WHPS Old Boys' Association Events

Superb weather and wicket conditions provided for an exciting day's cricket for the WHPS First and Second cricket teams versus the Old Boys. There was a nice cross section of Old Boys, from 2010 right back to the Sixties, and were evenly mixed up into the two teams.

The matches were played over 40 overs, with a break for a tasty lunch served in the school pavilion.

The WHPS 1st XI won their match by 6 runs, with the Old Boys beating the 2nd XI by three wickets in theirs.

The Old Boys awarded bowling trophies to Travis Broughton (1st Team) and Muaaz Suleman (2nd Team), and batting trophies to Brett Whitelaw (1st Team) and Jarrad Botha (2nd Team).

1st Team captain, Brett Whitelaw, received the Old Boys' floating trophy for his team's victory.

Old Boys wishing to play in next year's cricket day, should diarise the 1st of December 2012 and keep an eye out for the email notice that will come out 6 to 8 weeks before.

The annual soccer day was hotly contested with teams from St Alban's College, Pretoria Boys' High School, Hilton College and Michaelhouse, and three invitation teams from the WHPS staff and the WHPS parents.

The teams were divided into two leagues, with the top two teams from each league advancing to the finals.

The winner of the 2011 tournament was the Staff 1st team, with runners-up Boys' High. In third and fourth place, respectively, were the Staff 2nd team and Hilton College.

Better weather couldn't have been asked for in this year's Old Boys' soccer day, and a fine turnout of Old Boys and friends made for a successful tournament. A food stall and drinks hut provided refreshments throughout the afternoon.

The game preceeding the tournament final was the traditional WHPS 1st XI versus an Invitation Old Boys' side. The school team had been reduced in strength due to the flu virus doing its rounds of WHPS, and one parent and one member of staff were roped in to even the numbers. By contrast, the Old Boys' team had to frequently substitute players who were just too exhausted from the rigours of the preceding tournament. The end result was a 1 -1 draw.

For the first time in quite a few years, a substantial number of Old Boys were present at the AGM. Apart from the regaling of tales of Old Boy Eddie Barlow, by President Don MacRobert, one thing that stood out was the healthy state of the Old Boys' Bursary Fund. The Old Boys currently fund bursaries for four WHPS boys, and careful watch of the fund and planning of fundraising activities is vital for the continued success of the bursary.

Elections for Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary ensued, with the incumbents respectively voted in for the next year, as Gordon Delaney, Neil Taylor, Greg Shaw and Darius Law.

The WHPS Old Boys' Committee presented their famous Old Boys' Prawn Braai on 9 October 2010. Owing to the size of the mountain of prawns on offer,the "chefs" can only really handle 100 guests, but this year the 100 tickets were snapped up in record time, and the Committee had to field numerous impassioned pleas for, "Just two tickets, please!" or "You've got to help out here, I've already invited four other people!" On the night, there were 117 guests (the biggest turn out ever).

With the kind help of Matron Denise van der Merwe, Mrs Shirley Delaney and Mrs Charli van Aswegen, the Old Boys' Hall was decked out for the buffet service, and dining tables were set up on the verandah and to one side of the pool.

The 83kg of prawns were marinated in 16kg of melted butter, 16 litres of olive oil, 16 litres of lemon juice and a mixture of a whole lot of other herbs, spices and vegetables.

Cooked to perfection, and with peri-peri, garlic butter or lemon butter on the side, the end product was sheer ambrosia.

"Chefs" Trevor Moore, Dave Sawyer, Lloyd Davis, Gordon Delaney and Mark Welvering had their work cut out for them, particularly in the beginning, when the diners wanted to get their hands on all those prawns, thinking, perhaps, that the stocks may not last. By nine o'clock the frenzy had abated, and the "chefs" could lower the production rate to a steady 200 prawns per hour. Thato Mabotja, Bruce McLachlan and Ricky Wolter tended to the drinks at the bar.

A storm blew up at around eleven o'clock, which chased some of the guests home a little earlier than planned, but a few stalwarts remained in a vain attempt to demolish the remaining prawns. Around four kilograms remained, which Matron served cooked up for the boarders on Sunday!

The WHPS Class of 2005 held their reunion dinner in the Old Boys' Hall on Saturday 29 May 2010.

These young men are all completing matric this year, and the Old Boys' Committee got a good deal of the class that left WHPS in 2005 to attend the dinner. Those present were Jonathan Balmer, Keenan-Jay Barnard, Craig Boerstra, Daniel Botha, Timothy Buckley, Jayson Clancy, David Bunn, Jario da Conceicao, Shannon Dalton, Ivan Eggers, Ross Friend, James Gerber, Herman Hoogenboezem, James Langlands, Marc Lourens, Benjamin Raymond, Matthew Sawyer, Armandt Senekal, Romney Soar, Dawid Swart, Eduard Trautmann and William van der Byl.

The guest speaker was Josh Richards (Headboy 2004) and the reply by David Bunn (Headboy 2005), with addresses from the Headmaster, Mark Whitelaw and Chairman of Council, Rob Buckley.

Apart from the Class of 2005, the evening was attended by four members of staff who taught these boys in that year, as well as a contingent of Old Boys' committee members.

A superb evening, which it is hoped shall become an annual event on the school calendar.

Mr. Gordon Delaney and his team of WHPS Old Boys organized the first fun gala at the new pool of WHPS.

What an evening of fun, laughter and unity! The boys and their families took part in a variety of events including:

• Pyjama relays
• Egg and spoon swim
• Find the brick
• Mini biathlon
• Boogie board tug
• Family relay

Our very own opera star – Dawie Chamberlain – entertained the crowd at half time with an energetic rendition of "Pirate King". The unstoppable Old Boys played the ever important role of back up singers. They ended their item by throwing 'coins' into the pool which caused enormous excitement by the boys as they all dived in, in search of their fortune!

The staff, in true WHPS style, swam the 'candle swim' showing that they are not only fine educators / musicians / admin personnel, but also good sports! The theme of 'unity' was evident in the enthusiastic attitude of the entire WHPS Team!

And the top six results for the Family Race:
Venn 1:10.47
Valente 1:12.45
Whitelaw 1:13.27
Neubert 1:16.25
de Meyer 1:19.10
McLachlan 1:20.00

Return from Parents Association Events to WHPS Home Page