Hockey was officially founded at Grey in 1962. In 2012 it was the 50 year Reunion of Hockey.
Few of us in the Class of '62 would have realised that we were an integral part of the founding of one of the most popular sports to be played at Grey. Hockey will celebrate 50 years of official acceptance at the School in 1962, after starting at Old Grey in 1961. For some of us, it was easy to chirp the "girly game", but many of us went on to many a social year of hockey after school. Her is a bit about how it all started.
If you have any pictures from the period, please send them to us, and we'll include them on the site. If there is enough information, we will start a site just for the history of Grey Hockey, which could then chronicle the history of Grey hockey by the decade.
If you have any pictures from the period, please send them to us, and we'll include them on the site. If there is enough information, we will start a site just for the history of Grey Hockey, which could then chronicle the history of Grey hockey by the decade.
How it all began - Colin Hilder, the captain from 1961-64 reflects.
In the early autumn of 1961 a small notice was placed on the board outside the hall, inviting interested boys to meet at Old Grey the following day, for what was to be the first gathering of Grey hockey players. Within hours someone had pencilled in at the top of the notice, “ girls only.” Further comments were forthcoming. Such was the perception of the game in those early days.
I arrived at Old Grey the following afternoon, complete with a hockey stick with a crook of huge proportions, borrowed from my dad who had played hockey for SA in 1948. Many arrived without hockey sticks and were duly issued with same by an enterprising Old Grey, Dave Broadbent, from the boot of his car. Roy Sutcliffe & Bruce Allen were in attendance and were soon grouping those with any perceived form of hockey ability. A few of those present played soccer on Saturday afternoons in the local league and were also grouped together. By the end of the first afternoon two teams had been identified and the fun was about to begin
Our 2 coaches had many other keen Old Greys ready to help and advise and we were all ready to learn as much as we could. We practiced on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at Old Grey at around 3.30 until about 5 o clock. That was not enough for some of us... we carried on until the Old Grey practice started at around 5.30 and managed to fill in any position on the field which was available. There were 2 ineffective lights alongside the squash courts which enabled us to continue playing until about 6.30. Did we head off home? No chance, we cycled down to the Westbourne Oval and joined in with the PE City soccer players for another hour or so... Then it was time to head off home in the cold dark evening to shower, eat supper and think about some homework for the following day...
We played as Old Grey in that first season of 1961, as their 5th B team in the local mens league, and chalked up some big wins against some fiery oposition. We were not welcomed with open arms by many of the opposing teams, a bunch of 13 or 14 year old Grey boys, wearing Grey rugby jerseys, beating them by huge margins.
Our first schools game was against a much older and more experienced team from St Andrews, who had been playing hockey as a recognised sport for many years. Our coaches picked a team from those available and sent a bunch of apprehensive boys into what felt like the Old Grey bullring! And so began the Grey / St Andrews challenge and for some of us it would take until 1964 to avenge that defeat!
1962 saw the appointment of one of the staff, Chris Murray as master-in-charge. Chris Murray, together with Roy Sutcliffe, arranged for the then SA captain and centre-half, John Roberts to attend a few of our practices and much was learnt from his input. We played 3 schools games, beating Hilton College, captained by Mike Proctor, drawing with St Aidans and losing to St Andrews. We represented Old Grey in the mens 5th league, and headed the table comfortably, being promoted to the 3rd League. The end of the season saw the first official 1st team photograph being taken at the the school. 6 players were chosen to represent EP Schools, in Durban, sharing top spot with Transvaal.
1963 saw Grey contributing a further 6 players to the EP Schools team in Bloemfontein, some being selected for the SA Schools B & C teams at the end of the tournament. Apart from Roy Sutcliffe and Bruce Allen, other Old Grey names that appear in various news letters include Frank Townsend, Ronnie Coetzee, Alan Jordan, and Grey masters, Justin Crouse and Cecil Tarr, not forgetting many parents who made huge contributions to the the growth of the game at Grey.
Notable results reflect the following, Lost to St Andrews and St Aidans, beat Marist Brothers, Victoria Park and the touring Jeppe team by 3 – 1.
1964 notes Chris Murray, having left the teaching profession and having contributed much to the development and enjoyment of hockey by all at Grey. Hilary Spears took over as master in charge, his exuberance soon rubbing off on all involved. For some of us who had played in the 1961 season, this would be our last year together, having already been team mates for 3 years, this would be our fourth. We played a total of 31 games, won 28, lost 2 and drew 1. Scoring 174(average 5.6 goals) and conceding 34. Brian Connor scored 103 goals and was well supported by Ian Jones with 52.
School games as follows, Played 11, Won 10, lost 1, goals for 64,(average just under 6 per game) against 12.
