Bernadino set to hit the heights in hockey
Can-do head turns Scottsdene hub school into sport, academic success story
BERNADINO HEIGHTS HIGH was a prime example of the average disadvantaged school when Henry Alexander was appointed principal in 1993. The building and grounds were in a state of disrepair, the students were ill-disciplined under-achievers and sport and culture were almost non-existent.
However, Alexander and his staff were able to look beyond the broken windows, dusty sports fields and low pass-rates to envision a future where Bernadino Heights would excel at academics, cultural activities and, importantly, sport
Today his dream is a reality – the school boasts a 98.4 percent matric pass-rate, has dominated the A Division of Cape Town schools athletics for several years, and its facilities rival those of any other school.
Now, Bernadino Heights is also set to become a major hub of hockey development and transformation in South Africa.
Alexander says the school has partnered with the South African Hockey Association (Saha) to jumpstart participation in the area.
“They would like to establish hockey as a sport within the previously disadvantaged communities,” he says.
“Officials from SA Hockey came down from Johannesburg to set up a structure in the Kraaifontein area for the development of hockey in this whole region, with the school as a base and involving the other schools in the area.
“The plan entails that we set up a hockey league in Kraaifontein. Then we also plan to start a hockey club for the community, so they can also use the facility at the school.”
The plan was set into motion when Gary Dolley, a project manager at Saha, read a newspaper article mentioning the construction of a brand new, R28million sports facility at the school.
The facility was built by the Western Cape provincial government and includes a 400-metre tartan track for athletics, grass embankments for spectators, a rugby field and an astro-turf pitch for hockey.
Dolley also investigated Alexander’s track record at the school and leapt into action after learning of his “excellent management and leadership”.
“When we visited the school we did an assessment of what was required and met with the school leadership. The facility was there, but it wasn’t yet being optimally utilised because it was only opened last year,” he says.
“We came on board and provided four sets of goalkeeper kits, which are quite expensive. We also provided around 50 topclass composite sticks and we organised about 50 sets of boots.”
This equipment will be used by the school’s own hockey teams, which were started around five years ago, and the next step will see other nearby schools involved.
“There are about eight primary schools and four high schools within a five-kilometre radius of the hub, so on May 13 we will conduct a coaching level-zero and basic umpiring course for the identified schools in that area,” Dolley says.
“We have also made other equipment available for the primary schools. Ultimately, come the third term of this year, hopefully we will be able to start an internal league amongst the eight primary schools.”
The project is likely to be the first of three Saha has planned for previously disadvantaged areas in Cape Town. However, Dolley says the focus of the project is not transformation, but increased participation.
“Our approach is pragmatic,” he says. “Saha’s core function is to grow the game, but one of the drawbacks when it comes to a code like hockey is the facility. We don’t have the capacity or money to build facilities.
“The facility (at Bernadino Heights) is there, so we can quite clearly tick that box. What we are bringing on board is coach education and organising local fixtures so that we can expose people in the community, very cost-effectively, to hockey. Based on that, quite clearly you have a growth strategy. We want to duplicate the same thing in Langa, because there is a facility there, and at Vygieskraal Stadium in Athlone. So if we expose eight new schools at each of those hubs, it gives you a total of 24 new schools. If the facility is situated in a previously disadvantaged area, it’s a bonus.”
Dolley adds that Saha has already indentified similar sites around South Africa and could take the project nation-wide if Bernadino Heights is a success.
Alexander has little doubt that it will be, but says the project is just one part of the sports growth and development taking place at his school.
The new facility is already used by pupils from Cavalleria, Parkdene and Watsonia primary schools and Scottsdene High, but Alexander wants even more involvement from the surrounding community.
“The vision that we have is that the facility must be used by the entire community of Kraaifontein. The facility is not only for the learners of the Bernadino Heights High School, but all the schools in the area, the community itself and the athletics clubs,” he says.
Alexander is currently liaising with the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport to employ professional coaches for several codes to coach local children from around Kraaifontein.
Though his current focus is to involve as much of the community as possible, the principal is also thinking bigger, just as he was in 1993.
“In a couple of years this facility must deliver results, so that we can also say a Wayde van Niekerk was produced here. This facility must deliver top athletes and hockey players. This facility must also be a counter to all the negative influences in the community; gangsterism, drug abuse, alcohol abuse. It must have an impact on the life of youth in the community as well.”