Clifton College celebrated their Sport, Arts, and Service (SAS) Awards on Friday evening in the Ken MacKenzie Hall.
That’s a combination that deserves a closer look because it affords sports, arts and service equal recognition, which is missing from some schools. As a reflection of the values of the school, it makes a quiet but firm statement.
“At Clifton, we recognise the arts as a vital part of our educational plan to develop well-rounded young men,” Praveshen Iyer, the Deputy Head of the College for Co-curricular and Student Affairs, told the audience. “We also acknowledge that cultural programmes allow for the celebration of human expression, and testament to the power of art and culture in shaping a vibrant and inclusive society.”
Iyer said that the school’s cultural programme will remain the same in 2025, excepting for one change, which will see the extension of Clifton’s Cultural Daze, usually a one-day event at the end of the second term, to a four-day celebration of the arts.
He also reflected on the improvements that have been made in sport over the past two decades: “There are many tweaks and new strategies in place, with regards to sport at Clifton. As the College grew in numbers, and as the competition moved away from working hard to arrange sports fixtures to fixtures with Co-Ed schools, and, more recently, being added to Tier One boys’ schools’ fixtures across all sports, it has become evident that new strategies have to be developed.
“Current plans are in place to elevate sports’ excellence at Clifton through a comprehensive approach. We have plans to enhance our sports programme to nurture every athlete’s potential. We are expanding our focus across multiple sports, including coaching and implementing rigorous fitness tracking.
“Our aim is for elite players to receive specialised training to compete at the highest level, that every player, regardless of skill level, will receive dedicated coaching and encouragement. A tailored medium- and long-term development plan that helps players advance through team levels is being developed.”
It is pleasing to see, as demonstrated by Clifton, an increased focus on the arts in traditional boys’ schools, which creates more possibilities and gives wings to the talents of many boys whose gifts might not have been uncovered in those schools in the past. Recognising their excellence within the sphere of the arts is empowering and deserved.
Danté Pillay, the recent winner of KZN Young Performers competition, which led to him receiving an invitation to sing with KZN Philharmonic Orchestra, was a particular standout among many outstanding achievers.
In an increasingly complex world, service to others is under-reported and under-rated. But it’s those people who quietly make a difference to the benefit of others that are the quiet heroes. Thus, it was pleasing to see four awards containing the word “service” in their names and descriptions.
One of the loudest rounds of applause was reserved for Yash Bhika, who received The Head Boy Trophy for Service to the Community.
Of course, in South Africa, sports are close to the heart. The renowned author James Michener, in a rare non-fiction book, “Sports in America” once wrote that four countries in the world stood out as placing excessive emphasis on sports: Australia, East Germany, Brazil, and South Africa, and East Germany no longer exists! But, in South Africa, we like it that way, and inter-school sport offers up rich opportunities to test skills and to engage in fervent support of one’s school.
Clifton College, at just two decades old, has achieved remarkable things in sport, advancing to compete at the highest level in South Africa in many of them. Water polo, hockey, cricket, tennis, swimming, and, yes, rugby, come to mind. There are very few schools that have managed to reach the top tier in their region in rugby in such a short space of time. It is, truly, a remarkable achievement, made even more noteworthy by the size of the school relative to some of their opposition.
On Friday evening, there were a number of boys wearing their national green blazers: Oliver Ditz and Ross Strauss, for water polo; Luc O’Brien, for lifesaving, and Damien Angel, for open-water swimming. That made for an eye-catching contrast to the school’s black blazers.
Ditz and Strauss, who represented South Africa at the World Aquatics Men’s u18 Water Polo Championships in Argentina, shared The Rowe Trophy, awarded to the Senior Sportsman of the Year.
Awards were presented for all of the official school sports – basketball, chess, cricket, cross-country, golf, hockey, indoor hockey, rugby, rugby sevens, soccer, squash, surfing, swimming, tennis, and water polo – while special recognition was also shown to two sportsmen who excelled in other sports, with Guy McCarthy being lauded for his achievements in MMA, and Griffin Price for his achievements in fly-fishing.
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