The Privileges of Health

It was a Friday afternoon in February this year when Master-in-Charge of Cricket, Shaun Hewett, accosted me in the corridors outside my office.
'This is a leading question, but do you have any plans for tomorrow?'

I knew what was coming.  'I have a meeting at 9am and have rugby tickets for Newlands at 5pm. Where do you want me to umpire?'

'A touring team of disabled cricketers from Northamptonshire in the UK has been let down badly and has had a number of matches in Cape Town called off for one reason or another.   Bishops will give us a field as ours are all have matches on them.  I am calling for volunteers who would like a game on a Saturday afternoon. Can you look after the team at Bishops?’

It turned out that it was easy to find eleven keen cricketers who wanted an extra weekend game. U14, U15 and players from the 5th's and 6th's were all on hand to greet me when I arrived on Saturday afternoon 45 minutes before the game, suitably armed with stumps, balls and scorebook.

The tour bus was already there and was being used as a changing room for the visiting players – all of whom were disabled in some form or other. 'Just like we do back home for our football matches,' remarked one of their players.

I was about to laugh at the obvious humour when I saw that he was deadly serious about his team mates playing football matches.

Northants Disability Cricket

The players were deadly serious about their warm-up as well. Our Wynberg boys were open-mouthed as they watched their opposition - with their variety of disabilities - tackle their warm up with intensity.  Their side varied in age from 15 to 54. They were chasing down every ball to the best of their ability, throwing with purpose at the stumps and were cheerfully applauding their team-mates' efforts.

We lost the toss and our visitors opted to bat first.  'Let's make it a T25 rather than a T20 match,' I  suggested. 'It is a long way to come from England for only 20 overs.'

My suggestion was favourably received and I found myself walking out with three batsmen as one of them was in need of a runner.  While waiting for the fielders to walk into position, one of the batsmen asked me about Allan Lamb.

'We have an Allan Lamb Room in our clubhouse back home, ' he said. 'I believe that he was one of your Old Boys. '

All the team knew Allan Lamb.  'I live in the same village as he does,' another visiting batsman told me later as we were chatting in between overs. 'He and Wayne Larkins are real terrors for the local publicans. I believe he was a Wild One at school.'

'Not at all,' I said airily. 'He was just a normal Wynberg boy.'

I decided that it would be politic at this stage not to mention some of the stories that Allan recounted in his autobiography, ‘The Silence of the Lambs is Over’. He revels in the graphic details about his escapades on school cricket tours with Wynberg. These stories would only spur current schoolboy cricketers to rise to the challenges of the past.  Knowing boys as I do, the real challenge to our boys today would be to match (if not surpass) the standards set by those of past eras.  It would be wonderful, though, if they rose to Allan’s cricketing standards!

We were still in the first over, when the opening batsman, having nudged a single came and stood next to me at square leg. While he was there, I heard a vibrating sound emanating from somewhere on his person. He gently subsided to the ground and lay on his back with arms outstretched. Now I was under pressure - what should I be doing for him?

The other umpire took the decision for me by wandering nonchalantly over from the bowling end.  'You all right?' he asked the batsman before putting his arms under his armpits and hauling him gently back onto his feet.

'On you go then.'  The Wynberg boys were unsure how to respond – so they all clapped him when he rather unsteadily stood on his feet.

The umpire’s sympathetic approach did not last long. A few balls later, the same batsman was rapped on the pads and the dreaded finger was raised.  Cricket is a cruel game.

After an eventful first over, I took the cap of Raven Smith who usually opened the bowling for our U15B side. He whistled his first few balls round the ears of the other opening batsman.

'What is his disability?' I asked the batsman standing at my end.  I had been impressed by the scampering of the batsmen between the wickets in the first over.  However, it had clearly taken its toll because he was now breathing heavily.

'Oh, he is visually impaired,' he said with a singular lack of concern.

I went cold. 'Must I tell the bowler to slow down?'

'Definitely not,' he responded. 'Our batsmen must learn to handle it.'

Evidently he had learnt by the next ball as he sent it soaring over the pine trees into the staff housing on the other side of the road. This signified the start of a rampaging mini run-fest which belied the assertion that he was visually impaired. As his confidence grew, he was keen to call his reluctant partner for sharp singles.

After one challenging run had been turned down by the still-recovering batsman at my end which had resulted in a near run out. This initially resulted in a fair amount of verbal abuse directed by his partner who then dusted himself off and cheerily said: 'No problem.’
And then, the dig. ‘Next time perhaps?'

His partner did not respond to this challenge but merely muttered something unintelligible under his breath.  ‘So in what way are you disabled?’ I asked him as we waited for his partner to take guard.

‘I just get knackered easily,’ he said, leaning on his bat to prove the point.  ‘I am definitely not running those sharp ones.’

His fitness was destined not to be tested again that innings as shortly afterwards his partner was the victim of a low one from Michael McIntosh, who trapped him in front, and the side was eventually all out for just under 90.

