Hirsch Shield Span Aangekondig - St Andrew's College

Hirsch Shield. Photo above: o.19. The History of the Hirsch Shield Competition:

The competition was first held in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) in 1917 and was organised by the late Mr S Panther who was a leading athletics administrator of that time. The late Mr Clifford Harris of Gill College was one of the founding members and when a General Secretary position was created, he was a natural selection for the post.

In the early days, minutes were kept by the organising secretary. This was most frustrating, as the secretaries changed so often that the minutes of all early meetings have been lost. Since 1931 however, a full record of all meetings has been kept.

The early competition was limited to U19 athletes of any high school of the Eastern Province and Border. A handsome shield was presented by the late Mr JG Hirsch, who was a very keen sportsman, and who was, in fact, a Rugby Springbok.

120 yards hurdles

The number of events was limited, consisting of 100 yards, 440 yards, 1 mile, 120 yards hurdles (3ft 6 inches), a long jump and a cricket ball throw. The half mile was introduced in 1920 and in 1930 the shot put took the place of the cricket ball throw. Since then, many events have been added, to bring the meeting to full championship status.

Buffer events were held to fill up the programme, but these were later changed to include U16 events only. It was not until 1953, however, that the U16 competition was finally accepted.

In 1996, it was accepted that an U14 competition, named after Sammy Gunn, who for many years served as Secretary, would be introduced in 1997.

Marist Brothers

Schools taking part in 1917, as far as can be ascertained, were Marist Brothers, which won the competition, Grey High which was second, St Aidan’s, Muir College and probably Dale and Selborne Colleges.

The Hirsch Shield has been won by St Andrew’s College in 1959, 1969, 1981,1986, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2000 and 2001.

The Sam Gunn Shield has been won by St Andrew’s College in 1999.

The SF Edwards Shield has been won by St Andrew’s College in 1966, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990.

The participating schools this year are:

Queen’s College
Selborne College
Dale College
Cambridge High School
Hangklip High School
Stirling High School
Port Rex Technical High School
Marlow Landbou School
St Andrew’s College
Kingswood College
Graeme College
Grey High School
Pearson High School
Muir College

The St Andrew’s College Hirsch Shield Athletics Team for 2024 is:

Sam Gunn Shield

100m – Samkele Guma
200m – Samkele Guma
400m – Charles Broster
800m – Aiden Marriott
1500m – Scott Emslie
90m Hurdles – Spencer Gilchrist
Shot Put – Connor Holder
Discus – Cornelius van der Merwe
Javelin – Stuart Barrow
High Jump – Nick Laubscher
Long Jump – Nick Laubscher
4 x 100m Relay – Samkele Guma, Spencer Gilchrist, Sinesipho Sibiya, Charles Broster

SF Edwards Shield

100m – William Farquharson
200m – William Farquharson
400m – Qhawe Madikizela
800m – Michael Fowlds
1500m – Zack Fletcher
3000m – Zack Fletcher
110m Hurdles – Qhawe Madikizela
Shot Put – Josh van Zyl
Discus – Mark Ewing
Javelin – Mark Ewing
High Jump – Qhawe Madikizela
Long Jump – Jaryd Mattison
Pole Vault – Milo Douglas-Hamilton
Triple Jump – William Farquharson
4 x 100m Relay – William Farquharson, Zukolwakhe Mdodana, Qhawe Madikizela, Daniel Short

Hirsch Shield

100m -Murray Wilson
200m – Karabo van Heerden
400m – Murray Wilson
800m – Oliver Jonckheer
1500m – Thomas Clucas
3000m – Jean de Villiers
110m Hurdles – Alexander Hutton
Shot Put – Joe Kroon
Discus – Myles Sansom
Javelin – Cameron Bennett
High Jump – Karabo van Heerden
Long Jump – Alexander Hutton
Pole Vault – David Brits
Triple Jump – Karabo van Heerden
4 x 100m Relay – Murray Wilson, Alexander Hutton, Karabo van Heerden, Nicholas Hall