Brisbane, QLD


Sunday, February 26, 2012

SPORTS MAD

I am in second row on the right.




My last year at school was coming to an end.

I found it hard to concentrate on my studies as I was still keen to participate in every sporting event possible and I had also discovered boys. 

I attended the State High Schools Athletic Carnival. I enjoyed representing my school but I didn't win anything.


But our team won the shield.

Second back row, Fifth from left.


My favourite sport of all was hockey. I played in the school team but also for a club on the weekends. I played hockey from when I was 13 to 28. 
Port Hacking High School Hockey Team 1959. (Front row first on left)

 I had the best parents but I probably didn't appreciate them enough when I was a teenager. They had worked hard, lived in a tent, built a house and educated two kids. They had no extended family in Australia to give support.

Dad and I are studying the morning before an exam.
My dad had to leave school when he was very young. He missed out on getting a free scholarship for further education by one place. They only took the first placed boy, Dad came second.He got a job pulling a concrete roller over the local cricket pitch and earned sixpence a week which he gave to his parents. In 1959 after he had finished building the house he went to night school after work and studied to get his Leaving Certificate. It was the same year as I was doing it at school so we studied together and sat the exams on the same day. We both passed. He pursued a better position in the public service and I had qualified for Teacher's College.

18 comments:

  1. lovely story I am going to read a post a day.

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  2. Your last sentence is a cliff hanger!

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  3. These old pictures are such wonderful momories. Unfortunately I don't have school pictures. Only from the German School in Brussels, but they are not good enough. Your childhood and youth had been so different to mine. I always got everything I wanted without difficulties, but I can't say that my parents were good parents. I was their doll to expose.

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  4. Kathy, as I will not be finishing this story for a while I have removed the cliff hanger.

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  5. Wow, thank you for sharing your past with us Dianne, what a blessing to have photos from your youth. Your parents sound like they were amazing people!

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  6. i like the story of studying with your dad, and also that photo. i have no photos of me in high school at all, i refused to get in front of the camera. you have a lot of really good photos and memories.

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  7. Amazing that you still have all these pictures.It is very nice. When you write these articles you probably relive the past.

    Greetings,
    Filip

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  8. Great you started you memories again. I love to read the old stories and see the b&w pictures with it. It seems so long ago when you see photos of your own childhood, it makes you realize how old we are already..You were a real sporty and stil are I think.

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  9. Great post and memories of your school years. I really like the old photos and the last shot of you and your dad studying! Thanks for sharing, Happy Sunday!

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  10. I think it's very sweet that you studied with your dad.

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  11. What a great post and a lovely story of how you and your Dad studied together. Loved all the photos Diane. Now to catch up on your other terrible teens posts :)

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  12. thank you for sharing these photos. it would be nice to study with your dad i would imagine. glad that you both passed. :)

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  13. Great memories Diane ... I guess we all take our parents for granted in our teenage years but yours certainly done it tough .... And I'm sure you can look back now with much appreciation for there loving support and direction..

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  14. Great post, Diane... I love seeing your teen pictures. You were quite the athlete, weren't you??? I was BIG into music (choir, band, piano)..

    I didn't appreciate my parents either. Mom was 42 when I was born and Dad was 53... It was like I was raised by my grandparents. BUT--they were SO good to me and I truly didn't appreciate how hard they worked to provide for me--until I was older. Now they are gone.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  15. Although all of these photos are wonderful, I really like the photo of you and your Dad studying together. You certainly kept busy during your final year of high school. You obviously didn't have much time to be bored.

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  16. Your photos are memories are such a delight Diane. Thank you for taking such time to share your story with us.
    I hope you are putting together so kind of book with photos and memories for your children and grandchildren.

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  17. I think generally we don't appreciate parents when we were younger - it's a teen thing :D)
    Love your photos Diane, I'm getting good at picking you out now.
    Great memories of you and your Dad both studying at the same time too.

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  18. Enjoying you story ... studying with your Dad is great.

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