Horrible accounts of thuggish behaviour, glasses of the incompetent being smashed by sports bullies, sheer misery of being the last to be selected for a team, pupils with asthma forced to perform beyond their capabilities... Government proposals to ensure increased sports in schools seems to have brought out terrible memories!
It made me think that, at Hertford, the limited varieties of sport we did were administered quite reasonably. Nobody was forced to do any activity they found impossible because there were no extreme activities. Nobody was mocked for their physical build or abilities. Perhaps the extreme modesty to which we adhered (no communal showers!) prevented any strip-off-in-front-of-your-peers traumas?
For myself, I really disliked hockey. I was too fat to run fast, and lacked the stamina to do so. So I was placed at Left Back, and that's where I stayed. Back! The main difficulty was feeling so cold in hockey and netball because we weren't allowed sweaters. But swimming, tennis and a limited amount of field sports were quite kindly taught. Cricket was DR's thing... the keen girls were quickly spotted and put into teams, and the rest of us trailed up to Ashbourne, made daisy chains on the edge of the pitch, trailed down again...
The gym! Again, there was no unpleasantness if you couldn't climb a rope, somersault, or vault over a horse. You just did your best and after forty minutes it was all over. (Somersaulting! With my huge bosom, it would have made so much difference to wear a modern sports bra.
) The worst PE story I ever heard was that Miss Gravett would make her class lie on the edge of the pool and go along tipping in those who weren't confident. Hmm. If you were nervous of the water, not good!
I wasn't particularly sporty or competitive, but enjoyed physical effort and the glow of exertion. I was deeply thrilled to be in the 2nd Tennis V1. I loved to play (although didn't really mind winning or losing) but wished so much to succeed and be included in a team.
I've never met any Old Girl to whom sport was absolute hell.
Mistresses! Miss Ling, Miss Gravett, but most of all the unforgettable Nellie Norman!
Squizzing: "Angela is rather tubby...". So tactful, Nellie! (I wish I could tell Nellie that this year, I have gone, from being unable to run far, to having trained to run 10k as a pre-Olympic training challenge organised by a local Running Club. I was determined to do this. And succeeded! Now I'd like to train for a (tortoise-like, probably
) half marathon for charity next year...)Unlike many of my Hertford Memories, I think our sporting education was good!
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