The Scimitar 24 Jul 2018

25th July 201825th July 2018
by Glenda Todd

BNSC NEWSLETTER

A warm welcome to everyone…

A quick thank you to everyone for the positive input I have received over the last little while regarding the Scimitar…it appears that our weekly newsletter is more widely read than I actually ever believed…but I had a phone call from an old Club mate (who currently stays in Perth…yes that is in Australia Manny) that he actually reads the Scimitar weekly with all its news and results…and that did give me a massive kick…to know that our newsletter is keeping people in touch from far and wide….and that really impresses me…that we are able contact with Members, young and old, from near and far….

I must say that I can’t give any sure bets on SuperBru or at the tote…but our National Cricketers would have been a sure bet to be on the losing side, if you could get any sort of reasonable odds on them…. they appear to have lost the plot since AB announced his retirement….our bowling line-up is able to grab enough wickets…but the batters just don’t seem to justify their inclusion in the side….(with Tinus de Bruyn being the exception in the last innings yesterday)…I watched the first test in horror, as seasoned batsmen made schoolboy errors and most “threw away” their wickets needlessly…. (but again, that said, I have never played any significant level of cricket close to the standard that they are expected to maintain, week after week) but as a spectator, I get really disappointed watching when the fellows get into this mindset….Our sevens rugby players didn’t have their best week at the World Cup in San Francisco either….but were at least able to bring a bronze medal home… I suppose I shouldn’t complain…at least we came home with a medal…our mates the Aussies came home with nothing…and their cricketers are in an even bigger hole than our young men…I think it is going to take Cricket Australia quite a bit of time and effort to get themselves back at a competitive level real soon…time will tell…

I have had some really positive reports on our junior Northerns Baseballers who have represented South Africa over the recent school holidays (and some that are about to embark on a tour of a life time) Congratulations to them all on receiving their national colours…I am sure that it is (will be for those who leave shortly) a massive honour to don the glorious “green and gold” and walk onto the field (and I think as a parent it must be a great joy to see your own “Mini-Me” in that position)…and represent you country…in an international tournament…well done boys…we are extremely proud of you…may you all come back inspired and fired up to pass on your newfound knowledge to all your club mates…

Our first team soccer boys have had a really frustrating season….losing many of their games by the odd goal…and last week was no exception…losing out to Olympia…whilst the second side under the guidance of “Fish” continued to ride on their crest of the wave and were able to proceed through to the next round of the Cup….Coach Jannie must be extremely annoyed and a little disappointed at the results that he is achieving…for despite the score-lines, we are dominating, we just can’t seem to match the number of goals we concede with the number that were are able to convert…hopefully this week we will be able to reverse that trend…come on boys…let us bring home three points to allow us to celebrate again….but a great soccer reason to celebrate however, is the performance of our future leaders at the North….the Colts had some more positive results with a 5-5 draw at Robertsham and a 2-0 walk over Sporting….I remember how difficult it was to ever take any points away from Robertsham….so a great effort from the young men….they are still on top of their league at present and lead by two points….the easiest way to keep it that way boys…is to just keep winning….it is that simple…

Our hockey players again proved to be some really top notch party people…with some of the girls teams partying into the night at the North….and the boys, not to be outdone…had to staff dancing a pretty tune of Sunday with their antics… This weekend is a massive weekend for our Junior Hockey players and Committee….we will have close to 1000 junior players here from the entire Province….and this is our show piece….something to show everyone that the North is still able to produce great hockey players and a phenomenal environment to play our sport in…good luck to Shaun and his merry band of helpers… I am sure it will be another crackerjack day to remember (a quick thanks in advance to all the volunteers, who make the day possible…an incredible amount of work goes into making the day the success it has always been…thank you).

Thanks you to everyone who was able support the Athletics section in their Blanket drive that was held on Mandela Day (July 18)…it was a fantastic evening and we had a great response from all our Members….the donations will be distributed and I am sure that many people will be a little warmer this winter due to the generosity of the wonderful Members at the North…..thank you once again…

Friday saw another great evening at the North….with a super band, the Zimmer Twinz, who kept everyone’s feet tapping while they played their renditions of a variety of awesome tunes….thank Peter and Keith, it really is appreciated….but to those who were unable to make the evening…our Joker draw was not won..and we have a carry over and the Jackpot now stands at R61 556….the lucky fish to be drawn last week, was Glen Barnard…but his luck turned out to be as good as the previous 6 people has been…his choice of face down card revealing the 3 of hearts…bad luck Glen, better luck next time….we also have a new Members draw figure too…as there was not a winner last week…and this has moved up to R6600…remember that you have to be a paid up Member of the Club to win this….and of course, you have to be present to collect you winnings….so please pop along and see if your number gets drawn out this week…we will be hosting the crazy Adam Boyd on his guitar and vocals this week…he has proved to be real crowd favourite with his phenomenal voice and range…and I am sure that this trend will continue this week…come through to see what makes him so popular….

When I started writing my contribution this week, I thought I am going to have to apologise for the short format in this week’s news…but despite my misgivings…our Members were able to produce enough noteworthy snippets, for me to fill up an entire page with my ramblings…. Enough now…finish it off, I can hear Manny saying…so without further ado….please forward your gripes or gratitude to rod.scheepers@gmail.com

Cheers…have a fun week….

Rod