Tamsin Copeland, Grace Taylor, Sharmin Naidoo (middle row): Nomnikelo Veto, Robyn Johnson, Michelle Dykman, Mandisa Sigudla, Ashleigh Readhead, Sisipho Magwaza, Danielle Quinn, Nolwazi Ngubane, Jureya Dildar, Ashleigh-Jean Datnow, Angelique Pieterse, Emmanuel Segale (in front): Lisa Bone, Imogen Bangert, Lezaan Jansen van Vuren, Storme Johnson, Nolwazi Zondi.
champions and deserved to win the game, but in the end it’s just how it is.’
Described as ‘the ever-soaring Wits female hockey team’, there were times – as with every sporting team – when they were brought back to earth. The 2018 USSA tournament was such an occasion. Wits found themselves in the fifth to eighth play-offs where they were drawn against the University of Johannesburg. They were all square at 1-1 after full time and forced into a shoot-out, where they were beaten 2-1. They played Varsity College for seventh/eighth and were distraught that they should be demoted again to the ‘B’ section.
Wits selected a powerful side for the Varsity Hockey tournament at Cape Town’s Hares astroturf in May 2019. They included two players, Ashleigh-Jean Datnow and Nicky Veto, from the national hockey team but struggled during the first of two weekends. Three matches were lost after four rounds, with the most disappointing defeat being the narrow 2-1 loss to the University of Johannesburg. They felt the pressure, finishing seventh in a tough competition. Pietie Coetzee-Turner gathered them together and they discussed the issues into the early hours of the morning. ‘All that TLC definitely helped us in the USSA tournament we had in Cape Town,’ said Lezaan Jansen van Vuuren in a Run, Ride, Dive interview.
The Wits women enjoyed great success at the USSA week in July. They won all their games in a confident campaign that saw them finish top of their section and reach the final. Captain Nompilo Thenjwayo was unable to play because of exams but Lezaan Jansen van Vuuren led the
side to promotion in a convincing 3-0 triumph over KwaZulu-Natal. Defender and hockey director Storme Johnson hailed her teammates for playing with maturity in a lower division. ‘We still remained competitive and at the end of the week had scored a total of 44 goals. We got the job done and showed why we deserve to be in the A-section.’ To add to their laurels, Danielle Quinn received the ‘top goal-scorer’ award for the USSA ‘B’ section.
Lezaan Jansen van Vuuren also donned the captain’s armband at the South African under-21 interprovincial tournament at the Randburg Astro. Her team maintained an unbeaten record in the early rounds, and accounted for Western Province in the semi-final. They beat North-West in the final 2-1 to become national under-21 champions. To cap a good week Lezaan received the ‘player of the tournament’ award.
Despite the odd ‘blip’, women’s hockey remained strong at Wits. It had been a rewarding period and continued to produce success in the various competitions. The students were a consistent threat at the top of the Southern Gauteng premier league, finishing third in 2018 and second in 2019. They did well to have four players chosen for the South African Olympic squad that was announced in September 2019. Nicky Veto, Ashleigh-Jean Datnow, Lezaan Jansen van Vuuren and Robyn Johnson were included among the 44 women chosen, a squad that would ultimately be reduced to 18.
It was a progressive hockey environment and the coaching staff over the years included former national hockey players and Olympians, Pietie Coetzee-Turner, Fiona Butler and Tsoanelo Pholo. To be coached by Coetzee-Turner –one of the world’s most famous players – had created interest and raised the standard of the game at Wits. ‘She was my biggest role model,’ said Lezaan Jansen van Vuuren. ‘At the USSA tournament in Cape Town I went to a wine farm with her. This for me was the best day of my life … I phoned my whole family when we got back to our accommodation just to tell them that I just drank wine and ate cheese with THE Pietie Coetzee, only for her to immigrate to America two months after that ... we still, till this day, have a great connection.’
Robyn Johnson, also an indoor international, made her first outdoor national appearance with Nicky Veto in a Test series against Namibia ahead of the FIH tournament in Valencia, Spain. Midfielder Robyn Johnson openly expressed how much her first national game meant to her:
Receiving my first cap on home soil was really a special moment in my hockey career – I of course felt nervous but was also excited to get out on the field and play with the team. My family and friends were able to share it with me which made it even more special. I am truly honoured and grateful to have the opportunity to represent my country.
They joined a growing list of Wits players who had been called on to represent South Africa in recent years: Toni Marks, Luché Klaasen, Zimi Shange and Ashleigh-Jean Datnow. Another
Wits
Lezaan Jansen van Vuren.
South African player, Ashleigh-Jean Datnow, was a welcome asset to Wits’ hockey.
Nomnikelo Veto played for South Africa in the world series finals in June 2019, as well as the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.
first team squad 2019 (back row – left to right): Sisipho Magwaza, Lisa Bone, Storme Johnson, Mandisa Sigudla, Nolwazi Ngubane, Angelique Pieterse, Imogen Bangert, Michelle Dykman (third row): Emmanuel Segale, Grace Taylor, Lezaan Jansen van Vuren, Ashley Readhead, Danielle Quinn, Ashleigh-Jean Datnow, Tamsin Copeland, Denise Polson (second row): Robyn Johnson, Pietie Coetzee-Turner, Nomnikelo Veto, Marcel Lamont, Jureya Dildar (in front): Nolwazi Zondi.
Witsie, Petro Stoffberg, played for Namibia’s national women’s team, while several were selected for South Africa’s under-21 squad. Robyn Johnson, Nicky Veto and Toni Marks were selected for the Tokyo Olympic Games team in 2021.
At USSA in 2021, the women’s first team finished in fifth position, which was a pleasing improvement on the previous tournament in 2019.
They would go one better in 2022, just missing out on bronze when they were beaten 3-2 by
Netball
There was much that was encouraging for Wits netball in 2014. Attempts during the previous 18 months to improve the quality of the game at the university culminated in a promising performance at the USSA tournament. The netball report waxed lyrical that ‘if the ohso-beautiful NMMU campus and coastal accommodation wasn’t enough to make this a magical tournament for us, then the silver medal we brought home sure did!’
The Wits women beat three teams in their section of the round-robin competition. They then maintained their winning streak to beat Durban University of Technology in the next stage of the tournament, but lost the crucial deciding encounter to the Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein.
During the season, there was praise for individuals such as star player Bianca McCann, two conscientious administrative ‘angels’ Ofentse Moropa and Apelele Fuduma, a second team coach, Christina Mogale, who helped prepare a competitive side to participate in the Ekhuruleni league and an outgoing chairperson Seriti Moloi ‘who, unfortunately, due to
Maties in their semi-final. After their narrow success over Wits, Maties defeated Tuks 2-1 in the final Women’s hockey contiues to be of a high standard at Wits. Two players, Morgan de Jager and Shanna Mendonça, were selected to represent the South African women’s fives team in the annual senior fives event in Swaziland during June 2022. They were also included in the South African squad to prepare for the 2023 FIH junior hockey World Cup.
study commitments, has had to put playing competitively on the back-burner for now’. Sports officer Lorraine Masibi saw building depth as key to a successful future. ‘A second team is definitely something we will pursue in the coming years,’ she said, while the internal netball league was acknowledged as ‘the foundation of our efforts to grow the sport here at Wits’. Managed and run by the players themselves, the 12-team tournament was very competitive, and culminated in play-offs and finals every October.
In 2015, Ofentse Moropa, the club vicechairperson, announced early on that they aimed to build on the previous year’s success. ‘This year we are hoping to win gold,’ she stated, ‘so that we can be promoted to the “A” section’. Preparations began in March and were based on the internal league. Fifteen teams played at the Diggs Fields, each made up of seven players, with the interesting rule that one male player per team was allowed. Brainwashers – who were unbeaten – and Medics, were the strongest sides, with Braamfontein Centre, Esselen, Girton Hall and Zenith the teams at the bottom of the log.
After the teams in the league had played
Wits
Robyn Johnson was selected for the South African indoor and outdoor ladies’ hockey teams, and participated in the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.
Enhakkore Bope
between seven and eight matches, the Wits netball selectors settled on a first-team squad, comprising the top 22 players. This group then prepared for the USSA championships that were held at the University of Johannesburg. It was a huge competition involving more than 30 educational institutes. Wits played in a ten-team section ‘B’, and below them the ‘C’ section was made up of 13 sides.
Sections were further divided into pools. Wits, coached by Mampho Tsotetsi, played four matches – winning three and losing one – in pool ‘B’1. Wits scored the most goals in the round-robin stage – 178 for; 96 against – but the Tshwane University of Technology were unbeaten going into the play-off semifinal matches. Wits struck top form in beating the Central University of Technology in the semi-final and then overcoming the Tshwane University of Technology in the final.
Promotion to the ‘A’ section was a tremendous achievement for the Wits women. Klaas Mokgomole, the internal league chairperson and first team manager, set about building on this success. ‘I believe netball will be recognised this year because the Wits girls won at USSA … so netball is in the spotlight.’ He added: ‘Recruiting new teams will ensure that there is a larger pool of players and more talent to choose from when the university needs to be represented externally.’
The new structure of the internal league consisted of 20 teams subsequently divided into pools which ‘functioned as a kind of a league
structure, with pool “A” being the “premier league” and Pool “B” being the “first division”.’ Internal teams were charged R800 to be part of the league, while external teams paid R1000 per team.
‘I love netball,’ Mokgomole enthused, but despite his noble efforts, the Wits women were relegated not long afterwards to the ‘B’ section of the USSA tournament. A period followed in which interest in the sport declined. It was admitted that 2017 was a tough year and that the team had ‘performed badly, finishing last at the USSA tournament’. A year later, a student article appeared that was headed ‘Wits netball hopes to relive its glory days’. The coach, Judy Rathethe, explained netball’s predicament:
Last year, I had to start the team afresh with new talent and rebuild it. There were a lot of girls without previous netball experience but they were willing and eager to learn. Their respect was amazing and commitment was incredible ... We want to bring back netball to what it was years back … we want to continue the great legacy that was Wits’s. We must be more equipped to get back to section ‘A’.
Sports officer Tebogo Rabothata provided incentive, stating: ‘We have a good chance of getting into Varsity Netball’. Plans were quickly put into place. Marguerite Rootman was appointed coach in mid-2018. Wits successfully hosted their first USSA netball tournament in July 2019. Thirtyseven teams from institutes across the country competed, with Wits entering two teams.
The first team finished second in the USSA ‘B’ section, winning seven out of the eight games. They qualified for the ‘A’ section premier league, an important step after three years in the second division. Rootman was delighted, stating: ‘It is an amazing achievement for them. They do not realise just how much talent they have.’
Jolize Beukman, captain of the first team, thought it an honour and privilege to participate in the tournament. Following their fine performance, two 19-year-old first-team players – Enhakkore Bope and Panashe Chiranga –were selected to play for the USSA ‘dream’ team from the ‘B’ division. Chiranga was also named in the USSA netball squad to play in the CUCSA Games. ‘It is amazing to be up there,’ the chemical engineering student told Wits Vuvuzela ‘All of the hard work has paid off and now I am reaping the rewards.’
There was cause for celebration in Wits emerging ‘B’ section winners in 2015.
RIGHT: The Wits 2019 team that qualified for the USSA ‘A’ section premier league (left to right – back row): Minenhle Makhubu, Cara Terblanche, Enhakkore Bope, Gabriela Van Staden, Jana Cupedo, Simoné van Reenen, Kelly Ann Gouws, Panashe Chiranga (in front): Meisie Senokwane, Siphesihle Zungu, Marguerite Rootman ,Jolize Beukman and Refilwe Tswai.
Simoné van Reenen dominant in defence.
Rootman saw the success as merely the beginning: ‘We’re aiming for super league, the top level of the ‘A’ division. To get there – and to play in the Varsity Cup – we have to be in the top two of the premier league.’
The Wits team of 2019 was very young: seven first years, four second years and one third year. Some were studying courses such as medicine and engineering, so practices were often an exercise in time management, explained Rootman. ‘Cara Terblanche, for example, studies medicine every night until 11, gets on Gautrain, comes here, attends lectures and plays netball … she got exemption for some of her subjects but she is not the norm.’
Several honours came Wits’s way in 2019. Eight first-team players were chosen for different provincial teams. Simoné van Reenen played in the Telkom Netball League for Limpopo Baobabs. The SPAR championships were a great experience, providing an opportunity to compete with and against top elite players.
Panashe Chiranga was selected for the South African under-21 ‘Baby Protea’ team that played against Zimbabwe in Cape Town in November 2019. Rootman commented that Chiranga ‘played goal defence and she’s short so I started moving her to centre as I think she can be very good there. Panashe works extremely hard and is self-motivated.’
Efforts were made to reduce the huge gap between the first and second teams. This was done in different ways. According to Tshepiso Mametela, coach Rootman ‘banked on funneling in experience while identifying senior team candidates through various high-performance recruitment drives, as part of ongoing efforts to increase Wits’s burgeoning profile as a netball juggernaut’. There were obviously tremendous advantages in being able to compete in the Johannesburg Netball Association league, the USSA competition and other intervarsity tournaments.
Wits netball did not lose sight of the value of its internal league. The 2019 competition was keenly contested and, said the club report, ‘we had fewer complaints compared to previous years, because we acquired graded umpires who were always on time’. Nineteen teams affiliated and paid in full, while assisting the club with fundraising for USSA and other expenses. Brainwashers were the league winners beating Student Digz in the finals held at the Old Mutual Sports Hall.
So much had been achieved, only for Covid-19 to disrupt plans for 2020. Players followed individual programmes at home to ensure they were primed for contention ahead of meeting again with the coach. ‘I’d been doing a lot of strength and conditioning at home in preparation for the 2021 season,’ said Panashe Chiranga, desperate to be on court again and ‘play the sport I love’.
When play resumed, Wits finished seventh out of 11 teams in the ‘A’ division of the 2021 USSA tournament at Camp Discovery. This was a huge improvement on the 2018 event when they were 19th. An equally important achievement was
Wits 2022 USSA Premier League winners in Pretoria (left to right –back row): Kirsten Mileman, Ann Gouws, Simoné van Reenen, Ashleigh Gray, Charelize Bezuidenhout, Dipuo Mabasa, Hlumisa Ndabankulu, Dr Elsje Jordaan (in front): Vinolia Austin, Refilwe Tswai, Panashe Chiranga, Thandiwe Mokiti, Sidney Coetzee.
that they qualified for Varsity Netball for the very first time, while Chiranga was selected for the USSA squad to play in the CUCSA games in 2022.
Netball was flourishing, one report recalling that ‘it has managed to keep almost 200 female students active in a recreational league and an ever-developing high-performance programme’.
The rise of Wits netball was further reflected by the number of players selected to participate in the 2021 Telkom Netball League that started in September 2021. Tinita van Dyk, Kelly Gouws, Panashe Chiranga and Zanne-Marie Pienaar (Gauteng Golden Fireballs); Simoné van Reenen (Gauteng Jaguars); Samantha Holder (Limpopo Baobabs), and Alicia Oosthuizen (KZN Kingdom Stars) were players who took part.
The 2022 season was action-packed as the Wits team strove to hold its own at the highest level. They played in the USSA tournament at Camp Discovery, north of Pretoria, where they emerged strongly at the top of the premier division and confirmed their Varsity Netball status. Panashe Chiranga was named in the premier division’s ‘dream’ team and selected for the CUCSA squad.
A few weeks later, one writer reported on Wits players and administrators ‘celebrating a gold rush’. The university was prominent in Johannesburg being crowned for the first time as Spar national netball champions. Panashe Chiranga, Tinita van Dyk, Simoné van Reenen, Sidney Coetzee, Dr Elsje Gouws (as coach) and Vinolia Austin (manager) featured in the success. But there were other Witsies who also won gold: Refilwe Tswai and Jane Mbombi were in the Johannesburg ‘B’ team that triumphed in the B1 section and Ashleigh Gray was in Waterburg’s winning team in the B2 section.
Panashe Chiranga has represented South Africa under 21 and USSA, and participated in the Telkom Netball League.
Rugby
Wits Rugby experienced a tough year in 2014. It started out with the highly competitive Varsity Cup. Wits were hoping to get a couple of wins under their belt, but it was not to be and they lost all seven of their games. They showed some improvement during the competition and took several teams to the edge. On three occasions, they suffered a losing margin of eight or fewer points and only Tukkies in a 53-8 thumping were able to outclass them.
The highlight of the Varsity Cup campaign was the close 18-15 loss to three-time champions Maties at a windy Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch. Wits made all the early running and number 8 Jason Fraser – the official ‘man of the match’ in a losing cause – crashed over inside the first ten minutes. Wits were unable to convert, but they doubled their score shortly after the first strategy break. Fly-half Ashlon Davids scored a stunning try when he backed up fine interplay involving Matthew Torrance and Ruhan Nel. The conversion was missed again but Wits led 10-5 at the interval.
Playing with the wind in the second half, the Maties built an 18-10 lead. They scored all three of their tries when Wits were a man down – a player was sin-binned in each half. The last 20 minutes saw Wits restored to 15 men, but they were kept at bay until the final act of play when Nel crossed in the corner for the team’s third try. A draw was on the cards, as conversions were worth three points under the Varsity Cup’s scoring system. But given the wind and the acute angle, it was not possible.
Despite their lack of success in the 2014 Varsity Cup, players moved on to top professional teams. Carel Greeff represented Griquas and made his Super Rugby debut; JJ Breedt joined Pumas; Jason Fraser did duty for Boland in the Currie Cup; and Riaan Arends, JP Jonk and Grant Janke all played for Valke in their successful Currie Cup campaign. Captain and Wits stalwart Devin Montgomery turned out for Griffons and had a spell in Ireland at Ulster.
Rinus Bothma made his debut for Perpignan in France after playing for Wits during the previous three years. In addition, two players were contracted to the Springbok sevens’ squads. Jacques Erasmus was unlucky to suffer a hamstring injury that slowed down his progress, but Ruhan Nel, fullback for Wits in the Varsity Cup, made his Blitzbokke debut.
There was a flying start to Wits’s league campaign in 2014, with huge wins against Pukke and Impalas in Rustenburg. They were unfortunate to be denied victory against the University of Johannesburg, going down 27-26 after the latter were awarded a controversial lastmove try.
Wits’s success in the league saw them lose players to Golden Lions for Currie Cup duty. This undoubtedly contributed to their failing by one point to qualify for the league semi-final. There was some consolation in the under-21 side reaching the final. In a tightly contested affair, they lost to the University of Johannesburg.
Wits entered a talented young side in the USSA tournament and benefited from the experience. They came back from being 18-3 down to draw their match against star-studded Shimlas. Throughout a demanding season, Wits’s passion for the game never lacked. Their supporters were rewarded as systems were gradually put in place to ensure greater depth of rugby talent, but real progress would not happen overnight.
At the end of 2014, Hugo van As was appointed as head coach. He had been an exciting centre for Transvaal in his playing days and had since coached the Lions. He had also operated at the University of Johannesburg and enjoyed working with students. At Wits, he and his coaching staff – brother Etienne van As and Lions’ junior coach Joey Mongalo – soon realised the magnitude of their task.
Academic regulations tightened for the ‘Varsity’ competitions, and the new coaching group had a rocky start. There were just eight eligible Wits students at the first off-season practice session in October 2014. They included long-serving tighthead prop Luvuyo Pupuma, Ferdinand Kelly, Connor Brocksmith and captain Richard Crossman. They were joined by Lux Ntshepe and Tommi Damba from the University of Johannesburg and lock forward Graham Logan from Tuks.
Van As took the positive view that they were in the Varsity Shield for the first two years so they could initially field a younger generation from the feeder schools. He did not have a budget ‘to buy players, but he built relationships so that Wits would be considered an option’. Efforts were made to recruit students who had moved into residence and to work with them for three or four years. Some first-years had played provincial rugby at school but the majority were thrown in at the deep end. They included players who became the mainstay of the Wits team for years to come: Constant Beckerling (Helpmekaar), CJ Conradie (Monument), CJ Greeff (Monument), Tide Visser (Hilton) and Jethro de Lange (Jeppe).
There were other issues to be considered, the most serious being that Wits was poorly equipped to meet the demands of the high-performance game. Van As was nevertheless encouraged that Wits Sport supported him in areas such as training conditions, coaching programmes, recruitment and ensuring the players’ academic status was such that they were qualified to represent the university. Van As explained the strategy:
The whole coaching staff and the sports administration made a commitment to one another not only to improve the playing standards of the students and instil a semi-professional environment at Wits, but to create an holistic environment. We wanted to drive the focus on ‘studying while living out your dream’. Through investing in their rugby and their studies, we aim to ensure they leave with an internationally recognised Wits degree behind their names – a huge accolade for young men who go out into the world
Ashlon Davids, fly-half in Wits’s 2014 Varsity Cup, represented Golden Lions.
Hugo van As (left) and his brother Etienne achieved considerable success as Wits’s rugby coaches.
Kwanele Ngema’s elusive pace made him one of the most influential players in the Varsity Cup.
– while we live our dream to be successful as a rugby club. We have been fortunate to have had the support of Kerry Yates in this ongoing process; she screens the players; flags issues and is such an asset in guiding our athletes.
The young Wits team had a great 2015 Varsity Shield campaign, finishing comfortably on top of the log, seven points clear of second place University of Kwazulu-Natal. They were unbeaten in their eight matches, amassing 407 points, with 162 against. They defeated the Kwazulu-Natal Impi 56-13 in Pietermaritzburg, but remarkably drew twice against the University of the Western Cape, 37-37 at home and 21-21 in Cape Town.
In the knockout stage that followed, the Kwazulu-Natal Impi shocked Wits 29-24 in Johannesburg to win the Varsity Shield for the first time. The visitors’ defence was impressive, while Wits became increasingly desperate and squandered opportunities. ‘Every final has pressure,’ admitted Hugo van As, ‘and we couldn’t handle it.’ At the same time, he could look back on the encouraging progress made. Wits fly-half Brandan Hewitt finished as the tournament’s top point scorer with 133; full back Tommy Damba caught the eye in gathering ten tries, and first-year flanker Constant Beckerling scored nine in a promising season.
Wits then struggled to hold their own in the Pirates Grand Challenge and were unable to qualify for the top tier of the competition. They did, however, win the second tier, beating Randfontein in the final.
In 2016, the club eyed promotion to the Varsity Cup, which would be awarded to the side that finished top of the log and not to the winner of the final. It contributed to a season of immense drama, both on and off the field. The ‘FeesMustFall’ movement created unrest on campuses and disrupted and delayed the Varsity Shield campaign. Once underway again, some unforgettable rugby was played. Curwin Bosch, a future Sharks star, was largely instrumental in helping the Kwazulu-Natal Impi defeat Wits 2618 in Durban. Thereafter, it became a desperate situation for the Johannesburg students when Kwazulu-Natal Impi also won the return leg at the FNB Stadium.
There was an extraordinary finish to the season. The University of the Western Cape thrashed Kwazulu-Natal Impi 44-16. Wits were given a lifeline but the Impi could realistically anticipate topping the log. They had won seven of their eight matches, and twice defeated Wits, their nearest rivals. Bonus points became important, an area where Wits had done well, fully aware that the season could come down to a matter of points difference. On 26 March at the Rand Stadium, Wits defeated Fort Hare Blues 64-13. The game was immediately followed by Kwazulu-Natal Impi hammering Tshwane University of Technology Vikings 72-8.
Wits had a game in hand. They knew they could top the log two days later if they beat Chester Williams’s University of the Western
Cape by 40 points and secured a bonus point in the process.
One of the great games in the history of Wits rugby unfolded at the FNB Stadium, Soweto, on 28 March. With only eight minutes of the match remaining, Wits had to score twice. In a dazzling climax, inspired magic from Kwanele Ngema produced a try, followed by another on the final whistle from captain Warren Gilbert.
Wits’s incredible 60-13 victory effectively won the league. They scored 32 points to tie with Kwazulu-Natal Impi at the top of the log, but could also point to a +246 points difference compared to the latter’s +238. It secured promotion to the Varsity Cup.
‘We as a team really believed we could do it,’ said Gilbert, who put it down to playing to their strengths. Representing Wits, he added, had become a huge privilege.
In a final twist, Kwazulu-Natal Impi had twelve points deducted for fielding an ineligible player throughout the season. The University of the Western Cape were placed second and qualified for the final. Apart from a blackout interruption 23 minutes into the game, it was a straightforward task for Wits. Ruan Cloete, Kyle Wesemann, Graham Logan, CJ Conradie and Constant Beckerling scored tries, with Warren Gilbert kicking a further 14 points. Wits won 39-2 – penalties and drop goals were worth two points – and lock forward, Rhyno Herbst was awarded the ‘forward that rocks’ prize.
Wits added another trophy to the cabinet in 2016 by winning the USSA ‘B’ division in East London. This time, they defeated the University of the Western Cape 77-0. The Witsies scored 11 goals, with fly-half Warren Gilbert converting every try. Fullback Lux Ntsepe and lock Mitchell Fraser each scored a brace and seven other players – Kwanele Ngema, Ruan Cloete, Joshua Jarvis, Sicelo Champion, Ferdinand Kelly, Dwayne Pienaar and Kyle Weseman – adding further tries. Coach Hugo van As described Wits’s victory as ‘a complete performance with the pack once again outstanding’ – hooker CJ Conradie was named ‘player of the tournament’.
The Pirates Grand Challenge league followed a similar pattern to that of the previous year, with Wits narrowly missing out on a place in the semi-finals. This was balanced across the board by clear evidence that league results were slowly but surely improving for all the university’s teams.
No newly promoted team had ever won a game in the Varsity Cup but Wits were determined to win at least one of their fixtures in 2017. They started by losing an enthralling encounter 2621 against Shimlas at home. They were then beaten 26-14 by Maties – two tries apiece – in Stellenbosch. In mid-February, they played their third-round game at home against the Central University of Technology and beat them 43-3 to record their first Varsity Cup victory. Winger Wandisile Simelane opened the try-scoring, followed by Graham Logan, Justin Brandon, Constant Beckerling and substitute prop Ameer Williams shortly before the close of play. Warren Gilbert added 18 points in conversions
Constant Beckerling, a popular captain of Wits rugby.
Rhyno Herbst
Justin Brandon
and penalties on a day when Wits dominated possession, territory and the scoreboard.
It was an important step forward. Wits and Golden Lions lock Rhyno Herbst claimed the victory would ‘set the base for what’s coming. This is not our best yet, we’re going to strive to improve even more and put in even bigger performances.’
In the sixth round, Wits travelled to Potchefstroom to play North-West University Pukke, and created a major shock in rugby circles by defeating the defending champions 2213. Former South African Schools’ full back Giani Lombard was deservedly named ‘man of the match’. He scored a terrific opening try, superbly sidestepping the defence, but Pukke took the lead 13-7 after an hour. Wits captain Constant Beckerling responded by powering across the line to register a trademark score; Lombard kicked a long-range penalty, and then Manuel Rass breached a formidable phalanx of defenders to record Wits’s third try.
