Sport

Athletics

Chess
Cricket
Hockey

Pupils at Clarendon Park have various sports to choose from either during winter or summer. The emphasis on sport at Clarendon is participation although we still do very well in all our different sport leagues in the Port Elizabeth region. Many of our pupils have represented Eastern Province, while some have gone on to represent South Africa.

Boys Sport

Girls Sport

Summer

Cricket, Swimming Athletics,

Tennis, Chess

Swimming, Athletics,

Tennis, Chess

Winter

Hockey, Soccer, Squash,

Tennis, Chess, Rugby

Squash, Hockey, Netball

Tennis, Chess

Athletics

Inter-house athletic days are held for junior and senior pupils, who can take part in field ,track and cross-country events.

Chess

We have 2 chess clubs. One for the Seniors (Grades 4 – 7) and one for the Juniors (Grades 2 and 3). The Junior club has had approximately 24 members– this differs from term to term. We meet once a week for challenges and friendly matches. We have a Junior ladder and the top 1 – 10 children participate in the Junior league by playing matches on Fridays in the second and third terms. The Senior club has had approximately 20 members. They also enter the B league. Both teams have great fun pitting their skills against many other schools.

Cricket

Cricket is immensely popular with our boys. We offer U9 Mini-Cricket, U10, U11, and U13 hardball cricket. All our teams are entered into the Eastern Province Junior Cricket leagues. To cater for the large number of boys, an extra under 13 and an under 11 team have been entered into an internal league organised by Grey Primary School. Many of our boys excell and have been chosen to represent the various Eastern Province teams during the years. During the last few years, hardball cricket has gradually been introduced to the younger boys. Our older boys are reaping the rewards of this early introduction.

Hockey

Girls' Hockey

Our Mini Hockey –the nursery for future talent – has grown from strength to strength. We now field 4 teams in the u9 and u10 league espectively. It’s so good to see the growth and development in our young ladies especially on a Saturday morning when parents, grandparents and friends are able to cheer the girls on from the sideline.Senior hockey at Clarendon Park is very strong with many girls flocking to the practices. We have entered up to 8 teams in the various leagues during the last few years. Our teams are respected wherever we play. Many of our girls have represented Eastern Province during the last number of years. During the season we often host various touring teams where we do exceptionally well. The highlight of the season is our annual trip to Knysna where we play teams from the Southern Cape. School girls' hockey in the Eastern Cape is very strong and we are proud to send girls to high school knowing that we have provided a sound foundation.

Boys' Hockey

Boys' hockey at Clarendon Park has really gone from strength to strength during the last 5 years. Boys' hockey is the most popular sport and we can easily fill 4 under 14 teams. Teams are entered into the under 10, 11 and 14 leagues. The team of 2008 can justifyingly claim to have been the Dream team so far in our short hockey history. Not only did we beat every side in Port Elizabeth, but also had the beating of all the top schools in Cape Town with the exception of Sacs who narrowly beat us 1-0. We were the only co-ed school invited to the prestigious tournament for boys' schools. During that year, 7 of our boys played in the various Eastern Province teams. Last year the boys also did very well in the local leagues with 6 boys making the Eastern Province teams. 2010 promises to be another great year as 8 of the 2009 team are still available to play this year. As with the girls' team, the boys also play in the Knysna festival.

Mrs Scheepers / Mr Anderson Heads of Hockey

Netball (NEW)

Netball is being offered once again as a Winter sport. Teams have not been entered into any leagues for 2009. Matches will however, be arranged once the girls have improved to an adequate level. The girls play in three age groups viz. under 9, under 11 and under 14. The under 9 players practise on Tuesdays and Thursdays while the under 11's and under 14's practise on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Rugby

Rugby at Clarendon Park is still a fairy new sport, however as can be seen by results, rugby at the school is going from strength to strength. The number of boys playing the game is more than ever before, which is an indication of the enjoyment the game brings to those who participate in it. It also ensures that there is far greater depth amongst the age groups and allows for more competition for places.

Rugby for the boys is offered from Grade 1 to Grade 7. The Grade 1’s and 2’s are introduced to the sport through PeeWee Rugby, which is offered to those boys who would like to participate from an early age. In Grade 2 the boys also get a chance to play the game at Ballskills. Here every boy gets a taste of the game and our main objective is that the boys have fun and at the same time develop those basic skills necessary to play the game. The Grade 1 and 2 boys also get a chance to play interclass rugby on a Saturday, which is always very competitive amongst the boys and the teachers.

The u9A, u11A and u13A teams all participate in the Eastern Province League and play their fixtures on Wednesday afternoons. This league is very competitive and ensures that our boys get to play against the top rugby players in the city. The u9B participate every Friday in a league, this offers many boys the chance of playing their first real rugby matches. There is also an u11B team, which plays matches regularly.

Sevens rugby is also slowly being brought in at u13 level. The sevens game is a lot quicker and allows the boys the opportunity to play a more open and running game. It also develops different skills, which are necessary at the 15-man game.

