Earlier this evening, Union High School, Graaff-Reinet‘s Tony Burrell Union transformed into a hub of inspiration and learning as we gathered to hear from the legendary ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป.
The former South African cricket coach and batsman captivated us with his insightful session on “Parenting in Sport,” ๐ถ๐น๐น๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป’๐ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ท๐ผ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐.
Kirsten, with his warm demeanor and engaging storytelling, transported us into his world – one shaped not only by the highs and lows of his cricket career but also by the lessons he learned as a coach and mentor.
๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ; ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ.
Kirstenโs central message resonated deeply: โWeโve forgotten that a school is a place where you go to learn. ๐๐โ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ.โ This profound statement encourages us to shift our perspective from pushing for immediate results to fostering environments where our kids can thrive, learn and build confidence at their own pace.
He eloquently articulated that sport participation is about more than just winning; itโs a vehicle for building self-esteem and resilience in our children. โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ดโ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ซ๐ฐ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ,” he emphasized. This mantra reaffirmed the idea that joy in sport should always come first, echoing in the hearts of all the parents present.
Throughout the evening, Kirsten called on us to embrace our roles as pillars of support for our child athletes. He encouraged us to educate ourselves about the sports our children engage in and to remain patient as they traverse their unique paths of growth and progress.
As we reflect on the evening, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who attended, especially Gary Kirsten for his insightful presentation.
A special ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ goes to the Old Unionite Association and Mr William Copeman for their efforts in hosting this memorable even
