A Fish That Has Found Water

Iremember when I first met Mark Fish. It wasn’t a long interaction, as he ran past me in a blur of speed and skill, and proceeded to do the same to the rest of our Under-12a football team. It was at primary school, and the Waterkloof Primary football team was playing Sunnyside Primary in the league final at the Caledonian Stadium in Pretoria.

Sunnyside were famous for one thing – they had Mark Fish, a deadly striker in those days. Physically, he looked like a man among boys. Technically, he definitely played as a man among boys. I later called Fish a teammate at Arcadia Shepherds Football Club. And then he disappeared into the professional career we all knew he would make a success of.

But now, years later, the man sitting in front of me has a young daughter pottering around him, every now and then putting her