Sports

Ah...Wednesdays! You either loved them or you hated them...ours was a rugby school, and as I hated rugby, I hated Wednesdays. I know it's hard to believe but we weren't allowed to play football in games lessons - this meant we played football every single leisure hour we had, but if you were in the rugby first XV and you were caught playing football at break you were in deep trouble! That's how serious a rugby school we were.

All of this was down to one man - Dai Roberts. He single-handedly made our school one of the best in the county at rugby and also single handedly killed off the love of any kind of sport in anybody who didn't get on with rugby. Picture this - our first games lesson at senior school. A room full of new first years, eager to find out what this game was all about. New boots and kit at the ready we got changed for our first lesson. In that first lesson we learned how to tie our boots. Then we untied them, and tied them up again. Then because someone did it too slowly we did it again...and again....for a whole double period. But it did improve. The second lesson we had we learned how to get changed. Then we did it again because someone was too slow. Then again because someone had obviously forgotten how to tie their boots. Hmmm...if this is what rugby is all about you can keep it! And Dai Roberts punishments were something else!

Someone dared to take him on though...

"Dai Roberts... God, I hated rugby! I remember one time when Ian Craven and I were so tired of Dai's putting us down that we tried to tackle him. He ran about a hundred yards with Ian hanging onto one leg and me the other to touch down. Then he picked us up and said, "Nice try..." The only kind words he ever said to me! Like you, I hated sports till we could play hockey." It's OK John...I won't let on who you are....he's probably still out there somewhere!

Of course to get out of rugby we did cross country, which is a drastic way of escape. And to get out of cricket, which I still believe is one of the most boring games ever invented (almost equal with snooker) we did athletics.

And then in the fifth year along came hockey. We were suddenly allowed to play a game which was fun, and not only that you were occasionally allowed to play against the girls - now this was a sport worthy of attention! And for us weedy non - rugby players there was the added bonus that you were allowed a stick to hit each other with - far more sensible. From years of trying to avoid every games lesson I became hooked and played every hour I could.