The mother of Newark hockey

When you are at school, some of the teachers appear to be horrible ogres.

But when you leave you meet others like Dave Smith and Christine Fergusson. The Grove School at Balderton and its pupils have been doubly blessed.

I have written enough in the past about Dave Smith — the “Mr Chips” of Newark schoolteachers. Let me introduce you instead to Christine Fergusson. She is equally wonderful.

We’ve been mates for years and have shared some great sporting moments.

One particularly memorable occasion was when we sat together at Trent Bridge, chain-smoking and riddled with nerves, watching the Grove Under-16 Girls play in the Notts Schools’ Cricket Final. They won, of course. Her teams tend to.

Chris’s love of sport began more than 60 years ago when she discovered that she could run fast at primary school in Nottingham. It would, much later, lead to an invitation to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

A lifetime devoted to sport — and hockey in particular — has been combined with her work in the local community, where she is the leading light in such things as the Balderton Knit and Natter Club.

Her unstinting devotion to voluntary service to sport and the community led to her being nominated for the MBE. Then came the hard part. She had to keep quiet about it.

“I was absolutely thrilled, because I knew nothing about it all and it came completely out of the blue,” she said.

“But I wasn’t allowed to say anything about it. I got the letter in May, but I couldn’t tell anyone until the official Birthday Honours List came out in June.

“It was very difficult because my nickname is ‘loose lips’. I told Angus, my son, and Fiona, my daughter. But I didn’t tell anyone else until it was published.

“It was a wonderful occasion, and it was something that I will never forget. You can’t get much better than that.”

Chris, who will be 75 in April, passed her 11-plus at William Crane Junior School and went to Manning Girls’ Grammar School in Nottingham. It was there that she discovered hockey and quickly became recognised as a forward with a powerful shot.

In training she used to enjoy nothing better than trying to hit the passing double-decker buses on Gregory Boulevard.

“I got very good, because we used to have good coaching in schools in those days — but you can’t print that,” she said.

She went on to play alongside England internationals at Sherwood Ladies — now Beeston — playing in the first team at the age of 15.

She played for the county and the Midlands, and then went to teacher training college in Leicester, and played for Leicestershire.

“I also played a lot of cricket, and was heavily involved in athletics, finishing third in the sprints at the All-England Athletics Championships. I also played tennis, but I wasn’t very good at that,” she said.

After her marriage to the late George, she moved around the country with his job as a rep, ending up playing hockey for Northamptonshire and Sussex, before settling in Newark and getting a job as a PE teacher at the Grove.

Following her retirement at the age of the 60, she started coaching every Sunday morning with the newly-formed Otters and Beavers section at Newark Hockey Club and has played her part in bringing some fine players through the ranks.

“The twins, Sophie and Sian Robinson, have both played for Wales Under-21s, Adam Dixon has just won gold at the European Championships with the full England team, and Shona McCallin is simply brilliant — she’ll be there at 2012,” she said.

“There are more great kids coming through all the time. It only takes me five or ten minutes to look at a player to know whether they have what it takes.”

Chris has a priceless “nothing is impossible” attitude to life. That helped when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“That knocked me back, I can tell you,” she said.

“But I’ve been very lucky and I’m making a recovery, so that has been a blessing. A lot depended on how that went, and whether I would be able to carry on turning up every Sunday morning to coach the youngsters.

“I don’t need any chemo or any radiotherapy, and I’ve been very lucky. I sometimes get tired but I think that’s just the pills.

“That’s the beauty of being a volunteer for something, because you can finish any time you like and no one will think any less of you.

“But while I’m still enjoying it, and still get a buzz out of seeing the youngsters progress, then I’ll be there on a Sunday morning, come rain or shine.

“While I still feel well enough I shall continue with the training, but as soon as I feel that there’s someone capable of taking over — someone with the same dedication to the sport — then I’ll step down.”

As if there could be another Christine Fergusson. I told you that she was wonderful.