Dubbed the biggest awards show of the year, Kfm 94.5 invited the people of Cape Town to vote across 30 categories for the 2022 Best of the Cape Awards. No funny business, just you choosing the Mother City’s finest. And Cape {town} Etc is adding to the gees by proudly supporting each winner.
Stay tuned: over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing a full feature story on each of your favourites. Get ready to rub some dirt in it. This is Cape Town’s ‘Best Amateur Sports Club’:
Best Amateur Sports Club winner: False Bay Rugby Club
Born on the beaches of Muizenberg, False Bay RFC has been established for almost a century, since 1929. Rugby in those years in South Africa was still relatively new. The interest generated by Paul Roos’s Springbok tour to England had seen rugby groups pop up all over and by the late twenties, Muizenberg and Kalk Bay were competing against each other on the beach.
Back then, the pitch was demarcated by the hordes of spectators, goalposts were absent and kick-off times were determined by the tides. Inevitably, the Muizenberg and Kalk Bay sides combined and the inaugural meeting of False Bay RFC was held on 17 March 1929 at the Belgrave Hotel. Many of those present were from the rugby-playing schools of the Peninsula.
The club captain, Mr Bill Andrews, headmaster of the local school, was responsible for the club colours and badge. The WPRFU allocated their Plumstead fields to the club in 1932, where, apart from a brief move to Wynberg FC – until moving to their current position in the Constantia Sports Complex in 1968.
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The highlight of False Bay’s on-field history was winning the Grand Challenge in 1972. Club rugby was enormous up until the launch of television, and crowds upwards of 15 000 attended weekly club days at Newlands, where at least five games took place. Rugby icon, Basil Bey, himself an ex-player at the Bay, coached False Bay to the Championship and Butch Watson-Smith was captain of that team.
During this era, many well-known names donned the Bay shirts at some stage of their careers, including Springboks Doug Hopwood, Lionel Wilson and Derek van den Berg. Up until the late eighties, False Bay was an established Grand Challenge club and their next peak period was in the mid-nineties with a successful run under future Springbok coach, Nick Mallet.
During this time, Springboks Neil Hugo, FC Smit and Dale Santon were integral to the team. The club also enjoyed the company of world-famous French players Fabien Galthie and Laurent Cabannes. Other well-known members, players and office bearers include: Russell Mulholland, Springbok Media Liaison Officer at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, while Butch Watson-Smith was Springbok Business Manager for a number of years. Current Springbok Assistant Coaches Gary Gold, Dick Muir and Andy Marinos, current General Manager of SA Rugby, also played at the club.
Presidents have included Judge Phillip Herbstein (member of the Bar and after whom the Constantia fields are named); and currently Louis de Waal. Louis brought Sevens Rugby to South Africa from Scotland and inaugurated the False Bay Sevens inter-club tournament, in 1965. This was taken over by WP Rugby in the nineties.
False Bay Rugby strives to be a part of the broader community, notably through its Junior Academy, where they encourage youngsters from non-playing schools in the area to play, teach them skills, and provide opportunities for competition. Through partnerships, the facilities are abuzz with school holiday clinics and coaching activities.
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The unique False Bay spirit encompasses a blend of on-the-field performance and an environment where all can feel comfortable and at home and where sustaining friendships are built.
The club was nominated for the Best of the Cape Awards, supported by Cape {town} Etc, for providing a sense of family for players and spectators alike and for its thriving women’s rugby team. And there are multiple ways to get involved:
Join the club:
- U20 playing member: R350 annual subscription.
- Senior playing member: R650 annual subscription.
- Senior social/supporter member: R650 annual subscription.
- 100 club members: R1250 per person or R2000 per couple annual subscription.
False Bay Rugby Club’s details:
- Website: www.falsebayrugby.com
- Location: Constantia Sports Complex, Constantia Main Road, Cape Town.
- Contact: 021 794 0652
The finalists in this category were:
- Badgers Football Academy in Oranjezicht
- False Bay Rugby Club in Constantia
- Saxon Rovers Football Club in Maitland
- Union Milnerton Rugby Club in Milnerton
- Villager FC Rugby Club in Claremont
The 2021 winner of this category: Hamilton SP RFC
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Picture: False Bay Rugby Club / Instagram