Creating a Sport Historian’s Life Story Narrative in Society

Abstract

This narrative relayed life story experiences of a South African sports historian. Written in the first person, it related how academic, employment, schooling, sport, and political experiences laid a foundation for sport historical engagement with the world. Individual names and places, not commonly used in grand narratives, or those who function below the national were highlighted throughout the text. These were people and places that may be regarded as marginal or subalteran and largely ignored in present dominant narratives. Therefore, the reader gets a glimpse of the South African Senior Schools Sports Association, South African Amateur Athletics Board, Teachers’ League of South Africa, University of the Western Cape. Local areas such as Blouvlei and the village of Wellington are also visited. There was a deliberate attempt to avoid statistics because the black historical experience was largely ignored in official accounts. Throughout the narrative, a relational plot was utilized that sought significant relationships between the historian and others. The narrative thus does not follow a linear projection because these relationships affect the sportsperson at different times in his or life sometimes being unaware of their existence. Instead, places and spaces in Cape Town that impacted on the shaping of a sport historian were emphasized.