The season concluded with a victory at home over the Nelson Mandela University ‘Madibaz’ 30-20, a narrow 23-28 loss away to the University of Johannesburg, and a memorable 35-23 home victory over the Ikey Tigers, when they scored five tries – Ruan Cloete, Kwanele Ngema, Luvuyo Pupuma, CJ Greef, CJ Conradie – to Cape Town’s three. Warren Gilbert converted all five.
Wits finished in fifth place out of nine teams. It was a fair reflection of how much Wits had improved, and they were perhaps a little unlucky that only Luvuyo Pupuma was selected for the Varsity Cup ‘dream team’ to play the Junior Springboks.
Wits also performed well in the 2017 Pirates Grand Challenge, winning 11 of their 14 matches. In their last league game of the year they achieved a 17-12 away victory over Pirates – Jethro de Lange and Lux Ntsepe scoring the only tries of the night. It enabled them to reach the Pirates Grand Challenge semi-final, their first top-four finish in the competition since 1979. Although they were knocked-out at that stage – beaten 55-27 by Pukke – there was clear progress. ‘We’ve been making history and we’re not going to stop,’ said sports officer Amigo Ngcakana.
In another highlight, Wits pulled off a dazzling 32-27 win over Varsity Cup holders, University of Pretoria to kick-start their 2017 USSA rugby campaign. Wits ran expertly into open spaces and caused problems for the defending champions’ backline. Employing an expansive, attackminded approach, they crossed their opponents’ line four times through full-back Luxolo Ntsepe, left wing Daniel Kasende Kapepula and a brace from Kwanele Ngema on the right wing. It was Wits’s first victory over Tukkies since 1969 and the first time they had progressed to the semifinals of the USSA ‘A’ section.
The semi-final against NWU Pukke was lost 13-19. The game started badly when stalwart Conor Brockschmidt received a controversial red card within the first 15 minutes. Disappointment for Wits did not stop there. They celebrated a
‘winning try’ by Luvuyo Papuma at the end of the game, only for the match official to decide the ball was lost forward.
‘The guys showed a lot of guts and character,’ acknowledged coach Hugo van As. ‘We desperately wanted to get to the final which would’ve been an amazing achievement.’ There was satisfaction nonetheless in ending the tournament with a victory over Shimlas for their first USSA bronze medal.
Two Witsies also won bronze medals while playing in the 2017 World Rugby under-20 championship at the Mikheil Meskhi stadium in Tbilisi, Georgia. Wandisile Simelane and Gianni Lombard represented South Africa’s under-20 team that won its third/fourth play-off encounter against France 37-15.
Wits started the 2018 Varsity Cup season by scoring two late tries to claim an important 3026 away win against Ikeys in Cape Town. They had begun well when Kasende Kapepula ran from his own half to claim a seven-point try, but Ikeys led 14-9 at half-time. In the second half both sides had their moments. Prolific try-scorer and captain Constant Beckerling put Wits ahead but Cape Town regained control and led 26-16 well into the game. Wits attacked ferociously and Chris Hume barged over. Then Kasende Kapepula counter-attacked after Ikeys had kicked on to him. An elusive run culminated in an inside pass to AJ van Blerk who crossed for the match-winning try.
Next up were defending champions University of Pretoria. Wits played spectacular rugby in front of vibrant home support to romp home 25-19. It was Tuks who had opened the scoring through a try by centre Toko Seerane but, said the match report, ‘before the visitors’ celebratory dances were over, Wits struck right back’. IOL reporter Jacques van der Westhuyzen commented:
They were led by the impressive Constant Beckerling, whose engine fired all night long, and marshalled at the back by the brilliant 18-yearold number 10 Christian Humphries and fullback Tyrone Green. Centre Sicelo Champion went over after his captain Constant Beckerling had called a ‘powerplay’, the home side making the most of their numerical advantage. The seven-point try and the touchline conversion by young Humphries put Wits in front by 9-7 … Wing Kwanele Ngema then rounded off a counter-attack that started deep in his own half and after Humphries had shown a clean pair of heels to outstrip the defence and send the winger on his way. The conversion made it a second nine-point score and left Wits 18-7 up.
Tuks closed the gap to just four points at the interval but Wits were well-prepared for the second-half battle. Wits wing Kasende Kapepula went over in the corner for his team, only to be followed onto the scoresheet by a Tuks’ try moments later. The visitors called their ‘powerplay’ and sent Wits’s Humphries and Green off the field, but they were unable to make it count. Wits hung onto the ball for the full three minutes to register a memorable win. Beckerling, who was well-known for his
Sicelo Champion
Daniel Kasende Kapepula
passionate post-match television interviews, was visibly fired up on this occasion. He became an internet sensation after his refreshingly amusing comments were delivered with great emotion. He told listeners:
We were prepared to win. We knew we were here to make history. All week, that’s what we told ourselves. I am so proud of the boys. Absolutely humbled. The guys came out and played with enormous testicles and we absolutely did it. Fantastic effort. I am such a happy captain.
In their next two matches, Wits lost 44-24 to Shimlas in Bloemfontein but beat Madibaz 3229 in Port Elizabeth. After the fourth round, the two leading sides in the Varsity Cup log were Wits and Maties, so there was great interest when they met at the Wits stadium. The formidable Stellenbosch side placed early pressure on Wits to score three tries and race into a 17-0 lead, To their immense credit, Wits struck back in the ten-minute period before the break. A try from Tyrone Green opened his side’s account but the team did not stop there. Wits inside centre AJ Van Blerk scored a seven-point try, converted by Humphries. Maties had a slender 17-14 lead at the end of the first half, but asserted themselves when play resumed.
With ten minutes remaining, they led 2714. Wits reduced the leeway through a try by substitute Taine Chabant, but Maties responded with another penalty to go ahead 30-21. Time was almost up when fly-half Chris Humphries made a magnificent line break and passed to fullback Tyrone Green who scored between the posts. It was a dramatic moment as many in the crowd did not immediately realise that it was a 7-point try. Humphries kicked the conversion to draw the game 30-30 and maintain Wits’s semi-final hopes.
A 52-18 victory over the Cape University of Technology enabled Wits to qualify for the Varsity Cup semi-final for the very first time. They were given the tough assignment of playing Maties at Stellenbosch and were well beaten 65-18. Although Wits had been the only side to hold Stellenbosch in the league phase of the competition, they were outplayed in the uncharted territory of a semi-final. ‘We had to chase the game, which forced us to play risky rugby,’ commented Kasende Kapepula, one of Wits’s try-scorers. ‘We gave it our all and we are proud of each other as a team. One game can’t take away the season we have had and what we have built together.’
Wits supporters were delighted with the brand of rugby being played and the stadium was packed for virtually all their home games. There was another successful season in the Pirates Grand Challenge where Wits finished second in the log behind the University of Johannesburg. They went down 13-0 to Pukke in the semi-final, but could point to their under-19 and under-21 teams winning their respective sections of the competition.
Three Witsies were honoured by national selection during the year. Two – Wandisile Similane (as vice-captain) and Tyrone Green –
represented South Africa in the World Rugby under-20 championship. Similane claimed a second-half hat-trick of tries against Ireland and Green scored twice in helping South Africa to their 40-30 bronze-medal win over New Zealand. A third Wits student, Marvin Orie, was selected for the Springbok team in 2018. He made his Test debut against Wales in Washington DC, and was also selected for the June internationals against Wales and England. To add to a memorable season, he played for the Lions in the 2018 Super Rugby final against the Crusaders.
The coaching staff of Wits Rugby remained unchanged for the 2019 season insofar as Hugo van As was still in charge, with brother Etienne looking after the forwards. Warren Gilbert, who had taken up coaching duties, controlled the backline for the most part of the season as Joey Mongalo had been promoted to defence coach of the Lions and was unable to attend all sessions.
The Varsity Cup season was tough with Wits losing a few games they might have won the previous year. They still managed victories over the Central University of Technology 25-15, Ikey Tigers 30-29 and University of the Western Cape 74-40. Unfortunately, a crucial defeat against Pukke prevented them from qualifying for the semi-finals again.
The home victory against Ikeys was memorable. Wits enjoyed a flying start with two seven-point tries by centres AJ van Blerk and Sicelo Champion. Fly-half Chris Humphries converted both to put Wits 18 points ahead. Solid forward play enabled the Capetonians to claw their way back into the game. They built up a 22-18 lead midway through the second half, before Van Blerk burst through the defence to give Wits another seven-point try. A penalty from Humphries enabled his side to move ahead 30-22 and secure victory, despite Ikeys being awarded a penalty try in the final play.
Pirates Grand Challenge champions
The major success of the 2019 season occurred in the Pirates Grand Challenge. It began with all five club teams qualifying for their respective semi-finals. The first team finished second to NWU Pukke. They played 15 matches, won 11 and lost 4, with a 553-351 points advantage. Wanderers were third, Roodepoort fourth and the University of Johannesburg fifth. The second team won their division of the league, with 12 wins and a draw in their 15 matches. The third team finished fourth and the under-21 side second. The under-19s won their league with 14 victories in 15 matches and an impressive 737109 points record.
In their last league match, Wits’s first team stopped Roodepoort in their tracks through an emphatic 34-5 victory to secure second spot on the Pirates Grand Challenge log. It was their best finish since 1967. They had also defeated both the University of Johannesburg and Pukke in the course of a demanding league campaign.
In the semi-final, Wits played terrific rugby.
Chris Humphries
Marvin Orie made his debut for the Springboks against Wales in 2018.
Wits’s Junior Springbok players 2019 (left to right): Dameon Venter, Keagan Glade and Sibusiso Sangweni.
row):
Kevin Du Rand, Enrico Els, Keagan Lailvaux, Keagan Glade, Runaldo Pedro, Matthew Macdonald, Ziyanda Msipha, Mylo Sadiki, Kwanele Ngema, Warren Gilbert (Coach), Anton Gerber, Lwazi Monakali, Pascal Snyman, Reynard Cronje, Jacques Durand (coach), Hugo van As (head coach), Etienne van As (coach), Morné van den Berg (middle row): Alex Skudder, Ferdinand Kelly (rugby manager) , CJ Greeff, Justin Brandon (captain with trophy), Christopher Worthington, Jared Fuller (in front): Christian Humphries, Phillip Krause, Sicelo Champion, Ebot Buma, Daniel Kasende Kapepula.
They overwhelmed Wanderers 57-17 with both Morné ‘Krappie’ van den Berg and Kasende Kapepula in brilliant form. Van den Berg scored four of Wits’s first five tries, and Kapepula Kasende two more through his breathtaking pace. Both pressed strongly for places in the Lions’ side. Alex Skudder, Chris Worthington and Jared Fuller added further tries, with Chris Humphries converting six.
On 7 September 2019, Wits University turned back the clock 52 years to win the Pirates Grand Challenge for the second time in their history. They beat defending champions, North-West University Pukke 36-33 in a tense contest at the Alberton rugby club. It was a game of contrasts: Wits scored six tries through their exciting backs while Pukke fought back with their forwards.
Wits’s speedsters were prominent, Lwazi Monakali scored twice and Kwanele Ngema once. Fullback Kasende Kapepula produced a spectacular try from fullback, while others came from Matthew Macdonald and flanker Alex Skudder. Wits led 29-12 at one stage but Pukke launched attack after attack through their forwards. Two converted tries brought them back into the game to trail by only three points. It was eventually Monakali’s second try that sealed Wits’s victory.
The 22-year-old captain Justin Brandon told Wits Vuvuzela ‘typically rugby finals are physical. It was a fight till the last minute to secure the win.’ The historical significance was very much part of the occasion. Brandon added that it was ‘a huge honour, to bring back the trophy after so many years. It means a lot to the team as we had been playing good rugby the past few years but didn’t have a trophy to show for it.’
It also meant a great deal to Wits’s loyal supporters, no one more so than Kosta Babich, who was chairman of Wits at the time the legendary 1967 side topped the league. He was present at the 2019 final.
The rest of the season was taken up with USSA tournaments. Wits reached the semi-final at Stellenbosch, having beaten the University of
Johannesburg 33-10 in the opening round. At that stage, Wits lost to Tukkies, who went on to be crowned USSA champions. University teams were also involved in USSA’s ‘sevens’ rugby. In a tournament hosted in Margate, Wits finished in fifth position, effectively out of 24 teams.
The first-ever Wits women’s team participated in a tough USSA sevenscompetition hosted at the University of Johannesburg. According to Hugo van As, ‘our ladies were gutsy and fought until the very end of the competition’. They ended 13th out of 16 teams after beating Sol Plaatje University. Encouraged by their progress, the team entered the Golden Lions’ female league. Julia Venter was subsequently included in the Lions’ ‘fifteens’ team.
Wits added value and depth to the men’s provincial and national sides. The following earned representative honours for the Lions:
Super Rugby/Currie Cup: Hacjivah Dayimani, Marvin Orie, Len Massyn, Reinhardt Notnagel, Morné van den Berg and Wandisile Simelane.
Lions under-21: Phillip Krause, Cal Smid, Ebott Buma, Anton Gerber, Keagan Lailvaux, Travis Gordon, Emmanuel Tsituka, Yanga Hlahu, Hlumehlo Ndudula, Luke Bramhall, Robert Bester, Franco Schutte and Banele Mthenjane.
Three Wits under-20 players were selected for the South African squad that won bronze for the third successive year in the 2019 World Rugby under-20 championship in Argentina. They were loose forward Sibusiso Sangweni and hookers Dameon Venter and Keagan Glade. In addition, David Cary, who played wing/fullback, was selected for the South African student sevens team for the 30th Universiade – a biennial global university sporting extravaganza – that took place in Naples.
Hugo van As was delighted by the club’s progress in terms of the rugby played and the way it contributed to transformation: ‘We want to produce a sustainable product that can be very competitive and on a regular base be one of the top four universities.’ He added that Wits did not have a transformation challenge: ‘We are committed to what the university stands for and what South African rugby and the unions live by’.
Van As’s coaching team had been very successful. Behind the scene, there were others involved in putting proper high performance systems in place. Michael Dick wrote of the rugby club having ‘two fantastic administrators in the office, Ferdinand Kelly and the late Amigo Ngcakana who worked passionately for long hours to improve the Wits rugby system’. In addition, the club had been well served by the high performance gymnasium on the education campus. It had been improved every year under one of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the country, Jacques Durand, who was employed on a permanent basis by Wits Sport. Covid-19 affected the rugby club’s progress in 2020. Wits were unbeaten after six rounds of the 2020 Varsity Cup, with a realistic chance of reaching the final. They started their campaign
Wits First XV 2019: Pirates Grand Challenge winners (left to right – back
Winston Grootboom (Coach),
Morné ‘Krappie’ van den Berg
Ruan Venter and Nico Steyn were selected for the junior Springboks in 2022.
by recording victories over the University of the Western Cape 38-10, University of Johannesburg 7-6 and North-West University 27-24. By the next round, interest increased when two unbeaten teams – Wits and Ikeys – met amidst a howling wind on UCT’s Green Mile rugby field. A late try from lock Emmanuel Tshituka, converted by Kurt Webster, enabled Wits to share the spoils 10-10 in a thrilling finale.
A week later, Wits was praised by visiting coach Nico Luus for ‘a master-class performance on defence’ in recording a 16-10 win over the University of Pretoria. Luus had no excuses. He conceded they were ‘out tackled’, stating that Wits’s outstanding defensive play ‘ensured we were continuously under pressure. It led to us making mistakes at crucial times.’ Lindo Ncusane and Yanga Hlalu scored Wits’s tries and Kurt Webster and Chris Humphries kicked the penalties.
At that point, the Varsity Cup was suspended and subsequently declared incomplete following an outbreak of Covid-19 at universities. As things stood, Maties topped the log with 23 points after five games. Tuks were second with 22 points (six games), Wits third with 20 points (five games) and Ikeys fourth with 20 points (six games). North West University, Central University of Technology, Shimlas, University of the Western Cape and University of Johannesburg followed in that order in the nine-team competition.
The Varsity Cup resumed in 2021 and was played in a secure bio-bubble at the University of Pretoria. Wits finished eighth out of 10 teams. They played 9, won 3 and lost 6 of their matches to secure 17 points. Seventh-placed Shimlas won just two matches but obtained 8 bonus points as opposed to Wits’s 5. Wits finished ahead of the University of Johannesburg and Madibaz.
Top of the log were the unbeaten Ikeys, who won 8 and drew 1 of their matches. They finished on 41 points, six clear of second-placed Maties. Tuks were third but went on to win the knockout stage, defeating Ikeys in the final.
For Wits, the 22-20 victory over cross-town rivals, University of Johannesburg, ensured bragging rights during an otherwise difficult season. Centre Aidynn Cupido thought the campaign ‘was one with a lot of lessons and in essence disappointing considering that we had prepared to win, not only the games but the whole competition ... I feel we missed the Wits crowd during our games, it was one of our driving forces the year before and helped us through some tough moments.’ Full back Setshaba Mokoena thought their never-give-up attitude was rewarded by winning the last two games. He stressed ‘the bubble environment was very tough, especially being student-athletes, we had to train, play, recover, and still study … but there again, all the varsities were in the same position.’
There were other highlights during the season. Wandisile Simelane played in the Springbok showdown Green versus Gold and represented South Africa ‘A’ against the touring British and
Irish Lions. Fellow rugby star Tyrone Green was in outstanding form for Harlequins in the English Premiership final, helping them defeat Exeter 40-38.
Tadiwanashe Charity Kwete was selected for the Zimbabwe Sables women’s team to play in the 2021 Africa Cup Challenge in Uganda. Kwete, a prop/ hooker who played for the Wits first team, had previously featured for Zimbabwe’s under-20 side in 2019 in a bilateral series against South Africa before making her senior team debut against Zambia in Lusaka that same year. Women’s rugby at Wits was making encouraging progress and a second player, Sibongile Mdaki, was invited to join the provincial Golden Lions women’s team.
The Mastercard Pirates Women’s Grand Challenge made a scheduled return on 8 May 2021 with the Wits Rugby Women vying for a solid showing in their debut campaign.
Nine FNB Wits first team players made their debuts at provincial level for Sigma Lions in the ongoing Carling Currie Cup competition. There were also players selected for the Springbok side. The group, comprising Morné Brandon, Aidynn Cupido, Travis Gordon, Jordan Hendrikse, Banele Mthenjane, Sibusiso Sangweni, Nico Steyn, Henco van Wyk, Mark Snyman and Emmanuel Tshituka, joined former Witsies, Tyrone Green, Wandisile Simelane, Gianni Lombard and PJ Steenkamp, as provincial or junior national team products from the university.
There were more achievements in 2022. Wits took fourth spot in the USSA tournament at Pretoria, and lost narrowly 31-26 in the Pirates Grand Challenge final at Alberton. They were seventh in the Varsity Cup, winning 4 of their 9 matches, a highlight being an historic 53-31 victory over Shimlas. Wits outclassed their opponents for the major part of that match in which Chris Humphries contributed 26 points in conversions and penalties, and Wian de Lange (2), Hlumelo Ndudula (a 7-pointer), Mark Snyman and Jason Cloete scored tries.
Honours again came Wits’s way during the season: Nico Steyn and Ruan Venter were selected for the junior Boks to play in an under-20 summer series in Italy, while Jason Hendrikse was called up for South Africa’s highly successful Blitzbokke. Cal Smid, Edward White, Lindokuhle Ncusane, Mark Snyman, and Ebot Buma played in the Currie Cup, while the newly established United Rugby Championship (featuring teams from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Italy and South Africa) presented opportunities to Morné Van den Berg, Reinhardt Notnagel, Ruan Venter, Nico Steyn, Sibusiso Sangweni and Jordan Hendricks to represent the Golden Lions. In addition, Gerswin Mouton was called up for Namibia and two members of the women’s team – Dayna Vos and Marenda Morwatshehla – were invited to train with the Mastercard Golden Lions.
Representing Wits has become an important step forward in a young player’s aspirations to reach the highest level.
Cary selected for
Wandisile Simelane attempts to evade Springbok centre Lukhanya Am in a national trial. A series of outstanding performances in 2020 saw Simelane named SA Rugby’s ‘Young Player of the Year’.
David
the USSA sevens at the 30th Universiade.
Soccer
Bidvest Wits appointed Gavin Hunt as their new manager for 2013/14. In making the announcement, CEO Jose Ferreira stated that Hunt had an impressive track record, ‘not only with SuperSport United but with every other club he had coached prior to that’. In the longterm vision for the club, he was seen as the right coach to lead the process they had embarked on to transform the team into ‘a consistently competitive force in South African football’.
Hunt’s first season in charge was successful. Wits accumulated 56 points in finishing third in the 16-team Premier Soccer League (PSL) – the Absa Premiership – behind Mamelodi Sundowns (65) and Kaizer Chiefs (63). They won 16 and drew 8 of their 30 matches, recording a 34-20 goal difference. Wits’s Sibusiso Vilakazi was in third place on the goalscoring list, netting eight times.
Wits also fared well in the Nedbank Cup. They beat AmaBEE 2-0 in the first round and AmaZulu 4-1 in the second. Bloemfontein Celtic were defeated 2-1 in the quarter-final: the match report stating that ‘Musa Nyatama put Phunya Sele Sele ahead, but goals from the Clever Boys’ Sibusiso Vilakazi and Jabulani Shongwe, as well as a red card for Alfred Ndengane, turned the match in favour of the team from Johannesburg.’
In the semi-final, Wits beat holders Kaizer Chiefs 4-2 on penalties at the Bidvest Stadium. Bidvest Wits skipper Sibusiso Vilakazi opened the scoring through a penalty after he had been hauled down inside the area. Chiefs pulled level through a penalty of their own in the 37th minute. Bidvest Wits made it 2-1 two minutes into the second half. The ball fell to Sthembiso Ngcobo inside the area and his first-time shot struck the back of the net. Chiefs then squared things up once again in the 54th minute.
The game ultimately went into extra-time and then penalties. Chiefs missed their opening two spot-kicks, while Bidvest Wits were faultless in their attempts. Onismor Bhasera scored the winner to book his side a place in the final.
Bidvest Wits had won the Nedbank Cup final in 2010 but this time were beaten by Orlando Pirates at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban before a crowd of 50 000. In a combative final, Wits drew first blood in the 26th minute, when Jabulani Shongwe scored from close range. Pirates began to take control either side of the hour-mark through goals from Kermit Erasmus and Sifiso Myeni. When ‘man of the match’ Erasmus later made it 3-1 with a clinical strike, it effectively ended the contest.
In 2014/15, Wits finished with a record similar to that of the previous season. They were third again, having won 15 and drawn 7 of their 30 matches, with a 34-25 goals for/against record. The burning question was whether they could go the whole way and win the league. Wits alumnus and Bidvest Wits chairman, Dr Brian Joffe, stepped up his efforts to ensure the club was in a position to meet the challenge.
Bidvest Wits went one tantalising step closer to winning the league in 2015/16, when they finished second for the first time. It was a season
in which the Absa Premiership provided R1.5 million in prize money to the side that topped the league after each quarter. Wits made a grand start – 19 points in eight games – to head the first quarter, but Mamelodi Sundowns took the next three. The ‘Brazilians’ as they were popularly known, won their seventh league title in dominant fashion, scoring 71 points to finish 14 ahead of second-place Bidvest Wits. Platinum Stars were third, Mpumalanga Black Aces fourth and Kaizer Chiefs fifth in the 16-team premier division.
Wits won 17 and drew 6 of their 30 matches, while recording a 44-24 goal difference. Despite the team not winning any silverware during the season, Hunt was delighted with their progress. A fine side had been assembled, one that had the ‘Brazilians’ in their sights. The club’s awards ceremony received conspicuous publicity. Daine Klate, who scored 12 goals – including his first hat-trick against Magesi in the Nedbank Cup – was winner of both the ‘golden boot’ and ‘player of the season’ award. Captain Thulani Hlatshwayo received the ‘players’ player’ award. In 2016/17, Bidvest Wits again made a good start to the season. This time they were impressive in the MTN Top 8 competition.
The quarter-final stage saw Bidvest Wits defeat Orlando Pirates 2-1. Despite going a goal down, they dominated possession and levelled the score in the 37th minute when the Buccaneers’ goalkeeper failed to hold on to Buhle Mkhwanazi’s powerful header. In the second half, Bidvest Wits dictated proceedings and deservedly went ahead after 75 minutes when Thulani Hlatshwayo fired home from close range.
Cape Town City succumbed to a 3-0 semifinal first-leg defeat at the Bidvest Stadium. Three first-half goals through Eleazar Rodgers, Elias Pelembe and Gabadinho Mhango boosted Bidvest Wits’s hopes of reaching the final. The first came in the 21st minute when a Mhango cross found striker Rodgers in the box and he easily slotted it home. Seventeen minutes later, Daine Klate sent a well-judged pass to Pelembe and the Mozambican winger beat both his marker and goalkeeper with ease. Then, one minute from the interval, Mhango made it 3-0 after a long ball from Klate was neatly flicked over the oncoming keeper.
No further goals were scored in the second half or the second leg. The Clever Boys entered the return encounter at the Cape Town stadium with a healthy lead and kept it that way. They were in charge from the onset. Xola Mlambo and
Gavin Hunt proved a successful coach for Bidvest Wits.
Sibusiso Vilakazi, a South African international who represented Wits on 177 occasions.
Dr Brian Joffe, chairman of Bidvest Wits.
Thabang Monare were prominent in midfield but the team did not take advantage of their scoring opportunities.
The October 2016 final was against the African champions, Mamelodi Sundowns, at the Mbombela Stadium. There was only one side in the contest after Wits had scored within the first minute. A poor clearance fell to the feet of Daine Klate, who slammed home a right-footed effort from the edge of the box. In wet conditions, Bidvest Wits immediately pushed for a second goal and were rewarded after 20 minutes. Eleazar Rodgers seized his chance when Klate’s header was blocked by Denis Onyango.
‘They scored the two goals in such a short space of time that it was always difficult to come back,’ said Sundowns’ coach Pitso Mosimane. His team were ruthlessly outplayed for most of the opening half, with Wits a constant threat down the flanks, where Gabadinho Mhango and Elias Pelembe were threatening on the counterattack. Mosimane made changes and his players passed and probed, but could not find a way beyond a solid, compact defensive system. It was Wits who scored next as Rodgers darted downfield, before crossing to Klate who slid in for his side’s third goal of the match.
Wits saw out the final stages with relative ease to claim the R8-million prize. Klate was named ‘man of the match’, but was keen to attribute the team’s success to coach Gavin Hunt: ‘He’s been fantastic … we played with no fear, this was the occasion we were waiting for.’
Hunt was delighted: ‘It was a great occasion for the club, but this is just the start … we are trying to build something. We just need to keep feeding it, keep on working.’
