It feels like just yesterday when I donned the Blue and Gold blazer for the final time at the 127th Battle of the Blues encounter and the constant reminiscing of the good old days playing at Reid Avenue keeps me smiling and young at heart.
By Haroon Mowjood – Represented Royal College from 2005-2009
Like every young schoolboy, I attended every Royal-Thomian cricket match from the age of 10 and was glued to the action on all three days, watching from the boys’ tent. Whilst observing the game from the sidelines my passion and determination to one day represent the glorious 1st XI team grew stronger and stronger. The dream of one day playing in that team was on my mind since the first day I attended a Royal-Thomian and the will to work hard to get there was instilled into me from a very young age.
My journey to make the team, although successful, was by no means an easy task. It took vigorous training, determination and more than all a belief that I must give my all to succeed. The time and effort that was required was intense but the rewards reaped far outweighed the costs. The feeling you get when walking out to the middle of a Royal-Thomian, willow in hand, is the most rewarding and exhilarating experience one can ever have. Three days in that moment creates a lifetime of memories, memories that will be cherished forever, be it highs or lows.
Whilst in the 1st XI squad, spending 5 days a week with a great bunch of talented cricketers and all round good blokes made the experience all that more enjoyable. I used to wake up every day during the cricket season looking forward to training. The brotherhood we created between the players was almost unbreakable. This paved the way to a team of individuals who would do anything to support each other both on and off the field.
Playing at Royal taught me how to win and to learn from my mistakes in defeat. Most of all it taught me to always have fun, no matter what I hoped to achieve. The challenges we faced were always daunting but we always found the courage to face them head-on. Playing together as a team meant that we all rose to the challenge together and always looked out for each other. I met some of my lifelong friends playing for Royal and I think we can all agree that the lessons learnt at our time serving our alma mater were defining moments in our lives, all achieved with big smiles on our faces and with plenty of laughable memories.
Having played through 4 Royal-Thomians with two games drawn, one game lost and one game won, I can honestly say that winning a Royal-Thomian has been one of the greatest experiences of my life and losing one has probably been the worst. As a captain, losing was an extremely low point in my life as I felt I had let the team down. Emotions of anger and sadness initially crippled me, however given that I had another year of cricket to come back to and redeem myself, fueled the fire, determination and passion to work harder and come back to win in the following year. The thought of defeat and never wanting to feel that way again was felt throughout the team and motivated us to never be in that position again. These emotions helped us to pull out the concentration and experience required to come true at the right moments and that is what helped us win the 127th Battle of the Blues. I had never previously seen a group of individuals so driven and motivated to achieve a single outcome as a team. There has been no greater moment in my life than hitting the winning runs in that game and to be carried off on the shoulders of two blokes I have never seen before, looked on with pride and joy by every Royalist in that moment.