We trooped off to tea and to the delight of the boys, who had not seen food for nearly two hours, we were presented with hamburgers and chips by the Travel Company.

On our return to the middle, the ball was given to a young tearaway fast bowler. The keeper - the visually impaired batsman - opted to stand up behind the stumps.

'Best you stand back,' advised the youngster to the keeper, who was a good twenty years his senior.

'Nonsense!' was the curt response and he stood his ground firmly. He continued to stand firm when the first ball went careering down leg side for four byes.

The keeper remained impervious to the beseeching pleas of his opening bowler. However, his stance did serve to focus the youngster's mind on line and length.  It was not long afterwards that the inevitable happened.  The school opening batsman, Dale de Kock, let one pass harmlessly outside off stump. This was gathered by the keeper and in one movement, reminiscent of Mark Boucher at his best, coolly took off one bail with his left hand as Dale dragged his back foot marginally out of the crease.  Stumped.

‘I bet you are not unhappy with him standing up now,’ I said to the youngster, as he went back to his mark.  He had the grace to smile before asking me who would be credited with the wicket – the keeper or him as the bowler.

‘You,’ I said and the smile grew broader.

With one wicket down and 70 to win, it was time for me to go to the rugby match at Newlands and I summoned ‘Bomber’ Harris, the father of one of the players, to do the umpiring honours.  It was not a great rugby match and in retrospect I would have enjoyed the entertainment at the cricket far more.

John Ronaldson, coach of the U15A side arrived after I left and wrote the following to me the next day:

The boys won the match in 11 overs. I suggested that we continue to give all the visitors a chance to bowl - they were so keen and wanted to carry on playing! Consequently, we finished rather late as the remaining overs took a while for us to get through. I was so taken with the enthusiasm of the visiting cricketers - their surprising alacrity in the field and their never-say-die attitude. I am always encouraged when I witness the amazing courage and tenacity of the disabled (my sister was in a wheelchair for many years and continued to excel in her work and sporting career - this match reminded me so much of her).

The most important aspect of the match was what it taught our boys.  They saw a group of men who did not allow their disabilities to get in the way of their love of cricket.  They saw cricketers who played to the very height of their abilities.  They saw human beings with severe challenges who did not want one ounce of sympathy.

I would like to think that there was much reflection in the cars going home.  The next time these fit and healthy teenagers are asked to run in a heat or swim in a gala, all they need to do is think how much those disabled cricketers would love to be able to participate in the physical activities which we all just take for granted.

Some real learning took place on that Cape Town cricket field on Saturday afternoon, 21 February 2015.

Smoking with New Ideas

This is an iconic picture.  A rider in the 1913 Tour de France has been captured on camera offering a fellow rider a lit cigarette.  The rider next to him also has a cigarette dangling from his lips. In those years, it was believed that smoking opened up the lungs allowing more oxygen in so that athletic performance would be enhanced.

Image source: wikipedia.org

Clearly, nothing is the same anymore.  What was regarded as a universal truth in previous years, is laughed at in the modern era. In fact we find it difficult to imagine any elite athlete today resorting to smoking for health reasons.

We have to ask ourselves the same question about our attitudes in teaching today.  Do our classrooms look different from how they looked one hundred years ago? Do we still seat pupils in rows like factory workers, preparing them for the Industrial Revolution?  Is knowledge acquisition still dispensed in the HMV (His Master’s Voice) way?  Is discipline today still associated in teachers’ minds with punishment?

Wynberg Old Boys of the 1980’s will remember a popular Maths teacher and cross country coach, Mike Moore, who is currently teaching in Canada.  He was out in South Africa on holiday recently and popped into our staff room.  We had a pleasant chat about education and soon found ourselves involved in a discussion on the future of education and whether or not schools were teaching skills relevant to the 21st Century.

I was intrigued as he rattled off the skills which his school expected its pupils to acquire:  Communication / Collaboration / Research / Self Management / Critical Thinking / Resilience.  I immediately started to tick off mentally whether we cut the mustard in all those areas – or whether we were (metaphorically) cutting off the oxygen like Tour de France cyclists.

Ken Robinson, in one of his more well-known TED talks on ‘Creativity’ (2006), said the following:  ‘Teachers now have to make a case for an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermines it.’ I suspect that he had overemphasis on structures and completing syllabi in mind when he said this.  He wanted teachers to find ways of releasing creative energies so that pupils can be encouraged to work out solutions themselves – age appropriate, of course.

Click here to view Ken Robinson's "Ted Talk on Creativity"

I was intrigued recently to hear about one of our teachers who informed his class that they would be given a test the following week on work that they had not yet been taught.  He gave them the topic and a week to research the issue.  During this time, they would be expected to collaborate among themselves in order to conduct their investigations; think critically about what questions they wanted to ask; communicate among themselves and their teacher to see whether or not they were on the right track and above all, not give up when the going was tough.  It was certainly tough for these boys as he was disrupting their comfort zones, but by this process he was teaching them 21st Century skills.