PSL Absa Premiership Champions
The 2016/17 championship race was one of the most keenly contested in recent history. Bidvest Wits began well when they won the Absa Premiership’s ‘quarter one’. Mamelodi Sundowns reacted by winning the second quarter. The championship then developed into an open contest, with Cape Town City taking the third quarter and Polokwane City the fourth. The last six matches were crucial in a dramatic finish. Bidvest Wits beat Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Maritzburg United but stumbled against bogey side Free State Stars. They still had to play Polokwane City in midweek and then Kaizer Chiefs.
Wits were two points clear of Sundowns before their Wednesday games but with a much stiffer run-in. The match against in-form Polokwane City played at the Bidvest Stadium in Johannesburg on 17 May became a vital encounter. Sundowns were expected to match them by beating Maritzburg at home and force the championship race into the final match day on Saturday, 27 May.
Meticulous planning ensured Bidvest Wits were well prepared for Polokwane City. James Keene gave Bidvest Wits a sensational start in the third minute, by heading in a cross from Reeve
Froster. It settled the nerves. They were in control and cemented their superiority when Daine Klate caught Polokwane City flat-footed in the secondhalf. Bidvest Wits 2; Polokwane City 0. While the challenge from Polokwane City received attention, Bidvest Wits’s cause was assisted by developments at the Lucas Moripe stadium. Around the 70-minute mark, news came through from Atteridgeville that Maritzburg United were leading Sundowns by two goals. Jubilant Wits fans erupted in celebration as they knew a draw or win for Maritzburg would end Sundowns’ championship hopes. The ‘Brazilians’ staged a frantic comeback by scoring twice in the last 15 minutes, but a 2-2 draw could not prevent Bidvest Wits from winning their first Absa Premiership title with a game to spare.
On 27 May 2017, Bidvest Wits raised the Absa Premiership trophy for the first time at the FNB Stadium. Mark Gleeson told BBC Africa readers:
Bidvest Wits are the new champions – a maiden triumph for the Johannesburg-based university students’ club bought by billionaire businessman Brian Joffe.
For the last two seasons, the Clever Boys have emerged as the only side capable of taking on Sundowns, whose owner Patrice Motsepe is one of the wealthiest men in Africa.
The dominance of the two clubs in the local transfer market left traditional power houses Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates trailing in their wake. It also reflects the two giants’ fast declining status and inability to compete for the best talent, not to mention the fact that it is the first time in almost 50 years of professional football in South Africa that neither Chiefs nor Pirates have won any of the four trophies on offer.
Wits had been in the top flight of South African football every season, save one, since 1978 but this was their first-ever league title. They had achieved what they were looking for, and were undoubtedly one of the strongest teams in the country. Bidvest Wits chairman Dr Brian Joffe, was quoted as saying: ‘We are proud of the players. It’s a great moment – from the time Gavin got involved with us the team has been building and it cost us money but there has been progress.’
Wits reached 60 points, having won 18 and drawn 6 of their 30 matches. There was a solid 47-22 goal difference. They were followed by Mamelodi Sundowns on 57 and Cape Town City on 55 points. The top-performing individuals for the 2016/2017 season were honoured at the annual PSL awards in Sandton, Johannesburg. The MTN 8 ‘Last Man Standing’ award went to Bidvest Wits’s Daine Klate. He had enjoyed his sixth league championship, making him the most successful player in PSL history. The club also dominated the Absa Premiership honours:
Coach of the season: Gavin Hunt
Goalkeeper of the season: Darren Keet
Young player of the season: Phakamani Mahlambi Defender of the season: Thulani Hlatshwayo
Wits had an awful start to their league title defence in 2017/18 and languished at the bottom of the
Daine Klate made 72 appearances for Wits after representing South Africa.
Thabang Monare represented Wits 95 times and was selected for South Africa.
Goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs played for Bidvest Wits on 150 occasions in the course of two stints.
Bidvest Wits won the prestigious PSL Absa Premiership trophy in 2016/17. Those at the front of the stage include (left to right): Gavin Hunt, Phakamani Mahlambi, Dillion Sheppard, Thulani Hlatswayo, Garbadinho Mhango, Buhle Mkwanazi, Nazeer Allie, Daine Klate, Jabulani Shongwe and Mogakolodi Ngele.
Thulani Hlatshwayo was both Bidvest Wits (140 appearances) and ‘Bafana Bafana’ captain.
log, struggling to put together consecutive wins. They had better luck in tournament matches, defeating Golden Arrows 4-3 on penalties to reach the semi-final of the MTN Top 8. They then lost to Cape Town City 3-1 on aggregate. They began the Telkom Knockout well, defeating Free State Stars 4-2 after extra time in the first round and Baroka 1-0 in the quarter-final.
Kaizer Chiefs posed a formidable challenge in the semi-final at the Bidvest Stadium. Both teams had chances in the opening twenty minutes before Wiseman Meyiwa was shown a red card when he stepped on Daine Klate. It was reckless, as Chiefs were reduced to ten men. In the 27th minute, James Keene scored a fine header to beat the Amakhosi keeper on his right corner, 1-0. Everything appeared to be going the way of Bidvest Wits, but Chiefs were dominant in the second half. Substitute Dumisani Zuma nearly equalised, his well-struck shot sailing inches wide. Zuma’s impact on the game inspired Chiefs and they threw everything at Wits in a sustained offensive. The crossbar was struck, but they could not beat the outstanding Darren Keet.
Darren Keet was goalkeeper for both Bidvest Wits (on 112 occasions) and South Africa.
Bidvest Wits progressed to their first league cup final since 2011. They would meet the in-form Bloemfontein Celtic, a side they had lost to in their most recent league encounter. Phunya Sele Sele were eighth in the league on 16 points, while the Clever Boys were last – sixteenth –with nine points.
The Princess Magogo stadium in Durban hosted the final in which numerous chances were created – notably by ‘man-of-the-match’ Gabadinho Mhango – but poor anticipation prevented one or other side from taking advantage. There was also an element of luck involved. Celtic could have taken the lead soon after the hour but Victor Letsoalo was denied a goal when his header rebounded off the crossbar with Darren Keet beaten.
In the last 15 minutes, Wits attempted to assert themselves and their Egyptian import Ahmed Gamal came close with a strike from outside the penalty box in the 77th minute. It required a diving save from Celtic goalkeeper Patrick Tignyemb to prevent the goal.
The match appeared to be heading for extra time when Gamal suddenly twisted and turned inside the box to beat Celtic defender Tshepo
Rikhotso and slide the ball towards Vincent Pule. It inspired a moment of brilliance worthy of winning a cup final. Tignyemb was bamboozled by an astonishingly innovative back-heel from Pule, the substitute attacker. It was magic at the death.
The Telkom Knockout victory was the morale booster that Bidvest Wits needed. In a brief but successful spell, they became the in-form team in the PSL, picking up 17 points from 21 available. They moved off the foot of the table, but it was too little, too late. Bidvest Wits finished 13th out of 16 teams, winning 9 and drawing 9 of their 30 matches. They scored 27 goals but their defence leaked as never before, conceding 36.
In 2018/19, Bidvest Wits again challenged for top honours. They began well, winning quarter one with 16 points from eight matches. It was the third season out of four that they had won the first quarter. While they were unable to maintain the momentum, there was a greater sense of urgency in their play. They scored more goals than champions Mamelodi Sundowns, but they also topped the table for the most yellow cards – 50!
Bidvest Wits gathered 54 points to finish third in 2018/19 behind Mamelodi Sundowns 59 and Orlando Pirates 57. They won 16 and drew 6 out of their 30 matches. The table shows that they won as many matches as Sundowns and more than Pirates, but the other two teams earned points from more drawn matches; Sundowns drew 11 and Pirates 12 of their games. Also revealing was that Wits (45-29) and Sundowns (40-24) had the same goal difference. Gift Motupa of Wits scored nine goals, the second most in the league, and Deon Hotto’s 13 ‘assists’ were more than any other player achieved.
In 2019/20, Bidvest Wits were beaten early on in two cup competitions. In August, they lost 3-0 to SuperSport United in the MTN 8. In October, they were beaten in the first round of the Telkom Knockout, drawing 1-1 with Maritzburg United after extra time but losing on penalties 3-1. Their best performance was in the Nedbank Cup, where they ousted Orlando Pirates 3-2 on penalties, Chippa United 2-0 and Real Kings 4-0 to power into the final four.
The semi-final against Mamelodi Sundowns at Orlando Stadium produced some quality football.
The ‘Brazilians’ carried a 1-0 advantage into halftime following a penalty, but Bidvest Wits were the better team after the break. They drew level in the 76th minute as Terrence Dzvukamanja continued his scoring streak in the tournament. Sundowns hit back five minutes later and then Dzvukamanja scored his second goal with four minutes of regulation time remaining. With the score 2-2, Wits were unlucky that Lyle Lakay’s late curling free kick should prove to be the difference on the night.
The Absa Premiership season – suspended for three months because of the Covid-19 pandemic – was relatively successful for Wits in that they finished fourth. Mamelodi’s 59 points won the league, Chiefs were second on 57, and Pirates and Wits were tied on 52. It was not immediately obvious how the third/fourth places were decided. Both teams won 14 and drew 10 of their 30 matches. Wits (33-22) and Pirates (40-29) also had the same goal difference of 11.
Coach Gavin Hunt was delighted to end the season on a positive note. After seven years in charge, he told Soccer Laduma: ‘I think we finished fourth which is great with what we’ve got. It’s fantastic’. But dramatic events were about to overtake the club.
Bidvest Wits is sold
Hunt led his side to one last success – Polokwane City 3-1 at the FNB Stadium – before they ceased to exist in their current guise. ‘It is important for us as professionals to do a proper job,’ he had told his squad. ‘Let us treat the game with respect before Wits bids farewell.’
Bidvest Wits had sold their top-flight status in the course of 2020 to Masala Mulaudzi. The Limpopo-based businessman aimed to relocate the club to Makhado, a town 435 kilometres north of Johannesburg, and rename it Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila. The new owner reportedly paid between 35 – and 40-million rand ($2-2.3m/1.82m euros) after selling a second-tier club that he owned.
Former Bidvest Wits CEO Jose Ferreira said that money alone was not behind the sale. ‘I think the pandemic took its toll on the future of the club. If it wasn’t for it, Wits would be around today.’ The trading and distribution company’s CEO and chairman, Alan Fainman, confirmed the sale of the club in which Wits had previously held a 40 per cent stake while Bidvest owned the lion’s share of 60 per cent. Wits sold its share to Bidvest prior to the new takeover, unable to prevent the final transactions being completed.
Bidvest Wits had been the epitome of consistency since Hunt joined them. After decades as a mid-table side, they finished third, third, second, first, thirteenth, third and fourth under his guardianship. In two CAF Champions League appearances, Wits made qualifying phase exits after narrow losses to record eight-time winners Al Ahly of Egypt and Primeiro Agosto of Angola. Hunt also won two domestic knockout competitions.
The club may have been sold but its rich history will continue. ‘The legacy of the club is set to continue for many more years to come,’ said former chairman Raymond Hack. ‘We will still continue with our amateurs and all our juniors and if we have to build up to the Premier Soccer League, we will do that. You can’t destroy Wits University. We’ve got the biggest nursery in the entire country.’
The club named Alzavian van Rheede as their coach to lead them in the ABC Motsepe league. The step followed the decision to buy the thirddivision status of Baberwa FC, but play was then held up by the suspension of all amateur football due to the rise of Covid-19.
In 2020/21, the Wits football club were encouraged by their first season in the ABC Motsepe league. They finished in fifth position after beating AJ United 2-0 at the Vosloorus Stadium in their final game of the season. According to Tshepiso Mametela, ‘five wins and seven draws was enough to land Wits smackbang in the middle of the table on 22 points, nine points adrift of eventual winners, Remember Elite Sports Academy FC.’
Wits’s record in the PSL
by Opta Jabu
Wits University was part of the inaugural PSL competition in 1996, and changed its name to Bidvest Wits after promotion and a sponsorship agreement in 2006. Wits, founded in 1921, was the oldest surviving top-flight club in South Africa. AmaZulu (1932), Pirates (1937) and Bloemfontein Celtic (1969) made up the Top 4.
Wits won ten trophies (if one includes the 2006 first division championship). The ten trophies include one league title (2016/17), two FA Cups (currently Nedbank Cup – 1978 and 2010), three League Cups (currently Telkom Knockout – 1985, 1995 and 2017) and three Top 8 Cups (currently MTN8 – 1984, 1995 and 2016).
In the PSL era, Wits won all four domestic
trophies and was one of only five sides to lift all available trophies at least once.
They were never famous for their goalscoring. Their highest season total was 47 in 2010/11 and again when they won the title. Their defence was often their strength. Had they kept a clean sheet in the last game (they won 3-1), Wits would have been one of only four clubs to have conceded on average less than a goal a game. Instead, they ended up conceding 714 goals in 714 games in the PSL era.
Wits’s worst results in the PSL era were four 4-0 defeats. Wits won 5-0 on five different occasions, with their 6-0 win over Vasco da Gama FC in a league match in February 2011 their biggest winning margin against any side in the PSL.
Salah.
Deon Hotto, a Namibian international, emerged as an attacking threat for Bidvest Wits.
Defender Sifiso Hlanti, who made 118 appearances for Wits, attracted interest at the African Nations Cup when he shut out Egypt’s Mo
The Amateurs
The Wits club competes in the annual USSA tournament and the Varsity Football tournament. It also participates in local leagues: the ABC Motsepe League, the SAB League and the South African Football Association. The Wits Junior Football Club caters for football players aged from under six to under 23. Many of the players that come from this programme – based at Marks Park in Emmarentia – work their way up the ranks to play for the Wits first team.
In 2014, Wits did not play in the Varsity Football competition, having failed to qualify at the previous year’s USSA championships. During 2014, Wits finished runners-up in the USSA Gauteng football league, which meant that they qualified for the USSA national championships held every December. Finishing fourth at the major USSA tournament in 2014 led to automatic qualification for Varsity Football in 2015. They were one of the eight highest-placed sides.
Wits gave a much improved performance in their second appearance in Varsity Football and entered the knockout phase. They were defeated by eventual champions, University of the Western Cape in an exciting semi-final that was decided by a penalty shoot-out. One of the Wits players, Kaizer Maphanga, was selected for the South African team that played at the World Student Games in Gwangju, South Korea.
Wits’s progress was encouraging despite the amateur section of the club appearing a little rudderless at the time. ‘The team had no sports officer and was in the interview process for the head coaching position,’ said Michael Dick. Keeping things together was team manager and accounting honours student, Sanele Nene, ‘a leader in the true sense of the word who remained with the club to play a key role as a mentor and team manager’. The coach at the time, added Dick, was Karabo Mogudi, ‘who had been a great servant to the university football community and was also the USSA national men’s coach’.
Former professional player and television personality Mark Haskins was appointed head of football. He had played for several clubs in South Africa, including Supersport United and Bidvest Wits, and at training could still baffle the players with his skill. Together with others such as his assistant Alzavian van Rheedet, and football manager Montsho Matlala, Haskins established a strong football environment. ‘I love varsity level football,’ he said, ‘they are so coachable because the players’ minds are open to receiving information; you tell them something once and they switch onto it and get it’.
Results were disappointing and during the 2016 Varsity Football campaign, Haskins took over as first team coach. There was a home victory over the University of Pretoria but Wits still ended in a lowly seventh position. The blame was placed on the quality of opposition in the local league. Games were often won by huge margins which affected Wits’s performances in the stronger intervarsity competitions.
In 2017, Wits again finished seventh in Varsity Football. At the same time, the appointment of Montsho Matlala as football manager had the club rethinking its preparations. Matlala believed their recruitment was not up to scratch and started an aggressive campaign to improve the footballing system on campus. He worked closely with several professional teams to ensure students within their systems were available to play for Wits in student competitions. Matlala was selected as the South African team manager to the 2017 World Student Games in Taipei. Four Wits players – Tshireletso Motsogi, Gift Baloyi, Kaizer Maphanga and Mahle Mtabane – were included in the squad, with Maphanga captaining the side against Ireland.
The 2018 Varsity Football competition was a major highlight. Wits qualified for the semifinals and beat the University of Johannesburg 4-3 on penalties to reach their first-ever Varsity Football final. Team captain Tshireletso Motsogi was outstanding, winning three ‘man of the match’ awards in five games during the tournament, but there was also fine play from the likes of Matthew Carelse, Sandile Mbatha, Mahle Mtabane, Saluleko Mathonsi and Lerotoli Manala. Goalkeeper Carelse received the ‘man of the match’ award in the tightly contested semi-final and later signed a professional contract with Mamelodi Sundowns as a result of his performance.
Wits hosted the final, which they lost narrowly 2-1 against the defending champions Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). Tshepiso Mametela thought the Witsies ‘unperturbed by the enormity of the occasion [and] put their best foot forward in front of a packed Bidvest Stadium crowd ... The boys in blue were on the scoresheet first, courtesy of that man, Motsogi, who put in a solid header to see Wits off leading by one goal at the break.’ TUT were then gifted an equaliser in the second half and scored the winner on the stroke of the full-time whistle.
The major shock during the season was the team’s poor result at the USSA tournament. Wits finished in tenth position out of 20 teams in the ‘A’ section of the competition. It was an unexpected setback and a blow for Wits’s football-crazy student community. It meant that the team failed to qualify for the 2019 season of Varsity Football, having lost in the final in 2018. Motsogi admitted ‘missing out on it takes a huge toll on us’ but thought the new season would allow the team to rebuild.
Wits travelled to Guangzhou in July 2019 to participate in the world elite university football tournament hosted at the South China University of Technology. They drew 1-1 against their hosts and Politecnico di Torino in the round-robin group phase. Team captain Mahle Mtabane and Bradley Mongwe received recognition in the group stage by making the ‘best eleven’. Wits defeated Leiden University 3-1 in the quarterfinal, and Cambridge University 3-2 in the semi-final. Midfielder Thato Gopane scored twice against Cambridge, attributing his success to ‘the freedom created by coaches who stress confidence on the ball and playing without fear’.
Kaizer Maphanga
Matthew Carelse
Although Wits went down 1-0 to the German side University of Tübingen in the final, their performances during the tournament had been remarkable. Coach Mark Haskins recalled: ‘We played five games and went behind six times, coming back on five occasions, but unfortunately unable to do so in the final.’ At the awards ceremony, four Witsies were honoured for their exceptional play during the tournament. Mahle Mtabane and Richard Moremi were included in the ‘team of the tournament’, Matthew Carelse was named ‘goalkeeper of the tournament’ and Thato Gopane the ‘most exciting player’.
Wits also had a successful league campaign, and by December 2019 were well placed in the South African Football Association men’s regional league – the South African Breweries (SAB) Regional League – in which they were playing. Two Witsies, Kurt Pienaar and Saluleko Mathonsi, represented South Africa at the 2019 World Student Games in Naples, while club captain and star player Tshireletso Motsogi
Women’s soccer
The Wits women’s team competes in the annual USSA tournament and the Varsity Football tournament. It also participates in the Sasol Women’s League, and is occasionally invited to external tournaments, such as the annual Maimane Alfred Phiri (MAP) games.
In 2014, the Wits women’s club finished fifth in the USSA Gauteng football league. They did not qualify for the USSA national championships as only the top four teams in Gauteng contested the play-offs to determine the three teams that went forward. The women were placed third in the Rand Central Women’s League.
With the establishment of high performance sport at Wits, there was a need to assist the women’s football section.
In 2017, Nthabeleng ‘Dunga’ Modiko, former captain of the South African women’s national football side, Banyana Banyana, was appointed Wits women’s soccer coach. The side had been struggling for form in recent months, but Wits Sport helped Modiko by providing support in terms of a fitness coach, sports scientists and biokineticists, in order to ensure the team’s fitness.
signed a professional contract with Stellenbosch FC.
Wits coach Mark Haskins told Wits Vuvuzela that it took his team the entire year to accept the mistakes they had made in 2018 but ‘we will be greatly focused for the next USSA championships’. The pandemic played havoc with sport, but Wits qualified for the 2021 Varsity Football tournament.
In a tense series of matches at Pretoria, they defeated defending champions North-West University 2-0 (goals by Welcome Masemola and Saluleko Sibande) and drew with top of the table University of Johannesburg 1-1 (Mthokokozisi Sibisi), but lost a crucial clash with Free State 0-1. The defeat cost Wits a place in the semifinal as they ended one point behind fourthplaced Tshwane University of Technology.
‘Kovsies celebrated wildly at the ground,’ said the match report, ‘while Wits players were in tears.’
LEFT: Wits travelled to Guangzhou in July 2019 to participate in the world elite university football tournament hosted at the South China University of Technology (left to right – back row): Montsho Matlala, Fanafuthi Vilakazi, Sanele Zondi, Kal Laing, Matthew Carelse, Lerotholi Manala, Wendelle Martin, Matthew Welgemoed, Graeme Dor, Kamohelo Moroosi, and Richard Moremi (front row): Alzavian van Rheede, Mark Haskins, Khavish Harry, Clinton Mphahlele, Keamogetswe Mokalake, Thato Gopane, Mahle Mtabane, Welc ngwe.
Modiko made an immediate impact. According to team captain Thabelo Mammuburu, who had been playing for the side since 2010, Modiko’s coaching style differed from previous coaches as she monitored the team’s well-being both on and off the field. ‘She also brings about an intense approach to training,’ said Mammuburu, ‘as she constantly reminds us to be aggressive and to dominate the pitch.’
The women’s team were top of the log in 2017 but lost in the regional playoffs. In 2018, they recruited some outstanding student players on bursaries: Patricia Nkotso, Lesotho national team captain, Shakeerah Jacobs from Parktown Girls’ High, who was playing for South Africa under-20 at the time, Hazel Ngwenya and Robyn Coetzee, a very good goalkeeper from the Western Cape, who was in high school and playing for South Africa under-20.
In 2018, Wits won the regional playoffs and qualified for the 2018/19 Sasol women’s provincial league. They played impressive soccer and ended the season in fifth position. ‘As a debut team,’ said Modiko, ‘everyone was shocked.’ They were one place away from qualifying for
Mahle Mtabane
Thabelo Mammuburu
Wits defender, Erin Herz, played for South Africa in the COSAFA Women’s Cup in August 2022. She made her debut against Angola in a match that Banyana Banyana won 3-0.
the newly formed National Women’s League. The new structure was introduced because it was felt women’s soccer needed a premier league. According to Modiko, the Wits players ‘would love to be part of the national league and enjoy the competitive nature of it’. Football strongholds are Mamelodi Sundowns – ‘they won the league without dropping a match’ – followed by TUT, a side that draws large crowds. Teams such as University of Johannesburg and the University of the Western Cape hold their own.
There was an excellent showing by the Wits women at the 2019 USSA tournament held at Marks Park and Sturrock Park. Nthabeleng Modiko described the first part of the tournament:
First game against Stellenbosch – tough opener game on home soil and a lot of jitters but in the end winning was all that mattered ... Kwazulu-Natal had a Banyana Banyana player but I had a good squad … we won convincingly. Six points in the bag and people starting to feel Wits is something. I called the girls and said we still need to play North-West Vaal; amazing result again ... qualified for Varsity Cup –everyone screaming and shouting and I was beside myself but keeping cool on the outside … TUT arrived … things not coming together, breakfast served late. We lost 4-2 but we know we can score against them. My job is done, the team is motivated ... We beat Potch 6-2.
The Wits women won the bronze medal. In the process they beat one of the powerhouses of South African football, the Tshwane University of Technology 5-4 on penalties and qualified for the Varsity Football tournament for the first time. They were also awarded the USSA ‘team of the tournament’ accolade. Modiko attributed
the club’s success to the commitment of players: ‘The preparation was quite strenuous … the Sasol league ran into November and we needed to cater for the students’ studies.’
The men’s soccer coach Mark Haskins was amazed by the Wits women’s achievement: ‘It speaks wonders of the strides they have made as a team that was never in contention for anything, but has now become the third-best female varsity team in the country.’
In 2019, five players, Shakeerah Jacobs, Ayanda Ncube, Lebogang Ntabeni, Siphesihle Dlamini and Robyn Coetzee represented South Africa at the COSAFA women’s under-20 championship at Port Elizabeth, with Jacobs finishing the tournament as the joint top goalscorer. Shakeerah Jacobs and Robyn Coetzee were also part of the Basetsana team – South Africa under-21 – that played against Zambia in a World Cup qualifier and won on aggregate 4-2.
Wits – the ‘smiling assassins’ – made their debut in Varsity Football at Pretoria in September 2021. They produced an effortless performance in winning their opening match 5-1 against Durban University of Technology. Nomathemba Twala (2), Sakhi Mnomiya (2) and Hazel Ngwala were the goalscorers.
In their second Group A encounter, Wits led the six-time champions, Tshwane University of Technology 2-0 after 30 minutes. The goals were scored by Lesego Nkoane – with a brilliant free kick from a long way out – and Shakeerah Jacobs, but their opponents came from behind to score twice either side of the interval and force a draw. A further draw 1-1 against Tuks secured the team a place in the semi-final, where they were beaten by the University of the Western Cape.
Robyn Coetzee
Shakeerahh Jacobs
Recreational and Competitive clubs
Athletics
There was notable activity in the Wits Athletics Club in 2014. Marko Bucarizza, David Okharedia, Menzi Mthembu and Ntandazo Mtshengu participated in the Central Gauteng athletics championships for track and field and cross-country. Bucarizza demonstrated his ability in the 1500 metres by claiming silver in the Central Gauteng series, and fifth place in the South African championships.
Sprinter Okharedia had previously claimed a gold and silver in the Central Gauteng championships, while Mthembu, a triple-jumper, and Mtshengu, a high-jumper, were amongst the country’s finest prospects. They were all selected to represent the province at the national junior championships in Stellenbosch.
Wits also competed in the USSA track and field championships hosted by Tshwane University of Technology at the Pilditch Stadium, Pretoria. The club report stated:
Despite several Wits competitors withdrawing at the last minute – citing academic commitments –our small band of track and field athletes more than doubled last year’s tally (5) to clock up 13 points. Had he not been nursing an injury Menzi Mthembu would have bagged a better place in the long jump (jumping 7.52m to finish 4th) and in the triple jump (ending 7th with a jump of 14.98m). He soldiered on in the face of his coach’s visible consternation. High jumper Ntando Mtshengu also narrowly missed a place, finishing 5th (2m). Middle-distance runner Marko Bucarizza, by his own high standards, faded disappointingly to finish 7th in 14:52:11 in the men’s 5000m and 9th in 3:52:77 in the 1500m.
There were other committed and promising athletes during the period, including Kyla Meyerson, Tsitsi Chiumya, Charmy Twala, Wisdom Ndlovu, Poshy Mpai and Piet Kgagudi. But once club members graduated, there were few athletes with equally impressive credentials to replace them. One encouraging development was that Menzi Mthembu persevered with his triple-jump and in 2018 his name was added to the South African team for the CAA African senior championships.
