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26 October 2018 Photo Gallo Images
Kovsie Netball star selected to the national team
Kovsie Netball Team player Khanyisa Chawana has been selected to the National Spar Proteas Netball team.
Kovsie Netball Team centre and wing attack player Khanyisa Chawane’s glorious netball career has taken to greater heights after her recent selection into the national netball team.

The 22 year-old student final year Bachelor of Science (Geography and Agrometeorology) student hailed her selection as a new challenge in her sporting career.

Chawana has this week been in  Australia for the Fast 5 netball series where they will be playing against Jamaica, Malawi, Australia, New Zealand and England on this coming Sunday and Monday.
A Fast 5 is a quick-paced netball game where contesting nations will select five players per side.

Testing her prowess with the best

Chawana has so far been capped three times in the Spar Proteas national netball team; those were for the Quad Series matches which the South African Spar Proteas played against Australia, New Zealand and England. The games were held in Australia last month.

“I was nervous at first, but I wanted to go out there and wanted to prove myself that I worked hard to be here,” she said adding that their opponents were playing a different game with speed and high intensity.

“After those games, I felt like I needed to prepare myself more so that I could handle the intensity as I was playing with ladies who have been capped many times and were more experienced,” she said.

Kovsie netball coach “inspired me to be the best”

Asked who has been a source of her inspiration in her netball career, Chawana spared no moment in attributing her rise to Kovsie Netball Team coach Burta De Kock.

She explained that from her late high school days when she was playing at provincial games in Limpopo, De Kock scouted her abilities and has been keeping an eye on her since then.

“When I was doing Grade 12, she approached me and said, ‘One day you will play in the National Netball Team.”

“When I first got the news of my selection, I exclaimed and said; Wow! Words do really come true, my coach Burta saw in me what I could not see and she prepared me for the best.”

She described her coach as a kind of a manager who individually nurtures the abilities of each and every single player for the best, “I am so grateful to her.”

Chawana blew off family blows

Last year, Chawana was dealt a devastating blow when her family home in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga was razed to the ground by fire, thereby losing all her possessions. Her father, Russel, also had to spend three weeks in the intensive care unit of a local hospital for smoke inhalation treatment.

“Having gone through all this, but for me, nothing picks me up more than a prayer. I felt that all this might have happened for a reason and it always aspired that something better will come up,” she said.

During the Varsity Cup National Netball Tournament finals played which the Kovsie Netball Team played against the University of Pretoria here, Chawana came out as the best player in the Premier League, National Championship and the Varsity Netball in the same year.

News Archive

International speakers discuss diversity
2014-02-11

 
Dr Charles Alexander from UCLA
Photo: O'Ryan Heideman

International and local experts recently gathered on the Bloemfontein Campus to deliberate over the topic of diversity.

Student participation and mobility dramatically increased in higher education worldwide. Cultural, political, economic and social factors on a national and global scale, have brought the reality of diversity into the operational spaces of Higher Education Institutions. These challenges are not exclusive to South Africa, though. In the Netherlands and USA, universities are also challenged by the demands of an increasingly diverse student population.

Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, acted as one of the keynote speakers during a two-day colloquium hosted by the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice. In an impelling address, Prof Jansen argued that change cannot be affected on a university campus if the surrounding community does not change as well. He also noted the spread of a culture of silence surrounding issues of misbehaviour. He urged that we need to find courage again to speak out. From the level of government, media and churches to the private spaces of our homes, we have to co-create an environment of care.

This message closely tied in with that of Prof Shirley Tate’s from the University of Leeds. In her keynote, she asserted that mere tolerance of someone different from you can lead to even more alienation. The path to true reconciliation is grounded in the intimacy of friendship. Friendship and empathy lead to trust and transcend racism.

Another keynote speaker from abroad, Dr Charles Alexander from the University of California, delineated a model for inclusive excellence. He explained that the major problem of true transformation is not due to a lack of ideas, but in the implementation thereof. “Realities of implementation short circuit the change process,” he said. He explained how campus environments can adapt in order to support and enhance lasting inclusivity.

We have to become complicit in the process of transformation, Prof Dr Ghorashi, Professor of Diversity and Integration at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, conveyed. Linking up with the issue of silence, she demonstrated the power of speaking out, using examples from her extensive research among victims of violence. It is imperative, she maintains, that for transformation to materialise, we need to create safe spaces in which we can share our vulnerabilities.

Footnote: Due to unfortunate circumstances, both Prof Dr Ghorashi and Prof Shirley Tate could not personally attend the colloquium as planned. Their respective keynotes were read to the audience on their behalf.

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