Month: Feb 2025

Union High School Grade 11 learner, Tristan Hope, recently showcased his exceptional equestrian skills at the 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗲𝗮 𝗘𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗲 in the Hofmeyer district.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.

On Friday, 21 February, Tristan took on a challenging 𝟴𝟬𝗸𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 riding SMP Bella May. This ride marked a significant milestone for Bella May, as it was her first competitive outing after successfully completing all the novice stages. The route proved to be tough, particularly the last 20km, which was tackled in pouring rain.

𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 5:04:05.

His stellar performance earned him a well-deserved 1st place in the young riders category and an impressive 5th overall.

𝗧𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱. He was honoured with the award for the Best Conditioned Horse, a recognition that reflects both the rider’s skill and the horse’s condition following the ride. The award criteria include evaluating the horse’s pulse rate, muscle stiffness, and overall well-being, underscoring the importance of care and preparation in endurance riding.

The excitement continued on Saturday, 22 February, as Tristan returned to the saddle, this time riding Henarstep Willow for 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝟴𝟬𝗸𝗺 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲.

The race unfolded in thrilling fashion, with a nail-biting finish that saw Tristan neck-and-neck with a fellow competitor.

Ultimately, he crossed the finish line first in the young riders’ category and secured 2nd place overall, completing the race in 4:21:27 – a Springbok time.

On Monday afternoon 24 February, our top 12 senior tennis players took part in a fun and speedy fixture against Hoërskool Middelburg. Only singles matches were played and each player had exactly 30 minutes to play as many games as possible.

Our top 6 girls once again showed off their skills and tenacity, beating Middelburg by 40 matches! Unfortunately, our top 6 boys were unable to do the same, and they lost by 20 matches.  

Overall the margin from the girls’ victory was large enough to make Union the overall winner with a total of 61 matches against Middelburg’s 41 matches. Well done to our players who played on very warm courts but still managed to show good sportsmanship and good manners to our visitors! 

Saturday, 22 February, saw Union High School’s junior cricketers face their St Andrew’s Preparatory School counterparts at home.

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Union posted a total of 116 all out, with Josh Kingwill top-scoring with 36 and Nathaneal Phillips contributing 21.

In response, St Andrew’s were bowled out for 79, with Union’s bowlers dominating. Edwin Holmes and Nathaneal Phillips starred with the ball, each claiming 4 wickets.

𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭-𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘯.

The 𝘂/𝟭𝟭𝗔 team’s encounter saw St Andrew’s winning the toss and choosing to bat, posting a competitive total of 180 runs after a solid middle-order performance, despite early pressure from Union’s bowlers.

In response, Union started well, reaching lunch without losing a wicket. However, after the break, St Andrew’s disciplined bowling restricted Union, who batted out their full 30 overs but fell short, ending 101 runs behind, giving St Andrew’s a comfortable victory.

Union’s 𝘂/𝟭𝟭𝗕 team won the toss and chose to bat first but struggled throughout, falling to pressure and being bowled out for just 32 runs.

St Andrew’s chased down the total in 8.2 overs, losing only 2 wickets.

Callan Strydom was the standout performer for Union, taking 2 wickets for just 5 runs in 3 overs.

𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵-𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵.

We are delighted to celebrate the achievements of our learners at the chess trials hosted by the Sarah Baartman Chess Union at Union High School on Saturday, 15 February.

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 131 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘴.

• In the u/18 Boys category, congratulations to 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗩𝗼𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 for securing the Bronze medal and 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗲 for claiming the Silver medal.

• For the u/18 Girls, we applaud 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗧𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 for her Bronze medal finish and 𝗝𝗮𝘀𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗲 for achieving Silver.

• In the u/16 Girls category, 𝗜𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗧𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 earned a Bronze medal, while 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗮 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲 proudly took home the Silver medal.

• For the u/14 Boys, 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻 secured the Bronze medal and 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗵 followed closely with a Silver medal.

• In the u/14 Girls category, 𝗚𝗶𝗮 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀won Bronze and 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗮 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀 earned Silver.

• Lastly, in the u/12 Girls category, a special shout-out to 𝗜𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀 for winning the Silver medal.

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗮𝗳𝗳-𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘁, 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟮 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵. We look forward to seeing more exceptional performances from our talented chess players

Congratulations to Union High School cricketer 𝗟𝗲𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻 who made his debut for the school’s 1st XI against Muir College this past Saturday.

Receiving your ‘white cap’ from Headmaster Mr William Pringle is a very special honour that reflects the trust and confidence the school has in your abilities and 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧.