The past year has once again been a successful one for our quiz teams at Victoria Park High School. Our various teams competed well and truly lived up to Sir Francis Bacon’s maxim that, ‘knowledge is power’.
The junior team, led by Meghan Alfred, fared well in their league, bagging a few crucial wins, but unfortunately didn’t make it into the finals. We wish them the best for the 2011 season.
In the senior league, VP produced one of its best teams to date; Adriaan Wildervanck (cpt), Reece Adams, Nicola Hanekom, Sinoxolo Booi, Takondwa Kachoka and Yolanda Ntshidi. We entered the semi-finals unbeaten, well prepared, and with high expectations. In the semi-finals, we beat Alexander Road High in a very close encounter; which meant we qualified for the finals, where we would be facing our arch rivals, St. Thomas High. Unfortunately, we lost narrowly (29-26), which meant that we ended as the runners-up of the league. Luckily, our bruised egos were cushioned by some prize money.
The next fixture on the Quiz calendar was the highly anticipated Varsity College Quiz Competition. This is always a fun evening with massive prizes and bragging rights involved. Around 31 school teams from all over the Eastern Cape compete and over the past 2 years VP has been improving in the ranking steadily. This year, we entered 2 teams. Our second team placed 7th, congratulations to Sinoxolo, Takondwa, Yolanda and Danielle Du Rant. Our first team consisting of Adriaan, Nicola, Reece and Samuel Salcedo ended up going into a nail-biting sudden death session for 3rd place against Alexander Road. Once again, we beat Alex, securing 3rd place along with prize money and a bursary for a full year’s tuition at Varsity College for one matric pupil at VP. Because of his hard work and incomparable commitment to the school, we decided to award the bursary Ziyad Rassool.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Theron, Dr. James, Mrs Cheetham, Mrs van der Walt and especially Mrs Russell for their unfailing support throughout the year. A familiar face in the audience is always encouraging.
Last and most importantly, we would like to thank the driving force behind Quiz, Ms Paulet Meyer. She has seen us in our darkest hours, and through our most magnificent triumphs. Over the 5 years that we have been involved in Quiz, she has always believed in us and has watched us grow from strength to strength. It is sad for us to bid farewell to Quiz, but when we look back, it will be with fond memories.
ADRIAAN WILDERVANCK & NICOLA HANEKOM
