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10 October 2018 | Story UFS | Photo Sonia Small
Kovsies Dream Team takes the netball crown
The Dream Team from the UFS celebrate their victory after beating Tuks by 63-59 in the final of the Varsity Netball competition.


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The Kovsie netball team has the Varsity Netball trophy, one of the most prestigious in university sport, back in the cabinet. With this, they are now the most successful team in the history of the competition, having won three (2013, 2014 and 2018) of the six titles.

The Dream Team earned the prize thanks to a brilliant performance in the final against the defending champs, Tuks, winning by 63-59 in front of a sold-out Callie Human Centre on Monday 8 October 2018. It was the first final staged in Bloemfontein.

The Kovsies was in the lead after each quarter, but Tuks seemed to ascend in the final quarter, leading by 49-46 with nine minutes remaining. The home team then called the power play (when goals score two points) and during a golden five minutes, they built up a 63-55 lead to seal the match.

It was a brilliant turnaround for the Dream Team after losing twice to the same team in July – with 10 and 18 goals.

“The team played excellently, and I am so proud of their performance. I watched them perform throughout this year’s Varsity Netball series and want to congratulate them on their victory on behalf of the university’s executive management and the entire university community,” said Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State. 

“There’s nothing greater than playing for a great team that supports you and trusts you; thus, every time you go on court you want to give your all for them,” said Khanyisa Chawane, who played centre and wing attack in the final.

“We came a long way; there was no way we were going to give it away once we got to the final. Kovsies have a legacy and this is a legacy we want to carry through.”

Chawane was named the Player of the Tournament. She is the first player to be awarded the best player title in the Premier League, National Championship, and Varsity Netball in the same year.

Centre-court player Sikholiwe Mdletshe also referred to the legacy.

“We are starting our legacy, we knew we had to win, other teams can’t come here and dominate.”

“It is such an honour, the fact that we could do it in front of our home crowd support. We waited very long for this,” said captain Alicia Puren, who played in her final game after five seasons with the Kovsies.

According to Burta de Kock, the coach, the players used the power play in the final quarter very well in which they scored eight goals to four.  “We spoke a lot about being calm and keeping position in those two minutes.” De Kock said the large crowd was a huge advantage. “We’ve never had such a massive crowd before. It definitely helped us.”

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Graduates challenged to fulfil their leadership obligations
2015-12-14



Procession frontline: seen making their way to the graduation ceremony are from left: Dr Khotso Mokhele (Chancellor of the UFS), Prof Busisiwe Bhengu (Chairperson of the South African Nursing Council), and Prof Jonathan Jansen (Vice-Chancellor of the UFS).
Photo: Johan Roux

The time for one-dimensional discourse was over, said Professor Busisiwe Bhengu, the guest speaker at this year’s Summer Graduation. Practical implementation of change was the step forward in forging the path into a brighter South Africa future.

During both the morning and afternoon ceremonies held at the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus on 10 December 2015, the Chairperson of the South African Nursing Council, and Associate Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, challenged the newly-graduated alumni to rise to the occasion, and be a part of the solution to our country’s diverse challenges.

Some of the pervasive hardships she highlighted were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB), the escalating number of orphans and child-headed households, and the human resource shortages resulting from an ageing generation which is exiting the employment system through retirement.

Prior to dissolving the congregations, Dr Khotso Mokhele, the Chancellor of the UFS, said: “I was caught by the leadership challenge she [Prof Bhengu] threw out at the graduates because we indeed need courageous, creative and innovative leaders moving forward,” he said.

Dr Mokhele touched on South Africa’s dwindling economy, the leadership issues engulfing the government currently, the #FeesMustFall movement, and how students led a difficult dialogue and dictated the country’s trajectory as regards education, as well as the water scarcity we are facing. In closing, he warned that the graduates had lost the luxury of feeling led because of the fact that they now have a leadership obligation to fulfil.

Highlights of the day

Amongst 102 graduates from the UFS School of Medicine were two brothers from the Free State, Johann and Rudi Westraad who followed each other’s passion to become doctors.

Deputy Registrar at the UFS, Elna Van Pletzen, graduated with a Master’s in Higher Education Studies. Her thesis titled ”The implications of current legislative changes for academic freedom and institutional autonomy of South African higher education institutions”, focused on the amendment of Higher Education and Training Laws Amendment Act of 2012. In it, she tackled the subjects of academic freedom and the relationship between government and higher education institutions. Coincidently, her research was produced at a time when the subject of university autonomy was on the national agenda.

The occasion was not only a celebration of the students; teachers were also recognised for their dedication to quality education. Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS congratulated Dr Louise van den Berg (Faculty of Health Sciences) as well as Naquita Fernandes and Salomien Boshoff (both from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences) for their outstanding achievements. At a recent ceremony, Dr Van den Berg received the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for an individual teacher, and the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for the best teaching team was presented to Fernandes and Boshoff.

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