Rustenburg enjoyed another successful tour at the National All girls Festival at Stellenbosch. Results were as follows:
Debating
Our debaters again excelled themselves. The girls won all debates in the first 5 rounds and made it through to the final round, where they met up with Durban Girls High. This is the 3rd year in a row where they have made the finals. They were given a difficult topic to oppose in their final debate: ‘This house believes that political parties should disclose the sources of their funding’. RGHS lost the final debate but placed FIRST overall in the tournament. Our debating team was captained by Shaakirah Jardine and ably assisted by Cara Mazetti-Claassen, Angeliki Carvounnes, Ameerah Allie and Chelsea Kelly. CARA MAZETTI-CLAASSEN was adjudged the Best Speaker of the tournament and ANGELIKI CARVOUNES was adjusted the 2nd best speaker of the tournament. This team was managed by Mr C Van Dyk.
Hockey
Our girls played well: the team won 5 games, drew 1 game and lost 2 games in their pool. This placed them 4th in their pool which meant that they played off for 7th/8th place. They lost their final game in a penalty flick shootout and ended 8th overall, out of 18 participating schools. The team was captained by Kate Pitcher, with Courtney Abbott the vice captain. KEREN DUGMORE received a certificate of
sportsmanship. The team was managed and coached by Mrs Colleen Matthews.
Netball
This is a young team who struggled with form and with injuries. The team finished 13th out of 16 participating teams. Nikki Baguley captained the team and their coach and manager was Ms Suzette Vermeulen
Orchestra
We were represented by 11 members of the orchestra. 9 officially and then Ms Gordon borrowed Cara from debating and Helen from public speaking to try to swell the numbers. It is a great pity that more orchestra girls could not join us. On Saturday they performed, receiving GOLD and 83% for their performance. This small group really excelled themselves. They performed again on Sunday and participated in a mass item with all of the other orchestras. The team was captained by Karen Schuster and managed by Ms Gordon.
Public Speaking
This was the first time that RGHS had entered this competition and our girls did not know what to expect. Our two senior speakers were Helen Dunnell and Nabeelah Shabodien. Our junior speakers were Nicola Cilliers and Chelsea Christian. The girls performed extremely well and finished in second place overall, with NABEELAH SHABODIEN being adjudged the 3rd best speaker. The team was captained by Helen Dunnell and managed by Mrs G Wallace. She was very satisfied with the performances of our girls in a tournament of a very high standard of public speaking.
Tennis
Four girls represented RGHS. They had a great tournament and were kept very busy with 6 matches of singles and doubles. They were rewarded with a very pleasing result, finishing 5th overall. The team was captained by Christi Vosloo, who partnered with Kiana Neethling. Leanne Bicarri and Amy Scholtz making up the 2nd couple. The team was ably managed by Ms Blayi.
The National All Girls Festival will take place in East London in 2011, and will be hosted by Clarendon High School for Girls.
