From Dries to Grant

Hi Grant

I am a rugby fanatic. I played the game intensely from the age of 8 until 20
when the bush war demanded my energy. In 1969 I played flanker for the first
ever selected South Eastern Transvaal primary school team, one of two
players from the Laerskool Klipfontein in Witbank. After that I played for
three years in a row for the first team of the Hoerskool Generaal Hertzog in
Witbank, captaining the side and scored two tries against Middelburg on the
last match of my school career. After school, while in the army, I played
for Heidelberg (Eastern Transvaal) senior team the army under 20 had no
place for me), the Military Academy in Saldanna (Boland League) and the
School of Infantry in Oudtshoorn (SWD Luegue). Then I went off to the bush.
Nowadays I am a keen follower of the game that offers to me, apart from the
obvious entertainment, an opportunity to see real strategy and action in
practice. There are very few opportunities in society today that you can see
how the strategic thinking of leaders, the tactical skills of individuals
and a community of practice, and pure determination, courage, and good
values such as respect, trust and camaraderie culminates in one event where
it is tested against the same offered by others. And all of it at a speed
that requires split-second intuitive decision-making and fearless execution
at the risk of severe pain or letting down your team. I never encountered
in my life such a character builder than the game of rugby.

Thought I would share it with you.

Regards

Dries

Welcome to Sport in Africa

So what is you favourite sport?

My favourite is rugby, one of my passions since I was given this funny egg-shaped ball at the age of three. I started playing in a formal team at the age of eight, until the age of twenty-five when work commitments forced me to do something else. Today I am still following the game intensely, supporting the Pretoria based Bulls and of course the twice world-champions, the Springboks. What do I like about the game? It is all about feeling. Feeling the crowd around you, experiencing the presence of your team mates, knowing that you are not alone, handling the aggression of the opposition, overcoming the fear of other people. In the end it is about knowing yourself and knowing that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. It is also about developing strategic and tactical skills, learning to trust your intuition.

What do you enjoy about your favourite sport? Tell your friends about it.