The Northern Areas sports community is in mourning after “selfless and tireless” administrator Claude Simon died aged 89 on Saturday.
Whether it was instilling education and life skills in children as a teacher or running matters quietly and efficiently in sports, Simon was well-known and respected.
Born on The Hill in Central, Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha), on April 25 1936, he attended the Union Congregational Mission Primary School in Chapel Street.
After the family’s relocation to Fairview in 1942, Simon attended the Springfield Missionary Primary.
The school was Afrikaans-medium and, because Simon was English, the principal decided to drop him down two school years.
The result of this forced “demotion” was that Simon matriculated from Paterson High, aged 20.
He first worked as a body shop and metal-finish assistant at Ford Motor Company in 1957.
Two years later, he enrolled as a teacher trainee at Oudtshoorn Teacher Training College.
He graduated as a teacher, but not before assisting in establishing the Oudtshoorn college’s first cricket team in 1957. He later completed the diploma at Dower College.
In 1961, Simon started teaching Afrikaans at Paterson High. In 1962, he got a post at the Anglican-orientated Eastford Mission School in Knysna, albeit for the first term only.
From the second term, he taught at St Theresa’s Catholic Primary in Somerset East.
Simon started at Gelvandale High in 1963, teaching general science and mathematics to standards 6 and 7. He taught there for 33 years until his retirement in 1996.
Simon married Farieda Gamiet in 1965 and had two daughters, Claudia and June, and a son, Roger.
The young couple lived in Fairview until the Group Areas Act forced them to move to Salsoneville in 1973.
In 1980, Simon relocated his family to Gelvan Park.
Simon started playing football for Stardrift FC in 1949. Though he was only 13 years old, he played in the U16 division. In 1953, Simon was promoted to the first team.
Playing as an inside-right, he got a provincial call-up in 1961 when he was also asked to captain the EP team.
He was an integral part of the Stardrifts side that made a clean sweep of all three annual trophies — the League, Alves Shield and Knockout, in successive seasons (1955 to 1957).
A fourth trophy in the 1963 Mala Moodaley Cup was another highlight.
Two years later, he hung up his boots.
The other sport in which Simon played a prominent role was cricket. His influence in this sport was no less than in football.
He joined South End United CC in 1957 and spent three years as a spin bowler in the second league.
However, his fielding prowess, rather than his spin bowling, later saw him promoted to the First League.
In 1966, he helped revive Willowgrove Cricket Club, where he served as secretary until 1971. Soon afterwards, the club dissolved as a result of the Group Areas Act.
Simon returned to the game in 1986 as a third league player for Gelvandale CC, and also served as an executive member of the club.
He was elected as chair in 1991, a position which he occupied until 1998.
During this period, the players who showed most promise were eventual Proteas Ashwell Prince, Robin Peterson (U13 captain), Garnett Kruger, and provincial player Clint du Plessis (the first Gelvandale CC player to have been offered a professional contract).
Prince paid tribute to Simon yesterday.
“While other leaders/administrators within the club had more responsibilities with senior teams, Mr Simon headed up the junior section, sometimes it seemed single-handedly,” Prince said.
“As far as I’m aware, he never owned a vehicle. He was a walker. He’d walk to school in the morning, to the nets where we trained in the afternoon.
“Within the community, he’d walk door to door to the homes of parents he knew had talented kids to try and encourage us all to join the club.
“Quite a significant number of those kids had gone on to become professionals within the sport and a few of us had the privilege to go on to represent our country as players and coaches.
“Mr Simon would be loath to mention all the names of these players. He was the epitome of humility, a gentleman in the truest sense of the word.
“I know I speak for hundreds of players and their families within our community when I say, Mr Claude Simon, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for what you have done for all of us.
“Your legacy will certainly live forever,” Prince said.
Long-time soccer administrator Valentine Brink said: “He was one of the best centre-backs in the EP Soccer Board. Claude was a real gentleman on and off the field of play.
“At board meetings, he commanded the respect all everyone. He represented Stardrifts for years, at a time when meetings were robust.
“He had the knack of getting everyone to cool down, with slow speaking in a precise manner. When he spoke, everyone listened.”
The PE Sports Legend Trust also honoured Simon's memory.
“Claude Simon was a true sporting legend and an icon of our sport. A consummate gentleman and one of the most humble souls one could ever meet, he carried himself with quiet dignity,” PESLT said in a statement.
“A principled man of integrity, he inspired many through his leadership and left an indelible mark on all who had the privilege of knowing him
“Simon was honoured by the trust in 2015 at our inaugural event as a true legend of our sport. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and the wider sporting fraternity he so dearly loved.” — PE Sports Legends Trust
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