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09 May 2018 Photo Varsity Sports
Maryke Coetzee is the new captain of the Crinums netball team
Maryke Coetzee is the new captain of the Crinums netball team.
Despite being a very young team the Free State Crinums are packed with Kovsie players, who will start the Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League as one of the strongest contenders and will hopefully be crowned the country’s best netball province.

The five-week long competition starts on Friday (11 May) in Johannesburg. The Crinums is a de facto Kovsie team with all 15 squad members currently doing a course at the university. Eleven of them were in action for the Kovsies in the Varsity Netball competition in 2017. They have only lost four players from last year which, along with the defending champs, the Jaguars, is the fewest by any team. They also boast experience in every position. The four newcomers in the squad are Sikholiwe Mdletshe, Jana Scholtz, Rykie Venter and Marétha van Heerden. Mdletshe and Venter have played for the Kovsies before. 

After winning the trophy for three years in a row, the Crinums were unable to defend it in 2017 when they finished fifth. It was, however, with a team that was officially the youngest, with an average age of 21 years and five months. This year it has increased to 21 years and six months. 

The team is coached by Kovsie netball coach, Burta de Kock, and skippered by goalkeeper Maryke Coetzee. She and Tanya Mostert (goal defender) will participate in their fifth Premier league.

The Crinums start with two matches against teams they haven’t lost to before. On Friday night they tackle the Sunbirds from Mpumalanga and a day later the Baobabs from Limpopo.

The Crinums squad: Alicia Puren, Ané Retief, Gertriana Retief, Jana Scholtz, Khanyisa Chawane, Khomotso Mamburu, Lefébre Rademan, Luscha Pienaar, Marétha van Heerden, Marna Claassens, Maryke Coetzee, Meagan Roux, Rykie Venter, Sikholiwe Mdletshe, Tanya Mostert.

News Archive

First Black Rag Queen wants to give voice to voiceless
2017-02-22

Description: Coronation ball 2017 Tags: Coronation ball 2017

The winners of the 2017 Amanzi Coronation
ball are, from the left: Devina Harry,
Second Princess; Kgomotso Sebusi,
First Princess; Prudence Mahlaba, Rag Queen;
Suhail Peerbhai, Mr Rag; Jordan Nadasen,
First Runner-up; and Mohlale Matlala,
Second Runner-up.
Photo: Gerhardus Bosch


“It is true what they say about your purpose driving you towards your goal. The ride to eventually becoming the first black RAG Queen was motivated by a pure desire in my heart to help other people.”

This is the moving words of Prudence Mahlaba, who was crowned Rag Queen at the Amanzi Coronation Ball on Friday 17 February 2017. Suhail Peerbhai, a second-year BCom Economics student, was crowned Mr Rag 2017.

Giving a voice to the voiceless
Mahlaba says she wants to make a positive impact, “not only on the less fortunate, but also on the voiceless.” The fourth-year LLB student strives to adhere to the vision of the acronym RAG (Receive and Give). RAG is mainly about a good cause in order to make a difference.
“It is beauty with a purpose, practising what you preach, and doing unto others what you want them to do unto you,” Mahlaba said.

It was a night of glitz and glamour as the finalists made a last bid for the sought-after titles at the prestigious event held at the Student Church on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State.

Role provide foundation for change
“Becoming Mr Rag is an exceptional feeling; however, this role entails much more responsibility,” Peerbhai said. “At a time like this, it has given me a solid foundation to make a difference in communities that are less fortunate.”

His advice to future participants in the contest is, “to go for it, since it entails the most life-changing challenges students in our era can face. No classroom teachings can provide you with the same values and experiences.”

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