Wits did not have the facilities and coaching expertise to compare with other institutions. For a long time, its strength had been in middle – and long-distance running. A club report stated: ‘We should look to build and sustain that tradition. We will not abandon our track and field exponents though ... The solutions we are exploring include their teaming up with their peers in nearby institutions ... We must lobby for top athletes.’
It did not happen. The athletics coach Richard Mayer admitted ‘we are not where we want to be, but … where there is life, there is hope’. He explained that the club had begun the year with
Combrink made the South Africa team to compete at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London.
nine members, but as academic pressures kicked in members started tailing off : ‘It is really demotivating’.
High jumper Ntandazo ‘Thando’ Mtshengu was Wits’s sole representative at the 2015 USSA track and field championships held at Stellenbosch’s Coetzenburg stadium. He had jumped a personal best of two metres at Germiston in March but luck was not on his side. A text message from him stated: ‘I didn’t finish the competition. My injury came back.’
With Mtshengu out of action, Wits Vuvuzela reported ‘three women are the only members keeping the Wits athletics club alive.’ Club spokesman, Hope Mgwenya, lamented the decline where new members ‘don’t have the passion or competitive urge for the sport.’ He believed the club would grow in time and compete again and do well. ‘But now it is not really active.’
The university’s most outstanding athlete was a member of staff, Caroline Wöstmann, a lecturer in Wits School of Accountancy. She was well known for making history by winning both the Two Oceans and 90th Comrades marathon in the same year. She won the Durban to Pietermaritzburg marathon in 6 hours 12 minutes 22 seconds on 31 May 2015.
Another athlete to shine was Maria Combrink. She participated in the Swiss Grand Prix paraathletics in 2016, competing in both the discus F44 and shot-put F44 class events. South African selection followed in the 2017 IPC world paraathletics championships held in London. There, she earned a fourth place in the shot-put F44 class with a new Africa record, and a seventh place in the discus F44 class. Further achievements included gold in the discus F44 and shot-put F44 class at the ASA senior and EAD championships in 2017.
More recently, Taylor Underhay has emerged as a sprinter of promise at the USSA and national championships.
Marko Bucarizza produced fine performances for Wits in both track and cross country.
Menzi Mthembu competed for South Africa in the 2018 CAA African senior championships.
Maria
Badminton
The badminton club described 2014 as a momentous year, one which involved ‘reviving a practically non-existent club and having one that now boasts over 50 members, has a fully functional committee and has achieved great success in tournaments’. It owed much to a new committee that used orientation week ‘to create awareness through promotions and demonstrations, and ensure word-of-mouth marketing triggered huge interest in the sport’.
The club practised twice a week and attendance was high throughout the year with good interest from players. The more experienced committee members took on the role of coaching, teaching beginners and hosting training sessions.
team to compete at the 2015 28th Universiade in Korea. It was unfortunate that funding issues prevented the team’s participation.
Tashlin Hamid, Isha Bhat and Matthew Michel were selected for the Southern Gauteng team at the South African senior championships and interprovincial tournament in Cape Town. Hamid and Bhat represented the ‘A’ team that finished fourth and Michel the ‘B’ team that was placed second in the ‘C’ section. Hamid was also graded fifth nationally in the men’s doubles.
The Wits badminton team at the 2014 USSA championships in Bloemfontein (left to right – back row): Matthew Michel, Jonathan Hainsworth, Tashlin Hamid, Kartik Sandlesh (front row): Isha Bhat, Candice Wilsnach and Lisa Chen.
Wits entered a team at the USSA tournament in Bloemfontein in July and achieved a thirdplace finish in the ‘A’ Section. Tashlin Hamid (chairperson and club captain) won a gold medal in the men’s doubles category as well as a bronze medal in the men’s singles. Matthew Michel (treasurer) was awarded bronze medals in both mixed doubles and men’s doubles, and Isha Bhat (secretary) bronze medals in the mixed doubles and women’s doubles.
A highlight was the inclusion of Tashlin Hamid in the South African student badminton
Boxing
Wits held their own boxing tournament in 2014, with teams from Eldorado Park and North-West University boxing clubs taking part. The hosts were pleased to put on a good show and take the main titles. Siphamandla Mamba was named the best male boxer while Nadia Krüger was the top female. Mamba also jointly received the ‘best bout’ award with fellow club member Zusiphe ‘Zues’ Sicwebe, but believed he ‘could have done better because I wasn’t throwing as many punches as I would have liked’.
Krüger was aggressive and energetic. Her opponent, said Wits Vuvuzela, ‘suffered head blows from Krüger’s combination jabs to the
The club more than exceeded expectations in competitions. The new leadership and management also helped it progress into one of the most successful clubs at Wits. Hamid recalled members being ‘actively involved in raising funds that contributed towards sending teams to USSA tournaments, purchasing new equipment, and enabling clubhouse renovations’.
They participated in the Southern Gauteng ‘A’ section and built a good foundation for the 2015 USSA event in Pretoria, where Witsies Matthew Michel and Tashlin Hamid excelled. They were selected for the USSA squad, while the team was fifth overall in the ‘A’ section.
In 2016, the Wits Badminton Club offered classes for people who had never played the sport before. Subscription rates were R300 for half a year and R600 to play the full year. ‘If you’re looking to improve your hand-eye coordination,’ said a club report, ‘then badminton is for you.’
The club’s hard work and achievements were admirable but it relied on star players also taking on the administrative tasks. It was no different from earlier years. In a long and often impressive history, badminton’s highs and lows have reflected the perennial problem of fluctuating interest amongst the student population.
The club saw a decline in membership in 2017. Several key players/ committee members that were a part of the initial revival group had moved on and left the university and a new club committee with big shoes to fill. ‘A club is only as strong as its member base,’ said Hamid, ‘and with dwindling numbers, it had to close down.’ He added that ‘a decline in numbers at badminton clubs was seen across the country at both social and competitive levels’.
head … Krüger easily threw a left hook that exploded the second it connected with Lehutjo’s jaw’.
Wits boxing coach Njabulo Mahlalela commented: ‘I’m very impressed with our boxers, especially since a lot of boxers went into the ring for the first time. It’s very important because the first time is really not about winning or losing but getting rid of that fear of getting into the ring, which is scary.’
In June 2014, two Wits Boxing Club members earned call-ups to compete in the Gauteng provincial championships, staged at Transnet engineering’s boxing academy in Pretoria. They
Tashlin Hamid and Matthew Michel competing in the men’s doubles final at the 2016 USSA championships in Stellenbosch.
Nadia Krüger and Siphamandla Mamba won the best female and male titles at the Wits Boxing tournament in 2014.
did well: Anathi Bukani (64kg) was placed third in his weight division, while Khayelihle Maseko (60kg) finished second.
The club affiliated to the Johannesburg Amateur Boxing Association (JABO) and attended local tournaments held throughout the year. The cancellation of the USSA tournament in December 2016 was a blow, as it affected students’ interest in the sport.
In 2017, club chairperson, Sifiso Malinga worked towards increasing this interest. He aimed to recruit newcomers to the club by demonstrating light technical work on the library lawns once a week. Thirty-five first-year students enrolled and the club focused on maintaining fitness for beginners and advanced boxers. Sifiso Malinga 2014-2017
Malinga stressed the need to convince everyone that boxing as a sport was ‘not about
Chess
The Wits Chess Club is open both to beginners learning to play and seasoned veterans from the Wits staff, students and alumni. In 2014, it again competed in the first division of the Gauteng chess league – the second-highest – following its promotion from the second division in 2010. Wits also competes in the annual USSA championships.
Evasan Chettiar and Seadimo Tlale were selected to represent South Africa at the 13th World University Chess Championship in Katowice, Poland, in August 2014. The championships were part of the sporting events of the International University Sports Federation (FISU). By playing in the world university championships and finishing in 13th place, the Wits competitors obtained full FISU colours.
In 2015, there were more than 100 registered members at Wits. They hoped to build on this achievement through hosting the Wits Blitz Open speed-chess tournament to officially launch their partnership with ‘Donate-APiece’, an organisation aimed at encouraging participation in the sport. The club was identified as a potential partner as a result of strong performances that included featuring amongst the top three university chess clubs in South Africa for the past six years. Zweli Mabaso, a former Wits Chess Club chairperson, organised the sponsorship, which resulted in a new outdoor chess board and assistance given to the Wits ‘Chess Warriors’ in their 2015 USSA campaign.
According to Evason Chettiar, the Wits Blitz Open aimed to attract top players from around Johannesburg to the strong chess scene at Wits, ‘potentially getting them more involved with the club, and promoting the club’s new relationship with Donate-A-Piece.’ South African cricketer and Donate-A-Piece ambassador Temba Bavuma, told Wits Vuvuzela that ‘if you look at Wits itself, it has the perfect platform to launch a campaign like this’.
First-year Wits student Matt Pon finished second at the tournament, winning R900, but in later years won the Donate-A-Piece ‘player of
violence and aggression but rather about strategy, vision, determination and most importantly fun’. He added that coaches such as Boetie Lourens would be coming through to teach and train the basic boxing skills.
Sports officer Ntshembo Vukeya said boxing had 220 members in 2019, the club becoming popular for their fitness camps on campus. He thought the sport had the potential to prosper and achieve good results, but it would take time as they had a large number of beginners who were not ready for competition.
The club – nicknamed ‘The Stable’, and open to men and women – entered the USSA-hosted tournament during the first week of December 2019 in Embalenhle, Mpumalanga. The venue was sponsored by Embalenhle Sasol Club, with local boxers also afforded the opportunity to showcase their talent.
South Africa
the 13th World University chess championship in Katowice, Poland, in August 2014.
the year’ award. He proved very successful in all competitions, winning the South African junior closed chess championships on three occasions. He also represented the country internationally on 11 occasions at junior level, prior to selection for the South African senior team at the 2017 African zonal chess championships.
In 2017, Wits hosted the USSA chess tournament. There were 194 participants in the men’s section and 99 in the women’s event, with the top 25 tables using electronic boards. Shaheed Tobias of Nelson Mandela University commented in a comprehensive report: ‘This year certainly upped the bar for USSA tournaments. I commend Wits for allowing the participants to gain such valuable chess and social experiences.’
Tuks (89) won overall with VUT (81.5) second and Wits (81) third out of the 20 competing institutes. Wits won the men’s section ahead of VUT and Tuks, but were tenth in the women’s competition. The outstanding player was Roberto de Abreu who won the open section, remaining undefeated throughout. Matt Pon and Thabang Mamonyane made it into the top ten.
Tshepang Tlale, who tied for third place in the women’s section, was an exciting addition to the club. She was the best female competitor at the South African open chess championships that year. A chess prodigy, she had played since the age of three. At eleven, she captained the South African girls’ under-12 team in Vietnam during the World
The boxing club used creative branding to promote their sport.
Matthew Pon won the South African junior closed championships on three occasions and represented South Africa at the senior 2017 African zonal competition.
Evason Chettiar (left) and Seadimo Tlale were selected to represent
at
Youth Chess Championship. In 2011, at the age of thirteen, she was the youngest South African to earn the title of ‘Woman International Master’. The award was in recognition of her being the number one junior female chess player in Africa. She continued to be ranked in the top 30 globally and at 17 participated in the World Chess Olympiad in Norway, winning seven out of ten rounds.
On account of her chess prowess, Tshepang Tlale was listed in the Mail & Guardian’s ‘Top 200 young South Africans’ in 2017. It also resulted in an invitation to attend the African individual chess championships in Zambia in May 2018. She finished thirteenth.
Tlale represented Wits at the 2018 USSA championships at Secunda, Mpumalanga. She had generated much interest in chess at Wits and, not unexpectedly, won the USSA women’s section with an outstanding score of 8.5/9. Roberto de Abreu and Matt Pon finished third and fourth respectively in the open section, enabling the men’s team to see off stern opposition and retain their championship title. Wits were also runners-up in the overall team competition,
The club had 124 members in 2019. During
Fencing
At the end of 2013, the outlook for fencing at Wits was less than optimistic. The club reported ‘a noticeable lack of equipment, a severely reduced active membership and a clubhouse facing the possibility of being closed down permanently, all contributing to this unhappy situation’. Yet it was not uncommon for a relatively small university club to experience such problems. A new committee would arrive determined to make its mark through hard work.
The 2014 orientation week attracted more members than in previous years. The club also fostered good relations with its provincial body, the Gauteng Fencing Association (GFA), ‘mending past political differences and forging a positive relationship’. Demonstrations and safety lessons were provided by the GFA and
the year they held seven internal trials to select players to participate in the USSA tournament at Rhodes University. Fifteen club members participated in the tournament in which Wits finished fourth overall. Matt Pon won the tournament with with a score of 8.5/9 and was named ‘the best player of the year’. Lucky Kubheka was the next highest finishing Wits player on 16th out of 196 entries.
In December 2019, Robert de Abreu was third in the South African Closed Championship, a qualifying event for the 2020 World Chess Olympiad (postponed due to Covid). Matt Pon also participated and came seventh.
Covid-19 forced USSA to cancel all tournaments in 2020, but Robert de Abreu travelled overseas to compete. He took part in that year’s Gibraltar International Chess Festival, and represented South Africa at the Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival.
Four members of the Wits club qualified for the World University Team Chess Championship hosted at Cité Universitaire de Paris in 2021. They were Tumelo Ranoto, Koketso Mathebe, Angela Nkosi and Lunga Fulumeni.
useful training equipment was donated to Wits. In return, the university allowed the GFA the use of its facilities for ranking tournaments.
The clubhouse was cleaned and renovated over the course of 2014, with a redesigned interior, new furniture and a fresh coat of paint. The result was that club social nights were more successful financially, with an expanded clientele base incorporating many first-year members. The clubhouse was open almost every week and hosted vibrant parties and fundraising events throughout the year.
Tournaments were well attended by the Wits club and some good results attained. The most notable achievements were by Justin Logie, who had arrived at Wits, determined to succeed. He told the Saturday Star that he ‘was looking at
Wits’s winning men’s team at the 2018 USSA tournament (left to right – back row): Roberto de Abreu, Batsirai Murapa, Karabo Teeke, Umingonaphakade Tebeila, Sanele Mthombeni, Matt Pon (in front): Ndumiso Mboyisa, Shaun Sepuru, Ncedo Buthelezi, Thulani Caleni (bending over), Siyabonga Nkosi, Sasha Nzvatu.
Tshepang Tlale, a chess prodigy who was the youngest South African to earn the title of ‘Woman International Master’.
Robert de Abreu was third in the South African Closed Championship in 2019.
Justin Logie experienced a very successful 2014 in fencing.
15 to 20 hours training a week … it’s not only fencing but physical conditioning as well’.
Justin Logie had an action-packed first year at university. Wits Blitz commented that he was shaping up to become one of Wits’s most travelled athletes:
In 2014 alone he’s been selected for the national team to compete at the senior African championships in Cairo in June; then he’s off to Kazan, Russia for the senior world championships this August, and later, in November, to Scotland for the senior Commonwealth fencing championships. In March, he represented South Africa, also in Cairo, at the junior African championships in the under 20 men’s foil event. The team was awarded a silver medal, finishing behind eventual winners Egypt. Locally, at the Cape Town national ranking in February, Justin finished third in the under 20 men’s foil, and fifth in senior men’s foil. At the George national ranking in May, he finished fifth in the senior men’s foil ... By the end of 2014, he had received a full blue cum laude
The strength of Wits fencing was apparent at the GFA’s ranking event where Wikus Koen (gold in sabre; silver in foil), Justin Logie (gold in foil), and Mikesh Harrilall (bronze in foil; bronze in épée) featured prominently. Participation from the women was said ‘to be lacking, with the exception of Heather Martens who claimed bronze in the épée’.
It was thus a little surprising that Wits’s new committee comprised mainly female fencers, a club report describing it ‘as a sign of growth and positive reform’. One of the club’s successful fencers, Daniel Chen recalled that when he first joined ‘the chairwoman was Andrea Cabanac and she started converting the club from social to actual performance’. Frankie Snyman said that, as chairperson, Cabanac rejuvenated the club: ‘there was a resurgence when Andrea joined, from a small recreational club to probably the largest fencing club in South Africa.’
Andrea Cabanac’s interest in fencing began at Wits:
I wanted to do unorthodox sports, like fencing and boxing and touch rugby ... I am half French so it appealed to me more and I had never known anyone who had done fencing before … There are so many things we do in life that we are told to do – go to school, go to university so that you can get the dream job – but this was the freedom to choose something because I wanted to do it and to excel at it was liberating. It’s made me incredibly determined in instances when I want to conquer something in my personal life or career or endeavours – the mindset required to win. One thing I didn’t expect is the people I met – they are not conventional people – it attracts people from all walks of life and I have made such a diversity of friends.
The club had approximately 30 members in 2016, mostly beginners. They participated in one provincial ranking tournament and two national competitions. Various provincial opens served as national ranking competitions along with the
national championships. A fencer’s best four performances out of five were used to determine the ranking on a rolling basis. The progress of fencers could be followed on a national ranking system. Competition was tough, as Witsies found themselves fencing against members of the national team with years of experience and expertise. By July 2016, Wits had seven women in the country’s top 50 in épée, with Andrea Cabanac eighteenth.
In August 2016, the fencing club held an internal club tournament where 22 fencers participated. In total, 12 men competed in the men’s épée, with Michael Gaynor placed first, followed by Kevin Michel. Ten women took part in the woman’s épée, where Andrea Cabanac was placed first, followed by Farron Swartz.
Cabanac, the club chairperson, told Wits Vuvuzela that the club hoped the tournament would contribute to establishing an internal ranking system; boost the confidence and skill of fencers, and acknowledge the Wits Fencing Club in Gauteng among other fencing clubs. She said that the team had started learning ‘to fence foil in addition to épée, a different weapon category with a different weapon style and rules, so that they can maximise participation’.
The Wits Fencing Club maintained the momentum into 2017. They were prepared to travel and entered the Western Cape open championships, the toughest national competition. Andrea Cabanac was sixth and Natalija Cerimaj seventh in the women’s foil, and Daniel Chen ninth in the men’s foil.
In the Gauteng closed championships in October, Wits club members enjoyed encouraging success. Andrea Cabanac and Natalija Cerimaj
Andrea Cabanac, selected for South Africa, and Natalija Cerimaj led a strong Wits team in provincial championships.
Andrea Cabanac had a major influence on fencing as competitor and administrator.
Frankie Snyman and Andrea Cabanac on their way to Canberra for the 2018 Commonwealth championships.
Ayanda Tuku and Harry Saner at the junior African championships in Accra, Ghana.
won gold and bronze medals respectively in the senior women’s foil. Of the men Frankie Snyman (sixth), Daniel Chen (seventh) and Mike Gaynor (eighth) earned top ten rankings in the foil. Cabanac became Gauteng’s top-ranked fencer in the senior women’s foil and fifth in the épée, with Natalija Cerimaj third in the foil and ninth in the épée.
At Limpopo in March 2018, the new generation of Wits fencers achieved what they considered to be their best performance in a national competition. A team of six represented the university at the annual tournament. Cabanac won a silver medal in the women’s foil category, while Daniel Chen and Frankie Snyman finished in the men’s top eight.
Cabanac’s goal was to fence for South Africa. She qualified for the African championships in Tunisia in June 2018 and then won the gold medal in the women’s foil at the KwaZuluNatal national open tournament in September. It served as qualification to fence for South Africa at the 2018 Commonwealth championships in Canberra, Australia. ‘On the last day of my exams I flew out to Australia. I came eighteenth out of 27 participants and ranked the highest of the South African fencers that day.’
Snyman accompanied Cabanac on the trip to Canberra. He regarded competing as a huge privilege but it also opened his eyes to the world of fencing. ‘It was really quite remarkable,’ he said, ‘to take a step up to the international stage and be put back in my place.’ It was an overwhelming experience competing in a professional world. ‘You ask fencers “what do you do for a living?” and the British, for example, will look at you quizzically and say “I’m a member of the British fencing team”.’
In December 2018, Chen was the driving force behind getting USSA fencing back on track. He organised the competition at Wits, where the
University of Cape Town’s fencing team emerged victorious. The tournament was well overdue as the last one had taken place four years earlier. As a result, only a handful of participants from the five universities – Cape Town, Free State, Pretoria, Tshwane University of Technology and Wits – had experience in competitive fencing.
In March 2019, Andrea Cabanac was placed second in the country at the Free State’s national tournament in Bloemfontein. By then she was moving into her first year of articles. She qualified for the world championships in Budapest, another important experience as she ‘saw people who fenced literally as if their lives depended on it – ‘the intensity, strategy, techniques were unfathomable’.
Cabanac went on to become South Africa’s top-ranked fencer. After she graduated, the club continued to do well. ‘We are transitioning to a very competitive sports club,’ observed Chen. ‘We mainly compete in the Gauteng regional tournament and five times a year we compete nationally which determines who goes overseas.’
At the internal meeting in 2019, Harry Saner and Thobekile Moyo were dominant in their respective categories. Newcomer Saner had been fencing for ten years and hoped that his international fencing experience would be of assistance. Moyo, who became the club’s new chairperson, won her first internal tournament, having only started fencing seven months before. Her progress saw her ranked seventh in South Africa in women’s foil.
The club was flourishing. Saner (gold in foil and bronze in épée), Moyo (bronze in épée) and Ayanda Tuku (silver in épée and bronze in foil) helped Wits to second place in the 2019 USSA championships.
Saner and Tuku were then selected by the Fencing Federation of South Africa to represent the country at the junior African championships in Accra, Ghana, during February 2020. The two Witsies helped South Africa to a convincing win against Nigeria in the bronze medal match.
Saner, who was also selected to represent South Africa at the junior world championships in Salt Lake City, was named Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in 2020. He was the first male fencer to receive the Wits award since Peter Knothe in 1972. In a remarkable double for the club, Tuku won the ‘Junior Sportsman of the Year’ title.
Those who take up the sport become very involved. ‘What I love about fencing,’ commented Frankie Snyman, ‘is the art and a history that can be traced back to actual swordplay. I’m a massive history nerd and fascinated by the past and in fencing I feel I’m connecting with a lost art. I love the thrill of fencing competitively … there is no hiding, no tricks; it really is a pure sport. When fencers win they scream, it’s such a release from the tension, a primal thing as it’s a combat sport.’
He did add that fencers are eccentric, almost always highly intelligent and very often with delusions of grandeur and power … they want to be musketeers …
Daniel Chen was instrumental in re-establishing the USSA fencing tournament.
Harry Saner represented South Africa at the junior world championships in Salt Lake City, and was named Wits’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in 2020. He was later ranked 62 in the world by FIE.
Gymnastics
The Wits Gymnastics Club experienced a successful 2014. It catered for all individuals, from those who had never attempted gymnastics before to those who had represented provinces and South Africa. There was interest in the sport during orientation week, which led to increased membership. The main focus of the club was training in both artistic and rhythmic gymnastics. During the artistic training sessions, some tumbling and trampoline work was done. Attendance at training reached a high for the club, with classes exceeding the 20-gymnast mark.
The main event during the year was the USSA tournament held in Phillipi at the high performance centre. It was hosted by the University of Cape Town. A team of nine from Wits competed in events across the board and did well to bring back seven medals. It gave them fourth position behind Pukke, Tuks and Maties in the men’s, women’s and overall competitions. Prominent amongst those who represented the club were Marian de Pontes, Mitchell Struwig, Catherine Honegger and club chairperson Richard Dobson, who achieved gold in the senior Olympic level. Wits alumnus Robyn Taylor won two golds for intermediate tumbling and level 5.
Day one was described as ‘a fun start to the games but by the second day it became heavily contested’. A report from Cape Town said ‘it was former South African national gymnasts Viani Janse van Vuuren (Tuks) and Richard Dobson (Wits) who dominated the day, posting averages you can hope for on an Olympic level. Richard will be hoping to qualify for world artistic championships.’ The last few days presented some stiff competition, the week ending with each university performing a team dance that incorporated all their techniques into one routine.
In May 2015, Wits gymnasts impressed when tested for level 2 at the Gold Reef Rhythmic Gymnastics competition. Six of the club’s gymnasts participated in the balls and hoops sections. They were starting out in rhythmic gymnastics and preparing for the USSA tournament in Potchefstroom at the end of June. Vhuhwavho Matibe recalled: ‘We practised a lot and we have the best coaches, so I feel 70% confident that I will win USSA.’
The Wits team placed third overall at the USSA meeting and came home with some encouraging results. The 12 medals won included three gold. Ruan Pretorius was first in the novice mini-trampoline and men’s artistic level 1, and Vhuhwavho Matibe proved true to her word in achieving gold in the level 2 rhythmic section.
Roxanne Prout, who became chairperson and key figure in the club, paid tribute to coach Miklos Zabo: ‘he was so patient with us and took us to heights we never thought we could reach’. She added ‘we pushed really hard to attract members … we attracted lots of rhythmic gymnastics, people of colour, we had Moslem ladies in their hijabs doing gymnastics, we wanted to encourage everyone to participate, and learn how to do a handstand or a roly poly’.
Wits were third again in 2016, finishing
behind hosts Stellenbosch and North – West University, but ahead of Tuks and Cape Town. The team of 18 gymnasts won 34 medals over five disciplines: men’s and women’s artistic, rhythmic, tumbling, and trampoline gymnastics. Shaandre van Niekerk won gold in three events (the women’s mini trampoline level 3, women’s blacktop trampoline level 2 and women’s tumbling level 2).
Wits were asked to host USSA in 2017. They did not have the facilities or the money to take on the task but Roxanne Prout was determined to seize the opportunity. She and her committee worked hard to raise funds and the event was held at Matsport Centre in Centurion because Wits’s equipment was too old for competition purposes. ‘It was an amazing event,’ recalled Prout, ‘with about 112 gymnasts competing – we made so many friends and later trained at one another’s universities to create a gymnastics community.’ Wits also performed well to retain their third place. Catherine Honegger excelled and was Victrix Ludorum runner-up, having won four gold medals and a silver medal. The year was also memorable for Honegger’s outstanding progress in a different line of the sport. She competed in the first Africa Cup in cheerleading and was selected for South Africa in both the 2017 ICU world cheerleading championships (ninth out of 12) and the USASF ‘cheerleading worlds’ (24th out of 44).
Gymnastics at Wits maintained a high standard under strong administrators. Roxanne Prout,
Prout in action at USSA 2015 hosted by North-West University.
Catherine Honegger, a leading gymnast at USSA tournaments, represented South Africa in the world cheerleading championships.
The Wits gymnastics team at USSA 2016 hosted by Stellenbosch University (left to rightback row: Craig Gurnell, Roxanne Prout (Chairperson), Fergie Maluleka, Mitchell Struwig (middle row): Musa Manyathi, Kita French-von Willich, Emily Wallace, Faith Dinna, Ryan Pretorius, Jizelle Van Zyl, Minenhle Twalo, Catherine Honegger, Shandre van Niekerk (front row): Makgotso Tibane, Mbali Mabhena, Lihle Perris, Louise Brown (Coach), Athi Diliza, Terrence Sealetse, Nqobile Radebe.
