The Fabric that Binds us

The Grade 8 boy was so excited when he greeted me when we met in the corridor at 7.00am on the day of the Blazer Ceremony.  The words came tumbling out.  ‘Sir! Sir!  I hardly slept at all last night, Sir!’

I am a firm believer in ceremonies which mark the milestones of the various Rites of Passage.  These ceremonies indicate that a level of achievement in life has been reached and it is appropriate that we commemorate the occasions with dignified and honourable ceremonies which boys can reflect on in years to come with a genuine sense of pride.

It is also appropriate at these ceremonies to invite witnesses who can share the enjoyment and the pleasure of the occasion. A huge crowd of parents, grandparents, siblings and friends arrived early in the morning of Tuesday 28 January 2014 to witness and record this important stage on the Road to Manhood.

Grade8s receiving their Wynberg Blazers from their Matric Buddies

What makes this particular ceremony more meaningful is that the boys have earned their right to have their blazers presented to them.  For two weeks they have been taught the Ways of Wynberg and every one of them can extol the virtues of ‘The Brand’ – and foremost on that list is ‘Manners’.  I never tire of telling the story of the lady walking her dog one evening around the fields and she passed some boys sitting on a bench.  As expected, all dutifully stood up and greeted her.  Labouring behind her was an aged Labrador. One of the boys, presumably thinking he was speaking sotto voce grumbled, ‘It won’t be long before they will be making us stand up for the dogs next.’

The De Villiers Walk

It wasn’t sotto voce enough because the lady heard it and phoned me the next day – still chuckling about the incident.

During the last two weeks, the boys have walked with their buddies on the de Villiers Walk – from de Villiers Road (next to the school) to de Villiers Dam (on the lower table of Table Mountain).  Most Houses were down in seven hours – but there were a few who took the scenic and leisurely route. Everyone made it and all had their photos taken, symbolically ringing the school bell - indicating that they were now Wynberg Men.  Before they could finally don their new blazers, they had to pass the Newboy test which threw questions at them about the history of the school, features of the campus and personalities of the past.

Early Tuesday morning saw 181 Grade 8’s ready to receive their blazers from their Matric Buddies.  Outgoing Chairman of the Board of Governors, Dr David Green, started off proceedings by telling the story of his own son who, on leaving school last year, has refused to part with his blazer – but has given it permanent pride of place behind his desk at home.

It reminded me of a Wynberg boy some years back whose parents told him that they were emigrating to America.  He insisted on taking his blazer with him and kept it in his cupboard as an ongoing reminder of the standards which would be expected of him wherever he went in the world.

Before the blazers were presented, I said a few words quoting 2011 Old Boy, Keith Stacey, who had written an email to me a few days previously.  Some of the sentiments he expressed were very appropriate to this occasion:

Since leaving school a little over a year ago, I've been doing lots of thinking.  I will always remember the time that I spent at Wynberg. I find it strangely disproportional that our short high school years have the ability to shape the rest of our lives. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that the lessons that I learnt at Wynberg will stay with me, in one form or another, until the day that I die. The respect that I both learnt and saw at Wynberg, I have rarely seen mirrored. Thanks for the culture of respect that is so strong. It has given me a firm foundation for the rest if my life.

There's the saying: ‘You don't know what you've got until it's gone’.  I think that it would be appropriate to say: ‘You don't know how good something is until there's a bit of distance.’ It doesn't have the same ring, but it's what I'm feeling. I knew Wynberg was good, I just didn't know how good. A little distance has allowed me to see it.

With those words echoing in their ears, the 2014 Matrics handed over the school blazers to the future Matrics of 2018.  It took nearly an hour for every matric to help his buddy into his new blazer, button it up for him and hand him a letter laying out his expectations for him.  On stage, some of the matrics were equally nervous.  ‘Some of them seem to have ten thumbs,’ remarked one of the House Heads to me as the senior boys struggled to do up a blazer ‘from the other side’.  Oh, well – they will no doubt have plenty of practice in years down the line when their own sons arrive on the scene.

McNaughton House was allowed to leave the stage before Lukhanyo Mkula could finish doing up the buttons of his buddy.  His buddy was determined not to be the only Grade 8 left on stage so he marched determinedly towards to the stairs.  Lukhanyo was just as determined not to let go - so he marched backwards while still doing up the buttons. The audience waited with bated breath to see if he would master the buttons before reaching the edge of the stage.  He did – but it was touch and go.  The audience applauded – mostly in relief.

In years to come, one Grade 8 will never allow his mother to forget what she had done.  After the buttons were done up by his buddy, he turned round proudly to face the audience resplendent in his new blazer – unaware that the badge was the wrong way up!

After the individual photographs were taken, the Matrics and Grade 8’s stood to sing the school song, high and deeper voices combining together – new brothers in an endless chain.  ‘I felt the hair rising on my arms,’ said one mother to me during tea afterwards – and she was a Matric parent who had come along to savour the occasion for the second time.

Chanting 2014

This sentiment continued when the boys went to the tuck-shop steps and went through a repertoire of school cheers.  When the boys sang ‘Men of Wynberg’ to the tune of ‘Flower of Scotland’, a sea of cameras looking like sunflower heads in the sun, bobbed above the heads of the watching crowd. It was very special watching determined little boys, fiercely proud of their new blazers, desperate to prove that they now Belonged.

Two years ago, the then Head Prefect, Nick Martin, said these words at his Prefects’ Inauguration.  They now adorn the walls of one of the corridors:

Our Blazers:  The Fabric that Binds us

Our Motto:   The Words that Remind us

Our Passion:  The Force that Drives us

Our Brotherhood:  The Difference that Defines us

Wynberg cheerleaders in Paarl at the athletics

All this was put to the test at the Paarl Athletic meeting on Friday evening.  Although blazers were not required because of the heat, passion and brotherhood were patently evident.  They sang, they shouted, they danced, they supported with gusto.  The noise evolved into a crescendo when  Brandon Keeling ran the 3000 metres – the last race of the evening before the relays.  Brandon and a Paarl runner took the lead and matched one another step for step for eight laps.  For the last few laps, the chant from the stand began, rising above the cheers of all the other schools:  ‘Supera Moras.  Supera Moras….’   It was neck and neck down the final straight but in spite of the best efforts of Brandon and the 400+ Wynberg voices willing him on, the Paarl runner beat him by inches.

Cheering on Wynberg at the athletics

That is sport.  Brandon gave real life testimony to every Wynberg boy watching, what has always been said from stage:  ‘There may be others who are faster;  rugby players who are bigger;  boys in the class who are more intelligent; but none of them will ever try harder than you.’

Supporting is exhausting business.  The boys were tired, hot, hungry, hoarse, exhausted when they stumbled out of their busses back at the school at midnight.  I bet even the Grade 8 boy who couldn’t sleep before the Blazer Ceremony, slept well that night.