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19 February 2018 Photo Danie Nel
Jeanri-Tine respected for her word on wine
Jeanri-Tine

Jeanri-Tine van Zyl may have the perfect career – an idyllic lifestyle that most of us only dream of. She is her own boss and is required to drink wine on the job! Jeanri-Tine is a respected wine writer. She obtained a BA Media Studies degree at Kovsies, before completing further qualifications in Stellenbosch and Cape Town. She is the owner/director of Feed That Bird Communication Consultants (Pty) Ltd. – a PR, communications and content marketing agency providing creative communication support to some of South Africa’s major wine brands and companies. 

My favourite career quote is by Charles Bukowski: “If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision … And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine.” 

“I didn’t realise it at the time,
but those three years at the
UFS were probably some of
my best, most formative years.”

The best career advice I got was probably from well-known wine critic Michael Fridjhon, who told me a story about an exceptionally talented ballerina who gave up ballet when she wasn’t cast as the lead in ‘Giselle’ It might not be what he intended, but I interpreted it as ‘if you can’t be the best in what you do, quit and try something else’.

I didn’t realise it at the time, but those three years at the UFS were probably some of my best, most formative years. I remember the sleepless weekends as IRAWA editor, marching into Ds Kiepie Jaftha’s office armed with demands for better security on campus, the endless wisdom and strength shared by Dr Elsabe Pepler, who was head of Communication at the Department at the time, and sitting on the grass with my friends before a test, knowing that no matter the outcome, we will all be okay…

 

News Archive

Another boost for sport at the UFS
2005-10-13

A contract formalizing the appointment of Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd was signed by Prof Verschoor and Mr Morne du Plessis in the historic Main Building of the UFS Bloemfontein campus.

 

The University of the Free State (UFS) has officially appointed Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd, which has former Springbok rugby captain Morné du Plessis as managing director, to manage its Centre for Exercise and Sport Science Services (CESSS) on the Bloemfontein campus.

According to Prof Teuns Verschoor, Vice-Rector: Academic Operations, the appointment of Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd is another step in the implementation of the UFS’s wide-ranging sport strategy to improve sport facilities and elevate formerly marginalized sports such as soccer, hockey, netball, tennis etc.

Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd is the manager of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa and coordinates and manages the national basketball high-performance programme of SA Basketball, as well as the Boxing Academy on behalf of Boxing South Africa. 

“It is also actively involved with the sports plans of several tertiary institutions like that of the University of Johannesburg and the University of Stellenbosch,” said Prof Verschoor.

“Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd was also appointed by the Ministry of Sport and Recreation to manage the allocation of sports codes to high-performance centres and to oversee the allocation of monies received from the National Lottery to these centres – this includes the CESSS at the UFS,” Prof Verschoor added.

In unfolding its national sports plan, the Ministry of Sport and Recreation has already identified the UFS-based CESSS as the high-performance testing centre for the national basketball teams whilst the national boxing teams are also earmarked to be trained at the UFS.

“We are glad to be associated with a company of this stature and look forward to work with them in the further development of sports at the UFS,” said Prof Verschoor.

According to Prof Verschoor, the CESSS will act as a centralised body that is responsible for the coordination and management of joint initiatives between professional service providers, research projects and KovsieSport.

“The centre will also coordinate and manage joint initiatives between various academic programmes in different academic subject fields such as sports medicine, bio kinetics, physiotherapy, dietetics, etc. ,” said Prof Verschoor.

These initiatives will help the UFS to become a centre and catalyst of sports development, to become internationally recognised in the field of exercise and sports science research and to become a centre for high quality sports performance enhancement.

Some of the objectives of the CESSS are:

  •  

  • To provide sports science services like to athletes, students, the general public and other stakeholders including certain national sport teams.
  • To provide the necessary teaching and training facilities and internship opportunities for UFS students in sports related fields of study will also be provided by the centre like human movement science.
  • To present skills-transfer programmes directed at the broader community like development of skills in various sporting codes.
  • To continue and extend the current chronic risk reversal programmes presented by the Department of Human Movement Science such as obesity management, cardiac rehabilitation and other lifestyle related conditions.

The centre was founded in 2003 and was until now managed by Dr Louis Holtzhausen, from Kovsie Health and a consultant, Dr Gary Vorster. 

A contract formalizing the appointment of Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd was signed today by Prof Verschoor and Mr Morne du Plessis in the historic Main Building of the UFS Bloemfontein campus.

 

 

 

 

The manager of the centre appointed by Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd is Mr Charles Store, an alumnus of the UFS, previously employed at the Sports Science Institute in Cape Town and by the SANDF at 3 Military Hospital, Bloemfontein.

 

Media release
Issued by: Anton Fisher
Director: Strategic Communication
072-207-8334
12 October 2005
 

 

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