Author: L. Crankshaw

𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗘 to Grade 9 learner Tristan Hope who participated in the SAIC Pre-Ride at Louvain in the Western Cape this past weekend.

Tristan entered both 80km endurance rides held over the course of the two days.

𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 80𝘬𝘮 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴.

On Wednesday afternoon, 8 March, Union hosted Gqeberha’s Hoërskool Pearson High School for a 𝗠𝗜𝗗-𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞 𝗛𝗢𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗬 𝗙𝗜𝗫𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘.

The encounter saw Union’s 1st team girls having to exert a relentless effort from the very first push-back to the final whistle against a highly polished Pearson outfit.

Facing immense pressure from the Pearson side throughout the match, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙩𝙤𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙠𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝.

Despite their best efforts, however, outstanding teamwork by Pearson saw Union suffering a 4-1 defeat.

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴!

Armed with lessons learnt from this encounter against one of SA’s top 10 hockey teams, the girls are keen as mustard to travel to Gqeberha this weekend, where they will compete at the EP hockey trials.

The 1st team match was preceded by an 𝗨/𝟭𝟰𝗔 and an 𝗨/𝟭𝟲𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛.

From the opening whistle, it was clear that the Pearson sides didn’t travel all the way to Graaff-Reinet for anything less than a win.

They fought hard and played with heart, and in the end, they emerged victorious in both matches.

It was encouraging, however, to witness the potential of our u/14 and u/16 players. The respective encounters against Pearson armed them with valuable match experience early on in the season and, having witnessed some inspired moments of play by the Union girls, we look forward to seeing how these two sides will develop throughout the season.

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥!

Union High School, Graaff-Reinet was granted the privilege of hosting the regional leg of the 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗥 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗟𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟𝗦’ 𝗛𝗢𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗬 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗘 this past Sunday, 5 March.

The event – which brought together the top hockey talent in the region – provided a memorable experience for everyone involved.

All the players demonstrated a great deal of respect for their opponents and the officials and should be commended on their exemplary conduct – they are a credit to their schools.

The positive atmosphere, exceptional play and overall sense of camaraderie made the tournament a huge success, and served as a testament of how sport can bring people together.

Both Union’s 1st team and 2nd team’s quality of play was exceptional throughout the day, with all the girls displaying a lot of skill, speed, and a high level of sportsmanship.

Their 🆁🅴🆂🆄🅻🆃🆂 are as follows:

Union 1st team beat Cradock 2 – 0 and Brandwag 4 – 0, losing 2 – 0 to DSG.

Union’s 2nd team lost 3 – 0 against Hoër Volkskool and 2 – 0 against Kingswood, drawing 0 – 0 against Victoria Girls High School.

𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙤 coaching staff, Mr Calvin Beck, Mrs Cathy Pringle, Mrs Claire Lemke, Mr Steggman van Zyl and Mrs Bronwen Langmead, to Mrs Elsebé Moos and her First Aid team, to Mr Maarten Kruger and Mr JP Kruger, Mr Donald Kingwill and his groundsmen, as well as to all the parents and members of the community who supported the players on the day.

A word of thanks is also extended to Mr Louis Steyn for assisting us with the scaffolding for the SuperSport cameras and Spar for their valued sponsorship of the event.

𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘦’𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴.

On Monday afternoon, 27 February, Union High School, Graaff-Reinet’s 𝗧𝗢𝗣 𝟴 𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗦 boys and girls, hosted their Middelburg Hoërskool (Karoo) counterparts for an afternoon of competitive tennis.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺.

The Union girls dominated their matches, winning 6-0. 𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙈𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙜’𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙮𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙖 4-2 𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨. The Union boys, however, bounced back in the mixed doubles, with Union winning 5 of the 8 matches, leading to Union winning the fixture with 13 matches to Middelburg’s 7 overall.

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥!

This past weekend saw Union’s 1st team hockey girls travel to Bethlehem to participate in the annual 𝗩𝗢𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗞𝗞𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗢𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗬 𝗙𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗟.

This was Union’s first year participating in this prestigious pre-season festival. During the four days of intense competition against some of South Africa’s top school hockey talent, Union managed to record 2 victories, suffering 4 defeats.

The tour provided the girls with valuable match experience for the season ahead and saw them bonding over blood, sweat, blisters, tears and laughter.

On Friday afternoon, 24 February, Union High School, Graaff-Reinet’s rugby boys participated in Hoër Volkskool’s 2023 𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘦ë 𝘋𝘳𝘶𝘬 𝘈𝘢𝘯𝘥 – a pre-season tournament that allows local rugby teams the opportunity to effectively finalise their pre-season preparations in a competitive yet relaxed and accommodating environment.

While some of our players had to sit this one out due to cricketing commitments, the rest of the boys who have been putting in the hard yards with their pre-season training, valued the opportunity to take the field again.

We extend our 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗦 to Volkskool for inviting us to participate and giving our boys the opportunity to play. It was an enjoyable afternoon for all involve.

𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 to the Union tennis players who have been selected for the Eastern Cape Schools Tennis Teams after the recent Eastern Cape tennis trials.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘺𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘊𝘶𝘱 (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘴 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘉𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘦) 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 24 𝘵𝘰 25 𝘍𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢 (𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱):

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘈 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘴 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 25 𝘵𝘰 29 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘦𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢 (𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱) 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴: