Beeld Trophy in a Nutshell – not by choice
You might wonder a little about my weird title of this article. Allow me to explain.
Now, first things first. Let’s start with where my involvement in this said tournament started.  Many moons ago, as one of two girls, I grew up in a home where Dad played rugby, Mom supported, and we slept under the tables at the “rugby onthaal”.  Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, I also just have two beautiful little girls, and perhaps this was a blessing in disguise, as I would have been one of those Mom’s who would have ended up on “Kwêla’s  Funny Video “ competition, if I was to support my own son next to the rugby field. So Boys, be glad, I am not your Mom!

BUT. The other half of the two sisters has a son, my nephew and God son, who plays rugby for my old school. And about three years ago I got news that my old Alma Mater, a very small platteland school was in the Beeld quarter finals. I was flabbergasted! I did not even realise that we could be involved, as, unfortunately the focus always seems to be on the Macro and Big schools. …definitely NOT the small schools. But, to people like us, coming from a small school, this was a pretty darn big deal! And it has been for the past three years.

Having the inquisitive mind that I have, I found to my detriment, that there is limited information available on the ‘nitty gritty’ of this tournament. What are the rules? How long do they play for? How does the classification work? etc.
The little information I did manage to find, is the information that I have posted below, and it really is an eye-opener how little information is available, taking into consideration the magnitude and prestige that goes hand in hand with this tournament.

This prestigious High School rugby tournament started way back in 1922, when it was known as the “Adminstrateurs Beker”.  From 1922 to 1933 it was better known as the “AG Robertson-Beker.” This tournament is being played by High School boys north of the Vaal River (or the old Transvaal) and the parameters stretch wide and far.

From 1982 to 1994 it changed to the “Direkteurstrofee”, where after Beeld newspaper got involved and since then it has been known as “Beeld trofee”. The competition, which is run by the Northvaal Schools Association, is split into four categories based on the number of boys in each school as follows: (This however seems to be a debateable point too, as the criteria is not definitely defined, eg is it rugby-playing boys or boys in the whole school, etc.)
 

Category Students
Macro 600>
Large 351-599
Medium 176-350
Small <176
 

You have in the region of 20 teams competing in the Macro -, 70 teams in the Large-, 66 in the medium- and 68 teams in the small schools categories respectively.
Schools may, if they wish, play in a higher category (but not lower).  So you have in the region of about 225 schools participating across all four categories.
In the first stage (March – June) schools compete within their respective rugby Provincial Unions (Lions, Bulls, Falcons, Limpopo, Pumas, Leopards), culminating in the Provincial Finals.
The competition is then concluded through the Quarter/Semi-Finals and the Grand Final in late August.
And believe me when I say that having a “Beeld Trofee” behind your name, means a lot to these youngsters. From Macro- right through to the Small schools.
The results for the 2012 season were as follows:
 

Macro Schools:
1st XV:             Monnas 10 – 22 Kempton Park
U/16:               EG Jansen 10 – 25 Waterkloof
U/15:               HTS Middelburg 34 – 19 Monnas
U/14:               Nelspruit 8 – 27 Monnas
Large Schools
1st XV:             Ermelo 17 – 20 Standerton
U/16:               Transvalia 37 – 24 Helpmekaar
U/15:               Klerskdorp 17 – 29 Linden
U/14:               HTS Vereeniging 10 – 22 Pietersburg
Medium Schools
1st XV:             Piet Retief 13 – 10 Randburg
U/16:               Piet Retief 20 – 5 Bergsig
U/15:               Piet Retief 13 – 10 Die Wilgers
U/14:               Piet Retief 15 – 10 Ben Viljoen
Small Schools
1st XV:            Heilbron 48 – 15 Curro Heulwelkruin
U/16:               Kanonkop 0 – 25 Leeuwenhof
U/15:               Alberton High 22 – 3 Woodox
U/14:               Voortrekker 12 – 24 Leeuwenhof

I started digging and will continue digging until I can give every parent, teacher and rugby player all the relevant info on this tournament. So watch this space!

Welcome to High School Rugby World!



Writen by ICE