St Georges Grammar School – Day 8
A meander along the coast, taking in the views across False Bay, gets us eventually to our destination at St Georges Grammar School in Mowbray, a delightful old school with a backdrop of Table Mountain and some very lush playing fields. The setting is wonderful. On the playing fields there is a display of African dancing and music performed by the young schoolchildren and watched by the visiting England fans and media.
After the music I am invited to receive an England flag that has been made by the children at Masiphumelele Primary School and is destined for Cookridge Primary School in Leeds. We take this opportunity to hand over the artwork, flags and other items that the children at Cookridge have given to us to deliver safely. This is very well received and provides some very good photo opportunities. We also hand out T shirts, England flags, and badges which creates mayhem as everybody wants their share, which is understandable. To top it all off there are 12 replica Sheffield Utd shirts donated by the club and signed individually by the players which Darren, an England fan from Barnsley has carried out to South Africa. I don’t think the children that get these shirts quite realise the value of these, but I’m sure they will!
We are invited into the school hall to watch a display of singing and dancing from the children at Masiphumelele Primary that they have been practising and learning for our benefit. I must admit that this is one of the real highlights of our trip as they are superb and are extremely talented children. We video all of this and everybody comments on what a wonderful experience this has been. A further handover of artwork to individuals of YES is gratefully received and provides another great photo opportunity. I make a little speech and thank the school on behalf of Cookridge Primary and promise to hand over everything when we get back home. The videos are done and will make a great present for all the kids when we get the chance to deliver them. I think the British Council project of Connecting Classrooms is a very smart and impressive one and deserves its success.
The fans match takes place straight after this and Skip and Deano take part which is refereed by another of our party, Dave Bev. The African team is made up of a group of locals who are involved in some coaching project taking place in SA and involves coaching by Martin Allen, the ex West Ham player. He turns out to be a really nice guy and we enjoy a laugh and a joke whilst snapping away. The match is a disappointment for the spectators as the opponents are far too good for us, but the players really enjoy themselves as they run around under the hot African sun. What better location can you get for a football match with Table Mountain in the background, superb. Again there are lots of photo opportunities and everybody has a big smile on their face, what a really enjoyable experience this has been.
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