The annual Eastern Province Cricket awards ceremony, which honours players, volunteers, officials, clubs and schools across the pro…vince, saw the talent of one of Union’s ace cricketers showcased.
Bowen Langmead, who was nominated in the category, ‘Best Inland Cricketer’ walked away as the category’s winner at the ceremony held on Friday evening, 10 May.
Brett Amsterdam, a promising young sportsman from Union High School, has been in fine form this rugby season. So much so, that he was recently selected for the EPRU’s 2019 Rural u/19A rugby team.
Brett will represent the team at a tournament during the June/July school holidays.
Congratulations Brett!
Young brains are made for enjoying art!
The members of Union High School’s Art Club recently paid a visit to Our Yard, a unique cultural gem nestled in the heart of Somerset Street, Graaff-Reinet, to look at some of the new artworks they have on display.
While wandering through the building and perusing the various pieces on display, the different framing and display options were discussed as well as the mood of each artwork.The highlight for all was the viewing of Aberdeen artist Marguerite Beneke`s exquisite contemporary painted and fused glass creations.
The Art Club is hoping to visit this artist at her studio in Aberdeen next month.
The enjoyable outing was concluded with a milkshake and a delicious Dutch delicacy – the stroopwafel!
5th Team lost 0 – 3
4th Team lost 0 – 4
3rd Team lost 1 – 5
2ND Team lost 0 – 3
1st Team lost 1 – 7
1st JUNIORS
After a hard week of preparation in anticipation for this encounter, our junior hockey girls travelled to Port Elizabeth this weekend to take on a very polished Collegiate side. Although the score-line was disappointing, the same cannot be said for the match. The Union girls stuck to the game plan especially formulated for this fixture, and played attractive, fast-paced hockey with accurate passes and some brilliant team work that surprised their opponents and had them reeling on occasion. Despite Collegiate finding the back of the goals on a regular basis throughout the game, the Union team never once gave up or looked like they were losing heart. Their determination carried them through and finally saw Soso Mroro smashing home a beautiful goal near the end of the match. If the team can build on the way they played in this match, I can only see success for them in the future. I am exceptionally proud of the girls and am very excited to see if they can continue to play the mature hockey that they displayed on the day. The entire team deserves special mention for their outstanding efforts. Well done girls!
This past Saturday, 1 June, Union High School hosted Woodridge College in a fixture last played over 10 years ago! The games started at 09:15 in rather chilly early-morning conditions. The fixture proved to be one of a very competitive nature.
Union won two out of the three junior matches, which encouraged the senior teams to give it their all. The third team had a thrilling victorious encounter against Asherville’s 2nd team, where after the second team had a tough encounter… against Asherville’s 1st team, however, they never gave up and gave it their all ‘till the final whistle.
The results of the games preceding that of Union’s 1st XV were as follows: the u/14As lost 5 – 17, the u/15As won 19 – 12, the u/16As won 63 – 12, the 3rd team won 10 – 2 and the second team lost 12 – 38.
The “Mighty Whites” were in for a tough battle as Woodridge College’s 1st XV have been “up there with the best of co-ed schools in the Eastern Cape for the past five years”. Woodridge were first to put points on the board through a penalty after just five minutes. A few minutes later, Woodridge pounced from a knock-on and scored in the corner. They failed to convert, making the score 8 – 0 in their favour.
Fifteen minutes into the game, Junior Duba crossed the line for Union’s first try. Union missed the conversion and the score then read 8 – 5 to Woodridge.
Union continued to secure possession and applied tremendous pressure to ensure that Gary Shell crossed over for the team’s second try. The conversion was missed, however, Union still took the lead 10 – 8. This epic seesaw battle then saw Woodridge breach Union’s defences again. Woodridge went into the half time break 15 – 10 up. Three minutes into the second half, Union set up an amazing maul on the half way line. Zusakhe Ngwane broke blind off the maul to run 20 metres untouched before linking up with Brett Amsterdam who was awarded a try for his brilliant support play.
Brett converted to put Union back in the lead, 17 – 15. Woodridge slotted a penalty a few minutes later to take the lead by one point.
Luke McNaughton then converted a penalty awarded to Union, to put Union back in the lead. The scoreboard now read 20 – 18 in Union’s favour.
Both teams continued to battle it out until the end. The “Mighty Whites” were awarded with one final penalty, which was converted by Luke McNaughton. Union won the match 23 – 18.
Try scorers for Union were Junior Duba, Gary Shell and Brett Amsterdam. Brett Amsterdam converted 1 from 3 successfully and Luke McNaughton successfully converted 2 penalties.
Saturday, 1 June, saw Union High School’s hockey girls take on Woodridge College in what proved to be a challenging, yet competitive encounter.
To start, the u/16B team lost their encounter 2 – 4, the u/16A team lost 1 – 4 and the second team won 3 – 1.
The first team girls then took the turf, with the first quarter starting with a fast pace, catching Union’s defense on the back foot from the push back.After absorbing an immense amount of pressure, the Union team girls went 1 – 0 down after the 10th minute. Although the girls worked hard, the pressure mounted again and the first quarter finished with Union 2 – 0 down.