For many of us the highlight of the season was our beating of St Andrews by 5-3. We then embarked on our first hockey tour, to Cape Town, beating SACS 5-0, Pinelands 7-0, Rondebosch 6-2 and losing 2-1 to UCT in the final game.
Once again we had 6 of our 1st team selected to represent EP Schools.
Brian Connor and I were selected to play for the Old Grey Premier league side and had to obtain permission from the Rector to play. We duly arrived at the venue and were called into a team talk huddle, minutes before the whistle, expecting to learn much about tactics, the opposition, methods of attack and defence. Our captain, provincial goalkeeper, Cliffie Fensham, looked at the 2 scared schoolboys, in such company as Graeme and Peter Pollock, smiled, and said, I'm a captain of few words, in this instance only 4 words.. Lets F.. them Up....... That was our introduction to Premier League hockey... We won 4-0
Hockey finally became an accepted sport at Grey in the latter part of the 1964 season when I was summonsed to the office of the Rector. One always treated such an invitation with much trepidation, never being quite sure of the nature of the punishment to be meted out, and the knowing, shifty eyed glances from staff members as they looked down at you as you awaited your fate in that cold and dark doorway.
This occasion, was however, something new to me, to be warmly greeted and offered a chair by the Rector was a new experience. The Rector came straight to the point and advised that Colours for hockey were to awarded, for the first time, to deserving members of the 1st Team.
The coup de grace was when we ran out on to the then Front Field, now the Pollock Field for the first time at 15h30 on the 21st September 1964 to play against Victoria Park. Rugby had been moved to make way for hockey on the most hallowed sporting field at the school... Brian Connor weighed in with 5 goals and Ian Jones contributed the other 3 in our 8-0 win
That first game on the Front Field was almost 48 years ago and today we celebrate the wonderful facility of the Rectory Astro and the many Old Greys, Grey Staff, parents and friends of the school who have put in so much time and effort to make Grey Hockey what it is today...... a very big THANK YOU......
Colin Hilder
Grey Captain(1961-1964)
I arrived at Old Grey the following afternoon, complete with a hockey stick with a crook of huge proportions, borrowed from my dad who had played hockey for SA in 1948. Many arrived without hockey sticks and were duly issued with same by an enterprising Old Grey, Dave Broadbent, from the boot of his car. Roy Sutcliffe & Bruce Allen were in attendance and were soon grouping those with any perceived form of hockey ability. A few of those present played soccer on Saturday afternoons in the local league and were also grouped together. By the end of the first afternoon two teams had been identified and the fun was about to begin
Our 2 coaches had many other keen Old Greys ready to help and advise and we were all ready to learn as much as we could. We practiced on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at Old Grey at around 3.30 until about 5 o clock. That was not enough for some of us... we carried on until the Old Grey practice started at around 5.30 and managed to fill in any position on the field which was available. There were 2 ineffective lights alongside the squash courts which enabled us to continue playing until about 6.30. Did we head off home? No chance, we cycled down to the Westbourne Oval and joined in with the PE City soccer players for another hour or so... Then it was time to head off home in the cold dark evening to shower, eat supper and think about some homework for the following day...
We played as Old Grey in that first season of 1961, as their 5th B team in the local mens league, and chalked up some big wins against some fiery oposition. We were not welcomed with open arms by many of the opposing teams, a bunch of 13 or 14 year old Grey boys, wearing Grey rugby jerseys, beating them by huge margins.
Our first schools game was against a much older and more experienced team from St Andrews, who had been playing hockey as a recognised sport for many years. Our coaches picked a team from those available and sent a bunch of apprehensive boys into what felt like the Old Grey bullring! And so began the Grey / St Andrews challenge and for some of us it would take until 1964 to avenge that defeat!
1962 saw the appointment of one of the staff, Chris Murray as master-in-charge. Chris Murray, together with Roy Sutcliffe, arranged for the then SA captain and centre-half, John Roberts to attend a few of our practices and much was learnt from his input. We played 3 schools games, beating Hilton College, captained by Mike Proctor, drawing with St Aidans and losing to St Andrews. We represented Old Grey in the mens 5th league, and headed the table comfortably, being promoted to the 3rd League. The end of the season saw the first official 1st team photograph being taken at the the school. 6 players were chosen to represent EP Schools, in Durban, sharing top spot with Transvaal.
1963 saw Grey contributing a further 6 players to the EP Schools team in Bloemfontein, some being selected for the SA Schools B & C teams at the end of the tournament. Apart from Roy Sutcliffe and Bruce Allen, other Old Grey names that appear in various news letters include Frank Townsend, Ronnie Coetzee, Alan Jordan, and Grey masters, Justin Crouse and Cecil Tarr, not forgetting many parents who made huge contributions to the the growth of the game at Grey.
