15/10/2026
😂 PRIMARY SCHOOLS LEAGUE 2026 – DAYS 2 & 3: THE THINGS THEY DON'T PUT ON THE SCOREBOARD!
Forget the scores for a moment. Forget the cross-pools, the Championship trophy, and all the serious business of deciding who beat whom. If you really want to understand the NJSA Primary Schools League, you need to look at what happens around the squash courts!
🚌☀️ THE GREAT PRETORIA ADVENTURE
Let's start with the joys of travelling by school bus through Pretoria when the temperature is hovering around 31°C. Just when you think you've survived the heat, the bus drops you off at Boys High instead of PHSOB! Surprise! An unexpected sightseeing tour of Pretoria, courtesy of the Primary Schools League. Who needs Google Maps when you have a bus driver with a plan of their own? 😂
✍️🎾 THE ART OF KEEPING SCORE
Then there's the fine art of marking a match. You're standing there, trying to concentrate and keeping score with great confidence, when suddenly you have absolutely no idea whether it's up to 11 or 15. You look at the other players, they look at you, and everyone hopes that somebody, somewhere, knows what's going on! 😅
And let's not forget the challenge of pronouncing some of these players' names. By the time you've announced both competitors, the spectators could be forgiven for thinking we've welcomed international visitors from Japan, Mexico or somewhere in between! 🌍😂 But we give it our best shot, because pronouncing a name with confidence is apparently an unofficial league skill!
👟💨 THE SHOES HAVE LEFT THE BUILDING!
On court, we have players who run so hard that they practically run themselves straight out of their shoes. Not once. Not twice. NUMEROUS TIMES! Somewhere between the serve and the next rally, a shoe decides it has had enough of this sporting commitment and makes a bid for freedom.
And then there's the opponent who suddenly develops a deep and meaningful relationship with his shoelaces the very moment you're ready to serve. 👟🤔 Shoe adjustment? Lace inspection? Emergency footwear maintenance? Nobody knows. All you know is that your serve is ready, your opponent is not, and your patience is being tested!
📢 THE HUMAN TIDAL WAVE
Spare a thought for the court organisers and students who are suddenly struck by a tidal wave of bubbling, chattering, VERY LOUD little humans, each armed with a squash racket and enough energy to power a small town!
They arrive in groups, fill the courts, fill the walkways, fill the air with noise, and somehow still have enough energy to ask, "When do we play ?"
And because the Primary Schools League doesn't really care about your height, we have the most delightful David-and-Goliath moments on court. Tiny little players, barely visible behind their rackets, face opponents whose voices have already dropped into full-grown-man territory and who look as though they could be starting high school tomorrow!
Yet there they are, competing with all their hearts. Never judge a squash player by their size! ❤️
📚👏 TEACHERS DESERVE A TROPHY TOO!
Then we have our wonderful teachers, accompanying their teams with admirable dedication. They stand courtside, doing their best to look deeply interested in a game they may not entirely understand, while a mountain of marking waits patiently in their bags.
Every now and then, they nod approvingly, clap enthusiastically and hope nobody asks them to explain the difference between a boast and a drop shot! We salute you, teachers. Your multitasking deserves a medal of its own!
📸🥵 THE OFFICIAL POST-MATCH PHOTO SHOOT
And then comes the moment every parent, coach and court organiser wants: the team photo!
Unfortunately, the photographer has a slightly different vision from the little athlete standing in front of the camera. The match has just ended, the temperature is soaring, the little human is red in the face, the hair is sticking to the forehead, and the body temperature appears to be somewhere between a squash court and the surface of the sun! ☀️🥵
"Come on, just one quick photo! Smile!"
Smile? The child is still trying to remember how to breathe! 😂
Mom, Dad or the court organiser is desperately trying to capture that perfect social media moment, while the player looks as though they have just completed an ultramarathon. And heaven forbid that the photo must be retaken because somebody blinked!
📸🦘 THE LEGENDARY JUMP PHOTO!
But wait, we are not finished with the photos. We need a JUMP photo! Everyone must jump. Show the spirit! Show the excitement! Show the team unity!
Easy enough, except that after several hard matches in 30-degree heat, some legs feel like iron poles, the knees have submitted their resignation, and the body has officially clocked out for the day.
"Come on, guys! One, two, THREE… JUMP!" 🦘
And there they go! Well, most of them.
There is always that ONE player who experiences a spectacular FAILURE TO LAUNCH! 😂 While the rest of the team is airborne, this individual is still firmly connected to planet Earth, looking around as if wondering what on earth everyone else is doing.
The photographer takes the picture anyway. A masterpiece is born!
⚡📱 AND THEN EVERYTHING CHANGES!
Just when we thought we had enough excitement for one week, a power failure at one of the venues threw a spanner in the works. No power, no squash, and definitely no time to sit back and relax! Within about an hour, a whole new venue plan had to be organised, with teams, teachers, parents, players and bus drivers all needing to know where to go next.
Phones were buzzing, messages were flying, and organisers were trying to keep everyone on the same page while the clock kept ticking. Honestly, if you ever want to grow 100 grey hairs without spending a cent, try reorganising a primary schools squash league at short notice during a Pretoria power failure! 😂⚡
🏆 THE AFTER-MATCH MAGIC
But perhaps the BEST part of all comes after the matches.
The formalities are over. The last scores have been recorded. And suddenly, players from different schools stream onto the courts together. School colours are mixed, rackets are flying, laughter fills the air, jokes are exchanged, and the courts transform into something resembling the Wimbledon finals — except with considerably more giggling, questionable shot selection and very little concern for who is actually winning!
For those few moments, nobody cares which school you attend, which team you represent, or whether you won your cross-pool. They are simply children who love squash, enjoy being together and have made friends along the way.
❤️ AND THAT IS THE REAL VICTORY!
Years from now, these youngsters may not remember every score, every cross-pool, or whether their school won the Championship Plate or Trophy. But they will remember the bus trips, the heat, the unexpected venue adventures, the shoelace delays, the teachers cheering them on, the red-faced photo shoots, the failed jump launches and the friends they made on court.
They will remember how it felt to belong.
Because the Primary Schools League is about so much more than winning. It's about growing, laughing, connecting, learning to compete, and discovering that sport has a wonderful way of bringing people together.
And if you happened to be anywhere near the courts this week, you'll know exactly what we mean when we say:
❤️ WAAR IS DIT LEKKER? HIER IS DIT LEKKER! ❤️
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