Roxanne
Karishma Naicker, a rhythmic gymnast, received Protea colours when she competed in the 2020 African gymnastics championships in Egypt.
who was the USSA chairperson in 2017 and 2018, was honoured by being asked to manage the South African team at the World Student Games in Taipei.
Wits regained third position at the USSA competition at Cape Town in 2018. Pukke won easily, amassing 819 points, followed by Maties 688; Wits 365; Tuks 180; and UCT 164. Two Witsies won gold: Ross Campbell in the men’s rhythmic level 2 and Nqobile Radebe in the women’s rhythmic level 4.
There was further success in 2019. Wits took part in two competitions. The first was an intervarsity friendly with the University of Pretoria gymnastics club. Twenty Witsies participated, many competing for the first time, giving them valuable experience.
The USSA competition that year was hosted by the University of Pretoria. Wits entered 14 gymnasts at various levels across all six disciplines: men’s artistic gymnastics, women’s artistic gymnastics, mini-trampoline, blacktop, tumbling and rhythmic gymnastics. The club performed well and collected 25 medals – five bronze, eleven silver and nine gold.
The top Wits female achiever of the week was
Judo
In 2014, it was noted that ‘integrating Brazilian jiu-jitsu into our styles and the arrival of our new mats stand out in an exciting year … the club found a lot of new talent, and grew some old talent’.
The club owed much to Coen van Tonder, who had coached judo at Wits for an incredible 32 years. ‘Coen was a father figure for me,’ wrote Candice Wagener, ‘an inspiration as a coach …
I really battle with my confidence and aggression, the joys of being neurodivergent, and judo was my outlet and Coen was a big role in it. He taught me that when you get onto the mat you leave everything else off the mat and behind you, and when you get off the mat then you leave your fighting spirit behind and you be calm. It was helpful and I have lived by it since 2013.
Under Van Tonder’s direction, Wits was an
Miché Moonsammy, who won gold in artistic gymnastics, silver in tumbling and bronze medal in rhythmic gymnastics. The top male achiever was Terrence Sealetsa, who collected three gold medals, in artistic gymnastics, tumbling and blacktop and silver in mini-trampoline. He and Ruan Pretorius were amongst the most outstanding gymnasts during a competition that saw Wits placed second in the ‘spirit trophy’ and fourth in the team dance event.
In 2020, Wits rhythmic gymnast Karishma Naicker competed in the African gymnastics championships in Egypt where she received her national Protea colours and obtained silver for her performance. A three-time gold medallist at the national competition for rhythmic gymnastics in the senior Olympic rhythmic group, she was also awarded the 2020 Wits ‘Junior Sportswoman of the Year’ award.
Naicker recognised the importance of balancing studying with ‘a sport that takes up a lot of time. I used to train with my team six days a week, for four hours a day’. While it might not be realistic to continue this kind of commitment when focusing on a degree, she believes ‘if you have good time management skills, you will be able to accomplish goals in many different aspects of life simultaneously.’
The USSA competition was cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic but, said Prout, ‘gymnasts are doing Zoom calls and using their gardens or meeting at Delta Park to do some gymnastics and routines; a lot of parks have outdoor gyms and students use the bars there.’ There was also the opportunity to perform at Varsity Rugby: We were asked to do tricks and somersaults on the fields for football and rugby games. We had one international cheerleader – Catherine Honegger – and she showed us what to do. Our rhythmic gymnasts did a lot of the dancing and Catherine taught us how to do pyramids. It was like a cheerleading event and we would do our team USSA event dance as our crowd dance.
important centre of judo. In May 2014, Wits hosted the launch of Judo South Africa’s high level coaching project. It formed a major part of the long-term coaching development pathway for judo, and provided a link to an internationally recognised judo coaching framework, and to coaching initiatives by international federations.
The club hosted many of the judo community’s events. They took pride in their facilities –notably the new dojo – as ‘a place where many legends come, stand tall, and leave with results of excellence and skill’. Wits hosted the Gauteng squad training twice a month as well as regional and national rankings.
Of those who succeeded in 2014, Shannon Torrance was placed first at the USSA tournament in Port Elizabeth and selected for the national student team. She and Candice Wagener were awarded half-blues. Wagener as secretary, Caitlin Wild as treasurer and Calvin Fourie as
The Wits chairperson handover 2018 to 2019: Regan van Heerden and Roxanne Prout.
Coen van Tonder coached at Wits for 32 years.
student representative served the sport on the USSA judo committee.
Rudolf van Schalkwyk continued to excel, winning the national South African kata championships and also representing South Africa at the African Games in Mauritius where he finished third. He represented Wits at USSA and was re-awarded his full blue cum laude.
Also prominent in this period was Calvin Fourie, who won the South African open championship in his weight division, and represented South Africa at the African Games in Mauritius in 2014 and Gabon in 2015. He was placed third in both competitions. Fourie started taking judo classes after school and by the age of 22 had four national championship wins under his belt. ‘Apart from keeping fit, I get to travel the world,’ he said. His success in judo had taken him to championship competitions in different parts of Africa, Japan, Portugal, Greece, Russia and the United States.
The club made a fine start to 2015 by achieving
Karate
The Wits All Styles Karate Club – its official name – delivers more than just skills. It caters for physical fitness, self-defence, a boost in self-confidence, the art of self-discipline; many regard its training as a way of life.
In 2014, the club had more than 100 members and was both active and successful. A team participated in the South African Japanese Karate Association (JKA) tournament in May and brought back ten medals. In July, Wits hosted a successful all-women’s self-defence class, and in October an eight-strong team attended the Derrick Geyer memorial tournament, where they were placed second in team kata and kumite. The same month, Dylon Adam and Crystal-Lee Poulter represented South Africa at the JKA Funakoshi Gichin Cup in Japan.
Dylon Adam’s selection for the competition was based on the gold medal he had won in the national trials in 2013. He had come a long way since taking up the sport as an eight-year-old. He had achieved a third-dan black belt when still in the under-21 category, and was selected to represent the national team in kata, kumite and team kata. Wits Sport noted he ‘brought a spark of energy to the club, not only with his training but also by embracing the team captaincy’.
A strong team of 22 was chosen to travel to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) for the 2014 USSA tournament in December. Three members – Trisha Rajkumar, Sbu Khubheka and Simbarashe Tevera – were selected to represent the USSA team at the World Student Games. The side was subsequently withdrawn due to a lack of funding.
The disappointment of the cancellation did not affect Trisha Rajkumar’s enthusiasm for karate. ‘I have a passion for the sport,’ she explained. ‘I love the adrenaline I get from fighting … plus it’s the 21st century, girls can do just about everything that guys can.’ She had competed in the Commonwealth championships in Scotland
success at the USSA championships hosted by the University of Pretoria. Fourie won a gold medal in his weight category (under 100kg) and a silver medal in the open weights category; Caitlin Wild was awarded a silver medal in her weight category (under 63kg) and a bronze medal in the open weights. Fourie was selected for the USSA team to compete in the world championships in South Korea in July 2016.
The same year, Coen van Tonder was pictured executing his last throw as a competitive judoka. Wits judo did not attend USSA tournaments in 2016 or 2017. The sport seemed to be dying at the university. ‘There was pressure on the club,’ said van Tonder, ‘to have 25 or more members or close our doors … it was heart-breaking. Wits possessed the second oldest judo club in South Africa after UCT.’
The club was open in 2018 until the following notice appeared: ‘Hi all. Please note that there will not be training until further notice.’ It was a sad end to a great era.
when she was fifteen years old and was later selected to represent South Africa in the kumite discipline at the Funakoshi Gichin Cup in Ireland.
Simbarashe Tevera, a Zimbabwean, joined the karate club as a first-year student in 2012. ‘When I got to Wits,’ he recalled, ‘I fell in love with their karate society. The instructors are amazing, the team is strong and Wits has one of the best karate teams in South Africa.’ In time, he competed at the South African JKA championships and was selected to represent the national team at the Africa Cup. He became a recipient of the prestigious Mandela Rhodes scholarship and was voted as one of the Mail & Guardian’s ‘Top 200 Young South Africans’. Having initially taken part in karate for the fitness, he came to respect the sport for its value system: ‘we learn morals around character, etiquette, effort, sincerity, selfcontrol and respect.’
Trisha Rajkumar and Simbarashe Tevera were awarded full blues in 2014, along with Chanel Stevens, another accomplished karateka who represented South Africa. Chanel captained Wits
Calvin Fourie represented South Africa as national champion in his weight division.
Crystal-Lee Poulter
Trisha Rajkumar
Simbarashe Tevera
in 2015, competed in the Africa Cup, represented South Africa in the Funakoshi Gichin Cup world championships in Ireland in 2017 and won the national JKA kata title in 2018. A medical student, dancer and four-time beauty pageant winner, she also made a name for herself when she featured prominently in the Toyota ‘Carate’ commercial.
Perhaps the most decorated Wits karateka of this period was Crystal-Lee Poulter who started karate as a nine-year-old. A medical student, she joined the Wits karate club in 2014:
We had a great diverse group of women and men, often more women than men, and we formed a special bond; when you train in karate you become a family. The Old Mutual building was our main training space, but we also used Hall 29 and the judo dojo on West campus where we paid for the cleaning with our funds. The judo dojo was awesome, a big space with the correct flooring ... membership increased by about twenty students.
Sensei JP Rodrigues and Sensei Leon de Villiers were generous in assisting the students and they trained four times a week including early morning classes on a field. Poulter taught classes as well because the club had a large influx of beginners. She was well-qualified, having achieved her ‘Sandan’ – third degree black belt – at an international grading in Tokyo. She commented on her Japan experience:
It was the first time I had competed as a senior, and I looked up to the teams I met … it’s like meeting celebrities. The karate was on a completely different level; they were like robots, they didn’t even seem human. Japan and Germany were incredible that year. South Africa came about tenth out of some twenty countries.
These were important step forwards for a young woman who made a tremendous contribution to the Wits club. She was karate captain in 2014 and chairperson for three years from 2015 to 2017. Her achievements led to her being named Wits’s joint ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ in 2015.
In 2016 Poulter was first in the senior unison kata at the Gauteng and South African JKA championships. She was subsequently selected to represent South Africa in both the senior unison and individual kata at the JKA world championships that were held in Limerick, Ireland.
In 2018, she excelled at both provincial and national level, and again qualified to represent South Africa at the Africa Cup. Not long afterwards, she became a doctor and has set her sights on ‘going for my fourth Dan’.
In a club that has had a remarkable history, there were others who achieved recognition at international level.
Shayur Hansraj received Protea colours at an early age when he competed in the Commonwealth karate championships. Seven years later as a student at Wits in 2016, he won two bronze medals at the southern African union region 5 karate championships held in Harare,
Zimbabwe. Only the top two in each karateka division were invited to the event. Hansraj received bronze in the under 21 68-kilogramme division and the senior team kumite.
In 2017, Jonathan Judin was placed first in the men’s team kata at the South African JKA championships. He was subsequently chosen for the South African team to compete at that year’s JKA world karate championships in Ireland.
Jordan Ross won first place in the 19 to 21-year-old individual kata at the Gauteng JKA championships in 2017. He repeated the performance at the South African JKA championships and represented the Proteas at the world championships in Limerick.
Nicole Virgili was awarded Protea colours when she competed in the Region Five championships in Mozambique in 2017; she received a bronze medal in individual kumite and gold for team kumite, and represented South Africa at the Commonwealth tournament in November 2018. She finished fifth, the highest placing achieved by a member of the Protea team.
Alysha Govender received her national junior colours in 2018. She won gold and silver at the South African JKA tournament and qualified for the 2018 African Cup.
Despite the impressive success of individual karateka, the club experienced some disappointment in recent years. According to sports officer, Njabulo Zulu, ‘it conducted lessons and attended JKA tournaments but failed to attend USSA competitions in successive years. The club closed down for one year, while progress was consistently affected by its inability to implement fundraising plans.’
It is therefore most encouraging that Zahra Kader, a national participant since 2017, is leading the way at Wits. She competed in the 2022 FISU Combat Sports Championships in Turkey as part of the USSA team.
Shayur Hansraj
Nicole Virgili
Jonathan Judin
Zahra Kader
Mountaineering
The Wits University Mountain Club has remained dedicated to all forms of rock climbing, mountaineering and a love of the outdoors. A club report noted ‘climbing can be a relaxed sociable escape from big city living as well as an athletic pursuit for those who wish to push themselves physically and mentally. All of which is done while enjoying the time spent with friends who share a passion for the climbing lifestyle.’
In 2014, there was a flurry of development at the club. The new eight-metre wall in the Old Mutual Sports Hall was completed towards the end of the previous year allowing members to host many events including the Gauteng and national boulder leagues, the USSA lead climbing and bouldering competitions, and the Wits boulder league. Calrin Curtis made the open male Gauteng lead team.
The intervarsity at Wits was ‘acclaimed by all as the best ever, thanks in part to the new climbing wall and the routes set’. The downside for Wits was that Dylan Vogt could not take part because he had set the routes. Wits finished fourth in a competition won by Rhodes, although they did obtain second position in the women’s boulder final. Only one climber managed to make it to the end of the route set by Vogt.
Club member, Jonathan Jubber wrote: ‘Dylan set some amazing routes that kept the other universities on their toes – literally. He is the strongest climber we have and by far the strongest of all who attended.’
During the year, Wits hosted multiple trips to Waterval Boven, a great rock-climbing destination, as well as ventures to Harrismith, Swinburne, Magaliesberg, Drakensberg, and Rocklands in the Western Cape. Shorter, day trips were made to Bronkhorstspruit, Chosspile, Kingskloof and other climbing areas closer to Wits
The club room – known as the ‘Cave’ – was also a centre of activity. It had short overhanging climbing walls as well as a complete roof system on a low ceiling. Other than training, the Cave was a place where members came to relax, peruse old climbing magazines and plan their next outdoor trip, It also doubled as a bar that opened to Wits students every Friday afternoon. Both the Cave and the wall provided a great platform for members to become fit and learn new techniques in order to prepare themselves for the club’s many climbing trips.
The fortnightly Wits boulder league on Tuesday nights catered for fun evenings where members and local climbers gathered to climb and newer members were given the opportunity to learn from more experienced climbers. The boulder league also raised substantial funds for the club, allowing it to purchase new grips and equipment.
Kirsten Roberts led a strong and motivated committee in 2015 with plans for expeditions and events, as well as building new specialised climbing walls to add to the already first-class facilities.
Their outings were varied and included kloofing
Calrin Curtis, an outstanding climber at Wits who went on to achieve bronze at the 2020 African Championships in Paardeland.
in Grootkloof, Fernkloof, Bronkhorstspruit, Waterval Boven, Chosspile, Strubensvalley, Ezemvelo, Rocklands, Kingskloof, Drakensberg hike at Cathedral Peak and trad (traditional) climbing in Magaliesberg.
Three Witsies decided to compete at the Barn’s tenth birthday lead competition. It was reported that some really epic routes were set as usual … and Wits managed some podium finishes. Calrin Curtis was first in the open men’s category, with Kent Jennings fifth. Kirsten Roberts was second in the women’s section.
In the intervarsity lead competition, Calrin Curtis was second and Kent Jennings third in the open men’s division. Chris Langsford finished second and Ryan McCallum third in the novice men’s competition, and Kirsten Roberts second and Kirsten Noome third in the women’s event.
Wits hosted the national boulder league (NBL). Sixteen climbers qualified for the NBL provincial final, and three – Jeanne Bruyat (second) Kirsten Roberts (third) and Calrin Curtis for the national final.
Wilko Tillwick became chairperson of the Wits club in 2016 with Ryan McCallum his deputy. Apart from the annual outings, members achieved success in several important events. Calrin Curtis was second open male in the lead nationals and with Dylan Vogt and Tiffany Wells did well in the Rock Masters’ invitation-only competition.
The NBL was again hosted at Wits. Ten students qualified for the provincial final with Calrin Curtis, Josh McNally, Tiffany Wells and Kirsten Roberts featuring in the top three of their respective open events.
One of the most interesting competitions of the year is the ‘Exploratio Everest’ challenge. The club described it as a ‘super-chilled climbing event with the only goal being to climb the height of Everest (8848m) as a team within 24 hours, on the Tuks walls’. In 2017, the Wits alumni team: ‘Never Again’ broke the Everest challenge all-time record by an hour in a time of 11:08. The team was Catherine Honegger, Evan Margetts, Nicholas Quiroga, John Wade, Ale
Dylan Vogt was referred to as the ‘strongest climber we have’ in 2014.
Kirsten Roberts
Tiffany Wells, described as ‘an inspiration to young female climbers in Gauteng’, has impressed at an international level.
Bareiro, Tiffany Wells, Josh McNally, Tim Slab, Candice Bagley and Allister Fenton.
In 2018, Nicholas Meinel, the newly elected secretary of the Wits Mountain Club, obtained junior national colours for climbing. He represented South Africa at the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Youth World Championship in lead climbing and bouldering.
During 2018, Wits staged the NBL and arranged outings to Strubens Valley, Kingskloof, Waterval Boven, Bronkhorstspruit and Chosspile. As always there were braais and movie nights but a special occasion was the formal dinner at the Thabaphaswa Mountain Sanctuary while on a climbing weekend. Thirty club members attended and they held a formal dinner in the veld with tuxedos and evening dresses. A Thabaphaswa spokesman recalled: ‘We had to bring in tables and chairs as we don’t usually cater for this kind of event, but it was a great privilege to host these positive young people.’
The 60th anniversary of the club occurred in 2019 and attracted 136 registered members. The six weeks of 12 new routes each week proved challenging for about 40 competitors per week.
The club attended the Boven Rock Rally, hosted the NBL and held a formal dinner at Swinburne. Nick Meinel, who had been
Orienteering
In 2014, the Wits orienteering club (WITSOC) increased its number of active members. It was noted that nine competitors took part in the South African orienteering championships, as opposed to three in the previous year.
Witsoc’s weekly training on a Wednesday night was geared towards members becoming faster runners as well as more technically equipped orienteers. Two training camps were held, the first in January at Lakenvlei in Mpumalanga while the second was at Kaapschehoop near
competing internationally, coached the youth team in his spare time (‘when he’s not setting routes, writing training schedules and running evening trainings for the Wits mountain club’). Past club members Dylan Vogt and Calrin Curtis were placed second and third respectively in the 2019 open combined nationals, securing them a spot at the African Continental Cup the following year and a chance at making the Olympic team. There was further success for past members in 2020. Calrin Curtis and Catherine Honegger were second and fourth respectively in the open men’s and women’s competitions at the African Cup qualifier. They continued their good efforts by obtaining third and fourth places respectively in the men’s and women’s events at the African Continental Cup – an Olympic qualifying event.
The NBL was staged at Wits in 2020 but much of the year was restricted to virtual challenges because of the lockdown. This state of affairs continued into 2021, although there was an outing to Waterval Boven and ‘slacklining and picnicking in the park’. News was also received that the ‘Cave’ was being reclaimed but the club was to receive a new club room behind the Wits Science Stadium. ‘This is a sad day,’ remarked a club report, ‘but we are eagerly awaiting the excitement of our new space and what we can do there.’
Nelspruit in July. The latter was also the venue for the ‘Big Five’ orienteering week and proved a valuable five days for Witsoc members.
In July 2014, Sarah Pope and Michael Crone represented South Africa at the world orienteering championships in Italy. Their first race, the sprint qualification, was on Burano island, near Venice. A few days later, they were part of the South African sprint relay team that raced around the Alpine town of Trento amidst a vibrant atmosphere. Crone also had a good run in the forest relay with his team finishing 32nd.
The club hosted six orienteering events in 2014, the most prestigious being the South African sprint orienteering championships. Members recorded some excellent results during the year, winning 27 medals in the Gauteng and South African championships. The club won gold at the Gauteng relay championship and silver in the South African orienteering championship.
The momentum was maintained in 2015. In January, members attended four-day training camp in the Lakenvlei forests in Mpumalanga. This was followed by the urban series during February and March. Michael Crone improved with each event, winning the last three in style. There were also fine performances from Dylan Barry and Peter Carides, who were selected to represent South Africa at the junior world championships in Norway and Sarah Pope who was second in the world-ranking fourth event at Rietvlei.
Nicholas Meinel was selected for the South African team in both lead climbing and bouldering.
Michael Crone had much to offer the club as a South African champion who competed in world championships.
Sarah Bennett’s unusual trophy was won in the 2014 ‘Big Five’ in Mpumalanga. Sarah Pope running in the sprint relay in Trento.
Tuks organised the annual Gauteng relay – at Midstream College in Midrand. The Wits men (Anthony Stott, Dylan Barry and Michael Crone) were second and the women (Jess Hemer, Sarah Bennett and Sarah Roffe) were third.
In April, the golf course night series began. Outstanding for Wits was Michael Crone, who was third at Eagle Canyon, and first at both Houghton and Randpark. Sarah Pope was third at Eagle Canyon and Houghton and second at Randpark. Other Witsies to do particularly well included Sarah Bennett (fourth at Eagle Canyon) and Anthony Stott (fifth at Randpark).
Michael Crone, Sarah Roffe and Sarah Pope travelled to Cape Town in May to take part in the SA sprint and Western Cape championships. Crone won the M21A category for the third year in succession; Pope finished second on the women’s course and Roffe was fifth.
Three weeks later, the final of the Urban series was held on a map linking Ridge and Hope schools in Westcliff. Crone and Pope were second in their respective events, while Stott, Hemer, Roffe and Bennett achieved top-ten places.
In October, Wits participated in the Bushveld and Forest Series at Phambili, and then the MTB-O series kicked off at Protea Ridge on Youth Day. During a crazy weekend in July, six Witsies drove ten hours to Hilton to take part in the Gauteng championships in KwaZulu Natal. It was a memorable event in which Crone won the long-distance race and Pope collected three bronze medals.
Club members also headed to Sabie for the South African championships. Running the hilly terrain in heatwave conditions (around 35°C) made the event difficult. Sarah Pope had a successful weekend, winning silver in both the middle and long-distance races, while Dylan Barry and Sarah Roffe also impressed. In addition, Wits achieved a silver medal in the club relay and won the university trophy for the second year in a row.
A memorable year was crowned when orienteering won the Wits ‘Club of the Year’ award. A Witsoc spokesman summed up their achievement: ‘We’ve had a successful year raising lots of money and producing good performances at the various events. We had a dedicated committee. ’
The club was determined to hold its own in 2016, with a report on the SA championships in the Magaliesburg beginning: ‘3 days, 6 Witsies, 4 medals’. The team – Lindelo Nzuza, Renée van der Wiel, Spencer Johnson, Anthony Stott, Sarah Roffe and Dylan Barry – were remnants of a hardy group that had excelled in the previous few years.
During that period, Wits students and alumni had dominated South Africa’s national orienteering squads. Those selected between 2014 and 2017 included Eugene Botha, Michael Crone, Nicholas
Mulder, Michele Botha, Stephanie Courtnage, Sarah Pope, Dylan Barry and Sarah Roffe.
From 2017, there was a marked shift in the way Witsoc operated. After the graduation of some leading orienteers, the club reassessed its recruiting process. It began to stress the social aspects with an increased focus on ‘making our advertising and training fun, enjoyable, and welcoming to Witsies who were new to the sport’.
The ‘newbies’, as they were called, made commendable efforts in both hosting and competing in events, while honing skills along the way. Under chairperson Nicholas Reuss there was a membership increase in 2018. Many of the members were students – male and female –who had never encountered orienteering before, joined for the novelty, and became capable and enthusiastic orienteers.
In the second semester, members were taken up a notch in competitions that combined unrestricted creativity, major exploration and mad hide-and-seek skills.
As always in December, Witsoc hosted a Christmas charity event, held at the beautiful Delta Park. Participants from around Gauteng generously spread the Christmas cheer by donating several bags of toys which were collected and personally distributed by Witsoc to the children’s wards at Edenvale hospital and Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.
Campus tours were a great success in 2020, as were the Urban Series courses around Gauteng. Orienteering is a year-round sport and there were day and night events – a pizza togethe r after an evening’s competition at the Eagle Canyon Golf Estate being a favourite memory. In addition, Witsoc hosted a virtual event for the Christmas charity event, this time at Zoo Lake.
A new committee was ushered in at the end of 2020, with Victoria Bench as treasurer, Teaghan Lucas as vice-chair, and Bokang Maluleke as chairman. Faced with the challenge of heading a club from home because of the pandemic lockdown, the committee set goals of drastically increasing membership and introducing fun new activities for members for 2021.
In February 2021 the first event was hosted by Witsoc at Woodlands Office Park, which was run partially in an office park and partially in a game reserve. At the end of March, the club hosted an Easter-egg hunt at Zoo Lake, its purpose being to promote the club and to give first-years a social experience outside the residence rooms to which they had been confined.
Like all clubs, Witsoc had to adhere to the Covid policy and apply for permission to operate and use the clubhouse. It was possible to host regular practices in the weeks before the third wave. The challenge became one of creating activities that club members could do while at home during lockdown.
Dylan Barry, Anthony Stott and Michael Crone in a Gauteng competition hosted at the University of Johannesburg.
Sarah Roffe, Dylan Barry and Sarah Pope participated in the Sabie 2015 South African Championships.
Michael Crone and Stephanie Courtnage were two of Wits’s representatives in the South African national orienteering squad.
Rowing
The boat club is blessed with two USSA events each year. The first is hosted by the University of Cape Town at the beautiful Misverstand Dam, and racing is done over a sprinting distance of 1000 metres on a course with six lanes specifically for the competition. The event forms a key role in the South African rowing calendar as it is an introduction to university rowing for those who are progressing from school or starting the sport that very same year. It also attracts rowers who have represented the country.
According to a Wits Boat Club report, ‘The weekend can be characterised by helterskelter racing and an after-party to match’. The regatta culminates in the selection of the best performing rowers for the prestigious blues and grudge teams which then take to the water one last time to do battle over the one-kilometre sprint distance. It is a prestigious event, and is held in much reverence among university rowing clubs and the rowing community. The crews are chosen by internally experienced selectors, and are made up of two men’s eights and doubles, two women’s coxless fours and doubles.
The second USSA tournament takes place in the small town of Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape. This is a week-long tour and is restricted to the ‘eights’ class, one in which Wits has a proud history. The boat race is a six-kilometre event down the winding Kowie River, one which takes about 20 minutes and certainly tests the competitors’ minds and bodies. It is a race that offers something different in that crews must navigate their eights around a variety of 90-degree corners and avoid numerous sandbanks to complete their races.
The boat club also participates in other regattas around the country with the South African championships an important event. Along with the racing, the club has several activities and fundraisers that it runs throughout the year.