Notable results reflect the following, Lost to St Andrews and St Aidans, beat Marist Brothers, Victoria Park and the touring Jeppe team by 3 – 1.
1964 notes Chris Murray, having left the teaching profession and having contributed much to the development and enjoyment of hockey by all at Grey. Hilary Spears took over as master in charge, his exuberance soon rubbing off on all involved. For some of us who had played in the 1961 season, this would be our last year together, having already been team mates for 3 years, this would be our fourth. We played a total of 31 games, won 28, lost 2 and drew 1. Scoring 174(average 5.6 goals) and conceding 34. Brian Connor scored 103 goals and was well supported by Ian Jones with 52.
School games as follows, Played 11, Won 10, lost 1, goals for 64,(average just under 6 per game) against 12.
For many of us the highlight of the season was our beating of St Andrews by 5-3. We then embarked on our first hockey tour, to Cape Town, beating SACS 5-0, Pinelands 7-0, Rondebosch 6-2 and losing 2-1 to UCT in the final game.
Once again we had 6 of our 1st team selected to represent EP Schools.
Brian Connor and I were selected to play for the Old Grey Premier league side and had to obtain permission from the Rector to play. We duly arrived at the venue and were called into a team talk huddle, minutes before the whistle, expecting to learn much about tactics, the opposition, methods of attack and defence. Our captain, provincial goalkeeper, Cliffie Fensham, looked at the 2 scared schoolboys, in such company as Graeme and Peter Pollock, smiled, and said, I'm a captain of few words, in this instance only 4 words.. Lets F.. them Up....... That was our introduction to Premier League hockey... We won 4-0
Hockey finally became an accepted sport at Grey in the latter part of the 1964 season when I was summonsed to the office of the Rector. One always treated such an invitation with much trepidation, never being quite sure of the nature of the punishment to be meted out, and the knowing, shifty eyed glances from staff members as they looked down at you as you awaited your fate in that cold and dark doorway.
This occasion, was however, something new to me, to be warmly greeted and offered a chair by the Rector was a new experience. The Rector came straight to the point and advised that Colours for hockey were to awarded, for the first time, to deserving members of the 1st Team.
The coup de grace was when we ran out on to the then Front Field, now the Pollock Field for the first time at 15h30 on the 21st September 1964 to play against Victoria Park. Rugby had been moved to make way for hockey on the most hallowed sporting field at the school... Brian Connor weighed in with 5 goals and Ian Jones contributed the other 3 in our 8-0 win
That first game on the Front Field was almost 48 years ago and today we celebrate the wonderful facility of the Rectory Astro and the many Old Greys, Grey Staff, parents and friends of the school who have put in so much time and effort to make Grey Hockey what it is today...... a very big THANK YOU......
Colin Hilder
Grey Captain(1961-1964)
The 1962 Player Profiles.
All the Statistics: The founding years of hockey at Grey.
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By 1964 Grey Hockey was fully established, and has paved the way for many South African Hockey players ever since. All made possible by our era of Schooling!
Grey SA Hockey Representatives, with their Matric Vintage.
_
Chree, Kevin 1992
Reid-Ross, David 1974
Reid-Ross, Lindsay 1971
Fensham, Wayne 1976
Blake, Paul 2000
Hartley, Guy 1985
Hibbert, Christopher (Captain) 1993
Fensham, Russell 1975
Symons, Ian 1997
Timothy, Craig 1976
Abrahams, Clyde 1996
Graham, Wayne (Captain, including at Atlanta Olympics) 1982
Wilson, Adam 2001
Bailey, Peter 2003
Thysse, Dan (Umpire) 1971
Hibbert, Brian (Coach) 1965
Staff
Schonegevel, Shane (Staff)
Dolley, Richard (Staff)
Matriculated Elsewhere
Reid-Ross, Justin*
Cooke, Sean**
Bond, Warren*
* Attended Grey Junior
** Attended Grey High
Chree, Kevin 1992
Reid-Ross, David 1974
Reid-Ross, Lindsay 1971
Fensham, Wayne 1976
Blake, Paul 2000
Hartley, Guy 1985
Hibbert, Christopher (Captain) 1993
Fensham, Russell 1975
Symons, Ian 1997
Timothy, Craig 1976
Abrahams, Clyde 1996
Graham, Wayne (Captain, including at Atlanta Olympics) 1982
Wilson, Adam 2001
Bailey, Peter 2003
Thysse, Dan (Umpire) 1971
Hibbert, Brian (Coach) 1965
Staff
Schonegevel, Shane (Staff)
Dolley, Richard (Staff)
Matriculated Elsewhere
Reid-Ross, Justin*
Cooke, Sean**
Bond, Warren*
* Attended Grey Junior
** Attended Grey High