Sporting Memories
| Earliest Sporting Memory | .jpg) |
| Playing football for my primary school on Friday afternoons in the winter term. Having to walk across town to play the other primary schools. A half day out of the classroom and the pride of having your name called out in morning assembly and being handed your jersey for the game in front of the school. | |
| Richmond Park, which now houses the Welsh Football League Premier Team, Carmarthen Town was then a sorrowful pitch with potholes and 18 yard boxes that were either quagmires of mud or bonehard patches that cut me to ribbons as a young boy trying to emulate my heros: Chelsea’s Bonetti – ‘The Cat’, Leeds’ Sprake, Northern Ireland’s Pat Jennings with his one handed catches at full length, Stoke City’s Gordon Banks with a jaw dropping save from Pele and Aston Villa’s Jimmy Rimmer. Richmond was my playground where I could be any one of these heroes. | |
| Earliest Rugby Memory | |
| Rugby, never really took over my head, until that day when Gareth Edwards stirred my nationalistic feeling that a small nation could be a powerful force on the world scene. I was happy whatever sport I played – I was in a team. The chance to play for Carmarthen & District Schools Rugby Union under 11’s came one night with a phone call on the Monday night before the Saturday morning. The game was Aberavon away and boy was I excited. A coach trip for a start and we would probably be playing on a first class ground that would have a grandstand – this was the start of something big. My imagination was set alight and the excitement was excruciating. | |
| Friday night came with new togs polished to a high finish, socks green with white tops and boiled white shorts bought. Then the phone call comes that the game was postponed or what they meant exactly was cancelled. I learnt early in life that postponed meant put off till a later date and cancelled that the game would never be seen again The organisers’ use of the English language seemed poor to a ten year old because that game was never played. Many Saturdays lay ahead driven around by Sid Jones in his converted mini van which had a canvas cover across the back and could fit at least 4 of us. Martin Jones (Sid by nickname), Ian Stone, my second cousin (Stoney), Andy Velasco (Val), Simon Thomas (Lanc) and many more. It was over the thirty four years later at Stoney’s mother’s funeral that I plucked up the gumption to thank Sid the elder for all the good times that I had enjoyed under his guidance. | |
| Who was your sporting icon when you were growing up? | |
| Football: Peter Bonetti, Gary Sprake, Gordon Banks, Pat Jennings | |
| Rugby: Delme Thomas, Gareth Edwards. Graham Price, John Bevan, Terry Cobner | |
| What was the highest point in your career? | |
| Not playing at the various stadiums in England and Wales and sometimes beating the best sides in the country such as Bath, Saracens, Harlequins etc. | |
| Not running out at Stradey Park and playing for the club that my father had taken me to watch diligently every Wednesday home game as an infant. | .jpg) |
| But playing for school team, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School for Boys, Carmarthen and playing alongside my friends that I had grown up with and then carrying on the tradition of playing for the ‘Old Boys’ until I was nearly 40 and always having a passion of going into ‘battle’ with your friends by your side. | |
| Coaching Wise – seeing so many young Welsh Internationals and Provincial players coming through onto the scene that I had either coached during their development or actually introduced them to the sport at Primary School level. | |
| What was the lowest point in your career? | |
| Going through seven trials at Welsh School Boy Level, being picked for the squad and then the selectors bringing in a favourite of some Swansea teacher who hadn’t been to one trial throughout the year. | |
| What was your reason for retiring? | |
| Age and realization that there’s more to life than rugby. | |
| Who was your toughest opponent? | |
| Kevin Bowen, Carmarthen Quins/Athletic – a tight head prop, strong as an ox, about 4 foot 5 inches (sic) tall with sloping shoulders – horrendous scrummager who lived for the one to one confrontation. | |
| Bristol prop – Austin Sheppard – farmer and top scrummager | |
| What was your most memorable match? | |
| Beating Leicester away 9 – 6 and also beating London Yorkshire for my Old Boys school team on a Sunday afternoon in Putney 52-48 after having been 4-48 down at half time. The first half was a bit bleary after a morning session in The Sun Inn, Barnes – sobered up by the second half though! |
|
| Who do you think is the best player in world at the moment and why? Daniel Carter |
|
| Who’s going to win the next rugby union world cup? | |
If it’s not Daniel Carter and the All Blacks then it will be a team that has progressed and developed to an unbelievable level of fitness, skill competence and mental attitude to match New Zealand’s and even then they’ll have to have a lot of luck. |
|
| How does your job now compare to when you were playing rugby? | |
| During my playing career I was a teacher. I now work in the Leisure sector at an Adventure Centre. I have now found a job where I can see young people develop their self-esteem through various challenges. In retrospect my development as a rugby player was acceptable but how many young men were not able to enjoy sport in general due to the demands that rugby put on them as the only sport of our generation. | |
| A sense of adventure is natural to young people. Outdoor adventure can become a route through which they may be introduced to a wide range of physically rewarding sports, both competitive and noncompetitive. Adventurous activities may be pursued at any level of difficulty, allow for progression from foundation level to excellence, and are well-suited to lifelong participation. They encourage active and healthy lifestyles, benefiting each individual and society. | |
| What do you miss most about playing rugby? | |
|
|
Sponsored Links
|
