๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก๐ฆ to Union tennis player Tara Ferreira on winning the Girls u/14 division of the TSA Nelson Mandela Bay Mini tennis singles competition contested over Easter weekend in Gqeberha.
The match started at a frantic pace, where possession was often exchanged by the two sides.
The Union boys exerted ample pressure which led to a kickable penalty slotted by Sisipho Arnols resulting in Union taking a 3-0 lead. Muir College bounced back quickly, scoring the first try of the match to take the score to 3 – 7.
Muir then scored another converted try extending their lead to 3 – 14. The Union boys started to fight back just before half-time, but a brilliant cover tackle by the Muir College full back kept Union at bay. Muir led 3 – 14 at half-time.
Union started the second half well, putting their bodies on the line, refusing to back down. Muir College received a yellow card which the Union boys capitalized on, to score a driving maul try through Ivan Murray, closing the deficit to six points.
Union created a few more scoring opportunities but failed to convert, in turn, Muir ran in another try in the last minute of the match to take the spoils 8 – 19.
Union High Schoolโs u/13A rugby team and 1st Junior hockey girls are very grateful to the sponsors of their ๐๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ ๐ก๐๐ช ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐ฆ ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ, Bothaโs Garage.
Mr Shawn Botha, of Bothaโs Garage visited the school today (Friday, 8 April) to present the items to the respective teams.
Seen here in the accompanying photographs are Unionโs 1st Junior hockey team and the u/13A rugby team, accompanied by their repective coaches, Mrs Jacqui Heunis-Jones and Mr Sean Koeberg with sponsor, Mr Shawn Botha.
After not being able to play in proper fixtures for almost 2 years, Union High Schoolโs ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง and ๐ฎ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ก๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฆ enjoyed their first encounter of the season against a visiting Sunridge Primary School side on Saturday, 9 April.
For many of the girls, these matches were their very full-field encounters ever, as some of them last took the field in a competitive match when they were in Grade 2!
The ๐ฎ๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ were the first to compete, drawing their match 0-0, after which the ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ก๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ (who made their debut appearance in their new kit) took the field, losing 3-2 against their more experienced Sunridge counterparts.
๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐ข๐ก must be made of Mia Botha and Abonane Matushe (who scored brilliant goals) and Nadine Murray, who worked exceptionally hard throughout the match and made many game-changing tackles and passes.
๐๐๐ pat on the back to all the girls who played their hearts out! ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐.
๐๐ป ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ is lined up for this Saturday, 9 April, for our Union players:
โข Union High School will welcome Sunridge Primary School to our campus for a morning of ๐๐จ๐ก๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ฌ encounters on the AstroTurf;
โข The ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ teams will be travelling to Kariega to compete against Muir College Boys High School and;
โข The ๐ฆ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ฌ girls will be heading to Gqeberha for their fixture against Hoรซrskool Pearson High School.
๐ช๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก๐ to Union High School, Graaff-Reinet Grade 10 learner Angus McLaggan and his mom, Lynette, who completed the ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ก๐ ๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐น๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ this past Saturday, 2 April, in Gqeberha.
They were joined by another Graaff-Reinetter and Union parent, Dave Neill, who also successfully completed the course.
The 45th annual Biathlon SA Championship was held in Gqeberha this past weekend, 1 and 2 April.
Ben and his dad Grant at the recent Biathlon SA Championships.
This year’s event enjoyed record attendance, with over 800 biathletes participating.
Union High School Grade 8 learner, ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ธ๐ฒ, was selected to represent EP Biathlon and he participated with pride. There was tough competition out there, with strong teams from the likes of Free State, Border, North West and, reigning champions, Western Province, to name but a few.
โข Benโs dad, Grant, also competed, coming second in his run in his age category, and knocking four seconds off his swim to make it his best biathlon yet.
All in all it was a wonderful event, confirming once again that, aside from competing against the clock, making friends and renewing friendships is also an important part of what Biathlon stands for.
Biathlon is a multisport discipline that involves running and swimming over various distances for the different age groups.
The next season kicks off in September 2022. Anyone interested in becoming involved in biathlon, or who just want to get a feel for what the sport is like, can contact Claire Lemke at 076 965 5914 to find out more.
On Wednesday afternoon, 22 March, all Union learners from Grade 5 to 12 participated in the schoolโs annual Interhouse Cross Country event.
This very successful day highlighted the athletic talents and sportsmanship of our learners. The weather was ideal for the event, with the learners racing through the challenging course.
At the end of the day, all the results were tallied up. ๐ช๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก๐ to House Daly who claimed the win!
Thank you to all the marshals and staff members who provided motivation and support on the course to the children.
It really was great to see the entire school out being active in the beautiful surrounds of Union. It may have felt tough to the runners at points, but remember, the physical and mental benefits easily surpass those brief moments!
On Friday, 18 March, Union High Schoolโs 1st XV and u/13A rugby teams travelled to Kirkwood to participate in the Kirkwood Sports Day, taking the field against Hoรซrskool Cilliรซ, Susannah Fourie and Frans Conradie, respectively, on Saturday.
We stayed at African Imprint, where the teams were well hosted. The Friday was filled with fun activities, starting with a team building session where the groups had to complete an obstacle course which challenged them mentally and physically.
This was followed up with a swim in the dam and an evening of team building activities, which included war cries, dance offs, team discussions and a cheering session.
This was a unique outing, as the u/13As and 1st XV donโt often get the opportunity to travel together, which made the team building sessions all the more special as the seniors and juniors could learn from one another.
The 1st XV dominated the match from the onset, but poor mistakes at crucial times kept Unionโs opponents in the match. Siya Badiwe scored the first try through a well-worked move assisted by JJ Liebenberg.
In hot and humid weather, Union looked lethargic at times and struggled to put phases together as the match progressed. Cilliรซ responded with a penalty kick. Union led 5-3 at half time. Cilliรซ scored the first try of the second half, taking a 8 โ 5 lead.
This spurred the team on to up their game and they responded with a converted try by JJ Liebenberg. Sustained pressure led to another converted try by Xhamla Magubeni. Sisipho Arnols kicked two conversions. Special mention must be made of Kwande Mhlabeni who put in two try-saving tackles, that kept Cilliรซ at bay. Union won the match 19-8.
๐ช๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก๐ ๐ง๐ข ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐๐ ๐ซ๐ฉ who won their encounter against Hoรซrskool Cilliรฉ 19 – 8
๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก๐ฆ to our u/13A rugby team who beat their Frans Conradie Primary School counterparts 19 – 15 today, Saturday, 19 March.
Union High School’s ๐ญ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ฌ girls participated in the Gregg Beling Hockey Festival hosted by Mark Taljaard of Tallies Sports this weekend, 18 to 20 March, in East London.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐: vs St. Michaels of Bloemfontein 2-0, vs St Maryโs DSG of Pretoria 1-0, vs Hoรซrskool Montana of Pretoria 2-0, vs Cambridge High of East London 2-0.
In between visits to the ER, while playing incredibly strong teams, our very young and inexperienced ๐/๐ญ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐๐๐ represented the school very well during this past weekendโs u/16 ๐๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ก ๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ค๐ก in Gqeberha.
The school is exceptionally proud of this group of girls, who, while facing teams such as DSG, Kingswood, Queenstown Girlsโ High School and Pearson, left it all on the field, exhausting all possible efforts during every single match they played.
While they didnโt manage to record a win, the girls racked up valuable match experience and walked away winners in knowing that this is the start of something great, that together they are stronger and that courage can be found deep within when every muscle is screaming and spirits are low.
