Unconventional road to international stardom

In every journey there are detours, unplanned rest stops and opportunities that develop us and offer alternative opportunities.

- JON HARRIS

Some may accelerate us on our patch to success, others may create totally new opportunities, but when taken, they enrich our journey.

There was a young man who had arrived at Bishops High School as a stooge, those young men who perform tasks as sports coaches, hostel masters and mentors to the pupils of the school. It is a gap year option which serves the stooge and his charges well. It is far more noble than the more relaxed approach of taking a breather before buckling down to life.

This young man was filled with a zest for life, compassion for his pupils and a talent modestly hidden from all in his circle. He had enthusiasm for teaching, probably bone out of his family life, where his father was a respected headmaster of a school in England.

He loved to impart cricketing and rugby knowledge on to the pupils at Bishops, his mischievous demeanour underlined by the accompanying impish smile.

Yet he hid a secret. He claimed to be able to play a little rugby. He told his mates that he wanted to play for a club in Cape Town before shipping back to England to begin his studies.

Brendon Fogarty, the under-20 coach at False Bay, shuffled his duties in the boarding house and he arrived at Constantia. He played his first match at the Bay in their U20B team, simply because he kept his achievements to himself.