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The vision
of St Stithians Girls’ College is to be a “South African school making a world
of difference” and through sport, it has established itself as a competitive
force, which boasts a number of national, provincial and district
representatives in a number of sports.

St Stithians
takes a holistic approach to education, even introducing the “attitude of
gratitude” that they promote amongst the girls – being thankful for the body
and the talents you have and making the most of them and having an attitude of
wellness.

St Stithians
sporting highlights are many. The highlight last year was Kate Johnstone and
Anthea Dickson being selected to row for South
Africa in China
at the Junior World Championships.  It is
also currently one of the top hockey and netball schools in the country and it
is also the provincial equestrian champion.

Liz van
Veyeren, Director of Sport at St Stithians, is a sports enthusiast of note. One
of her personal highlights is seeing the school grounds flooded with girls in
the afternoon.

Her advice
to parents: “The best advice I can give is to encourage but not to push! It is
important for parents to educate their children about the benefits of sport and
a healthy lifestyle, but they will put them off totally if they force them into
activities they are not keen on. Children must be given the freedom to make
their own, informed decisions.”

Liz spoke to
gsport about sport at St Stithians Girls” College and how it promotes sport
among girls.

Tell us about St Stithians?

St Stithians
Girls’ College opened its doors in January 2005. We are part of a family of 5
schools which cater for boys and girls from grade 0 to 12. At the Girls’
College we cater for 13-18 year olds from grade 8-12. The vision of our school
is to be a “South African school making a world of difference.”

What is the state of sport at St Stithians and how
has it developed over the years?

Currently we
are proud to be ranked amongst the top schools in the country in many of our
sporting codes. We offer a wide variety of sports and I believe that we have
managed to strike a good balance between encouraging mass participation whilst
also getting good results.

We
established ourselves as a competitive force very early on, and have built on
that reputation as the years have continued. We are able to boast a number of
national, provincial and district representatives in a variety of sports,
including rowing, swimming, diving, water polo, tennis, squash, equestrian,
hockey, netball, soccer and athletics.

Why is it important to promote sport among girls at St
Stithians?

St Stithians
offers a holistic education so offering an extensive extra mural program helps
us to achieve this goal. Sport is an essential part of school life. It also
teaches many lessons that can’t be taught in the classroom – dealing with
success and failure, handling responsibility, commitment, sportsmanship,
leadership and many others.

It ties in
with the “attitude of gratitude” that we promote amongst our girls – being
thankful for the body and the talents you have and making the most of them and
having an attitude of wellness.

What have been your school’s biggest sporting
highlights?

I think that
there are highlights every year, depending where the emphasis has been. For me,
success is seeing all the girls in the school competing in an inter house cross
country event, or walking past the sports fields and seeing them flooded with
girls practicing their sporting code in the afternoon – because then I know
that they see value in participating in sport and that is a personal highlight.

But I am
also proud of our many girls who have gone on to represent us at a higher
level, as well as our teams who have won numerous high profile competitions,
for example, we have been the Inter High tennis champions, inter high diving
champions for the past 10 years, in the top 2 in the local top schools’ squash
competition, we are currently one of the top hockey and netball schools in the
country and we are also the provincial equestrian champions.

We boast a
number of provincial water polo players and we are currently national champions
in a number of rowing events, with 2 of our girls representing South Africa in China last year. So our highlights
are numerous and diverse!

Tell us about your annual hockey festival?

The Easter
Hockey Festival is run in conjunction with our annual rugby festival, which is
celebrating its 25^th year this year. We have 10 girls’ teams
competing in the hockey festival – 4 prep school teams and 6 high school teams.

The festival
took place on 20, 22 and 24 March and ran from 07h30 to 20h30 each day. We also
had 10 boys’ teams playing so it really is a festival of hockey! The atmosphere
is unrivalled and the festival is efficiently run and organized by our parents’
hockey committee. It has become a very sought after invitation to receive and I
have a long list of schools, all waiting to get an invite for next year
already.

 
We
frequently have overseas teams playing – last year we had a girls’ team from Australia and one from Zimbabwe, and this year we have a boys’ team
from the UK.
Last year, a comment passed was that our festival was better run and had a
better “vibe” than “some international tournaments”! There are all sorts of
stalls and activities on all 3 days so the festival atmosphere is really
apparent.

 
What are some of the other sports events hosted by
St Stithians?’

We have just
hosted the annual A league and Premier league swimming galas, the annual inter
high diving event, inter high and inter zonal tennis and district hockey and
netball trials. We also host athletics events and cross country events. At our
annual Spring Festival, we host an adventure race, and our prep school has
recently started hosting biathels.

What are some of the challenges that face schools
sport in South Africa?

I think that
many schools are forced to stop offering sport due to a lack of good facilities
which is always a huge pity – it seems budgetary restraints hit sport first.
Many schools no longer offer Physical Education which is a tragedy – we are
raising an unhealthy and unfit nation.

The other
spin off of that is that there are so few new teachers qualifying that have any
sports expertise. I think that politicians also need to recognise that there
are passionate and knowledgeable people involved in school sport and they must
hear our concerns and ideas – I know that many of us feel that we are dictated
to by people who are not “on the ground”.

Obviously
another challenge is technology – many children would rather watch TV than play
sport and this behaviour is often encouraged by their parents. So that is why I
said a highlight for me is seeing our sports field flooded with girls in the
afternoons – I know that they get what we are trying to instill in them and
that they recognize the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

What is the most popular girls sport at St Stithians
and why?

We have very
high levels of participation in all our sports so it is hard to say exactly. In
the summer terms our girls choose from 7 sports so obviously there will be
fewer girls participating in those sports than in hockey and netball in winter
as those are the 2 main sports for that term. We encourage all our girls to
participate in at least one sport per term.

Tell us more about your school’s sports facilities?

We are very
lucky to have some amazing facilities at our disposal: we have a hockey astro
(and are busy planning astro 2), 6 netball/tennis courts, 6 squash courts, a
gymnasium, numerous sports fields, a rowing ergo room, and a world class
aquatics centre comprising a 25m pool, diving pool, heated water polo pool and
a 50m pool. These facilities obviously help us to promote sports participation
at our school.

Who are some of the sports stars that your school
has produced?

As I
mentioned earlier, we produce a number of provincial and district
representatives every year. The highlight last year was Kate Johnstone and
Anthea Dickson being selected to row for South
Africa in China
at the Junior World Championships.

What is your vision for sport at St Stithians in
2008?

I would like
to see every girl participating in a sport and thereby continue to promote
wellness – not only amongst the girls but also amongst the staff. On a more
competitive note, I would like to see us continue to produce such amazing
results and to uphold the good reputation we have established amongst our
rivals.

What is your advice to parents keen for their
children to take up sport at school?

The best
advice I can give is to encourage but not to push! It is important for parents
to educate their children about the benefits of sport and a healthy lifestyle,
but they will put them off totally if they force them into activities they are
not keen on. Children must be given the freedom to make their own, informed
decisions.

How can someone make contact with St Stithians?

Our website
– www.stithian.com – gives a
comprehensive guide to many aspects of the school. Alternatively, the Girls’
College can be contacted on 011 577 6300.