Saturday fixtures are however the most enjoyable as there are normally great parent support and the atmosphere in which the boy’s play is often festive. These fixtures are often against the more traditional schools and typifies the type of camaraderie and spirit that rugby should be played in.

Clarendon Park plays all its rugby matches and practices at Wellington Park, which is situated on the corner of 5th avenue and Main.

Soccer

Soccer at Clarendon Park is enjoyed by U9, U11 and U13 players. The Jordan field sees these boys practising on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Each week a total of six teams play matches in various leagues against other schools in the Port Elizabeth zone.

It is interesting to note that the Port Elizabeth Primary Schools Soccer Association, the body that oversees our league, is looking at expanding our fixture list to include more schools from the outlaying areas. This exciting plan will have the benefit of bringing our boys into contact with even more soccer loving learners.

Also of interest is the fact that our U9 boys now play six-a-side soccer exclusively throughout their season, as is the case in Europe. The idea is to let the boys have more time on the ball and to therefore improve the skills levels in a more informal and fun-orientated approach to the game. In 2009 the annual Bill Stewart national tournament is to be held in Port Elizabeth and this exciting news means that all our soccer boys, friends and parents will be able to watch and see for themselves how good the standard of soccer is in the primary schools of South Africa.

Social Sport

Girls participate in social sport during the fourth term. The girls in Grade 6 and 7 are divided into teams. Their program includes volley ball, soccer and indoor cricket. The Grade 4 and 5’s work on the same principle, and their activities include tug-of-war, sponge races, relays and team skiing. This creates a healthy team spirit amongst the girls.

Squash

Squash is one of the fastest growing sports. We are very happy to be able to offer it at Clarendon.

We make us of the Crusaders Squash Club in Park Drive for all our practices which take place on a Tuesday afternoon from 14:15 – 15:30. Matches take place every Friday afternoon at different venues: Londt Park, Old Grey and Crusaders.

Squash is offered as a winter sport at Clarendon.

Swimming

We cater for swimmers of all abilities – from beginners to senior team swimmers. This we are able to do because we have an enthusiastic, dedicated group of coaches who are also helped by students from NMMU.

We have three different inter-house galas every year. The highlight of the year is surely the senior inter-gala. It is at this gala, where our school champions show what they are capable of. Inter-class replay races are closely contested and much fun is had by all. The Grade 2’s and 3’s have their own fun gala with a few formal races for the junior team swimmers and the Grade 1’s wait until the end of the year, when their pupils are more water confident, before they have their “big splash”.

Our swimmers get the opportunity to swim in galas run by Eastern Province Aquatics. Those swimmers just starting out, are able to swim in the C age group galas – where they complete in a 25m pool. There are three of these galas in a season of which Clarendon Park normally hosts the first one. These galas are a wonderful introduction to competitive swimming, because they are a lot of fun and swimmers receive certificates for a place.

The more advanced swimmers participate in the B age group galas which are swum in a 50m pool. There are also three galas per season. At the end of the season, EP Aquatics select the top 9 swimmers from each event, to swim at the Top 9 galas. Many of our swimmers qualify to swim in this gala each year.

We also participate in the Premier inter-schools relay league , where our teams hold their own, with many of them winning their age group replays.

Although we can boast having swimmers who are selected to represent EP Schools at National level, we realise that swimming is not only a sport, but it is also a very important life skill and it is our aim to make each and every pupil at Clarendon Park water confident and water safe.

Tennis

Tennis at Clarendon Park is one of the most well attended sports. There is a place for every pupil, at any level of proficiency, from Grade 3 to Grade 7 who wants to play tennis. We are one of the few schools in Port Elizabeth that have 6 tennis courts which are utilized every afternoon with coaching or matches taking place.
We cater for beginners’ tennis, junior intermediate, senior intermediate and team tennis. Beginners’ tennis being so important for the foundation to Clarendon Park tennis, we try to keep the groups as small as possible with 8-10 players per coach, using all six courts.

Clarendon Park is proud of the high standard of tennis played by the team players. During the first and fourth terms league matches are played on Tuesdays (boys’ doubles) and Thursdays (girls’ doubles). We are one of a few schools that enters 4 boys’ teams and 4 girls’ teams in the league.

In the second and third terms mixed double matches are played on Tuesdays. Once again Clarendon is one of a handful of schools who are able to enter 7 teams in the winter league. Our first team is at this stage unbeaten this year. Many of our lower teams play against the 1st and 2nd teams from other schools.

Clarendon Park is proud that 8 of our tennis players have represented Easter Province this year in their particular age group.

The team practise each week affords the team players the opportunity to challenge those immediately above them on the tennis ladder, enabling them to move up the ladder. The incentive is that the top 6 girls and top 6 boys participate in the annual tennis tour - an out of-of-town opportunity for our Clarries players to pit their skills against stronger teams from other areas.