TROPHIES
A Tale of Three Trophies
We look at the stories behind three trophies that were highly sought after during the early days of South African Schools ’ Rowing , at a time when the ‘ A ’ Division Coxed Four race was the premier event at SA Champs .
Springbok Shield Photograph courtesy of Peter Stanes , Archivist / Historian at Auckland Grammar School , New Zealand
The Kiwi Shield
The interesting account below is taken from the programme for Jeppe ’ s 40 th Anniversary Regatta , which took place in 1998 .
“ In 1945 , Major WL Morrison , a South African in the Royal Engineers , found himself in Klagenfurt , close to the Worthersee , one of Austria ’ s many beautiful lakes . On its shores , he stumbled upon two boathouses full of slender racing shells . Major Morrison , in his time President of the Wits Boat Club , ‘ liberated ’ the boats and set about organising regattas , using oarsmen such as ERG Rowe ( President of Oxford ), Perfect ( Stroke of Cambridge ) and O ’ Hara and Pinches ( Olympic oarsmen ).
Meanwhile , not far away in Monfalcone in Italy , the 2nd New Zealand Division under Captain Tregurtha had also found some racing boats , and were soon whipping through the water in them . Regattas between the two groups were as inevitable as the defeat of Hitler . Morrison and Tregurtha became fast friends , and pondered ways and means of improving rowing standards . The New Zealanders mentioned how much they depended on school rowing for their oarsmen .
Soon after this , the Kiwis returned to New Zealand and Major Morrison to South Africa . Shortly after that , Major Morrison received from ‘ Down Under ’ a splendid shield of indigenous New Zealand woods with a Silver Springbok and Fern Leaf – it was the New Zealand 2nd Division ’ s gift to South African oarsmen , with a special injunction that the trophy be for schoolboy rowing .”
The SAARU was happy to oblige , and it was decided that this special trophy would be awarded to the top South African schools ’ Coxed Four in the country on an annual basis .
Mr ‘ Juni ’ Juniper presenting the Kiwi Shield at the SA Schools ’ Championships , 1996
The Springbok Shield
In 1963 , the Jeppe ‘ A ’ Crew , having been unbeaten all season , won its coxed fours race at the SA Championships , and with it the Kiwi Shield . This stimulated the Jeppe Rowing Committee ( JRC ) to plan the creation of a reciprocal trophy along the lines of the Kiwi Shield , for award to the top New Zealand schools ’ coxed four on an annual basis . They felt this would be a wonderful gesture that would promote international goodwill and links with the New Zealand rowing fraternity .
It was felt that as the then holders of the Kiwi Shield , Jeppe was well justified in taking this initiative . Hence the idea of the Springbok Shield was born , and the JRC committed itself to the project , with Mr Douglas Silverthorne playing the leading role . He was an enthusiastic and committed member of the JRC for a number of years in the early ‘ 60s , and his son , Warwick , who was a member of the ‘ 63 and ‘ 64 ‘ A ’ crews , remembers him getting very involved with the Springbok Shield project in 1964 .
The Shield , modelled along the lines of the Kiwi Shield , was made by Mr ‘ Juni ’ Juniper , then chairman of the JRC . His eldest son , Milford , who was one of the top eight Jeppe rowers that year , remembers him spending many hours in his workshop making the Shield . It was eventually presented by Mr Silverthorne to Cllr Purvis of the NZARA , who was visiting Johannesburg at the time , to be awarded to the top under-19 coxed four at the NZ Secondary Schools ’ Championships .
The Shield , made of segments of seven different South African indigenous woods , is inscribed as follows : Springbok Shield Presented to the NZARA for Annual Competition between New Zealand Secondary Schools by the Committee of the Jeppe High School for Boys Rowing Club Johannesburg , South Africa , 1964
In 1980 the Principal of Tauranga Boys ’ College in New Zealand , wrote to Jeppe Headmaster , Mr David Quail , saying that his school “ had held this shield for the last three years , and the mother of two of the boys who have represented the college went to the sister school of Jeppe High School for Boys .” He went on to say , “ The Springbok Shield has been competed for annually … by the top 4 ’ s in New Zealand Secondary Schools
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