Alberton Madalas Golden Oldies Club had their year-end function at the Alberton Rugby Club on November 30, where they honoured the top achievers and bid farewell to others.
Newly elected chairperson Clayton Hollenbach said he was proud of what the club had achieved and acknowledged their main sponsor, Pieter du Preez of Market Car Sales.
Club stalwart Danie Putter resigned from his duties at the club and duties at the Golden Lions Golden Oldies.
Hollenbach paid tribute to Putter and said: “It is going to be difficult to fill Danie’s shoes, but I am ready. This club owes a lot to Danie and we are grateful for his contribution.”
Early days
Putter was the founding member of the club and he was approached by the Alberton Rugby Club to start a golden oldies club in 2011.
Putter recalls: “When we started the club, I got hold of a friend of mine, Peet Bekker, and told him what we needed to do.
“He was sceptical at first, but once he was on board it snowballed from there.”
Both Putter and Bekker have donated floating trophies that are named after them, for the Players’ Player of the Year Award for both the Madalas and Legends teams.
The club has been able to send two teams to the National Festival for the last four years, making it one of the largest golden oldies clubs in the country.
The club now has 65 active playing members and more play on occasion.
According to Putter, the junior and senior sides of the Alberton Rugby Club have both benefited from the recruitment and training sessions.
“They had, for instance, come to train with their fathers and was spotted by the club after getting involved too.
“Many junior and senior players started with us and moved on to these sides. In fact, the Madalas, for one season, made up the entire third team of Alberton,” Putter said.
Moving on
When asked why he left his management role, Putter replied: “I have worked hard for the club and for Golden Oldies Rugby.
“But it is time to hand the reigns to the younger guys.
“Now I can sit back and watch something I started grow to the next level.”
Putter received an honoury life membership from the new committee as well as the trophy for the try of the year at the National Festival.
“The club is in capable hands and Clayton is just as passionate about the club as I am.
“I look forward to see the new committee take what I and my right-hand man, Jack ‘Dozi’ Wagner, started and take the club to new heights.
“I must pay tribute to the efforts of Dozi too, who has also put in a huge effort.
“Clayton needs recognition for organising the National Festival when we hosted the event in 2017.
“I don’t think anyone truly realises the amount of work it took from him to organise the event.”
About this and that
When asked who the best tackler was he had played with he said: “Slap Chips [Johan Edwards], and I don’t think anyone will disagree.
“Most people smile when they talk about how they scored a try or had a good scrum. Slappies talks about his crash tackles.”
According to Putter, the best player the club has ever produced is Johan Viljoen or ‘Baywatch’.
“When he started playing he had medical issues so he wore red pants, which means you can only be held and wrestled to ground, but not a full on tackle.
“Very few people are aware that Johan only has one kidney.
“Yet, after a few seasons, he is now wearing normal shorts and is strong enough physically to tackle and be tackled by the best.”
The recent Abraham Kriel Bambanani Children’s Home Day, hosted at Alberton Rugby Club this year, was a personal accomplishment for him.
“It’s about giving back. In fact, even if I stop playing the day will go on without me.
“The teams all consider this day as the highlight of the year because of the privilege of giving back, but also the fun aspect of the day,” Putter said.
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