The Anne Beagley Junior Rugby & Hockey Festival proudly bears the name of a woman whose contribution to Union High School and junior sport was truly extraordinary.
Anne “Dobby” Beagley dedicated more than two decades of her life to the education and development of young people at the Union Schools in Graaff-Reinet. 𝘈𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺.
To generations of young girls, she was simply “Mrs Junior Hockey”. Dobby possessed a unique ability to nurture confidence, sportsmanship and a love for the game, ensuring that every child felt valued and encouraged.
𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵.
It was this passion that led her to establish the Junior Rugby & Hockey Festival in 1999. What began as an opportunity for young players to enjoy healthy competition, friendship and personal growth has, over the years, grown into one of the most anticipated junior sporting events in the region.
𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗯𝗯𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗿 – participation, camaraderie, respect and enjoyment.
Her influence extended far beyond the sports field. She was involved in swimming, drama and cultural activities, inspiring young people to discover and develop their talents. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥, 𝘋𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴.
𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱 whose vision continues to create opportunities for young sportsmen and sportswomen to learn, compete and build lifelong memories.
𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦.