The Masters regatta is the largest fundraiser and attracts alumni and rowers from across the country to a day of racing, food and beer. Fundraising is an absolute necessity to ensure that the club’s equipment is kept fully functional and that tours are less of a financial burden on the rowers.
In 2014, the Wits men’s and women’s teams were sixth out of eight universities at the USSA championships at Misverstand Dam. Kai van Dongen, Cara Eddey and Stephen Mattushek were selected for grudge teams. Eddey went on to beat the blues team she raced against. The same rowers, along with Sascha Dubrovo, were asked to take part in the student selection week, but were unable to do so because of academic commitments.
There were further awards in 2015. At the USSA sprints, Michelle Knowles, Maxine Pinto, Maxine Naude, Victoria Johnstone, Andrew Cheeseman and Luca Bezzi achieved gold. Cara Eddey made the blues crew and Kai van Dongen the grudge crew. In the boat-race, the women’s ‘A’ and men’s ‘A’ eight were placed fifth in their
respective events, the men receiving the ‘most improved trophy’.
At the USSA sprints in 2016, Cara Eddey and Jade Crooks were chosen for the blues crew and Rosanne Bentley and Sascha Dubrovo for the grudge crew. The regatta highlight was Wits –Michelle Knowles, Cara Eddey, Jade Crooks and Maxine Pinto – winning the women’s fours. In that year’s boat-race, the women’s ‘A’ eight were placed fifth for the third successive year. The men’s ‘A’ eight were sixth.
A Wits club member, Dylan Trollope, was part of the South African paralympic fours in 2016. Piloted by cox Willie Morgan, it was a mixed crew, consisting of Shannon Murray, Lucy Perold, Dylan Trollope and Dieter Rosslee. They showed good form in the World Rowing Cup in Poznan, Poland, in June, finishing second in the final behind the Canadian crew. They then left for the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro where they reached the LTA Mix4+ final on Estadio Lagoa. In an exciting contest they finished fifth, clocking 3 minutes 28.39seconds for the 1000-metre course. Great Britain, the United States of America and Canada won gold, silver and bronze respectively.
Two Witsies were asked to trial for the USSA team to represent the country at the World Student Games in Poland, in September. Jade Crooks and Sascha Dubrovo were selected on the basis of their results from various events in 2015 and 2016. Crooks had achieved a first place in two categories in the recent USSA sprint race in Cape Town, with Dubrovo taking one second and two third-place finishes.
After trial results, the South African senior championships and a final selection regatta, Sascha Dubrovo was included in the team to travel to Poland. Twenty-seven nations across six continents were represented. The South African team, a lightweight men’s coxless four, was placed sixth in the final that was won by the hosts. ‘Poland was awesome!’ said Dubrovo. ‘It was great to row on a world-class professional
Cara Eddey (blues double) and Kai Van Dingen were chosen for representative teams in 2015.
Michelle Knowles and Maxine Pinto with medals at Misverstand Dam in 2015.
Jade Crooks – together with Cara Eddey, Michelle Knowles and Maxine Pinto – won the women’s fours at the USSA sprints in 2016.
Dylan Trollope was selected for the South African paralympic crew at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games
rowing course. The other teams were very strong, and racing against them opened my eyes to what international racing is like, and how fast it is.’
Rain de Jager was elected captain of the women’s section in 2017 and endeavoured ‘to push the development of the girls’ side from six members to twenty’. She made training ‘more fun and involved’ but also pushed the high-performance aspect which encouraged top rowers. She recruited from fellow occupational therapists and encouraged friends ‘to come and try’. They rowed at Wemmer Pan and Wits Sport gave them access to the high-performance gym which enabled them to train together.
There was no immediate improvement. At the 2017 boat race, the club finished seventh in the women’s division, eighth in the men’s division and seventh overall. A closer examination, however, revealed the depth that had been created as the women’s ‘B’ eight was placed second in their final and were awarded the ‘most improved trophy’. There were also fine performances at the USSA sprints by Rosanne Bentley and Tegan Korevaar who made the grudge crew.
Rain de Jager was one of five finalists nominated for the international rowing award, ‘Filippi Spirit’. Three African rowers (Mzwandile Sotsaka was the other South African), Serbia’s Vladimir Gluhovic and Great Britain’s Seun Olusanya comprised the five finalists for the award. They were from universities around the globe and were narrowed down from more than 20 candidates from 12 nations, among them Olympic and national rowers. The award was won by Zimbabwean Micheen Thornycroft who was studying at Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape.
In 2018, the twelve Wits women rowers won eight medals, including three gold at the USSA sprint regatta. Lauren Soll won gold after winning the women’s single sculls. A third-year BSc occupational therapy student, she was the top performing Wits rower and was selected for the blues crew. ‘The achievement was so surreal,’ she told Wits Vuvuzela. ‘There are a lot more people in the team and we’re really starting to feel like a squad.’ Her teammate Tegan Korevaar was selected for the grudge crew.
The women’s team efforts in the water saw them secure a finals spot in all but three race categories at the regatta. They were closing in on fourth-placed Rhodes. Coach Kyle Hanck praised Wits Sport for their guidance and assistance and hard work on the administrative side, and said ‘it had been noted by the trustees that Wits was one of the few university clubs that had maintained the number of participants competing at the sprints … testament to a club that is developing and going in the right direction.’
At the USSA sprints in 2019, the women’s squad moved into fourth position overall. The men were sixth and Wits finished sixth overall. The club brought home 16 medals: one gold, three silver and twelve bronze. Women’s team captain Lauren Soll and Rosanne Bentley were
selected for USSA blues and grudges teams, respectively.
Wits improved on previous performances in the boat race. Two women’s eights and two men’s eights participated in the boat race, an achievement in itself. The women’s ‘A’ eight were placed fourth out of 11 universities. They received the ‘most improved women’s crew’ award for their performance. Club president Rain de Jager said it had been several years since the women’s ‘A’ team qualified for the ‘B’ final in the ‘A’ Division. ‘In the recent past, we did not qualify for anything higher than the ‘C’ final so it really does emphasise the process of building the club and slowly getting it back on its feet.’
The men’s ‘A’ eight were fifth out of 11, a pleasing result in that the gap closed between Wits and the top four universities. In one of the most exciting races, the women’s ‘B’ eight were third out of six universities, an improvement on the previous year’s fourth place. A men’s second eight was entered for the first time since 2013 and was fourth out of six universities.
Wits had experienced a year of improvement in 2019 but there were challenges to overcome. They had faced penalties for not increasing the number of transformation competitors. Had they more than five transformation rowers in the club they could have increased their overall standings at both events. The issue, said a club report, was in funding, as three of the five could not afford tour costs and struggled to get to practice.
The club were prominent in promoting the sport at school level. Their expertise was not only used at schools in Gauteng but they coached South African under-16 school teams on overseas tours. Caitlin (Reid) has for many years been the South African junior women’s coach, and Maxine Pinto, Daniel Trollip, Brandon Bews, Lloyd Tinney and Rain De Jager have coached the South African schools development tours.
Wits did not participate in any events in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. ‘It was important nevertheless to maintain morale and keep up some training sessions,’ said Rain de Jager. ‘We are all competitive people and when there is no end-goal to meet we lose motivation, but we helped one another throughout the year.’
Wits coach Kyle Hanck with Sascha Dubravo, who was selected for the lightweight men’s coxless four that raced at the world university rowing championships in Poznan, Poland.
Rain de Jager, a dynamic president of the Wits University Boat Club.
Lauren Soll wears gold after placing first in the women’s single scull at the 2018 USSA-R national sprint regatta in Cape Town
Lauren Soll and Rosanne Bentley were chosen for representative USSA teams over several years
Wits University Boat Club coach Kyle Hanck with former presidents Ruth Oldert and Sloane Steinhobel.
Skiing
In 2014, it was noted that ‘one of the best things about Wits is that it is one of only two universities in South Africa with a sports club promoting awareness of snowboarding and skiing’. The Wits Snow Ski club at the time promoted any activity involving a board, such as wakeboarding and skateboarding. It admitted ‘other sports clubs consider us redundant’ but pointed out that it was probably the most socially active sports club at the university. Proof of this was the ‘amazing clubhouse’, located behind the Science Stadium.
It has remained an active club, as can be seen in its busy Facebook pages going back to 2014. The club’s major commitment was and still is the snowboarding trips to the Afriski resort in the Maluti mountains in Lesotho. These continued throughout the decade, with one member claiming ‘for many of us, staying at our lodge in Lesotho is our second home’.
Squash
There were two official trips every year, but others were organised whenever a group might wish to escape Johannesburg for a weekend. ‘When it comes to snowboarding,’ said a club report ‘we give you pretty much everything you need: free equipment and lessons. The only things you need to get are ski clothes and a valid passport’. There is also a remarkable camaraderie and newcomers are invited ‘to become part of the rich social interaction that occurs in the club and offers you many things you won’t learn in lectures’.
The competitive side has continued with the Wits Snow Ski club competing in the annual LW Mag Winter Whip competition. It is held in Lesotho during late July, and in 2019, Wits collected three medals: one gold (Dean Cowley) and two silver (Mary Carminati and Kuba Granicki).
The Wits Squash Club is considered to have one of the best squash facilities in the country. It has 12 courts – seven of which are glass-backed and one exhibition-type court. The club boasts about 200 members who participate in both league and social activities. The depth of the membership is further enhanced by the mixture of students and alumni, as well as the development of young and upcoming players through coaching and tournament play.
There was disappointment that squash was overlooked as Wits Sport made its move towards the high performance concept. It came said Roland Skinner, ‘even though Wits squash was cleaning up in terms of league trophies, and Central Gauteng Squash had contacted the university offering to incorporate Wits into the province’s high performance programme.’
Wits fielded teams in the first league in 2014 and 2015, competing against some of the best players in the province. Wits fielded eight teams across 11 men’s leagues. The third and eighth league teams finished third out of 12 and third out of 10 respectively, in their leagues. There was a noticeable lack of women competing in the leagues.
In July, Wits took part in the USSA tournament hosted by Stellenbosch. Results were not as encouraging as hoped, due to relatively weak women’s section.
The league teams were led by coach, Gary Naidoo, ranked in the top 300 globally for squash as well as in the top 15 in South Africa. He held practices every Monday and Wednesday for both those competing in the league and social players looking to improve their game.
Wits continued to host a prestigious grand prix tournament, attracting some of the best players from South Africa and the rest of the world. It celebrated its tenth year in 2015.
The university also organised the USSA competition in 2015. They claimed four victories but went down to NMMU, University of Johannesburg and University of Cape Town. It resulted in the team finishing seventh out of fifteen.
Casey Preece arrived at Wits in 2015 to study medicine. She had represented South Africa in that year’s world junior championships at Eindhoven, Netherlands. Unfortunately, Wits could not offer her a sufficiently high standard of women’s squash, so she played for an outside team while representing the university in the men’s league.
A mass departure of players at the end of 2015 resulted in Wits returning to the reserve league. In 2016, the USSA men’s competition at Stellenbosch was made up of an ‘A’ section comprising eight teams and a ‘B’ section with five sides. The Wits team – Andrew Berry, Joshua Seef, Armin De Weerdt and Jaishal Chiba – finished third in the ‘B’ Section and therefore 11th overall out of 13 teams.
The 2017 USSA tournament was played at the University of Johannesburg. On this occasion, Wits were represented by both men (Andrew Berry, Joshua Seef, and Bafokeng Mafokeng) and women (Georgina Grubb and Simnikiwe Sangoni). They finished fourth in the ‘B’ section. In 2018, Wits – Andrew Berry, Joshua Seef, Nikhil Mistry, Nathaneal Boulle, Kristen Fourie and Simnikiwe Sangoni – won the ‘C’ division in the USSA championships at the Nelson Mandela University. Although they were dropped to a lower section in order to accommodate their range of skills, the team managed to have some fair and challenging games. Kristen Fourie recalled that 2018 was a very busy year for the club. ‘Wits hosted the Growthpoint Interprovincial tournament,’ she said, ‘which involved players from all parts of the country gathering to compete and take home glory for their province. The club organised a great tournament … our facilities proved outstanding’.
Wits did not participate in the 2019 USSA championships but there was no lack of effort in promoting the game. The student players had the opportunity of being coached by the likes of squash legend Graham Prior in 2018, Bradd Lodge, an ex-coach and teacher at King Edward School in Johannesburg in 2019, and
Casey Preece
The Wits squash team that won the ‘C’ section in 2018 (left to right): Andrew Berry, Nikhil Mistry, Simnikiwe Sangoni, Nathanael Boulle, Kristen Fourie (in front): Joshua Seef
more recently Ray Dlamini of NuAg Academy, a passionate and hardworking coach.
With a change of committee at the end of 2019, hopes were high and the club was determined to come back strongly in 2020. Early on in the new season, they welcomed a group that demonstrated considerable potential. One particularly talented player was Ethan Porter, who arrived at Wits with an impressive track record. The season also saw the arrival of promising female players
Table Tennis
which meant entering a women’s team in the USSA tournament. ‘Our training sessions,’ noted Kristen Fourie, ‘were conspicuous for the consistent attendance and excitement of players at all levels.’
The Wits Grand-prix was revived but, said Fourie, ‘by the time March came around Covid-19 threw a huge curve-ball’. The club was closed, incredibly frustrating in a season that promised so much.
In 2014, the Wits Table Tennis Club recruited a record number of players and trained three times a week at the new squash complex. They competed successfully in the Gauteng Central table tennis leagues and hosted three tournaments: one in the first semester and two in the second.
Wits registered 22 players for their two teams that played in the Gauteng Central leagues. Wits ‘A’ competed in the premier league along with sides such as Maccabi ‘A’ and ‘B’, Mandeville and Anchors ‘A’ and ‘B’, while Wits ‘B’ participated in the thirdtier second league and played the likes of Maccabi and Flames’ subsidiary sides.
An important tournament was the Oteng Tlapeng Memorial Cup. Dr ‘Zah’ Tlapeng was a table-tennis enthusiast who did much to build up the Wits club, but died in a car accident in mid-2010. Previous memorial tournaments had attracted players from various parts of the country and Botswana. The tournament was won by Luke Abrahams for the first three years. When he was unable to play in 2014, Terrence Mathole became the new champion.
Wits also participated in the USSA tournament, which they hosted at Hall 29 in December. They entered two men’s teams and one women’s team. The tournament featured 19 universities from around South Africa. It was the first time that Wits had managed
Tang Soo Do
In 2014, tang soo do was not as yet a recognised USSA code but continued to operate at Wits and enjoy international exposure. Under the training of Gregory Hart, the club started the year with two major tournaments. They attended the TAFISA (The Association Of International Sport For All) championships and competed against practitioners from karate and taekwondo. Three Wits students (Kim Lucas, Ipeleng Malope and Nkhabu Makoloane) were selected to represent South Africa at the world martial art games in Canada. The club attended interprovincial tournaments at Bloemfontein and Nelspruit. From the combined results of the 2014 tournaments a number of Wits students were selected to attend the Tang Soo Do World Championships in Las Vegas in 2015. This was the third championship in a row attended by Wits competitors.
One of the club’s most prominent members, Titus Masike, was promoted to assistant instructor at the Wits dojang. He had done well in 2015, having won bronze and silver medals at the tang soo do world championships – the highest level of competition possible in the sport – in the United States.
In 2016, a twelve-strong tang soo do contingent from Wits competed in the tenth World
to assemble a women’s team and they did well to qualify for the knockout stage. The men’s team reached the semi-finals. Meenal Manga and Bhavik Patel played impressive table tennis, but the real star was Tevia Sapire. He became the new USSA men’s singles champion, and was promptly hoisted aloft by his jubilant teammates.
Tevia Sapire and Bhavik Patel were chosen for an USSA under-23 squad and subsequently awarded bursaries. Sapire became chairman of the club in 2015 and 2016. He recalled the club relying on players who had arrived at Wits with strong backgrounds in the game, such as himself, Bhavik Patel, Themba Mkhize and Evans Motaung. He added:
Coaching was no more than experienced players helping out, resulting in beginners finding it difficult to catch up. The number of players willing to run tournaments declined, while the club moved venues many times and this affected interest.
Wits table tennis has produced a number of outstanding players over the years but one of the finest is Tumelo Letsogo. He was referred to as ‘the university’s table tennis sensation’ when he achieved a silver medal at the 2022 SA Para Championships in Bloemfontein.
Martial Arts Games hosted in Johannesburg. Competing across a number of categories, the team managed a flurry of 36 medals, comprising a haul of 10 gold, 10 silver and 16 bronze medals.
Madimetja Malebana won gold medals in continuous sparring, weapons, and team event, as well as silver medals for forms, bladed weapons, and points sparring in the junior division. Tanita Ramburuth-Hurt won three gold medals in the junior division.
The impressive achievements enabled tang soo do to win Wits’s ‘Club of the Year’ in 2016. Kim Lucas, who won five senior national titles at the South African championships, was named ‘Sportsman of the Year’.
The club was highly successful in 2017 and was nominated as one of Gauteng’s sports teams of the year alongside the rugby Lions and soccer’s Sundowns. Tanita RamburuthHurt was honoured by being named Gauteng’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’.
It was subsequently decided that Wits tang too do should focus on the following year’s world championships in London. The team that took part comprised Paige Edwards, Ngwato Kekana, Tanita Ramburuth-Hurt, Makgabo Mohopo, Daniel Chen, Jichandre Sambo, Kim Lucas, Titus
Tanita Ramburuth-Hurt won five medals – three gold and two silver – at the London 2018 world championships, and was elected ‘Sportswoman of the Year’.
Masike, Refilwe Gomba and Master Gregory Hart. The venture produced some remarkable results, as the group of nine Witsies won a total of 31 medals, made up of 15 gold, 9 silver and 7 bronze.
In the course of 2018, fifteen Witsies represented South Africa. That so many club members should gain international recognition was no surprise said Kim Lucas, ‘judging by the way we have been dominating tournaments throughout the year.’ He was referring to the more than 180 medals that the club had managed to win since the beginning of the season. It was also a reflection of progress made, as there had been only two Wits competitors in the national team six years earlier.
Tang soo do was Wits’s ‘Club of the Year’ again in 2018. At the same sports awards evening, Tanita Ramburuth-Hurt received the ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ trophy. She had been a fine competitor and at the London world championships had obtained a total of five medals: three gold and two silver. She was also a leader in promoting sport at the university, serving the tang soo do committee as chairperson and then as treasurer. She became the WSC’s first gender equity officer.
There were obviously many other contributors to the high-flying club, with Makgabo Mohopo, Daniel Chen and Jichandre Sambo notable achievers at international level. They were key members of the Wits team alongside London world championship black-belt competitors, Kim Lucas, a gold-medal winner in sword, and Titus Masike, who won gold in sparring.
In a 2019 article, journalist Tshepiso Mametela referred to ‘Wits tang soo do’s mercurial talent, Tanita Ramburuth-Hurt, enjoying a purple patch in the sport the likes of which very few others may ever have’. She won six gold and a bronze medal at the 2019 South African championships,
Tennis
During 2014, the Wits Tennis Club was successful in maintaining practices for over 80 people four times a week. The courts were generally full on most days. New head coach Byron Werbeloff and his assistant Pilot Ngwenya were influential in the operation. A successful ‘learn to play’ programme was introduced that attracted 60 applicants to the training camps. It was assisted by an open policy where players who did not have equipment were given rackets and a trial session.
Wits ‘raised record numbers of tennis players’ said Werbeloff, and was one of the top university clubs in the country. He was an enthusiastic organiser and also participated in club competitions. He was beaten by law student Adam Gordon in the final of the Wits tennis club championships in 2014. Werbeloff, however, gave his second place to Rishay Bharath, with Mike Stephenson third.
The club was active in holding successful social events during the year. They raised money and were able to give back to the community.
and was the first GSport award winner.
Other rising stars also emerged strongly at the South African championships, not least being Anushka Monema who won a gold and four silver medals. She added a further two gold and a bronze at the South African martial arts championships, and acknowledged tang soo do ‘has helped get the best out of me.’
Tang soo do collected a total of 129 medals (49 gold, 48 silver, 32 bronze) between 1 August 2018 and 30 July 2019 in multiple national tournaments.
Over 400 tennis balls were donated to Yeoville Tennis Club to sustain them over a six-month period. Particularly memorable was the wooden racket tournament on 8 October, an event aimed at ‘promoting traditional tennis customs and educating the players’. Entrants wore white attire, and only white tennis balls and wooden rackets were used to create a truly unique tennis experience. Participation and achievement certificates were handed out.
An ‘end of block’ party at the Bozzoli Sports Pavilion raised funds for USSA. The team featured seven new players in the end-of-year tournament at Bloemfontein. There was keen interest in the USSA competition, with 18 university teams divided into three sections. The universities of North-West, Cape Town and Pretoria each provided two sides; their second teams dominating the ‘B’ section. Wits finished sixth out of eight universities in the ‘A’ section.
In 2014, chairperson Francesca Bernes was praised in the club report for steering the committee ‘with her characteristic strong leadership’. She
Kim Lucas achieved five senior national titles at the South African championships, and was named ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in 2016.
Refilwe Gomba gains the upper hand against his opponent from Greece at the London 2018 world championships.
Daniel Chen and Jichandre Sambo were notable achievers in a progressive club.
Adam Gordon defeated the Wits coach to win the 2014 club championship
was aided by Rishay Barath, Claire Zoghby, Mike Stephenson and Alex Freeman. The same committee was voted back for 2015.
Francesca Bernes had arrived at Wits with an impressive record. She was a finalist at the 2010 Temple Open girls under-16 tournament and a doubles finalist while partnering Jessica Kahts at the 2010 South African national women’s open championship. She studied physiotherapy at Texas State University before beginning medicine at Wits where she chaired the tennis club from her second year. She recalled: ‘I was lucky enough to chair for three years. It was super fun, challenging at times as we had to fight for resources but it was worth it in the end as we got to go to USSA all four years!’
She also starred on the court at Wits, winning the women’s section of the club championships in 2015 with Ashleigh Branfield runner-up, and again in 2016 when she beat Jessica Picas. Sarah Fetter succeeded Bernes as champion in 2017, defeating Kate Stucke in the final. During this period, the men’s championship was won by Alon de Koker in 2015 and 2016, and Musa Mpondi in 2017.
Wits played in both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ sections during 2015 to 2017. Francesca Bernes recalled:
Everyone looked forward to USSA and Champs so we always had a good turnout for those events. Overall, the era that I played in was successful. We managed to get the sport back up and running and as we had all played together in juniors, it was enjoyable to be able to play together at varsity. Obviously there were periods where exams took preference and there would be a few weeks when the turn-out wasn’t as strong as other weeks, but overall I have only good memories from my four years playing tennis.
Ultimate Frisbee
In the course of 2014, the Wits ultimate frisbee club (aka Voodoo Kudus) grew quickly under chairperson Sally Crompton. Its first tournament in April – the ‘mixed nationals’ in Cape Town –saw an 18-strong contingent play against fifteen other teams from across the country. Wits was unable to improve on their fourteenth place ranking, but a highlight, however, was their first victory – against Galeforce (Gqeberha) – in a national tournament.
In October, Crompton was instrumental in Wits hosting the Rocktober championship. The university fielded two teams, the Voodoo Kudus (the first team) finishing tenth and the Halala Impalas 12th. A tournament report claimed the second team, a young, vibrant group led by Kelvin Tam and James Arnestad, lit up the tournament with their over-the-top celebrations.
The Voodoo Kudus had a bumpy start to 2015, losing heavily in their opening summer mixed league matches. Jayson van Kerckhoven said that ‘part of the reason for the slump in form was because at least ten players graduated and were no longer eligible to represent the university’. Alumni set up their own team which they named ‘Skyveld’.
According to coach Werbeloff, ‘FeesMustFall protests stopped practices for most of 2017 and ended up negatively affecting tennis.’ The club championships could not take place. Thato Lebelo, who succeeded Bernes as club chairperson said: ‘We had a lack of participation and the team has been quite average.’
It was an unfortunate situation in that the club had not been idle in creating internal interest in the game. In April 2017, the ‘Future Stars’, a non-profit organisation, was established through Centre Court Tennis Academy, a programme that had been developed by Werbeloff, together with coaching staff Bevan Fenner and Thato Lebelo. They offered coaching to young and underprivileged players in Yeoville and aimed to secure tennis scholarships for pupils to attend local schools. Werbeloff said the goal was ‘to use tennis as an aid to help children make something of their lives’. The organisation provided access to equipment and training to improve their chances of becoming tennis players and being able to apply for scholarships.
Thato Lebelo reported in 2018 that ‘we have had a few first-years join the club and they have added a new energy to it. Wits made a return to the USSA event which was held at Bloemfontein in July. It was a successful venture, particularly as first-year student, 19-year-old Ann Snyman, was selected to play for the USSA squad.
Her selection was a boost for Wits tennis – Lebelo stating that Snyman had made them proud. Werbeloff told Wits Vuvuzela that Snyman’s mental strength had led to her achievement: ‘She is very resilient and has the ability to win matches even if she is not playing her best tennis. She finds a way to win.’
New players were thrown into the deep end. They struggled at the annual ‘binnelanders’ tournament and at the 2015 ‘mixed nationals’ in Bloemfontein. However, there was good news as Sally Crompton became the first Witsie to be selected for a national side – the ‘Wild Dogs’ –that competed in the under-23 world Ultimate championship in England.
‘They delivered far above expectations,’ said Paul Nussey, who became Wits’s star player. ‘Seeded twelfth at the under-23 tournament, they eventually finished sixth, beating international ultimate frisbee powerhouse, Japan, in the process.’
Wits struggled in 2016. They did not win a game during the year, but this did not deter enthusiastic and committed club members who kept coming back with a desire to learn and improve.
Thanks to strong leadership from committee members Takudzwa Chinamatira, Rubina Valodia, Caroline Tobin, and Paul Nussey, they scrambled together a team to compete at the ‘mixed nationals’. Nussey recalled: ‘We persuaded and begged students from everywhere and anywhere on campus to play for us. Only
Francesca Bernes was chairperson and star player in the Wits tennis club, winning the women’s section in 2015 and 2016.
Ann Snyman’s impressive SAU tennis week in 2018 was captured by Wits Vuvuzela photographer Palesa Dlamini who entitled her picture ‘Another day on the courts …’
Sally Crompton, a motivated chairperson of ultimate frisbee.
three of the players we sent down to Cape Town had previous “nationals” experience.’
The rag-tag bunch of ‘Voodoo Kudus were put to the sword in every game they played. Despite the results, they showed promise. The trip is remembered fondly by many Wits Ultimate players, because it was the starting point for many to fall in love with the game of frisbee.’
The 2017 season built on the foundations laid in 2016 as the core group of players began to gain experience. The club leadership decided to institute a second weekly practice. In the build-up to ‘binnelanders’ and ‘mixed nationals’, players were active for four out of the five days of the week. Moreover, a world-renowned ultimate coach Felix Shardlow led a couple of sessions during his week-long visit to Johannesburg.
