๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ผ, ๐ฟ๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐๐ช๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ฃ๐, ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ผ๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ ๐พ๐ก๐ช๐, ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐
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Once upon a time, College boys were obliged to write letters home every Sunday night. Nowadays the boys impressions disappear in cyberspace, their quirks of spelling and grammar corrected for them, their unique handwriting lost. And yet, if those letters from a hundred years ago show how much has changed, they also show how much has not.
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๐๐ต ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธโ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ, 1916
๐๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ,
๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด.
Yes, we still wish it would rain for ten days.
ย
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ฎ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ช๐น ๐ฏ๐ช๐ญ, ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ถ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ต๐ด. ๐ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ. ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ฎ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐บ.
Much of the news going home is still about sport, โthe big dogsโ, House rivalry.
ย
๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ฌ๐ธ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ช๐ณ๐ญ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง. ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ.
There are still pictures plastered on study walls. Boys still demand tuck! Now pizza is delivered – but in 1916 pocket money was pledged to โthe fellows fighting at the Front.โ
ย
๐๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฑ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ด๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด. ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏโฆ
No more casualty lists from a devastating war but certainly news of a devastating pandemic.
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As in 1916, all activities are curtailed, sporting fixtures cancelled. No grand derby days, no festive Prize Giving. We are obliged to keep distance from those โwe are in love ofโ.
Perhaps there is something to be said in how those early trials were handled and of the Andreans who emerged from times of โlockdownโ.
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As most of the staff had gone off to fight in a world war in 1914, senior boys, still too young to enlist, stepped in to teach and coach sport. Demotivating? Potentially chaotic? And yet, despite two years without competitive sport or adequate teaching, 1916 and 1917 produced a crop of extraordinary young men, some of whom went on to play provincially and even internationally or earned high honours in various careers.
The sports report the College Magazine of 1916 is a case in point:
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๐๐ฏ 1916 ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐บ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ญ๐บโฆ ๐๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ [๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด] ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐๐, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐บ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ณ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐บ๐ด.
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The captain was โPerryโ Hutton, Head of School who was severely wounded in 1917 but finally took up his Rhodes Scholarship and rowed for Trinity College at Oxford. Harold Jeppe, besides being a fine rugby player was an athlete of extraordinary ability. He represented South Africa at the 1920 Olympics at Antwerp. TC White took part in the Springbok trials of 1921. AB Maxwell played for the British Rugby Touring side in 1924 and at least five other OAs went on to play Currie Cup Rugby.
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But perhaps the finest example of commitment and sportsmanship of that year was Christiaan Rheeder whose small plaque in the chapel should be visited by anyone facing the disappointment of lost opportunities. Rugby was his passion but injury and illness curtailed his sporting career and led to rejection from military service. Both crushing blows. But, in the ten years as pupil, school-boy teacher at College and then a member of staff (and pioneer of the teaching of Afrikaans), he established what was known as โthe golden Rheeder eraโ of rugby. His unbeaten side of 1926, perhaps the most illustrious in the schoolโs history, producing five Oxford Blues and international, Brian Black, who played for England.
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Rheeder knew how to direct and inspire. Early newspaper reports about schoolboy rugby in his time testifies to a โjoyous gameโ which it is sometimes hard to find these days. That โjoyous gameโ blossomed from the enormous disappointments that Rheeder had experienced himself in 1916, the โgritโ he acquired in facing them and the legacy he left in overcoming them with enthusiasm and without complaint. It was said of him, โwonderful in steadiness of purpose, he claimed nothing and gave much.โ His plaque in the Chapel is as simple as it is inspiring:
โ๐ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ.โ