Unstoppable Mondale shows who owns Southern Zone A section
Mondale High girls under-15 shot put star, Callen Campbell, proudly lifts a poster reading “If not blue then who?” at the Southern Zone Section A high schools athletics meet, at Green Point Stadium. Callen finished second in her event to secure a spot at the Southern Zone championship due to be held on Saturday, February 21, at the same venue.
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While many motorists in the Cape Town CBD were stuck in traffic yesterday, Wednesday, 12, due to today’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Mining Indaba at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Portland’s Mondale High School athletics team was busy clocking points on the scoreboard to secure victory at the Southern Zone Section A meeting at nearby Green Point Stadium.
Having won the section on 17 occasions in the last 21 years in its current form, and crowned Super A champion on three occasions in a previous schools' setup, Mondale has developed a reputation as the school to beat. No wonder one of the rallying cries reverberating from the Mondale section on the pavilion howled: “Ons soek 'n skool wat vir ons kan wen” (We’re looking for a school that can beat us).
As it turned out, once again, no one showed up, as Mondale finished on 728.5 points, a commanding 218 points clear of their nearest rivals, South Peninsula, who finished on 510.5 points. Fish Hoek claimed third place with 443 points, followed by Zeekoevlei, Norman Henshilwood, Plumstead, Wynberg Boys, Heathfield High, Pelican Park, Hershel, and the International School of Cape Town.
Mondale High supporters beaming from ear to ear as their school racks up points at the Southern Zone A Section high schools athletics meeting, at Green Point Stadium.
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But this was not business as usual, as it required a special kind of effort to ensure their athletes were in peak form despite limited training time, said the school’s head coach, Val Raynard.
Taking care of 110 athletes, he said, and seeing to each one’s individual needs to ensure they perform at their best is no easy task.
“This year, I handed some of my coaching responsibilities over to some of the younger teachers,” he said.
“We believe that there must always be some sort of succession plan going forward. They need to be able to uphold the ethos and the values that Mondale holds onto so dearly,” said Raynard.
“You know the saying, there's no 'I' in team.. So it was a team effort from coaches to staff members, making sure the athletes get their academic work up to date as well,” he said.
Mondale High athletes and an army of supporters fill up their section of the pavilion at Wednesday's Southern ZoneSection A high schools athletics meeting, at Green Point Stadium.
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Mondale’s record of winning this competition, he said, including the one time they finished runner-up to a very talented Steenberg High coached by the highly respected Cedric van Wyk, bears testimony to the abundance of talent at Mondale and in Mitchell’s Plain in general.
“This achievement is something that surely must be spoken about more as Mitchell's Plain is truly blessed to have such a lot of talent,” said Raynard.
“We made sure our morning sessions are as intense as possible so we get the maximum possible out of them. We also try to cultivate a winning mentality at Mondale so that our athletes, as well as our learners, know they are not governed by their circumstances. We are greater than our circumstances. Our blood is blue...and we hold steadfast to our school motto Monte Desus, which means, Soar Upwards,” he said.