Header Image

Robert Gie

When my dad sent me to Grey in St 9, I was excited as this would give me the opportunity to play schoolboy cricket. Never imagined just how good the guys like Ray le Roux, Allan André, André Barends, Lindsay Mould and Allen van der Merwe were. To be coached by Ewie Cronje was unique.

But best of all, I never imagined the “gees” that existed at Grey, both on and off the sports fields.

The best teacher I ever had, both at school and university, was Dawie Marquard. He made such an impression by the way he respected and treated his students (and the respect the boys had for him). Without a word, he could silence the main hall by simply glancing at the boys. Being a provincial selector, he always had a word of encouragement. One Monday morning after batting for most of the innings against St John’s and saving Grey from certain defeat, so I thought, he chirped: “That was a poor batting effort, you should have won the game for Grey.” Right back to earth for me.

Today I am a “has been“, working three days a week at Stellenbosch University and pretending to be a hippy. My wife, Nulda, and I live on a smallholding outside Somerset West growing vegetables, pressing our olive oil and fermenting our grapes to make balsamic vinegar.

< Back to our profiles