Sagewood Sports Festival

Sagewood School held a Sports Festival in Honour of Mr. Derek Knipe. 

The following schools participated in this event: 

• Summit College 
• Crawford school (Fourways)
• Lebone II
• The Kings School (Robin Hills)
• Reddam House (Waterfall)
• Kings School (West Rand) 
• Nizamiye School 
• Sagewood School (hosts)

Ms Johreen Patel (Director) gave this heartwarming speech before officially opening the festival. 

Good morning everybody,

In the year 2002, some 11 years ago, Sagewood School saw the enrolment of a little girl into Grade 1.  And with that came a family who would embrace the Sagewood ethos and uphold the values of our school and in so doing knit strong bonds of trust among Sagewood stakeholders.

Mr. Derek Knipe joined the PTA of Sagewood School in the year in which he enrolled his daughter Leigh Anne.  His enthusiasm and positivity for the school became contagious and he was soon voted in as the chairperson of the PTA. This platform provided him with the opportunity to become a pioneer and introduce many new initiatives into the school’s social programme.  

Being an enthusiastic sportsman himself, Derek used the natural energy that sport generates to drive the PTA. With Sagewood being a small school with virtually no sports facilities at the time and a conservative sports programme, this self-motivated and driven leader introduced the Sagewood Soccer and Netball Festival. The introductory event saw the pupils of the school divided onto teams play round robins to produce winning teams of the day in Soccer and Netball.

The following year more events were added to the programme where the parents and teachers played matches against each other much to the delight of our children. Soon this annual event grew to include the participation of the surrounding schools, but more important, the enthusiasm and camaraderie amongst the parents and teachers became tangible. I remember the rivalry between the teacher and parent Netball teams became so intense that the teachers found themselves practising in order to be the victors of the big day.

So, it is with humility, pride and much gratitude that we take the time today to honour a man and his family for investing so much of themselves into our school.

To Charmaine Knipe; the wife to Derek and mum to Leigh- Anne for the continued support and positivity.  Your conduct makes the saying ring true; behind every successful man is a successful woman. To Leigh-Anne, you certainly mirror the amazing qualities of your parents. You make following saying ring true; the apple does not fall far from the tree. And then to Mr. Derek Knipe: We certainly remember him for his passion, drive and commitment to make things work. I certainly remember the humility he brought to every situation and the regard for everybody around him. 

There is a warmth within as I recall the times I spent with him planning and organising events.  The most precious memory and biggest lesson learnt from Derek was his innate ability to use the natural energy that sport ignites in the human condition, whether it be the hunger of the participants to win, or the pride of the parent to relive their youth in the experience of their child, or the enthusiasm and passion of the spectator, or the planning and organising ability of the convener. Derek had the vision, passion and drive to use sport and the magic that it brings to create a legacy of building relationships. We thus honour Mr. Derek Knipe  today  by announcing that henceforth the Sagewood Festival will be called: The Derek Knipe Netball and Soccer Festival.

This serves to have us remember the pioneers in our history who certainly have an influence on the successes we enjoy today.  11 years ago this event was 180 participants big.  Today it is 500 participants big.

I’d like to ask Mrs.Knipe and Leigh Anne to come forward and receive a Trophy in Honour of a man we hold in high regard, MR. DEREK KNIPE.

Thank you I’d like to thank all the participating schools for joining in the competition today.  We certainly feel honoured to have you on our campus. Play hard, play well, but most importantly Enjoy!

And with that I announce the official opening of today’s programme.

Let the games begin!

 

Teams entering the field

Ms Johreen Patel giving a trophy to Mrs.Knipe and Leigh Anne