Author: Grocott's Mail Contributors

The Eastern Cape ladies Soccer team were in Limpopo this week to take part in the National Championships from Monday 6 August to their final match which was held on Friday 10 August. Despite losing their opening game against Head Office on Monday, the EC side were not deterred, and pulled off a great 3-2 win against the Free State on Tuesday 7 August. They then face the teams from the Western Cape and Gauging, and managed to qualify for the third place playoff match on Friday. The Eastern Cape team came up against the team from the Northern Cape…

In celebrating Women’s Month, Grocotts Mail, East Cape Shotokan-Ryu and Joza Karate Club have teamed-up to offer free karate lessons for girls (7yrs and older) and women. The classes will be focused on highlighting the benefits of the practice of karate-do for both girls and women, as well as featuring local female karate practitioners. The free classes will run from Monday, 13 August until Thursday, 13 September. In Grahamstown (Makhanda), classes will be offered at Rhodes University Shotokan Karate Club, ECSR’s Hill St Dojo and Joza Indoor Sports Centre, as well as at Kenton on Sea (Kenton Primary School), Port Alfred (Girl…

As the country celebrates Women’s Month, honouring importance of women in our societies, the Eastern Province Ladies Soccer team showcases their talent in National Soccer Championships in Limpopo. The confident Eastern Cape Ladies Soccer Team is taking part of a week-long National Soccer Championship that kick-started on Monday, 6 August in Limpopo. Despite losing their opening game against Head Office on Monday, the EC side were not deterred, and pulled off a great 3-2 win against the Free State on Tuesday 7 August. EP Ladies team manager, Constable Busisiwe Nkuzo, is confident that the Eastern Cape team will do well…

Graeme College enjoyed a relatively relaxed weekend of sport, with many of their teams receiving a bye over the past weekend. Despite this, the Graeme junior hockey side took on Oatlands, while the senior hockey teams travelled to Port Elizabeth to take on Alexander Road. A number of Graeme’s rugby teams also joined Port Alfred in their birthday celebrations. The junior hockey team had a great game and managed to beat Oatlands 3-0 on Friday 3 August. Graeme’s U15 A side struggled against an impressive Alexander Road team, and went down 5-0. The First team had to match the Alex intensity…

The first edition of the Sunshine Coast Karate Open (SCKO) Championships were held at the Fish River Resort over the weekend of 4-5 August. The Championships were organised by East Cape Shotokan-Ryu under the auspices of United Shotokan-Ryu. For many Eastern Cape karate athletes and spectators, the Resort has become an iconic venue having hosted numerous karate championship events over the past two decades. The Championships were also used as trials to select a United Shotokan-Ryu Team to compete in Slovakia at the 2019 WUKF Word Championships. Approximately 300 karateka from sixteen dojos from across the Eastern Cape contested this…

This weekend, the Diocesan School for Girls (DSG) is hosting their annual Invitational U14 Hockey Tournament – the premier U14 school girl hockey event in the country. This year, no fewer than 14 of the top U14 school girl hockey teams in South Africa will be descending on Grahamstown (Makhanda) to fight for top honours, with defending champions Collegiate back to reclaim their title. DSG Director of Sport, Chris Hibbert, is anticipating another successful event. “It is wonderful to be hosting this prestigious tournament again, and to have so much interest from around the country. We have a number of…

A very determined Queens College rugby club arrived in Grahamstown to avenge last year’s losses. They were rewarded for this determination with wins over St Andrew’s College’s U14s, U15As and a narrow two point victory over the SAC U16As. St Andrew’s managed to bounce back with solid wins from the U15 B and Cs, U16 Cs and another fine performance from the U16 B team winning 36 -17, taking the Roosters to an impressive 11 wins from 12 games. The seniors took control of the day with big wins for the Fifths, Fourths, Thirds and a narrow win for the…

Sixteen teams from Port Alfred, Kenton, Fort Beaufort and Grahamstown took part in the Second Albany Tip Top Trips last weekend, and for once, our local weather played ball, with competition seeing an abundance of great bowls, snappy banter and plenty of refreshments. For the second year running, the Albany team of Deon Fourie, Andrew Sterley and Marlene Mitchener took first place. Second place went to combination of Grahamstown and Albany players Allie Daniels, Marcelle Burgess and Dennis Stuurman.  Making sure that they kept some of the top prizes in the family, third place went to Bresby du Preez, Thelma du Preez…

Recently, in a conversation where we spoke about rape as endemic, and where we spoke about the routine abuse of school children by paedophiles in positions of power, one of my friends asked a question that caused us all to pause. She asked, “What do we mean? What are you saying when you say it happened all the time in school?” Think about the question for a minute before reading on. It is not as simple as it seems. How we speak about and respond to violence matters. “It happens all the time” points to the crisis, debunking the…