The Union girls fought back hard in the second quarter, showing skill and determination. Henzé Jaftha found the back of the net after a beautiful pass from Marché Green to close the score line to 2 – 1. Woodridge quickly fought back and scored a third goal. This seemed to light the fire again for Union and Henzé converted another beautiful goal. After another moment of weakness in defense, Woodridge converted again to end the second quarter with a final score of 4 – 2 in favour of Woodridge.
Although the Union girls showed guts and determination in the last two quarters, they weren’t able to hold defensive lines or stick to the game plan, leading to an influx of goals from Woodridge. “We definitely competed and the final score is not a true reflection of the level of hockey played on the day,” said coach Mr. Alvin August. “The Union girls missed excellent opportunities and allowed poor decision making in defense to let in easy goals against us.”
A beautiful short corner that worked perfectly, allowed Union to remind Woodridge of their attacking ability with a third and final goal for the Union attack. The final score stood at 3 – 9 in Woodridge’s favour.
“It was a privilege to compete against a competitive, skilled team like Woodridge and the girls should be extremely proud of their overall team effort and hockey played on the day,” concluded Mr. August.
Kayla Hobson, an alumnus of Union High School, was recently invited to join the Golden Key Honours Society. She received her certificate and badge on Thursday, 23 May, at a special ceremony held at NMU.
Kayla, who is the daughter of Daleen and Old Unionite Beaver Hobson, matriculated from UHS in 2016 where she served as Deputy Headgirl in her matric year and excelled in tennis, hockey and swimming.
After matriculating, she spent 2017 at Salisbury Cathedral School in the UK as a GAP student, where after she commenced with her studies at the Nelson Mandela University (NMU).
She is currently in her second year of studies towards a BHms (Bachelor of Human Movement Science) degree.
[Human Movement Science is the study of how people move in different contexts and of the factors related to the analysis, improvement and recovery of physical activity. The focus is on issues encountered in physical activity in every-day life, related to work and free time, as well as recreational and top-level sports.]
Upon completion of her third year, Kayla plans on specialising in Sports Science, a study field which encompasses aspects such as helping athletes increase their skill levels, avoid injury and reach peak performance
• Golden Key is the world’s largest collegiate honour society and is based on academic achievement.
Membership into the Society is by invitation only and applies to the top 15 percent of college and university sophomores, juniors and seniors, as well as top-performing graduate students in all fields of study.
Well done Kayla!
UHS Grade 7 learners Matthew Davenport and Caytah-Leigh Koeberg, who are currently spending some time in the UK as part of the 2019 Salisbury Exchange Programme, are having a lot of fun abroad.
This past weekend, the two lucky learners were spoiled by their host family with a trip to Twickenham Stadium in London to enjoy the HSBC World Rugby Sevens tournament. They have also become quite involved in the Salisbury Cathedral School’s extracurricular activities with Caytah-Leigh especially enjoying the school’s music programme, participating in singing and piano, while Matt did really well at the school’s recent athletics day.
Union High School’s hockey teams travelled to Port Elizabeth on Saturday, 25 May, to take on Westering High School in what proved to be a very tough encounter.
The Union players were, however, up for the challenge. The u/16B team drew 1 – 1, the u/16A team won 2 – 0, the second team lost 0 – 2 and the first team won 2 – 1.
After a lengthy trip to PE, Union’s first team started a little flat when they took to the turf but soon managed to find some rhythm. Union penetrated the Westering circle and won penalty corners on many occasions, but, unfortunately, failed to convert. It took the Union team 21 minutes to eventually find the back of the net with a well-worked goal by Laetitia Theron who made a good run with the perfect finish.
Westering then equalized a few minutes later and made it tough for the Union team with some good defensive efforts on their side. In the 47th minute, Union saw a beautiful ball picked up by Henzè Japhta who entered the Westering circle and struck the perfect shot into the back of the net to put Union 2 – 1 up.
With only a few minutes left on the clock, Westering pressed into Union’s half with intent, but the UHS defense was up to the task and kept them out.
This June, Union High School will play host to the musical wonder that is the Drakensberg Boys Choir.
This esteemed choir, widely regarded as one of the best in the world, will dazzle a Graaff-Reinet audience with their angelic voices for one night only in the Union High School hall during their national tour
The choir has been captivating audiences for the past 50 years and will now be showcasing their abilities for the enjoyment of a local crowd with songs both old and new.
The choir embraces the versatility, stamina and raw talent of boys from across the country and abroad to create a choral spectacular, jam-packed with a variety of musical styles ranging from classical and contemporary choral gems to billboard pop hits, to authentic indigenous South African music.
The boys themselves are ecstatic to be visiting Graaff-Reinet and hope the show fully delivers on everyone’s expectations. Lovers of good quality choral music should not miss this performance which will surely wow all who attend.
Tickets for the show on Wednesday evening, 26 June at 18:30, will be available at R120 each from Wednesday, 29 May, at the Union High School office (049 891 262).