Famous young Bryce waves the flag for SA

FOR a youngster, it’s one thing to be selected to form part of the Guard of Honour for an international sports match, but for a little chap in a new city, it’s another thing entirely.

For Westville resident, Bryce Clendennen (8) that moment was on Wednesday, 1 February at the opening match of the second Momentum One Day International: South Africa vs Sri Lanka at the Sahara Stadium, Kingsmead when he was chosen as the flag bearer for South Africa and for him, it was a momentous occasion.

For years KFC Mini cricket has been committed to offering young learners the chance to have fun, get active and get closer to their sporting heroes through participation as ball boys and girls and in the Guard of Honour and coin toss at the cricket internationals.

“We got to eat lunch, played around a bit and even got new shirts we could keep. It was a super hot day. We had to line up shortest to tallest and then they took us onto the sides of the circle where we had to wait. There was a man who pointed to me and said he wanted me to carry the flag.”

“I never thought he was serious until he patted me on the head and pulled me out of the line.”  

“Then they moved me quickly to the end of the line and another guy came up and told me how he would like me to stand and hold the flag. I watched all the other children take hands with a cricketer and then we stood in a line near the centre of the field,” said an ecstatic Bryce.

For him, that is when it became real as the music fired up, the players and the crowds joined forces to belt out the words of each country’s National Anthem – first Sri Lanka, then South Africa. For Bryce, who had been practising the National Anthem in the days leading up to the match, it was important to do his best to sing along.

“Each one of us was standing in front of a player, except me. I stood next to a really nice player who asked me what my name was and told me his name was David. My grandpa told me later that it was David Miller and that he helped our country win this game, and then he got injured. He was a really cool guy,” said Bryce.

And indeed this was the case as a magnificent pair of centuries from top players Faf du Plessis and David Miller set our home boys up for a 121-run win over their touring rivals.

When asked about how he felt standing out there next to all these big names and having the privilege of being chosen to fly our country’s flag, Bryce quipped, “I’m not sure what made them choose me to hold the flag, but I wasn’t nervous at all, just happy.

And afterwards I got phone calls from my dad, my mom, and my granny and my grandpa who said they watched me on TV and I think that means I’m famous now.”