The extra practices and a hectic training schedule paid off as the team performed well at their tournaments and recorded a stunning 13-12 win against Galeforce (Gqeberha) in the final game of the ‘mixed nationals’ hosted at Lion’s River. Later that year, trials were hosted for a South African team to compete at the 2018 under-24 world championship in Perth, Australia. Rubina Valodia, Merete Goosen and Paul Nussey (captain) were selected but the event was cancelled.
Valodia and Goosen were given another opportunity to play at international level. They were invited to represent the University of Cape Town’s team at the world Ultimate club championship in Cincinnati. ‘It was an eyeopener to see what can be achieved with ultimate, and it changed my perspective,’ said Goosen.
Buoyed by their success, the team practices increased in fervour and intensity. The hard work paid off as the Voodoo Kudus finished seventh out of 12 teams at the 2018 ‘binnelanders’ – a best ever showing by the club. They were also able to field a second team – the ‘Wits Timbuck2s’ – for the first time since 2014.
Nussey described the 2018 mixed nationals as a highlight of the Ultimate Frisbee year. The tournament was held at Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape. On the first two days Wits Kudus were defeated by the UCT Flying Tigers, 4th Prime (Pietermaritzburg), Ultitude (Johannesburg) and Ghost (Cape Town). Victory against Galeforce, 15-5, came late on the
second day and on the last day, Wits Kudus beat UCT Roaring Tigers 10-8 after a long, hard fight.
‘We had achieved our goal,’ proclaimed Nussey, ‘we had moved ourselves “up a bracket” in the rankings.’ Wits Kudus’ final placing was tenth out of 15, their best ever result at the tournament. Merete Goosen was ‘most valuable player’ and the team stayed true to the club ethos, coming back with a trophy for ‘winning the party’.
Karien Scribante’s committee hosted the open and women’s ‘nationals’ in August. The tournament was a resounding success, as 19 teams from across the country competed at Wits. The club assembled both open and women’s teams for the very first time – the Wits ‘Banterlopes’ finished 11th and ‘Tyranny’ seventh.
The momentum carried through to Rocktober where the Kudus were placed seventh out of 15 teams. It was not only their best finish at the event, it was also the first time that a Wits team had finished in the top half of a tournament.
The club’s success both on and off the field translated into awards, as Goosen was voted the 2018 Wits Sportswoman of the Year following her exploits on home soil and abroad, whilst Caleb Palmer was named the WSC ‘club administrator of the year’.
In 2019, Wits was again in a transitional phase centred on recruitment and rebuilding. Goosen succeeded Nussey as the leading personality in the club in a year when it changed its name from ‘Wits Ultimate Frisbee Club’ to ‘Wits Ultimate’.
During March, Wits won two out of six matches at the northern regional tournament. They defeated the Elevation-Potch second team 15-2, and emerged victorious against Johannesburgbased Ultitude, winning 12-9. They also came fifth out of seven teams that played at the East Rand Polo Club in Bapsfontein. After qualifying for the ‘mixed nationals’ at Stellenbosch, captain Ross Bentley, confirmed they ‘planned to stick to the techniques initiated by Nussey, who had just made it to the national team’.
At Stellenbosch, Wits won four out of the eight matches played. They were victorious against Maties ‘B’ 15-3, Eastern Skies 13-10 and Ultitude 12-11. The highlight was winning the last match they played against Potch Elevation 13-12.
Four club members – Merete Goosen (as captain), Rebecca Potterton, Rubina Valodia and Ariel Goldberg – were selected to represent South Africa at the under-24 world championships in Heidelberg, Germany, in July. The Wild Dogs finished above their seeding, recording wins against Mexico, Hong Kong, and, notably, Italy. They also finished the tournament as the ‘most spirited’ in the mixed division and received medals for their achievement.
In 2020, many of the team’s core players graduated, but recruitment went well and enough new players formed a team to compete at the ‘mixed regionals’ in Potchefstroom. Despite losing almost all the fixtures, two players –Sarah Bydawell and Benefactor Mokoena – won the female and male ‘most valuable player’ respectively. Mokoena was selected to represent
The Wits team at ‘Rocktober’ 2018 (left to right – back row): Tshepo Thaela, Alex Corder, Ariel Goldberg, Adam Potterton, Andrew Oliver, Lungile Ngwenya, Paul Nussey, Caleb Palmer (front row): Angelique Kellerman, Nqobile Mhlanga, Karien Scribante, Nicole Wernberg, Merete Goosen, Kerisha Chetty, Ross Bentley.
Team captain, Ross Bentley, “skying” a player from Maties at the 2019 ‘mixed nationals’ in Stellenbosch.
Merete Goosen and Paul Nussey were captains of Wits and selected for national ultimate frisbee teams.
to do this by searching for what other ultimate communities were doing in terms of returning to play. Another task on the committee’s agenda was to formally establish alumni membership. The club returned to practice in 2021, the team playing in a warm-up tournament that aimed to get the community back into Ultimate before ‘mixed nationals’. Wits qualified to play ‘nationals’ but the event was cancelled because of the pandemic.
South Africa – the Mambas – at the postponed World Ultimate And Guts Championship in Leeuwarden, Netherlands in 2020.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Hannah Sarakinsky and her committee tried to keep members engaged. They decided to use the time proactively to get systems and protocols in place for when the club would be allowed to return to practice. The committee worked hard
Underwater
The Wits Underwater Club continued to provide quality diving and water-sports activities. Training courses were held under highly qualified World Underwater Federation instructors, with ancillary courses including nitrox, rescue and dive master instruction. The 2014 report stated:
From our lively Thursday club nights to our trips to Bass Lake and Sodwana, the underwater club is known for providing a quality social environment with the added benefit of doing some awesome water sports ... A few members braved the June cold and participated in the annual Polar Bear dive at Emmarentia dam, hosted by sister club Normal Air. Prizes were awarded for the most interesting articles retrieved from the murky depths.
Teams also participated in the underwater hockey inter-club competitions, with Wits finishing second in the league. Players were selected for Gauteng ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams to play in the national championships, and Dustin Dale was selected to play in a ‘Barbarians’ tournament in the United States.
The scuba diving capacity was increased during 2015/16 because of the association with Normal Air. Witsies had access to highly skilled trainers with decades of experience, and beginners were trained in a safe environment. ‘Through the partnership,’ said club chairperson Keith Roseweir, ‘we started a scuba diving campaign and offered more advanced scuba diving courses at a better rate’.
Men and women participated in strong
Tshepo Thaela took up the role of coach to train the Wits team and further develop those who had the desire to play at the highest level. While planning had never been simple, with members leaving every three to four years, however, the club continued to be competitive and to organise and host major events.
‘It’s never just about playing frisbee, it’s about who you’re playing with,’ explained Takudzwa Chinamatira. ‘It’s one place you play sport and feel automatically accepted because everyone is there to welcome and build, and then to compete’.
underwater hockey and scuba diving teams. A move was made by the club to use the Wits pool from 2016. It created the opportunity to stage more social events at the underwater clubhouse.
Roseweir, who was chairman of the club from 2015 to 2017, recalled significant progress: ‘We were able to upgrade and purchase more diving equipment from diving courses and fundraising activities; we participated in the Midmar race to raise funds and arranged events for the disabled. In 2017 the majority of the club – drawn mainly from the medical and engineering faculties –were final-year students. When they left Wits after graduation, they were no longer eligible to be members or part of the Wits underwater club committee. There were no ready replacements and the club struggled without experienced leadership.
The underwater disciplines have always attracted a strong following of dedicated, talented and innovative students. Roseweir says ‘we are all appreciative that we had the opportunity to be part of the Wits underwater club and so many of us are still involved in the sport and have remained good friends’.
There was some significant news in March 2021, when a former Wits student claimed a new women’s diving depth record. Karen van den Oever made a record-breaking 236-metres descent into Boesmansgat Cave. The dive, which lasted 7 hours 18 minutes and had still to be verified by Guinness World Records, was promptly praised by previous recordholder Verna van Schaik who sent a message: ‘Congrats! It is an epic feat!’
Benefactor Mokoena was selected to represent South Africa at the world championships in the Netherlands in 2020.
Karen van den Oever surfaces after her deep-dive world-record at Boesmansgat in 2021.
Paul Nussey, Ariel Goldberg, Merete Goosen, Rebecca Potterton, and Rubina Valodia competed in the under 24 World Ultimate Championship in Germany.
Volleyball
Early in 2014, the Wits women’s team was relegated to the first division. A few games later, they were moved back to premier status, as other teams had not paid their fees or dropped out of the league. Wits recorded a 3-0 walkover against log leaders Tshwane’s CIGMA Volleyball Club, as their opponents did not pitch for the scheduled game. With various issues emerging, the university became strong contenders in the ten-team premier league.
Sidhika Bharuth-Ram, who had been playing for Wits since 2010, commented: ‘The Wits volleyball women’s team is doing better than it has in the past five years.’ The club was able to field relatively strong teams when they hosted the 2014 USSA tournament. They reached
the quarter-final stage of both the men’s and women’s competitions, and Thandeka Tshabalala was selected for the USSA team.
The club then went into decline and, after several years of relatively little activity, they made an ambitious comeback in 2018. According to Thabo Morudu, ‘the volleyball committee, together with the sports administration worked tirelessly during the past year to build very competitive teams.’ Chairperson Stacey Nheera and men’s captain Comfort Munya were confident of success. ‘We are making history this year,’ stated Nheera at the time. ‘Volleyball is considered a recreational sport but we will prove we can be competitive.’
Wits hosted the Champions Cup for the first time in 2018. Thirty-seven teams took part in the competition at the Old Mutual Sports Hall. The Wits teams did not fare as well as they expected as the women were knocked out in the group stage while the men were eliminated in the last 16. The Wits women lost two of their three games but there was a good showing against Quantum where they went down by one point. The Wits men played the Lotus Lions in their first game, winning 3-1, but lost their next two games against Maidstone and Quantum 3-0.
The next important step was to host the USSA tournament in June/July. It was a successful venture, although the Wits teams were never in contention in the two sections. Wits women were seventh out of 18 and the men ninth out of 18 in a tournament dominated by Vaal University of Technology.
Wits men and women enjoyed greater success in the Johannesburg Volleyball Union league, where they held top-three positions. It was noted in a 2020 club report that Wits had the potential to become one of the best volleyball clubs at institutional level. They had excellent facilities open to all students, male and female, from beginners right through to advanced.
The men held their own in the 16-team Gauteng Aqua Dashan Premier League but the women led the way over the next two seasons.
The Wits Jaguars have made a huge impact on their 8-team competition. Lenah Fatah, the assistant coach and captain, has been pivotal to the team’s development. ‘We’re motivated,’ she told journalist Tshepiso Mametela, and pointed out that hard work has made them a ‘powerhouse’.
Stacey Nheera continues to be a driving force. A ‘devastating middle blocker’, she is just as ambitious for the sport as she was four years earlier:
As it stands, we are dominating the province and hope to dominate throughout South Africa, given the opportunity to play against teams from other provinces.
Our main goal is to grow the sport of volleyball and to build a strong brand around the Wits Volleyball Club.
Stacey Nheera’s dedication was instrumental in the development of Wits volleyball.
Comfort Munya provided leadership and expertise to the club as team captain, coach and administrator.
Wits Jaguars 2022 (left to right – back row): Zweli Ngwenya (coach), Rejoice Msusu, Olwethu Mjoli, Angelou Nyathi, Palesa Pereko, Lesogo Baakeleng, Comfort Munya (manager) (in front): Limpopo Molife, Nkosinodumo Ngwabi, Lenah Fatah (assistant coach), Grace Mwale (captain).
Wits at the 2019 USSA beach tournament, Durban (left to right – standing): Comfort Munya (coach), Keegan Luciolli, Jacobeth Langa, Tshepang Motsosi (in front): Jessica Mlambo, Aphiwe Mtshali and Thandeka Shabalala.
Water polo
The Wits women’s water polo section was resuscitated and made an immediate and favourable impression. They were coached by Kelsey White, who captained South Africa at water polo and was part of the team that won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in 2014.
Prominent in the Wits team was Emma Hardham, who had learnt to play the game at St Mary’s School, Waverley. The school squad became exceptionally strong under the guiding influence of Kelsey White who told Wits Vuvuzela that she had been coaching and playing alongside Hardham for some time. ‘We recruited her to play for Wits while she was still a student at St Mary’s School because of her talent.’
Hardham had played for the national side while still at school. In 2013 she represented South Africa in a tri-nations tournament in Sydney, Australia, and the following year was in the national team that competed in the world championships in Madrid, Spain
She began her studies in physiotherapy in 2015. The same year, she represented the Gauteng ‘A’ Currie Cup water polo team in the annual national water polo tournament in April, was selected for South Africa in the 8-nations EU Cup that was held in Dublin, Ireland in May, and was a key member of the South African team in the under-20 world championships in Volos, Greece, in August.
The South Africans won gold in Ireland while Hardham received her full blue cum laude and was named Wits’s joint ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ for 2015.
In 2016, Hardham represented South Africa in the FINA Olympic Games qualification tournament in Gouda during March and in the EU ten-nations tournament in Prague in June. The team won gold in the latter tournament while Hardman was again elected Wits’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ and re-awarded her full blue cum laude.
Wits water polo received further recognition when another former St Mary’s pupil, Caitlyn O’Shaughnessy, joined Hardham in the Gauteng Currie Cup team. The progress of the Wits women was such that they won the Central Gauteng water polo club league for the first time in 2016.
In 2017, Sarah Benn and Caroline Dowsett were selected for Gauteng ‘B’, and the Wits team reached the semi-finals of the USSA tournament. They lost 11-2, to Stellenbosch University and played Nelson Mandela University in the third/ fourth play-off. Wits came from two goals down to take the lead but the game ended in a draw and went on to a penalty shoot-out which they lost 2-1. Despite the defeat, club chairperson, Caitlyn O’Shaughnessy, said ‘We were really happy with how we played at the championships this year, as we haven’t had a USSA tournament for the past two years because of the FeesMustFall protests.’
Emma Hardham continued to travel in 2017, representing the South African women’s water polo team that competed in the EU nations water
polo cup in Prague in 2017. The following year, she returned to the Czech Republic to play in the EU nations tournament in Brno, where South Africa won the bronze medal. Hardham was also selected for the FINA water polo cup competition in Surgut, Russia, during September 2018. ‘I was beyond excited to have made the team,’ she said but injury prevented her from taking part.
While the women were setting the pace, the men’s team also made progress during 2017. They participated in that year’s USSA tournament, where they were placed tenth out of the 14 teams.
Matthew van Rooyen, vice-chairperson of Wits water polo, thought that the team’s performances during the year had seen improvement despite some challenges. The team began the season in the Gauteng premier division after receiving promotion at the end of the previous year. ‘We endured a difficult season,’ recalled Van Rooyen, ‘playing against the top club sides in Gauteng, but it was still a
The Wits waterpolo team at USSA in 2017 (left to right – back row): Caroline Dowsett, Sarah Benn, Emma Hardham, Catherine Bezuidenhout, Grace Taylor (front row): Nikara Seeraj, Kelly Rosslee, Caitlyn O’Shaughnessy
Emma Hardham playing against Ireland in the EU Nations Cup tournament in Brno, Czech Republic, May 2018.
fantastic achievement for us as a team, having never played in the top tier before.’
In August 2017, Michael Stewart represented South Africa at the FINA world junior (under-20) men’s water polo championships at Belgrade. He also won a national title when he played for the Gauteng ‘A’ team in the national water polo tournament at Stellenbosch.
Van Rooyen attributed the team’s improvement to additional players joining the club and the appointment of a new coach, Ryan van Rensburg, who was also the water polo coach at King Edward VII School.
Water polo’s achievements were commendable, a resumption of a spirit that prevailed in years gone by. The momentum might have slowed
Yachting
The year 2014 started off with an epic feat in which Wits Yacht Club members sailed the ‘Cape2Rio’ race. The team of seven consisted of skipper Bradley Robinson, manager Brennan Robinson, Ricardo de Carvalho, watch captain Alistair Moodie, bowman Patrick Chappel, meteorologist Alexa Brown and navigator Stuart Purchase. They were the first Wits team to enter the prestigious transatlantic race since Momentum Life in 1984.
The yacht club first set their sights on competing in June 2013. Months of planning and fundraising were necessary. ‘It was not a cheap campaign,’ said Alexa Brown, ‘we needed a large budget.’ The crew raised R100 000 –
down a little in 2019 through students graduating but it will no doubt rise again. Emma Hardham wrote:
If you asked some of the Wits water polo club members, past and present, to describe Wits water polo in one word, many would describe our club as ‘gees’ and a ‘family’. That is what Wits water polo is all about, it allows students of different ages and from different faculties to become lifelong friends. The Wits water polo team has been an integral part of mine and many others’ time at university … it wouldn’t have been the same without the late afternoon training sessions, the many team braais and fines evenings, as well as the constant banter.
which Wits matched – of the R350 000 required. Sponsors Amtec Engineering and PPS Insurance contributed R100 000 and the crew’s ‘buy a R50 nautical mile’ initiative raised R50 000. ‘We printed all the names of our donors in the Wits emblem on the side of the boat, so in essence they came all the way with us,’ said Brown. By November 2013, most of the crew had travelled to Cape Town and lived on the boat for five weeks in preparation for their journey. In those five weeks they prepared the boat, cleaned it, checked its safety, fixed it up and trained hard. The Amtec Wits Aladdin, a modified Farr 38-foot yacht was generously lent to the crew. Team Amtec-Wits was the only student team out of 35 yachts that entered.
Competitors in the 14th annual race sailed from the Royal Cape Yacht Club on 4 January 2014 in an effort to reach Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before 1 February. They experienced extreme weather in the journey across the Atlantic Ocean. An official report stated:
The fleet screamed off towards Rio, racing to get above the swirling mass of havoc hurtling up the coast. Over the next 48 hours, most of the fleet were exposed to winds up to 60 knots and increasing wave heights. Winds and rough seas slammed into yachts on the first evening – leading to one fatality, three injuries and significant damage to the yachts. Eleven boats were forced to retire due to breakages. The rest of the fleet managed to hold out and soon found themselves in the trade winds pushing them at comfortable speeds towards the finish.
The Italian 70-foot Maserati skippered by Giovanni Soldini crossed the line first in a time of 10 days 11 hours 29 minutes. The AmtecWits crew arrived in Rio on Tuesday night, 28 January, after an epic 23 days, 18 hours and 41 minutes. They achieved a highly creditable sixth place, and were awarded the Youth Ocean Sailors’ trophy.
Aside from the Cape to Rio race, 2014 proved one of the busiest, most proactive years for Wits. Said a club report: ‘From the clubhouse to the Vaal Dam to offshore events and beyond, our members have been holding the Wits crest
Trevor Wilkins covered Amtec Wits Aladdin’s successful participation in the 2014 Cape2Rio race.
student sailing team
partnership
high.’ Brennan Robinson and Drew Amoretti crewed on board the winning boat in the Vasco da Gama offshore race. Other national events in which Wits participated were the Mykonos offshore regatta, MSC offshore regatta, northern region keelboat provincials and northern region All Cat provincials. There was also the weekly racing league at Victoria Lake, Germiston.
Off the water, the club encouraged members and friends to share in their classic student vibe by hosting socials every Friday. A report referred to the yacht club having been ‘infamous for its parties for generations and nothing has changed’. It resulted in an offshoot of the Wits yacht club – ‘6 sailing ladies’ – becoming concerned that the focus of members was changing ‘from serious sailing to occasional sailing and then to a predominantly social scene.’
The Wits commodore, Alison Bradfield, spoke with former commodore Gina Gibson and it was subsequently announced in 2015 that ‘the girls have taken the initiative’ in participating in the prestigious Lipton Cup Challenge race. While the decision was perhaps surprising in the light of recent success, the six ladies threw down the gauntlet when they informed Wits Vuvuzela that they ‘were ready to take Wits yacht club to new heights’. The team trained on the water every weekend, supplemented by two gym sessions a week leading up to the Lipton Cup. With Megan Eccleston at the helm, the ‘all-girls’ crew did well to finish tenth.
In July 2016, Wits Yacht Club hosted South Africa’s first student-organised intervarsity regatta in Durban. The organiser, Ryan Robinson, had been concerned that universities were restricted to the USSA event in December. His ambitious project became known as the intervarsity match-racing championship, and attracted eight university sailing teams. The two Wits yachts finished fourth and fifth in the competition that
Group after becoming
was won by Stellenbosch with Cape Town second. By 2018, the Wits Yacht Club had started a match-racing league at the Emmarentia sailing club. According to Wits commodore Emma Clark, it was set up ‘so that beginners can hop on a boat with an experienced sailor and still join in on the fun without having any previous experience.’ The aim was to boost current sailors’ skills as well as teach upcoming sailors the ‘dos and don’ts’ of sailing.
The club had 40 members in 2019. It maintained its efforts to compete in events ranging from recreational sailing to highperformance racing in a variety of boats. The competitive events continued to include racing leagues, ocean races, races in Durban and Cape Town during the July and December holidays, and for more experienced sailors, provincial and national championships. They prepared well but finished fourth out of six universities in the competitive USSA regatta at Cape Town in 2019.
In 2020, the Wits club again entered the Cape2Rio yacht race. A partnership was formed with the JM Busha investment group, a social enterprise that gives financial advice to companies. As ambassadors of the brand, each of the sailors had to sign a pledge in favour of ‘peace, harmony and unity’. The aim was to promote peace among the 54 countries of Africa, hence the team name – JM Busha 54. Ryan Robinson and his sister Michaela were co-skippers. They were experienced sailors who had won their category in the world Mirror championships in 2013 and 2014. They had also competed in the Cape2Rio race before with their parents. With them this time were Emma Clark (Wits – tactician and navigator), Tawanda Chikasha (Wits – bowman), Hearn Johnson (Wits – bosun) and Jonathan Ham (Tuks – trimmer). Wits’s JM Busha 54 sailing team took to the open waters for the race on 4 January. They embarked
Theewaters Dam delivers typical windy December conditions for the 2014 USSA championships, as Brennan Robinson and Alex Reid work hard to keep the boat level and fast.
The above scene featuring JM Busha 54 in Cape2Rio 2020 was photographed by Ashleigh de Villiers.
The
celebrates
with JM Busha Investment
peace ambassadors (left to right - standing): Ryan Robinson, Hearn Johnson, Joseph Busha, Jonathan Ham, Tawanda Chikasha (in front): Emma Clark and Michaela Robinson.
Michaela Robinson was named Wits’s 2020 ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ following her sailing achievements.
Dylan Kruger won a second consecutive South African duathlon championship and participated in the World Games in Alabama in 2022.
on a 4053.9 nautical miles – 7507.8 kilometres –journey that ended at Rio de Janeiro after 23 days and 16 hours. JM Busha 54 finished in third position behind the Love Water and Maserati Multi 70 yacht teams, but won the class-one handicap and classone line honours. The team also received the prize for the first youth boat.
‘There were some amazing experiences,’ said Ryan Robinson. ‘From the hundreds of whales along the way to seeing land for the first time in days. But for me, the best one was the day after we managed to get out of cyclone Kurumi – a tropical storm through which we had to race. There is nothing quite like the experience of conquering something that immense. ’
Robinson pointed to teamwork as the glue that bound them to their singular goal throughout the gruelling race. They learnt to push themselves on a venture that ‘ranged from never getting more than four hours of sleep at a time, to physically exerting yourself to the point of utter exhaustion’. There was also the disadvantage at the start of the race when they were caught with absolutely no wind on day two. ‘We never gave up though. And by the end of it – through sheer perseverance – we managed to claw our way back into a respectable position.’
Other Sports Archery
Witsie Nicholas Ho won gold at the ninth South African national indoor archery championships held at the University of Pretoria from 24 to 26 October 2014. His success meant that he also became the African Commonwealth champion as the event doubled as the 2014 RSA World Archery Indoor Commonwealth championships for Africa. He was previously part of the South African Archery junior training team and represented South Africa at the 2008 World Junior Championships.
Swimming
Nico Meyer won a silver medal at the South African national championships in 2015. He represented South Africa at the All-Africa Games, winning a bronze medal, and at the 2015 World University Games, Gwangju, South Korea where he finished fifth in the final.
Triathlon
In recent years, Dylan Kruger has excelled in the triathlon, an endurance sport consisting of
Wits Sport honoured the team by electing Michaela Robinson as the university’s ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ and presenting crew members with full blues cum laude. ‘We had people on the boat achieving amazing things,’ commented Ryan Robinson. ‘Michaela was the youngest skipper to ever complete this race. Tawanda was the first black Zimbabwean to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. Had they listened to the naysayers, they might never have achieved these amazing goals.’
In 2021, Michaela Robinson was selected to represent South Africa at the global Marina Militare Nastro Rosa sailing event in Italy. As a month-long celebration of the sport, the Nastro Rosa is held in eight stages at eight of the European country’s most splendid locations. Michaela teamed up with Siyanda Vato to compete initially in the double-mixed offshore European Championships. They were placed fifth overall. This event was followed with participation in the 2021 Hempel mixed twoperson offshore world championship. They were the youngest team at an event consisting of mostly elite professional sailors, and finished in a creditable fourth place.
swimming, cycling and running events. He qualified for the world triathlon championships at Rotterdam in 2017, finishing 14th overall. As a Wits student, he won the national sprint triathlon title in February 2020 and was selected to represent South Africa at the FISU world university triathlon championships. This event and others that followed were cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns, but Kruger is taking every opportunity to race abroad to learn and gain experience. He won a second consecutive South African duathlon championship at Nelson Mandela Bay in July 2022, and was selected to represent the national side the same month in the elite men’s race at the World Games in Alabama.
Weightlifting
Gordon Shaw represented South Africa in the men’s +105-kilogramme weightlifting event at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. He finished in fifth position. He had previously won three silver medals in the 2012 Africa youth and junior championships in Tunisia. He is still competing at a high level – he was second in the 2020 Eleiko tournament that attracted 753 lifters from 63 countries.
Appendix
Annual Sports’ Awards
Past recipients
Sportsman of the Year
During 1957, a floating trophy was designed and presented to Wits University for the purpose of an annual award of a ‘Sportsman of the Year’. It was donated by the 1937-46 President of Convocation, W. Grant Mackenzie, and the trophy bears his name. The first award was made in 1958 and the following is a list of past winners (in bold typeset) and finalists:
1958 Gordon Day (athletics), Adolf Matheus (wrestling), Wilf Rosenberg (rugby), Andrée Sacco (fencing).
1959 Michel Antelme (rugby/ cricket), Peter Hugo (swimming/ water polo), Jeff Maisels (squash), Derek Muller (golf), Peter Thorburn (athletics), Ronnie Voight (boxing).
