by Dr. Iain
Corness
The concept of a 132 kg rugby football player going on
the internet to find out how to make kids laugh while wearing a clown
suit, seems preposterous. But it isn’t. The 132 kg rugby player is Nigel
Saunders, whose official title is Offshore Construction Manager, but whose
unofficial title is children’s entertainer, something he did very well
at the Jesters Children’s Fair.
Nigel
was born in Farborough in Kent, in the UK. His father was a mechanic, who
once worked in the pit crew for Sir Stirling Moss, whilst his mother was a
nurse. By the time Nigel was of school age, the family had moved to Devon
and Nigel described himself as a “middle of the road” student, but he
excelled at sport, and Rugby Union in particular. In fact, you would not
be wrong if you said that Nigel lived for his football.
When he left school, a career was the furthest thing
from his mind. A job was something you did in between playing football,
and in fact you selected jobs that did not depend upon your actually being
present every day - because some days you might be training, getting ready
for the game on Saturday.
Nigel was a good player, representing his county and
captaining the well known Plymouth Albion team, for whom he played for 10
years. In those days it was a semi-amateur sport, not attracting the money
and corporate sponsorships that Rugby does today. I asked Nigel if he were
disappointed when he looked back that he was perhaps playing at the
“wrong time”. “I’m not envious at all,” said Nigel. “I’m
just a bit sorry for the players at the international level who put their
jobs and careers back, just to play the game.”
Despite his obvious prowess, when he was 24 years old
he made a decision which was to change his life. “I realized my career
was ahead of me - and not sport.” He scraped 7,000 pounds together to do
a commercial diving course with the idea of getting himself into the
career prospects in the oil industry. He also gave up playing rugby.
“After I had spent 7,000 pounds on the diving course, I wasn’t going
to risk serious injury,” he said.
After qualifying as a commercial diver he rang a firm
in the UK to see what vacancies were available. 24 hours later he was on a
plane to West Africa, a part of the globe that was to be his home for the
next four years, as he worked through countries such as Nigeria, Cameroon
and Angola, places that are still in the news, and always for the wrong
reasons.
I asked Nigel if he had seen any of the problems we
hear of today. “There were times when people were still mopping up blood
on the airport floors as we came in. On other times we were told to lie
flat in the transport truck with our gear on top of us, and don’t lift a
head or look out!” He continued, “There were some scary moments.” I
suggested to him that he was a master of understatement!
After West Africa he was offered a better position in
Saudi Arabia (though after hearing about West Africa even pegged out in
the desert would have to be a better position!). He stayed there for 12
months but gradually found himself moving away from sub-sea to more
supervisory work in large construction jobs.
I asked Nigel whether it was difficult supervising what
must be some pretty tough characters working in the desert. He replied
that the team leadership skills he learned from rugby were the same as the
ones he needed in construction team management. He also added that 132 kg
has its benefits too!
However, six years ago he was offered a contract to
work in Maptaput on the construction of a refinery. He had never been to
Thailand before and had never even considered the country as a place to
work. “But now I’ve fallen in love with the place,” said Nigel. He
was initially hired as a commercial diver, but now has worked up to
offshore construction manager.
“Where to next?” was my next question, but Nigel
said that he knew he was here for at least the next seven years, now being
involved in the maintenance of the refinery he had helped build.
However, there is another reason why Nigel will be
here. And that reason is a four year old girl - Amy, his daughter. In
fact, Nigel lists Amy as his main hobby, as he is a single parent. “How
difficult is that?” “It works,” said Nigel, “It’s fun. The key
is to make special time for her, be that shopping, or going to the beach.
It doesn’t matter as long as it is time together.”
Having his own child has made Nigel more aware of
children and children’s needs. He began doing some children’s discos
and then became involved in the Jester’s Care for Kids campaign, but the
clown suit came from a joke he played on a couple who were married in June
this year. Always something of a practical joker, he attended in the suit
and entertained the crowd at the reception. Whilst the guests loved it,
the groom has only just started speaking to him again! And this is
September! But when he was asked if he would do something for the
Children’s Fair he immediately agreed. “I’m willing to do anything
for children,” said Nigel, and that included the internet research.
So the tough construction manager who says, “I
won’t take no for an answer. I won’t give in or accept defeat. I
welcome challenges in the face,” is the same guy in a clown suit who has
taken the time to see what entertains children, who has a five year plan
already mapped out for his daughter’s education and is already talking
about next year’s fair.
Never judge a 132 kg book by its cover!
