Jackson's Saints Fest Frequency (2023)

Lots of words incoming, but if you care to hear something remarkable- please read along.

I had an incredible time at Saints Fest. No really, a truly incredible time. Where do I begin... I suppose I'll begin at the start.

In July 2022 I was having a heart to heart conversation with a friend (Bulumko Napakade). This was a conversation where as two mates we were really coming face to face with some hard truths while at the same time expressing the optimism that we felt deep in our hearts. Among the optimistic expressions we shared was my very intense desire to play in the OSA 7's rugby game at Saints Fest 2023, knowing it would be my younger brother's (Ethan Gondo) matric year. What was striking about me expressing this desire was the elephant in the room. The elephant being the fact that I weighed 110kg's while expressing my desire to run rounds on Baytop Field. Bless my friend's heart, he really did indulge me!

I could see it, I could feel it, I could taste it... But there was plenty of work to be done. A mere month later, my brother was appointed as the Head Boy at St. Stithians, a moment of deep pride knowing the journey we had walked as brothers and as a family. A moment that perhaps cemented my desire to step on the rugby field, believing that in a small way, I was showing up for my brother.?

CUT TO: Saturday 8 April, 2023.

A confused Jackson Gondo paces the side-lines on Baytop field, weighing in at 69.3kg, wondering how on earth he ended up representing Saints in a white jersey. I had always dreamed of wearing the white, but never had the privilege in my time. To be wearing it for the first time as an old boy had it's own sense of wonder and Happy Fulfilment. How many dreams can come true in one go? As I was warming up, trying not to focus on the biggest crowd I had ever stood in front of, I somehow through all the noise heard my name being called in a familiar voice from the side-lines. I turned my head and there was my brother. I went to him, gave him a hug and received a final word of encouragement from the Head Boy. This was all I needed as I stepped onto the pitch.

Those who would have heard my deep internal meditations leading up to the game would have known that I had certain goals for myself. One of which was to score a try. I had never scored a try before. Yes, you heard correctly. Despite rugby being perhaps my strongest passion in my High School career, despite mastering the art of knocking the ball over the posts with my boot as a Saints flyhalf, I again never had the privilege of knowing how it feels to score a try. If this confuses or frustrates you, imagine how I feel!

So here I am on the rugby pitch, suddenly every move we prepared before is just totally ineffective. It's chaos, I know that I'm on Baytop, but that's the extent of what I know as 14 men were running around in search of possession of the oval ball. At some point I yelled "Guys, what's going on" to which one of my teammates who I couldn't even see just replied "We don't know bru, just play!". So I played. Determined to get my try. I find myself in the opposition 22 facing the Girls College end with the ball in my hand. A blanket of 3 MHS players enclose on me, but I know what I have to do. Secure the ball and RUN! I arrive mere meters before the try line before being taken down by the MHS defence. In the scurry of the ruck, I feared I had given the ball away as I felt it being yanked from my hands. I got up out of the ruck to see that a try had been scored. My first thought: who took my try?

Getting up from the ground was a glorious Tinaye Mari (Matriculated 2019), running back to the halfway line with the African Sun shining down on him, illuminating his face as if to outwardly display his moment of internal fulfilment. I felt my heart immediately swell up with joy. Tinaye was one of my grade 8s when I had the privilege of being Head of Webb House in 2015. I thought to myself "Wow, I wonder what little Tinaye would think if in 2015 I told him that one day we will play for the same rugby team and I would help him score a try!".

I was overjoyed. The final whistle rang to a final score of 12-10, a narrow loss for the OSA 7's to Michaelhouse 7's. The tight loss meant a great deal to me as 8 years prior in the pouring rain of my matric year, we lost a whopping 51-3 to Michaelhouse at Saints fest. This was a big motivator in the back of my mind and it felt like a shot at redemption.

Equally fulfilling was the OSA 7's 27-12 victory over the Kingswood Old Boys especially after our baby brothers in first XV lost 36-17 to Kingswood on the Saturday. So to the Saints 1st XV, if there are any first teams giving you a hard time, just send them to your big brothers, we will take care of them. ??

A quick flash through some highlights:

- Mrs Armstrong gave me a two for one coffee voucher. Anyone who knows me knows that I love coffee. Anyone who knows how much I love coffee, knows how much I love Seattle Coffee! Thank you ma'am!

- Thursday night I got to meet DJ Wamz, who I became a fan of online but she happens to be an ex-saints girl!

- It was an honour to have both of the OSA games refereed by Mr Luke Pearson who is in my humble opinion among the finest officiators of the game in the country. When Mr Pearson makes a call against you, you just say "yes sir" and have utmost trust that he made the right call... although sometimes the acceptance comes a little after the match! Mr Pearson refereed most of my games when I was Captain of the 4th XV, so it was a most pleasant trip down memory lane.

- Watching the 2015 Head Boy, my dear friend, Asante Nxumalo- representing the OSA in a game of Football against the Saints Operations XI. Along with Aunty Trish, his younger sister Mihle, and Kelame Maine (2015).

- My brother being interviewed by 5fm’s Nick Archibald, who was one of the Deputy-Head Boys in my matric year and also a Webb boy, crazy frequency!

- Watching James Deacon perform as the main musical act, with Luke McPhail on bass guitar. Both James and Luke were prolific musicians during my time in the college and it is inspiring to see their musical act making incredible waves in the music industry! James was also in my matric year (2015), truly a star-studded year!

- My younger brother Noah Gondo playing through a knee injury to represent Saints at the Prep Festival a week prior. Well done Noah!

I really wish I had more photos of Saints Fest, but it really was one of those experiences that was so spectacular, you want to capture every moment of it with your own eyes, hear it with your own ears and feel every moment of it with every nerve in your body and fibre in your being.

"What was the most remarkable thing about Saints Fest?" you may ask.

Undoubtedly the sea of over 10 000 people packed in to see the main Saturday rugby game between St. Stithians and Kingswood College. A moment that brought a tear to my eye not just because I felt such a profound honour playing in the opener, but also because I witnessed the elixir that is most indicative of the Saints spirit. Despite all the doubt and criticism, Saints showed up in their numbers. Just like they did in the rain VS Michaelhouse in 2015, just as?they did in even greater numbers in sunny '23. No matter what, we show up. When we speak of Saints we don't just speak of the team that's playing, but rather we speak of the entire community that keeps the grass green and the wheels rolling.

To quote my 2015 Instagram post on the aftermentioend game "Glory lies not in the representation of numbers on a board. Glory lies in the band of brothers singing in the rain. One cannot judge the heart and support behind a team who rarely faces a loss. One cannot judge the loyalty of men who support the best. One can judge the loyalty of a man when his brother falls. When his brother is broken. When his brother is bruised, battered and bashed. For being glorious in victory is merely redundant. But being glorious in defeat is merely victorious. My heart bleeds out in blue red and white. Saints boys never back down".

I am extremely grateful to be part of this great institution's story. A day spent at Saints is a day of hopping through countless frequencies.?

My Saints Fest Frequency concluded with me singing "Oh One and All" beside my brother as the siren sounded and the rain began to fall as Saints played the closing game of the festival vs St. John’s Harare. Truly a weekend to remember, may we never forget. Here's to the 40th Easter Festival in 2024. May it be the best yet.

Here is a link to a Spotify Playlist that I created with songs that captured my Saints Fest Frequency: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2CGmY8qi30Pw6lexJiy0hY?si=7b71eaed18934503

Warmest Regards,

Jackson Gondo