I remember when SA was allowed back into international sports (am I showing my age here or what?). Everyone at my primary school was so excited that they set up TVs in the hall, the woodwork room, the needlework room - wherever there was space. (Was there really a need for subjecting young girls to hell on earth in a special room? It's a bit dubious: the needles, the isolation. It was so they couldn‘t hear our screams…) When we had a free lesson, or, to be honest, whenever we really wanted to, we could go and watch whatever game was happening. The teachers were all watching anyway. It was kewl.
Sadly I went to an all girls' high school and most of the teachers were women. Now many of the teachers and many of the girls liked sports, at least at national level, and wanted to know scores. But because we were an academically obsessed school that held the premise that women did not care less about scores we did not set up TVs. This was dumb because no one did any work when there was a match on, as we were all wondering what the hell the score was.
Girls schools are all about denial and repression and secrets and desires. So we denied our repressed desires to follow sports. And followed them in secret. We had an underground network system, our very own bush telegraph. Certain girls and teachers had radios or even TVs hidden in their classrooms, and our system ensured that anyone who wanted to could know the score without publicly acknowledging an obsession with sport. Our teachers used to phone each other for occasional updates. Sweet.
I have a feeling that the initial fever over our sporting endeavors had faded somewhat. It was exciting when we were new and winning. Now we are old hats, and our star has faded a bit, but I am always looking forward to new exploits and great moments. Sport has the ability to inspire even immovable underachievers like me.
