By Chris Totobela
For the majority of people, playing sport is the means to relieve desk cramp. But for Eldrid “Ali” Daniels it seems to be an addiction. The self-proclaimed Grahamstown homeboy has played competitive sport in seven different codes, making him a truly multi-talented legend.
Daniels was born in 1965 in Grahamstown and has lived in the small town eversince, except for five years in the hustle and bustle of Joburg. When he returned from the place of smog in 1981, he attended Mary Waters Grahamstown High School and began to develop a passion for soccer. Two years later, his talent was recognised and he was picked to play for Border soccer.
Daniels was not satisfied with excelling at one sport. His next stop in his sporting journey was athletics. He became Border School’s number one sprinter in 100m and 200m disciplines in 1984.
As he sits in his living room where he is now relaxing after retiring from Makana Municipality where he used to work, he racks his brain to remember how quickly he ran the 100m. Eventually he reckons he ran it comfortably in under 11seconds.
Also in 1984, he was awarded Border colours for cricket, so no surprise that he was picked as an all-rounder. At that time he was also involved in volleyball and table tennis.
It was in 1985 that Daniels discovered his first love. His natural and explosive pace, which had been recognised by Border Athletics, came in handy when he played as wing in rugby. In the same year he started playing rugby, he was selected for the South Eastern District Rugby Union, which represented Grahamstown.
His fondest memory is a rugby game played against SARU champs Tygerberg from Cape Town in 1985 at the Lavender Valley in Grahamstown. Having played only a handful of games up until then, Daniels admits now, “I was very inexperienced.” A hint of delight still remains when he thinks about the scoring a 70m try, which turned out to be the only try of the match. “I outran players like Spooky September (a Springbok); lots of people still remember that try.”
In that game, his prodigious talent was recognised by the opposition and they attempted to lure the Grahamstown legend away. He was offered a contract to play for Tygerberg in Cape Town. “I refused! I am a home boy.” He did not want to leave his family behind.
“If I look back now, it could have changed my life. A lot of those guys (Tygerberg rugby players) are still involved in rugby at the highest levels,” said Daniels. The year 1986 was a particular eventful one for Daniels. His leadership skills were recognised for, first the right, but then the wrong reasons.
Firstly, he was given the honour of captaining the Border Schools’ rugby side to play the National Side and then, when he was the Student Representative Council president at Mawas, he was thrown in jail for 11 months for political reasons. Daniels explains that during the apartheid years, there were two separate rugby organisations. The South African Rugby Board managed the white Springboks, and the South African Rugby Board catered for the disenfranchised community. “We believed we could not play normal sport in an abnormal society; we could not play againsts whites and be oppressed by them at the same time,” said Daniels.
His self-belief is clearly evident: “I had natural talent.” But his confidence seems to have been inhibited by the murky waters of political history and circumstances. “I believe I could have achieved more if it wasnt for apartheid. I always wanted to play for the Blue Bulls and Springboks,” he said.
“Im sort of bitter. I mean, lots of people were bitter – those Springboks who never played test matches because of apartheid are also bitter,” said the soflt spoken legend.
Daniels played club rugby for Universals “Die Bye” whilst at school as a youngster, and later became the captain of the team. He was a prolific try scoring machine and became a household name. He was a match winner for Universals who consistently competed in Top 8 competition, featuring all the top clubs in the Cape Province. He was still then part of Sedru until his retirement, also representing The East Cape XV, SARU Invitation and various provincial sides. Daniels became the Universals’ president in 2007 and later Brumbies 1st team manager and Brumbies Women’s coach.
He believes that younsters today have a lot of opportunities to achieve their sporting dreams. He recognises there is an abundance of sporting talent in Grahamstown and gives the example of another two Mary Waters students, Fabian Juries and Rosco Speckman, both Springbok Sevens Players.
Daniels has hung up his studded boots and has replaced them with flat-bottomed bowling shoes. He has been involved in the Annual Grahamstown Night Bowls Competition for the past 30 years. He has captained his side, The Library of the Blind, where he used to work, to glory, and has won the trophy and many trophies and competitions with his son Navan Daniels, who is also a professional bowler and was the 3rd youngest registered bowler in the world. “I’ve decided to play bowls full time, it’s a nice, disciplined gentleman’s game,” he said.
Daniels’ hope for the future is that his son, Navan, will inherit his talents and use the opportunities that are now afforded to him. His son was doing a post-matric course at Kingswood College, where he was offered a full sports scholarship. Navan was the youngest member of the Eastern Province Country District senior side and also represented EP Schools cricket, while representing EP and Free State in Bowls and EP in Body Building.
