High School
SPORT
All St Andrew’s boys are expected to play a school sport in summer and winter. We are a small school, so each boy is needed to make the school competitive. Boys are welcome to take part in outside sport like fencing, shooting, cycling and karate but must also do a school sport.
The sport policy is available from the office on request.
Cricket
Our successful cricket programme caters for boys of all abilities from Grade 1 to Grade 12. We have a number of teams in each age group. Each team has a qualified, passionate coach, with the senior teams benefitting from the expertise of professional coaches.
Our high school teams, in particular, play against the strongest cricketing schools from around South Africa. The 1st XI is ranked in the top cricket schools in South Africa, having won the regional T20 School Competition numerous times over the past few years. Our development stratgies are no where more evident than in our Old Andreans playing cricket, over the past 8 years, we have produced 12 professional players and have boys playing overseas at club and country level.
The 1st team travels extensively and typically attends the Grey Festival (Bloemfontein and PE in alternate years), the Independent Schools Festival, Cape Schools Festival and the North/South T20 tournament in Pretoria.
Our belief is to lay the foundation in the younger age groups, and then become as specific and individualized in our programmes as boys move into the senior age groups. Whether a boy is a future professional player or just a recreational cricketer, we encourage participation and strive to create opportunities for all.
Our facilities include: five cricket fields, 3 banks of turf cricket nets, artificial nets as well as a High-Performance Indoor Centre. The High Performance Centre features 7 nets, state-of-the-art Pitch Vision analysis technology and 20m bowlers run ups.
We believe that with our world class facilities, coaching innovation and specific sport science focus, we are in a position to develop aspiring young cricketers to their full potential. Our philosophy is not centred around winning, but rather a focus on individual development.
AJ van Wyk
Director of Cricket | ajvanwyk@sasb.co.za
Rugby
Our rugby teams, from U9 to 1st XV, with Schalk Ferreira and Lieben Pietersen at the helm, play participate in the private schools arena as well as in the local A-League.
Rugby at St Andrew’s dates back to 1882 when the first recorded rugby match in the Free State was played between St Andrew’s and Grey College.
Our U16 and 1st XV teams have recently been winners in their leagues and played in all the finals. Every year we have between 5 – 7 boys selected for the Free State Kiewiete Side with Old Boy’s playing in provincial and University teams.
The Independent School Rugby Festivals regularly get hosted at St Andrew’s, as we are historically part of the Independent Schools network. Our facilities include 3 full rugby pitches, one under lights and a modern fully equiped gym.
Schalk Ferreira
Director of Rugby | schalk.ferreira@sasb.co.za
Squash
Squash at St Andrew’s… more than just a sport …
Our Squash programme offers those who participate in the game the opportunity of learning life-long values of honesty, integrity, discipline, respect, tolerance, sportsmanship and ultimately, ambassadorship.
Squash began at St Andrew’s in 1959, when the then Headmaster, Mr Jumbo Ferrandi, a keen squash enthusiast started the squash coaching at St Andrew’s, using the Defence Force (Tempe) courts. Our first two courts were built in 1977. We were blessed to see the addition of a championship squash court to our complex in 2000. We now have access to 5 courts, including Municipals at Victoria Park.
Coaching and administrative excellence and commitment
Our Coach, Calvin Deutschmann has received several honours awards from Squash South Africa including, the SA National Coach of the year award in 2008. He has coached and managed national SA Schools and SA Junior U19 teams on tours to Botswana, Namibia, Canada, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, USA and Poland, and has attended international coaching courses in Egypt and Sweden. In 2014 and 2016, he managed and coached the South African Under 19 team to the Junior World Championships.
Calvin Deutschmann and manageress, Margo Morgan, are dedicated and valued members of the South African Squash community. They are also members of the South African National Schools Squash Executive Committee and continue to serve as National Junior Selectors for Squash South Africa. Both have been awarded National Honours Awards for service to Squash in South Africa. Margo Morgan was also awarded the prestigious Squash SA Merit award in 2009 for service to Squash at National level.
The school has hosted the highly successful St Andrew’s FNB Squash Festival for the past 32 years for as many as 24 schools from around the country.
Our squash programme is built on the following pillars:
- Enjoyment of the game.
The development of each player in a highly professional coaching environment. - A holistic programme
The development of a squash community and sense of family. - Outreach development squash programmes.
- Community Support.
Our programme is growing exponentially, and our squash complex is a hive of activity. We now offer squash as part of the Foundation Phase Physical Education curriculum. We enter as many as 8 teams in the Free State Senior leagues annually – there is a place for everyone to play – all levels and standards of players are welcome.
Margo Morgan
Director of Squash | mmorgan@sasb.co.za
Hockey
Hockey started at St Andrew’s in 1948 and has since produced top-class players in a fast-growing school sport.
We currently have 380 boys playing in 43 junior and senior teams. We play against the country’s top 20 teams and regularly rank in the top 10 – 20 in South Africa.
Hockey statistics
- 33 junior teams
- 10 senior teams
- 380 players (over half of the school)
- 6 – 8 Free State players in each age group annually
- Saints’ players currently make up half of the Free State U18 team
- St Andrew’s has two National U17 players
- In 2018, Thami Mdubeki was awarded SA colours in the U18 age group.
- In 2022, Thami Mdubeki and Michael Davids were chosen for the SA U21 team.
Trevor Raubenheimer
Director of Hockey | trevor@sasb.co.za
Golf
Football
Football has been a school sport for the past 5 years and has grown in leaps and bounds since its introduction.
Our floodlit Vic Park Complex, in Reid Street, across the road, affords us the opportunity to cater for our football fans and players on their ‘home ground’.
Football is played in the Junior and Senior grades our U15 and 1st Team take part in the Nedbank Festival at Grey College and other tournaments around the country.
St Andrew’s also hosts the well received U15 and U19 Night League, unique to the Free State. This league attracts schools from around the province, annually in the second half of the year.
Elliot Motseki
Director of Football | elliot@sasb.co.za
SWIMMING
Swimming has grown at St Andrew’s in the past few years and is offered as a summer sport in the Junior grades, with swimmers in squads training out of school in clubs across Bloemfontein.
The Inter-house gala is a major fixture on the school calendar in the beginning of the year and Inter-High is one of the highlights. Inter-house is swum early in the season to be used as indicator for team selection for the Inter-Schools gala. We currently send a junior and senior squad to the Inter-schools galas with boys progressing through the ranks to Nationals in all age groups.
Our swimming facilities are on campus and used by our staff for PT, from Pre-school age and outside clubs.
AJ Mouton
Head of Swimming | ajmouton@sasb.co.za
TENNIS
Tennis at St Andrew’s is played by a number of boys in a 1st and 2nd Team, under the guidance of Nico Jurgensen as coach.
The Gordon Forbes Tennis Complex was established in 2019 with newly resurfaced courts and facilities. The school enters teams into local leagues and has seen pleasing results in the past three years. The Teams play in all the schools’ traditional derby’s against Independent Schools.
Nico Jurgensen
Director of Tennis | nico@sasb.co.za
Gym
The school gym is a valuable facility for our sports teams and is on the premises for the use of all boys. The modern, well-equipped gym is managed by our resident sports scientist who oversees all the training and plans individual programmes for all our boys, depending on individual needs and sports played. The sports teams are regularly monitored by the sports scientist and full time physiotherapist for fitness, injury and training schedules.
The facility has played a vital role in the performance of the senior cricket, rugby, hockey and squash teams.
The gym is open between 05:00 and 17:00 for boys to use.
Erich Wolmarans
Sports Scientist | gym@sasb.co.za