1960 Eddie Barlow (cricket/ rugby), Rudolf Berger (fencing), Peter Hugo (swimming/ water polo), Jeff Maisels (squash), Robbie Schwartz (water polo).
1961 Eddie Barlow (cricket) and Meyer Feldberg (swimming).
1962 Jon Lang (athletics), Neville Graham (gymnastics), Neil Macdonald (athletics), Barry Pithey (hockey), Brian Sherriffs (squash), Willie Wilson (swimming).
1963 Rod Anderson (water polo), Giulio Nardini (cross country), Humphrey Nicholls (rowing), Don Mackay-Coghill (cricket).
At this stage, the chairman of the All Sports Council during 1963-64, Terence Berkow, donated a floating trophy to be awarded to the ‘Sportswoman of the Year’, and from 1964 there were two awards.
1964 Danie Burger (athletics), Keith Gordon (wrestling), Paul Robinson (squash).
1965 Neville Graham (gymnastics), Alan Menter (rugby), Paul Nash (athletics), Peter Rich (athletics).
1966 Paul Nash (athletics) and Alan Menter (rugby), Roger Bickford (hockey).
1967 Paul Nash (athletics), Hugh Baiocchi (golf), Neville Berman (hockey), Peter Knothe (fencing).
1968 Neville Berman (hockey), Bobby Grace (rugby), Paul Nash (athletics), Jeremy Redding (rowing).
1970 Peter de Vaal (cricket), Derick Finlayson (water polo), John Mandilas (table tennis), Dennis Matthews (tennis), Keith Rosenbaum (squash).
As a result of regular changes in the date of the All Sports Council Ball, a year was lost. It resulted in confusion and it was decided that 1971 should be ‘dropped’ in order that the trophies could be presented to winners in the year of their achievements.
1972 Peter Knothe (fencing) and Steve Jaspan (hockey), Chris Leach (boxing), Nick Mavrodaris (soccer).
1973 Nick Mavrodaris (soccer), Clyde de Marigny (athletics), Erich Essman (athletics), Steve Jaspan (hockey), Peter Knothe (fencing), Jeff Sacks (water polo).
1974 Steve Jaspan (hockey), Erich Essman (athletics), Derick Finlayson (water polo), Jeff Ginsberg (gymnastics), Owen Kerr (badminton).
1975 Erich Essman (athletics), Ian Holding (squash), Mel Siff (weightlifting), Trevor Ternent (soccer).
1976 Martin Lundie (diving), Noel Day (hockey), Erich Essman (athletics), Trevor Ternent (soccer).
1977 Gary Bailey (soccer), Colin Jordaan (flying), Martin Lundie (diving), Maurice Patterson (water polo).
1979 Bruce Fordyce (athletics), Mel Siff (weightlifting), Mandy Yachad (hockey).
1980 Bruce Fordyce (athletics) and Mel Siff (weightlifting), Mandy Yachad (hockey).
Finalists in the 1958 Sportsman of the Year (left to right): Wilf Rosenberg (rugby), Andrée Sacco (fencing), Adolf Matheus (wrestling) and Gordon Day (athletics).
Eddie Barlow (right) was twice Sportsman of the Year – in the latter year sharing the trophy with swimmer Meyer Feldberg.
Neville Berman received the Sportsman of the Year trophy from W. Grant Mackenzie in 1969.
Brother-sister, Martin and Jenny Lundie, received the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year trophies in 1976 from Dr Piet Koornhof whilst ASC chairman Mel Siff looked on.
Trophy winners in 1988 with guest of honour John Robbie (left to right): Professor Ronnie Schloss (Club of the Year – soccer), Loredana Raccanello (Sportsmanship Cup); Gabriela Petras (Sportswoman of the Year) and Mark Perrow (Sportsman of the Year).
1981 Bruce Fordyce (athletics), Mark Handelsman (athletics), Mandy Yachad (hockey), Eric Rosenberg (swimming/ water polo), Alexander Stone (yachting), Niels Verkerk (canoeing).
1982 Bruce Fordyce (athletics), Howard Herr (tennis), Niels Verkerk (canoeing), Murray Winckler (squash).
1983 Bruce Fordyce (athletics), Harry Chweidan (karate), Steven Flaks (gymnastics), Niels Verkerk (canoeing).
1984 Mark Plaatjes (athletics), Harry Chweidan (karate), Steven Flaks (gymnastics), Bruce Fordyce (athletics).
1986 Piet Kruger (rugby), Harry Chweidan (karate), Anthony Dance (water polo), Gavin Karg (gymnastics), Charlie Pereira (hockey), Mark Plaatjes (athletics).
1987 Victor Radebe (athletics), Gary Beneke (cycling), Gavin Karg (gymnastics), Bruce McBride (cricket), Mark Perrow (canoeing), Mark Plaatjes (athletics).
1988 Mark Perrow (canoeing), Stephen Haupt (swimming), Gavin Karg (gymnastics), Robin McCall (rowing), Roger Nattrass (mountaineering), Pavlo Protopapa (karate).
1989 Pavlo Protopapa (karate), Zoran Ilic (soccer), Deon Lötter (rugby), Mark Marinus (hockey), Renato Pasqualucci (basketball), Richard Snell (cricket), Gary Wilson (cycling).
1990 Richard Snell (cricket), Ian Gentles (athletics), Stephen Kiralfy (gymnastics), Robin McCall (rowing), Pavlo Protopapa (karate).
1991 Steven Jack (cricket), Barry Hayward (canoeing), Stephen Kiralfy (gymnastics), Barry Sundelson (golf), John Madden (rowing), Warren Bolttler (rowing).
1992 Graham Bird (canoeing), Barry Hayward (canoeing), Gareth Ochse (rowing), Gregory von Holdt (cycling/ duathlon).
1993 Richard Snell (cricket), Jeremy Rossaak (yachting).
1985 Mark Plaatjes (athletics), Harry Chweidan (karate), Steven Flaks (gymnastics), Tommy Osborne (water polo), Charlie Pereira (hockey), Michael Sinclair (underwater hockey).
1994 Shane Dorfman (karate), Graham Bird (canoeing), Hendrick Ramaala (athletics), Richard Snell (cricket).
1995 Hendrick Ramaala (athletics), Graham Bird (canoe), Craig Jackson (hockey), Athol Myhill (gymnastics).
1996 Craig Jackson (hockey), Athol Myhill (gymnastics), Hendrick Ramaala (athletics), Richard Snell (cricket).
1997 Craig Jackson (hockey), Yuri Aronov (chess), Alan van Coller (canoeing), Ross Wilson (underwater hockey).
1998 Alon Finkelstein (yachting), Matthew Street (cricket), Mark Wadley (duathlon), Mark de Castro (soccer).
1999 Alan van Coller (canoeing), Quintin Denyssen (basketball), Rowen Fernándes (soccer).
2000 Alan van Coller (canoeing), Gerrard Correia (powerlifting), Rowen Fernándes (soccer), Adrian Hammond (judo), Warren Levi (karate).
2001 Quintin Denyssen (basketball), Warren Levi (karate), Gerard Correia (powerlifting), Adrian Hammond (Judo).
2002 Alan van Coller (canoeing), David Terbrugge (cricket), Adrian Hammond (judo).
2003 Quintin Denyssen (basketball), Rick Diesel (water polo), John Paul Pearton (cycling), Matthew Street (cricket).
2004 John Paul Pearton (mountain-biking), Rick Diesel (water polo), Patrick Spindler (golf), Graeme Willcox (yacht).
2005 Adrian Hammond (judo), Rick Diesel (water polo), Gavin Oberholzer (fencing), John Paul Pearton (cycling).
2006 John Paul Pearton (cycling), Richard Almeida (judo), Andrew Polasek (rowing).
2007 Andrew Polasek (rowing), Ross Ferguson
The 1989 Sports Awards evening (left to right): Justin Moyes (Boat Club – Club of the Year), Sally Buckton (Sportswoman of the Year), Frith van der Merwe (guest of honour), Pavlo Protopapa (Sportsman of the Year), Neil Rogers and Melita Thurling (joint recipients – Sportsmanship Cup).
1970 Sonja van Zyl (athletics), Kathy Malan (squash).
As a result of regular changes in the date of the All Sports Council Ball, a year was lost. It resulted in confusion and it was decided that 1971 should be ‘dropped’ in order that the trophies could be presented to winners in the year of their achievements.
1972 Kathy Malan (squash), Mariette van der Ploeg (fencing).
1973 Cathy Kay (fencing), Kathy Malan (squash).
1974 Agnes van Looy (swimming), Jill Forbes (hockey), Jean Fowlds (athletics).
1975 No award
1976 Jenny Lundie (diving).
1977 Paula Rothschild (fencing).
1978 Avril Kamp (gymnastics).
1979 No award
1980 No award
1981 Gillian Winckler (squash), Joanne Adair (hockey), Fiona Duncan (basketball), Laura Smith (synchronised swimming).
Masike (tang soo do), Nono Pongolo (cricket), Simbarashe Tevera (karate), Jonathan van der Bijl (basketball).
2016 Kim Lucas (tang soo do), Sascha Dubrovo (rowing), Miguel Ferrão (basketball), Michael Schrenk (tang soo do).
2017 Kaizer Maphanga (soccer), Rusten Abrahams (hockey), Miguel Ferrão (basketball), Jonathan Judin (karate), Madimetja Malebana (tang soo do), Titus Masike (tang soo do).
2018 Farhaan Sayanvalo (cricket), Miguel Ferrão (basketball), Kim Lucas (tang soo do), Titus Masike (tang soo do), Marvin Orie (rugby), Cody van Wyk (hockey).
2019 Everisto Pasipamire (basketball), Wandisile Similane (rugby), Cody van Wyk (hockey), Kurt Pienaar (football), Saluleko Mathonsi (football), Nicholas Meinel (Mountain), Miguel Ferrao (basketball), Refilwe Gomba (tang soo do).
2020 Harry Saner (fencing), Rusten Abrahams (hockey), Chad Futcher (hockey), Dylan Kruger (athletics), Hlogonofatso Mokoena (ultimate frisbee), Morné van den Berg (rugby), Cody van Wyk (hockey).
2021 Rusten Abrahams (hockey), Dylan Kruger (triathlon), Juan Landsberg (cricket), Tumalo Ranoto (chess), Harry Saner (fencing), Wandisile Simelane (rugby).
2022 Dylan Kruger (triathlon).
1984 Melanie Dembo (karate), Maria da Silva (basketball), Natascha Meisler (judo), Angela Toulouras (karate).
1985 Natascha Meisler (judo), Chantal CliftonParks (squash), Melanie Dembo (karate), Fiona Duncan (basketball), Frances Jones (hockey), Gabriela Petras (volleyball).
1986 Natascha Meisler (judo), Chantal CliftonParks (squash), Liz Francis (hockey), Deirdre Rice (synchronised swimming), Kim Seddon (tennis), Angela Toulouras (karate).
1987 Chantal Clifton-Parks (squash), Agnes Berger (athletics), Gail Boon (tennis), Sally Buckton (judo), Gabriela Petras (volleyball), Susan Wood (ice-skating).
1988 Gabriela Petras (volleyball), Heidi Bremner (gymnastics), Chantal Clifton-Parks (squash), Ingrid Krafft (hockey), Pam Matthews (fencing), Linda von Broembsen (diving).
1989 Sally Buckton (judo), Charmaine Kamson (basketball), Ingrid Krafft (hockey), Pam Matthews (fencing), Heather Morris-Eyton (swimming), Gabriela Petras (volleyball).
1990 Sally Buckton (judo), Agnes Berger (athletics), Ingrid Krafft (hockey).
1991 Ingrid Krafft (hockey), Heidi Bremner (gymnastics).
1992 Kim Carter (cycling), Carol Erasmus (judo).
1993 Kim Carter (cycling).
1994 Debbie White (diving), Sally Buckton (judo), Antje Manfroni (canoeing).
2016 Farhaan Sayanvala (cricket) and Shayur Hansraj (karate), Brandon James (hockey), Matthew Pon (chess), Kamal Ramburuth-Hurt (hockey)
2017 Jordan Ross (karate), Gianni Lombard (rugby), Wandisile Simelane (rugby), Michael Stewart (water polo)
2018 Daniel Chen (tang soo do), Tyrone Green (rugby), Chris Makaba (hockey), Nicholas Meinel (mountain), Jichandre Sambo (tang soo do), Wandisile Simelane (rugby),
2019 Saluleko Mathonsi (soccer), Jichandre
Sambo (tang soo do), Keagan Glade (rugby), Dameon Venter (rugby), Michael Horan (hockey), Michael van den Berg (hockey) , Harry Saner (fencing)
2020 Ayanda Tuku (fencing), Sebastian de Oliveira (cricket), Travis Gordon (rugby), Banele Mthenjane (rugby), Sibusiso Tshituka (rugby)
2021 Jordan Hendrikse (rugby), Ayanda Tuku (fencing), Michael van den Berg (hockey)
2022 No award – changed to ‘Junior Sportsperson of the Year’
Junior Sportswoman of the Year
2016 Nomnikelo Veto (hockey), Jade Crooks (rowing), Nthabeleleng Maine (hockey), Petro Stoffberg (hockey)
2017 Petro Stoffberg (hockey), Jana Cupedo (basketball), Ipeleng Nyatlo (basketball)
2021 Panashe Chiranga (netball), Charity Kwete (rugby), Kelly Gouws (netball), Simone Van Reenen (netball)
2022 Sidney Coetzee (netball) – Junior ‘Sportsperson of the Year’
South Africa under 21 hockey player, Ncedisa Magwentshu, was Sportswoman of the Year in 2009.
Netball player, Sidney Coetzee, was ‘Junior Sportsperson of the Year’ in 2022
Club of the Year
It was announced in March 1959 that Evelyn Smidman, who had retired after sixteen years as the SRC general secretary, had donated a floating trophy to be awarded annually for the most outstanding sports club of the year. The trophy, which took the form of an inscribed silver tray, was first presented early the following year at the Sportsman of the Year Ball. The award was shared by athletics and swimming.
This award was introduced by the retiring chairman of the All Sports Council in 1977.
Past recipients are:
1978 Matt Lankers (rowing)
1979 John Stark (rowing)
1980 No award
1981 Alan Edwards (athletics)
1982 Craig Levieux (rowing)
1983 Greg Faasen (soccer) and Kieran White (hockey)
1984 Angela Toulouras (karate)
1985 Mark Lazarus (baseball)
1986 Anthea Ritchie (basketball)
1987 Neil Evans (canoeing)
1988 Loredana Raccanello (volleyball/ diving)
1989 Neil Rogers (cricket) and Melita Thurling (hockey)
1990 Zoran Ilic (soccer)
1991 Susan Huddy (Hockey)
1992 No award
1993 No award
1994 Hendrick Ramaala (athletics)
1995 Craig Jackson (hockey)
1996 Xan Rice (cricket)
Athol Myhill (gymnastics)
Errol Nattrass (tennis)
Arjuna Disanayake (badminton)
1997 Richard Lawson and Daniel de Carcenac
1998 Matthew Street (cricket)
1999 Maieane Nkhahle (basketball)
2000 Raymond Fletcher (athletics)
2001 Belinda Larson (hockey)
2002 Kerry Black (netball)
2003 Murray Stewart (aquatics)
2004 Bronwyn Jackson (rowing)
2005 Andrew Egbers (aquatics)
Scholarships and Bursaries
The increase in the number of bursaries available to the sporting community at the University of the Witwatersrand has been remarkable and encouraging. It is a reflection of both the significant role played by various sports within the student environment, and the generous assistance received from the university, alumni and business sector. Moreover, it indicates the progress made by Wits Sport in providing structures through which leading student athletes are encouraged to pursue excellence throughout the duration of their studies.
The soccer club showed the way by awarding bursaries in 1973, with the original idea being to plough money back into the game at the university and, in doing so, to attract gifted students, both academically and on the soccer field. Over the next fifteen years, an impressive 207 soccer bursaries were awarded to 98 players including wellknown stars such as Jimmy Cook, Nick Mavrodaris, Dave Watterson, Gary Bailey, Trevor Ternent, Mike Ntombela, Rod Anley, Hugh Melamdowitz, Howard and Eric Koseff, Conrad Barnard, Greg Faasen, Zoran Ilic and Zane Moosa.
The rugby club also made an early start towards establishing a bursary fund and in
1978 the first awards were made. Generous assistance was received from Intercontinental Breweries and subsequently from the South African Breweries. At Wits, a well-organised 100 Club attracted many distinguished speakers and helped to swell the bursary fund through members’ contributions.
The question of establishing bursaries cropped up regularly at All Sports Council meetings during the 1970s. The ASC firmly believed that students achieving outstanding performances in sport, together with satisfactory academic results, deserved recognition. Participation in sport costs money and for a number of years leading sportsmen and women from schools in the Johannesburg area were being approached by outside universities offering attractive bursaries.
Wits’s student administration faced an uphill struggle in order to raise funds. Stan Bukofzer, the outgoing chairman of the ASC in September 1977, revealed the frustrations of his committee when he began his report on ‘Bursaries for Sport’:
This question has been raised time and again. As far as the university administration is concerned, sport at this university is to remain amateur. Wits has for a long time done extremely well without
Netball 2003, Orienteering, 2015
Rugby 1966
Skydiving 1982
Soccer 1973, 1975, 1976, 1988, 1995,
Squash 1998
Swimming 1959
Tang soo do, 2010, 2016, 2018
Water polo 1961, 1962 and 1964
Yachting 1985
No awards were made in 1994 and 2021.
Frances Meyer (hockey)
2006 Nicholas Septhton-Poultney (cricket)
2007 Zain Fredericks (cricket)
2008 Gerald Carlin (hockey)
2009 Carol Coole (hockey)
2010 Scott Yarham (boxing)
2011 Brennan Robinson (yacht)
2012 Ursula Lesar (hockey)
2013 Dylon Adam (karate)
2014 Lenny Mokgoba (basketball)
2015 Simbarashe Tevera (karate)
2016 Stuart Philip (hockey)
2017 Robyn Fyvie (hockey)
2018 Constant Beckerling (rugby)
2019 Daniel Kasende Kapepula (rugby) and Chad Futcher (hockey)
2020 Kwanele Ngema (rugby)
2021 Siphamandla Qayiso (tang soo do)
2022 No award
professional sportsmen and in this respect we are proud of our heritage.
Such a viewpoint was glaringly naïve as sportsmen and women were being lost to the university. It became necessary for the ASC to reach a compromise with the administration and to convince the authorities that the award of a bursary could hardly brand a student as being a professional.
In 1980, the first ASC bursaries were awarded to Bruce Fordyce who had finished third in the 1979 Comrades Marathon; Kevin Kerr a South African Schools’ cricketer who had made his debut for Transvaal at the age of 18; Dale Howes the South African sculling champion, and Greg Ritchie an all-rounder who had done well at rugby, athletics and tennis.
There were eleven applicants for bursaries in 1980 and the number increased to twentyone in 1981. Recipients brought great credit to the university through their deeds. The impact of Bruce Fordyce was immense and the media publicity he attracted was an eye-opener for those who doubted the influence of sport.
In 1982, five ASC and six Convocation bursaries were awarded. The successful brother-sister squash players, Murray and
Gillian Winckler featured amongst the ASC recipients while Springbok hockey player Mandy Yachad received a Convocation award. In addition, twenty-one soccer and six rugby bursaries were presented at a special cocktail party held to mark the occasion.
At a well-attended press conference staged in 1983, the soccer club announced a new sponsorship deal over three years with Encyclopaedia Britannica, from which R20 000 would be allocated each year for bursaries. The only stipulation was that one bursary had to go to a female, with Springbok karate ace Melanie Dembo being the recipient for the first three years.
A trust fund was set up in 1983 through the generosity of Harry Symons and from which the Neil Symons Athletics Bursary was established. The late Neil Symons had been a Bachelor of Commerce student at Wits and a fine athlete who had beaten a star-studded field in winning the 1967 Dalrymple Cup 800-metres title.
Markus Pingpank, a promising middledistance runner, received the Neil Symons Athletics Bursary in 1983 and 1984. He was succeeded by Springbok cross country and marathon runner Mark Plaatjes in 1985 and the following year it was decided to make three awards.
The squash club followed the earlier examples set by their soccer and rugby counterparts and in 1984 awarded their own bursaries. Ryan Zail and Clifford Schneider were the first recipients. The tennis club would also offer bursaries in later years.
Another new award in 1984 was the Milton Convocation Engineering Scholarship which was presented specifically to an engineering student of outstanding academic ability who also had excellent sporting achievements to his credit. At the first presentation, two yachtsmen John Klintworth and Karl Lambrecht shared the award.
A boost for the cricket club came with the announcement in 1984 that Makro had agreed to make R15 000 available over a three-year period for cricket bursaries. The first of these awards were made in 1985 to Paul Botha, John du Plessis, Henry Parrymore and Andy Rosselli – all key members of the outstanding cricket side of that period.
The increase in the number of bursaries awarded from 34 in 1983 to 64 in 1985 indicated the progress that was being made to support sportsmen and women at the university. Particularly important was the fact that the bursaries were awarded not only on the basis of excellence in sport but also on academic achievements. At the 1984 presentations’ evening, Professor Mervyn Shear, deputy vice-chancellor: student affairs, stressed that ‘the university has no intention of providing scholarships and bursaries to bring sportsmen and women to Wits to play sport and not to study.’
Each year since 1985, the University Council has offered a minimum of five scholarships on the basis of academic excellence and outstanding achievement in one field of sport. These scholarships were further testimony to the university’s recognition of the importance of an all-round education.
Gabriela Petras received a University Council sports scholarship for five years during 1985-89. A former member of the Czechoslovakian junior volleyball team, she obtained an honours degree with distinction in computer science and was awarded Springbok colours. She recalled at the time that ‘in Czechoslovakia the government sponsors sport but in South Africa we have to pay most of our own expenses’.
Richleigh Shoes succeeded Encyclopaedia Britannica in 1986 as sponsors of the soccer club and that year 23 Richleigh Shoes Soccer Bursaries were awarded. The tradition of a special award being made to a sportswoman was maintained and Karen Wilkinson, who became a Springbok athlete, was the recipient in 1986. She was succeeded by tennis stars, Gail Boon and Kim Seddon, in 1987.
In 1988, Brian Zylstra, managing director of Skye Products (Pty) Limited and a graduate of the university, announced that his company would be presenting bursaries to prominent members of the rugby club. The first of these – to under 20 players – were awarded in memory of the late Trevor Sales, joint managing director of Skye Products who was tragically killed in the Helderberg air crash. Further bursaries were introduced by Brian and Dorothy Zylstra in 1989 in memory of two Wits rugby forwards, Dr Foxy Bernstein and Dr Chiz Smart.
The Standard Bank sponsored the ‘presentations’ evening, an important occasion on the university’s sporting calendar. In 1989, there were 66 awards to students from seventeen different codes. They included eight Springboks – Sally Buckton (judo), Linda von Broembsen (diving), Pavlo and Panico Protopapa (karate), Gabriela Petras (volleyball), Gary Wilson (cycling), Eben and François Marais (gymnastics) – as well as future Springboks – Renato Pasqualucci (basketball) and Deon Lötter (rugby) – and South African champions, Andrew de Vlieg (yachting) and Pam Matthews (fencing).
By 1995, there were over 80 sporting bursaries. A number of new awards were made during the decade, notably cricket bursaries – sponsored by Professor Bruce Murray, the Cricket Club and Patrick Flanagan/ Wilf Isaacs – and a canoeing award in memory of Gavin Cooke. Vinuchi bursaries were offered for rowing, gymnastics and later canoeing, and several new Skye rugby awards were presented. Wits’s famous Springboks from the 1950s – Joe Kaminer, Wilf Rosenberg and Clive Ulyate – were honoured by having
bursaries named after them. Skye also assisted athletics and hockey with bursaries in honour of Harry Lampert and Chandoo Vallabh respectively.
In the latter part of the decade, basketball, hockey and Investec football bursaries became available. The university publication, Perspectives, reported that the number of clubs had increased to 43, bearing testimony to the interest and growth of students in extracurricular activities.
The cricket club was delighted in November 1998 that the Silveray Stationery Company (Croxley) should agree to a generous sponsorship deal involving bursaries. They became a long-standing corporate partner of the club. There were further awards established by the Gauteng Cricket Club and one in memory of Sir Derek Birley, a leading cricket writer and husband of the former vicechancellor and principal of Wits, Professor Norma Reid Birley.
During the 2000s, major footballing developments saw Bidvest sponsor the Wits’ bursaries. ABSA assisted hockey; aquatics offered fourteen bursaries; the Wits Basketball Old Boys’ bursaries were instituted; and a rugby bursary was established in memory of Chick Henderson who had represented Wits, Transvaal and Scotland with distinction. Skye also named further rugby bursaries after Jomo King and Dr Norman Helfand.
The head of sport, John Baxter, was able to announce in 2006 that ‘approximately 120 students received bursaries for various sporting disciplines, the proviso being that they had to represent Wits in their sport’. Progress had been made in raising funds. Later, the list of recipients was swelled by twenty bursaries awarded through the Gauteng Department of Sport to student athletes from cricket, hockey, football, gymnastics, basketball and rugby.
In 2014, the new head of sport Adrian Carter spoke of change becoming inevitable through the high performance system; the advent of ‘Varsity Sport’, and semi-professionalism within the South African context. He added: ‘If we want to attract students with great sporting ability to Wits, we have to be able to match the range of scholarships and bursaries that other top sporting universities offer’.
Progress followed with recruiting drives gathering momentum and receiving support from the university’s administration. In 2018, 181 student-athletes accepted the bursaries offered them, a number that increased to 204 in 2019.
Wits Sport also offers a full programme of academic support – academic monitoring and regulation – to ensure its bursary-holders meet their academic commitments. The need for integrated service provision is regarded as a crucial component in the management and indeed the advancement of student sport at the university.
The U niversity o f the Witwatersrand developed out o f the South African S chool o f Mines t hat was set up in Kimberley in 1896. Not long afterwards, a move was made to Johannesburg, the centre of South Africa’s 1904, becoming the Transvaal University College in 1906, and renamed the South African School of Mines and Technology four years later. As the city grew, the school became the University College, Johannesburg, in 1920, w ith f ull university s tatus granted in 1922. W its U niversity h as since built a reputation for its academic and research excellence, while its graduates are in demand globally.
Wits has also produced athletes who became the world ’s best over 100 metres, the marathon and the ultramarathon. M en a nd w omen e merging from the university h ave not only climbed Everest, but set w orld records for extreme deep cave and sea d iving. M ore than 350 students have represented South Africa i n international sport at a senior level. Wits h as a t times offered s ome forty s port codes with its f ootballers building a club that w as once recognised a s the largest i n the world. In e xamining t hese and other achievements, this book has meticulously analysed the challenging circumstances that have affected student
The c ontent offers a portrait o f Wits s port, d rawn from many i nterviews and much research i n local and national archives.
