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ONE TO ONE Steve Williams on teaching PE at

RESTAURANT Getting funky at Ff...

BEST IN HIS FIELD Sarah Moolla meets the legendary PE teacher Steve Williams from Whitchurch High, the state school covered in sporting glory

“You just need to try a bit harder, that’s always been the attitude here” T urns out I’m late to meet Steve Williams, the former Whitchurch High School PE teacher, now their estates director, (and also a Cardiff Life Award judge – turn to page 55 for more.) I’m not minutes late though, not even an hour or two behind schedule, but a whole 24 hours. I had the wrong date. “You were supposed to be here yesterday” is his gruff greeting. And for a moment, as I fluster and bluster my lame excuses, I see a glimpse of ‘Grumpy’, Steve’s nickname earned due to his matter-offact, dour, manner. He is also renowned for being a tough disciplinarian when needed but, tardiness misdemeanour forgiven, turns out he’s also good company. However it’s Steve’s skill as an extraordinary PE teacher in a Cardiff state school that have garnered results for his pupils and we’re talking world class, in another league, gold medal, kind of results. Under his tutorage there’s famously been footballer Gareth Bale who plays for Wales, former Wales and Lions captain Sam Warburton, and 2018’s Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas. But a walk down the school’s sporting corridor of fame uncovers a phenomenal gallery of other sporting heroes dating back decades and includes sport shooter David Phelps who won gold at the Commonwealth Gold 2018 and international lawn and Indoor bowler Daniel Salmon who won the 2017 World Youth Championshipsbowls pairs in Australia. There’s also nationally and internationally achievers in gymnastics, athletics, ice skating, swimming, badminton and hockey.

above: The mural of former pupils grace the sports hall, designed to inspire; below: Steve, second left, still coaches the school’s rugby teams

Crediting Steve who’s been at the school nearly 50 years, is inevitable of course, but he simply won’t allow that to be the only narrative. He cites the school’s chair of 20 years who is as ‘hot as pie’, he praises the various heads over the years, plus he talks about the school’s can-do attitude. “People here are going to go the extra mile,” says Steve. “I’m not really interested in ‘We can’t do that because of this.’ Instead I see the challenge. If someone says, ‘We can’t play football because we haven’t got a pitch. Then get a pitch. You just need to try a bit harder, that’s always been the attitude here.”

Steve himself is a former Whitchurch School pupil, “I came here in 1960, went it was a grammar school and left in 67. And I came back here to teach in 1975.” When you ask Steve about his own behaviour at school, there’s a hint of a smile as he replies cautiously, “I was okay.” Like good okay, or just okay? “Well, I did get caught sticking up for myself a couple of times. But it didn’t matter whether you were the instigator or the retaliation, you got the cane anyway.” His own PE teacher was an ex-army major and “in those days you weren’t asked to do anything – you were told. But from the first day I came to this school, I felt a huge sense of pride.” Steve went on to study PE at Loughborough University, taught rugby in France for five years, and then back to the UK, London first and then Cardiff, marrying his Cambridge University-educated wife along the way. He retired as a teacher in 2018, but he still coaches the school’s rugby teams, and as Whitchurch High’s estates director, he works daily and tirelessly to enhance the school facilities. He proudly shows me around the two sites which cater for some 2,400 pupils and includes impressive grounds, well equipped classrooms, a professional-standard theatre, a decent-sized swimming pool, and of course a glorious sports hall complete with a huge mural of the sporting trinity of Bale, Thomas and Warburton. There’s even a gym studio bigger than a lot of fee-paying gyms, furnished with the equipment from a hotel gym that was being refurbished and that the students resprayed themselves so it all matched. (for more on sports at Whitchurch High, turn to page 64).

But don’t make the mistake of thinking Whitchurch High is some sort of sporting elite academy, or that the sportingly talented could just come here and make games their life –Steve is having none of it. “Sam Warburton got two As and one B at ‘A’ level. School will always come first here.”

He is also keen to highlight the school’s inclusive nature. “While we might have at least six pupils who do go to Oxbridge every year, we also have the children who might before have gone to a special school, but we built a SRB [Specialist Resource Base] unit, to help these students be integrated in mainstream school.”

On our tour it’s clear Steve is still very much a part of day-to-day school life. His name is constantly called out ‘Hello Mr Williams!’ in happy greeting and he even gets high-fived by a few delighted students –so m uch so, I feel like I’m with a celebrity. Actually, celebrity is probably too lame a word, Steve Williams is a legend in his own right – I’m not the only interview he’s doing this week, a Spanish TV company are heading over to interview him the very next day. I just hope their time-keeping is better than mine.

For more: Whitchurch High School, Penlline Road Whitchurch, Cardiff CF14 2XJ. tel: 029 2062 9700; www.whitchurchhs.com

SPORTS REPORT

Steve Williams on GERAINT THOMAS “In his book he [Geraint Thomas] says, ‘I’d like to thank Mr Williams for not making me play for the senior rugby team.’ But I never had any intention of picking him and he had no intention of playing!”

SAM WARBURTON on Steve Williams “Steve, as a former player, passed on plenty of wisdom. You could sense his competitiveness. He had a positive effect on all the players – especially me, because he was a former openside flanker, the position I now play in.”

GARETH BALE presenting Steve with the 2019 Cardiff Life Award Special Achievement Award “Inspirational work is rare in itself but giving inspiration across decades is extraordinary. I’m delighted to be able to honour someone who has touched thousands of people’s lives throughout the years.”