What a far cry from the 1913 classroom where the teacher was the sole source of information and on his or her shoulders fell the responsibility of pupils’ learning.

I still have the notes of a talk I gave to the Grade 9 parents at the 1999 Subject Choice evening.  ‘There is a very good chance,’ I pontificated,’ that by the time your sons have reached the age of 40, they will have changed jobs, if not careers, two or three times.’

Well, seventeen years later those statistics have changed.  It now stands at 10 – 14 job changes by the time they are 40 – most of which have not been invented yet.  Those 21st Century skills are scheduled to be in great demand!

Our recent SEED Day (Social and Environmental Entrepreneurship Day) last term demonstrated these philosophies more than adequately.  The emphasis was on the fact that a greater variety of careers were now an option - beyond the usual traditional ones of law, engineering, medicine and accounting.

Laura Bergh, recently a high flyer in the corporate world, is now a sustainability advisor.  She was the driving force behind the organisation of the day and gave us her full and enthusiastic backing.  She addressed the teachers in a session prior to Seed Day where she explained the concepts behind the event.  She emphasised that the 21st Century skills had to be caught, not taught and should be the subject of ongoing discussions throughout the year among the boys and their teachers, tutors and coaches.

She sourced 24 entrepreneurs and the boys were instructed to sign up for three different entrepreneurs whose stories they would like to hear.  The instruction to the entrepreneurs was that they had to describe the trials, tribulations, pitfalls, excitement and rewards of starting their own businesses.  In addition, they were to stress that there were career options available which could add value to society by uplifting communities and at the same time would not degrade the environment.

Elon Musk is a South African whose name is cropping up very regularly.  He has apparently described himself as having struggled at school and not really fitted in.  He emigrated to Canada after leaving school (later moving to the USA) and now, many years  and umpteen failures later, this multi-millionaire has changed the lives of millions for the better with his inventions: Pay Pal, Space X, his electric cars and, recently, his energy saving batteries which can power a house for six hours.  He is the poster boy of Social Entrepreneurs.  He has benefitted personally of course, but then so will billions of people as well as the resources of our planet.  Just imagine, no more rolling blackouts!

Image source: globalpossibilities.org

How many potential Elon Musks are there in our Wynberg community?  The point was repeatedly made, both in the individual sessions and in the panel discussion afterwards, that our boys need to invest in themselves by putting in their best efforts at school to develop themselves academically and by taking up leadership opportunities.  This investment in their personal development should be ongoing as they continue to enhance their intellectual assets in tertiary studies.  Many of the successful entrepreneurs have given themselves a good foundation with post-school qualifications.

The boys were asked afterwards to give written feedback.  The majority were effusive in their appreciation of the day:

‘It made me think about the bigger picture.’

‘Not a single boy did not learn something.’

‘It was the best day ever. I now view the world in a different way.’

One boy gave a somewhat backhanded compliment:

‘To everyone’s surprise, this day was a fantastic learning experience.’

One response was very gratifying and showed that the message had hit home. He certainly understood what the day was all about:

‘SEED showed us it is possible to make money and to look after society and the environment at the same time.’

Yet those of us who have spent our lives working with boys, know that there are always some who will say it as it is. I would be disappointed if there weren’t. There were a few comments that were delightfully frank and brutal in their honesty:

‘A complete waste of my time.  The number of people who become social entrepreneurs is small – but yet you force the entire school to act interested in it.’ [sic]

‘I thought that it was a waste of a day – we could have gone home early.’

‘What about those of us who just want to make money?’

If Tutors take up these comments, they will be a great catalyst for discussion in our daily tutor periods.

78% of the boys (presumably minus the three above) rated the day as a 7 (or higher) out of ten.  The comment (reported in the Weekend Argus on Saturday 5 September) would definitely have been lost on them.  It came from one of the winners of the 2015 ‘Sanlam Entrepreneur of the Year Award’, a ceremony which was held last week in Cape Town:  ‘It is receiving a reward like this that reminds you that it is cool to be excited about new ideas.  It is cool to be pro-active.  It is cool to mess up.  It is cool to work your ass off on something that is meaningful to you.’

There were also pearls of wisdom from the 24 panellists when they discussed issues with the school towards the end of this very worthwhile day.  Laura facilitated the discussions and skilfully allowed different opinions and perspectives to emerge. She gave them some challenging and thought-provoking questions:

‘What was the trigger which made you make this change in your lives?’

‘What would you have wished that you had known back in your school days?’

‘What inspires you to continue this journey?’

Three responses stood out for me as being more than philosophies of entrepreneurship, but as a credo for life.

‘It takes guts to do something different.’

‘Get rid of poisonous people – they will just pull you down.’

And the best of all:

‘You either win – or you learn.  You never fail.’

Surely that applies to everything we do in life?  I was heartened by one of the panellists afterwards, who said: ‘I was amazed at the level of engagement of the boys.  It gives me hope for the future.’

So keep a sharp lookout, Elon Musk.  There are some Wynberg boys coming your way – and they will be smoking with new ideas. Nothing is the same anymore.