It’s Back to School this week, so we asked a selection of Western Province players to cast their minds back to the best days of their lives, and celebrate the teachers who helped to make them who they are:
Scarra Ntubeni
The teacher who had the biggest influence on me was Carl Spilhaus, my English teacher in high school. He taught me at Dale College in King William’s Town first, and then left for King Edward VII School (KES) and I followed him a year later.
He saw a lot of potential in me. He’d coached my older brother, and when he left he saw that if I was in Joburg, I’d get more exposure. So I applied for a bursary and he said he’d convince the headmaster to consider me.
He took me in, and he did everything for me. He was kind of like a second father. He was tough on me at times, but I achieved a lot because of him. When I didn’t have books or uniform, he sorted me out. We still talk every day, and if he hadn’t helped me, I wouldn’t have gone to varsity.
Johnny Kotze
Mrs Rhode, my English teacher at Bishops always put in so much effort. I was an Afrikaans boy in an English school and she really pushed me to be better and better. At the end of matric I got 63% for English, which was better than some of the English guys did!
Oli Kebble
The teacher who helped me a lot at Bishops was my housemaster, Jannie de Villiers. I was born in Durban, but my dad went to Bishops so I was a boarder there.
Mr De Villiers believed in me, but he was quite hard on me, and set standards for me. I wasn’t an easy kid to deal with – I was quite naughty at times – so he was very good for me. I still see him sometimes when we train at Bishops, which is great.
Siya Kolisi
My coach, Eric Songwiqi, at Emsengeni Primary School in Port Elizabeth had a huge influence on me. He pushed me when I started playing rugby, and he put me where I am today. He put me in a place where I was exposed to better opportunities.
When I made provincial, he took me to all of my training sessions, so he really looked after me. And he was a really good English teacher, so he taught me English.
Cheslin Kolbe
Two teachers come to mind for me: Mr Hattingh in primary school, and Mr Pedri Stoffberg in high school.
I’ve always had quite a love for sport, and Mr Hattingh pushed us and kept us positive at a young age, which has helped me until now.
Mr Stoffberg introduced me to rugby, and he helped to give me the opportunity to attend Brackenfell High School.
He was my rugby coach from 2007, and he helped me through to matric. He even took me to training, and to Craven Week trials. Without him I wouldn’t be where I am now.
Leave a Reply