Mapping out an obscured South African sport history landscape through Edward Henderson

Abstract

The Western Province Baseball and Softball Union (WPB&SU) met for their 40th anniversary at the Wittebome Civic Center in Cape Town in 1990. Here Edward Henderson was recognised for serving the Union as secretary from 1954 to 1979 and coached the unbeaten softball team from 1957 to 1979. A former Cape Town baseball player remembered Henderson as a big hitter with a unique style of play. Whereas most batters stepped into the ball he would step back. Henderson grew up in the community classified, Coloured. He made a significant contribution in this community towards the formal establishment of South African baseball, softball and badminton at a national level. This meant he and his fellow administrators operated outside mainstream South African sport. A historical overview of his contribution provides historians with an insight into the development of these codes in racially marginalized communities between 1949 and 1979. Henderson’s life story brings personal and place names, sport facilities and events to the fore that have eluded sport historians till the present. By placing him at the core of research, it is possible to gain historical insight into the so-called minor South African sports of baseball, badminton and softball in racially marginalized communities.