Message from Percy
“The jersey I cherish the most after my Springbok jersey is the one I wore at SACS. I still have it.
Some of my fondest rugby memories are from my days at SACS and when I reflect on my goal kicking success at the 2007 World Cup in France it made all those kicking practices at the Memorial Field so worthwhile.
I have a particularly close bond with SACS because I was a boarder there for 10 years and, in effect, SACS was my home from the ages of 9 to 18. When others went home I went to the Memorial Field to practice and have fun. Give me a ball and the view of Table Mountain from the Memorial Field and I’ll take it any day.
In the past years I haven’t been able to spend as much time at SACS as I wanted to because of my rugby commitments, which included stints overseas in Wales and France and obviously endless travels with the Springboks and more recently charity work local and overseas.
But now that I am more settled in Cape Town I can give of my time to the school whose people gave so much of their time to me. The Foundation is incredibly exciting because it gives me a chance to say thank you for what was done for me and to also contribute towards giving others a similar opportunity.
I, like everyone involved in the Foundation, believe SACS can be and must be powerful in rugby, but most importantly is that we provide an opportunity for students to make SACS their school of choice, and that the foundation provides the kind of funding that ensures the best players in the Junior School progress to the High School and are not lured away by other institutions.”
Percy Montgomery
Former SACS and Springbok fullback, and founder member of the SACS Rugby Foundation
Foundation
The Foundation’s purpose is to provide funding to develop the game of rugby at both SACS Junior and SACS High, and to provide funding for rugby bursaries. Funding generated by the Foundation will primarily be allocated to such bursaries, but the Foundation’s belief in education means funding will not be restricted to rugby players only, and allowance has been made to improve the intellectual capital of rugby masters who coach and administer the game, and boys whose involvement in rugby extends beyond playing the game.
Foundation promise
As a member of the SACS Percy Montgomery Foundation, participating in rugby is cemented as an integral part of modern education. The interaction and discipline involved in team work, as well as the embracing of values such as commitment, loyalty and fair play, assist students and supporters in becoming fully rounded individuals. Improving physical fitness, striving to win and learning how to deal with adversity are all part of the process. The south African College School is proud to celebrate the oldest rugby jersey in South Africa – the blue and white stripes.