| What began as a flight of fancy after a few
beers in 1998 became reality at Easter this year when a touring party of
ten 14 to 15 year old girls and nine adults set off from Heathrow, bound
for Cape Town, South Africa. We were accompanied by a touring party of
young cricketers from Lincolnshire. The whole gang of us numbered 45. Our
travel and sporting itinerary had been organised through a professional
tour company.
Dedicated saving up and fund-raising had made this trip possible. We
had worked tirelessly to make money through the usual methods of raffles,
car boot sales and community gala stalls as well as the more unusual
routes of daffodil picking and laser-guided pea shooting competitions.
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Upon arrival in Cape Town we were lucky to have glorious weather so it
was everyone on the hotel pool to wash off the journey. The netballers and
the cricketers were still getting to know each other at thsi stage and sat
at opposite sides of the pool. After cooling off the tour party headed for
the Victoria and Albert Waterfront in search of food. A large crowd was
gathering outside one of the shop. "Who is here?" we asked one
of the neighbouring shopkeepers. "Nelson Mandela" was her reply.
We could not believe it, one of the most famous people of our time was
within touching distance. Two of our party were actually lucky enough to
shake hands with the great man. What a start to our tour, first night in
South Africa and who do we meet? Nelson Mandela, unbelievable.
Next day we travelled to Brackenfell School to play their under-16
team. Hot sun, tip-top courts and vociferous support made for an
exhausting opening match which we lost 27-18. Everyone was friendly and we
spent an hour cooling off and chatting in their sports pavilion. They told
us they run six teams in every age group in secondary school and have
outside coaches employed to run the teams, a far cry from our own girls'
experience of school netball. They really take their sport seriously but
still play with enjoyment and fairness.
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That evening we went to Stellenberg High School to play an indoor
match. Again it was fast and furious and we went down by 30-24.
The next day and two more Cape Town schools to play, but not before our
trip up Table Mountain, resplendent in sunshine and affording the girls a
chance of a 100 metre abseil down the side. By the time they had all done
the descent we were an hour late for our match. The home team, D.F. Malan
High School, were sportingly unconcerned at this and were patiently
sitting in the sun waiting for us to arrive. This time we came from behind
in the final quarter to win 24-21. A tremendous sing-song followed in
their sports pavilion and we went away with beaming smiles all around.
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The last school team we played was an under-19 outfit from Bellville
High School. They had thought we were bringing an older squad and we
worked our socks off in a brilliant match to go down by 38-28. More food
and hospitality followed and we came away with two bottles of the school's
own wine as souvenirs.
We were really getting into the swing of touring, in and out of the
bus, eating and drinking like kings (food and drink half the UK price),
staying up late and breaking the ice in a big way with the cricketers.
Regular room checks and curfews were the order of the day so that at least
a few hours of sleep were taken.
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On Easter Saturday and Monday we played in a netball tournament in
Stellenbosch, forty minutes drive from our base in Cape Town. This was a
completely different scene from the schools netball which had been all
white, spick and span, high intensity. Stellenbosch Netball Club is in a
black area and we were the only white competitors at the tournament. The
welcome was just as friendly and we played a mixture of teams from the
local girls team to the full Stellenbosch ladies 'A' team. We won some and
lost some but it was such a pleasure to play and watch surrounded by the
mountains on three sides and the sun shining down.
At the conclusion of the tournament we were fed and watered, more wine
was exchanged and we presented the local girls with our bibs and two match
balls, much to their delight.
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All the netball players we met
in South Africa were very welcoming and we can think of no better place to
play and holiday. We did not come across any racial integration on the
netball court but on the other hand there was no racial animosity
expressed to us. There are still some barriers to break down and playing
netball would seem to be a fun way of doing it.
The pace of the tour didn't let up as we finished with a safari and day
trip to the magnificently over-the-top Sun City. By now the girls were
well in with the young cricketers and holiday romances were blossoming.
Back to reality on April 30th as we arrived back at Heathrow.
What next? We're working on Barbados 2003, so it's back to the
fund-raising as the cycle repeats itself.
The tourists would like to publicly thank Lincolnshire Schools Netball
Committee for their sponsorship of some of the kit for the tour.
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