Author: Stephen Penney

St Andrew’s College VII rowing side finished second to King Edwards School in the annual Standard Bank South African Schools Boat Race which took place last weekend on the Kowie River in Port Alfred. The event was once again hosted by St Andrew’s. King Edwards took a large lead early in the race. However, St Andrew’s rowers never let go and pushed hard for a phenomenally close finish, losing out by just 1.25 seconds in the 5,3km race.

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The Albany Angling Association held its annual general meeting beginning of December at Settlers Dam. The day started off with the last league outing of the year. The members fished from 6.30am until 11.30am. This was followed by the AGM and prize-giving ceremony, and everyone enjoyed a spit braai for lunch. Outgoing president Quentin du Preez said that it had been an extremely exciting year for the angling club. The newly elected president, Christo Nel will take over the reins with immediate effect. John Lisher was named the Senior Angler of the Year. Sean Craigie was named the U18 Angler…

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Wow – here I am, worked on my last edition of Grocott’s Mail. A paper I have grown up with since a young lad (my father was a freelance sports reporter in the 1980s). I had my first photograph published in Grocott’s Mail at the age of 14, when I was also working in the stationery section of Grocott & Sherry on Saturdays and during school holidays. This passion grew until after school and a year at technical college and few years working on my photography to being employed as a permanent member of the Grocott’s Mail staff on 1…

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A number of Grahamstown pupils were among the various Nelson Mandela Bay (EP) sides which took part in the South African Schools’ Water Polo Inter-Provincial Tournament in the U13 to U19 age groups. Teams arrived in Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown last Friday with matches taking place from Saturday until Tuesday this week. While most of the teams were hosted in Port Elizabeth, three were in Grahamstown. The U16 girls played at the DSG Indoor Aquatics Centre, while the U16 boys played at the St Andrew’s swimming pool and the U13 boys were hosted at Kingswood. In all, 14 teams comprised…

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There was plenty action at the Oval over the weekend, as the Brumbies hosted the annual Fabian Juries 10’s rugby and netball tournament. The event started with a 5km fun run which took place around the neighbouring streets. Overall winner of the fun run was Granville Isaacs. It was then down to business as the neighbouring communities took on each other at netball and 10’s rugby matches. Ghost Town proved to be the top netball side on the day, as they went on to win the netball tournament, beating Rhodes Rockstars in the final. They also dethroned three time champions…

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Two Grahamstown body builders returned from the world championships this week, both finishing in the top five in their respective categories. Makana Natural Bodybuilding Club members Lesley Sauls and Asaphila Zani represented South Africa at the World Natural Bodybuilding Championships which took place in Bordeaux, France from 24-25 November. The two Grahamstown-based competitors qualified by virtue of their impressive displays at the South African Natural Bodybuilding Championships in Bellville on 30 September. It was beginners luck for Zani, who took part in his first World championship event, finishing second in the newly formed U25 category. He competed in the under…

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VW team for Cycle Challenge Six novice cyclists will represent Volkswagen and be among the thousands participating in the Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge on 19 November. Siyaphambili Team (meaning moving forward) consisting of Thobani Mhlongo, Kwanele Shabala, Mashesha Miya, Nonkuthalo Mgomezulu, Thembeka Mdakane and Samkelo Makhaza will be the Volkswagen-sponsored team competing in the world’s second-largest timed cycle race. The six school children started cycling after Volkswagen, in partnership with Qhubeka Bicycle Education Empowerment Programme (BEEP), donated Blue Bikes to their school in Bergville in rural Kwa Zulu Natal last year. After receiving their Blue Bikes, the six school children…

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The Belmont Golf Club ladies will host the Port Alfred ladies in the 50th anniversary of the Picture Match golf day on Tuesday 28 November, tee-off from 11am. The Port Alfred ladies are defending their title and the picture will be brought to Grahamstown for the prize giving. Joyce Heny, a member of the Port Alfred golf club said: “Because we were not able to participate in league in those days and so never had a team match-play experience (and this applied to Grahamstown as well) I thought it would be a good idea to play each other twice a…

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Angels Forever and Built It will meet on the greens this evening to see who will be crowned the 2017 Pick n Pay Albany Bowling Club Night League champions. Angles Forever finished second in the round robin stages to book their space in the play-off. From there they won all their matches to book their space in tonight’s final. They will be up against Team Build It, the only team to remain unbeaten throughout the night bowls league. Team No Name take on Buco 46 Beaufort Street to determine who takes third place in the Cup event. The league began…

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Kingswood College gave its umpteenth  “Our Hero of the Week”  to 17-year old Grade 11 James Kelly who was recently been selected to take part in the South African Schools tennis tournament next April. Kelly was recently invited to the Eastern Province top 10 selection tournament, where he finished as a runner up, securing his spot in the national tournament. The youngster’s  tennis career started when he enrolled into Kingswood in 2013 (Grade 7). He played a few matches for the school’s 1st team in Grade 8, and was then became a permanent 1st team player in Grade 9. “I…

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