Fakenham writer’s lifetime love of rugby
In his weekly Wensum column, Fakenham writer Jim Harding discusses his love of sport and fitness…
I have always admired rugby international Maro Itoje for the way he plays the game. My admiration went up a notch when I read that he is not the swearing type. As the new England captain perhaps his team-mates expect him to have a go at them before, during or after a big match. Perhaps he does but is careful with the language he uses. Has this got anything to do with the fact that I don't swear myself? I was football captain of my house, Drake, at Woking Grammar and endeavoured to set a good example. To me that never included swearing.
I was taught by my parents to watch how I used language. They were strict but always played by the rules - which I found hard to cope with as a child but I saw the sense of in later life. If my lip reading is anything to go by, footballers regularly curse the referee although may just baulk at addressing him directly. As they set an example for a host of young people watching from the stands or on television, I reckon their behaviour is far more influential than perhaps they realise.
To return to rugby, it used to be played at Woking Grammar School but when I attended, an accident had prompted senior staff to ban it, so in those teenage years my main indulgence was football. Rugby was sidelined although I loved watching the game on television, especially the internationals.
When we moved to Fakenham, rugby was introduced in the high school curriculum by then senior PE teachers Adrian Stringer and Terry Bishop which meant that all our three sons learnt to play and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Suddenly they were teaching me more about the rules than I ever knew before.
During my years in Sydney, I often went along to matches and I found myself gripped by the encounters and the dynamism of it all. Plus the fact that there was invariably scoring, either through tries or kicking conversions. Even now I prefer to watch rugby and am always disheartened by the way some soccer players ignore the rules and grab hold of an opponent's shirt to stop his progress. A yellow card often follows but if it was a red, as I reckon it should be, surely the foul would be far more effective. Footballers hate to be sent off and their supporters are not best pleased either to have their side reduced in numbers. The offence would definitely be taken more seriously by players, knowing what the consequences would be.
With the Six Nations rugby encounters now under way, I will pay even closer attention to Maro. His leadership, I'm sure, will be a crucial factor in England's performances because I think he is a natural leader and sets an excellent example. That, of course, does not automatically produce wins but it will be interesting to see how the whole team plays with him as their standard. Captaincy is a big task, as I know from my own experience as a player/manager of a semi-professional soccer team in Victoria when my wife and I taught out there in the same college for a couple of years. Never underestimate the importance of certain roles in sports teams. They can be, and often are, crucial.
In similar territory, I was one of those who campaigned for years to have a proper sports centre in Fakenham. When it finally arrived, much to the delight of everyone who had worked so hard to bring it about, the indoor facilities were a major attraction. I queued up to join on the day it opened to take advantage of a reduced annual fee for the first year of membership. I believe it was available to the first hundred in the queue. So off I went on my bike that Saturday morning to obtain a spot. Anyway, I made the cut and have been a member ever since.
The advantage to the high school was the availability of a large indoor space for such activities as badminton and basketball, the school's gym being small in comparison. Personally, I have used the weight training area until recently and taken regular hour-long classes conducted by excellent instructors. Nowadays, I even indulge in a more relaxed session on Fridays which is called 'sit and be fit' although standing is often included. It's socially good fun and a pleasure to attend. Paying for membership is a great incentive to attend and, now in my eighties, I still plan to keep going for the foreseeable future.
