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12 April 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Varsity Cup
Vishuis
Vishuis will be trying to win their overall seventh Varsity hostel title on Monday.
Managing his players is of the utmost importance if the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Abraham Fischer Residence (Vishuis) is to claim a fourth straight and seventh overall national hostel title, says Zane Botha, head coach of the hostel team at the UFS.

The Varsity Hostel competition, which will be taking place in Stellenbosch, has been drastically shortened to only three days of rugby because Steinhoff has withdrawn their sponsorship.

If Vishuis makes it to the final, they will play three matches in four days.
They will face the Kovacs of the University of the Western Cape (UWC) on Friday 12 March 2019, followed by the semi-final on Saturday and the final on Monday. The final will take place at 14:00 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

“This will be new territory for us. We will have to make good tactical decisions; it won’t be possible for a prop to play for 70 minutes in all three encounters,” said Botha, who is in his third year with the hostel.

The team played three warm-up matches, which they won convincingly. We still have the core of last year’s team, together with some exciting youngsters.
Botha explained that they kept to their strategy of working harder than anyone else on the practice field and during matches. In last year’s final, Vishuis defeated Patria of the North-West University by 55-29, which was the biggest winning margin in the 11 years of the competition. Vishuis walked away with the crown in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2018.

News Archive

UFS Paralympic athlete Louzanne ready for Rio
2016-09-12

Description: Louzanne ready for Rio Tags: Louzanne ready for Rio

Rufus Botha (coach, left), Louzanne Coetzee,
and her guide Khothatso Mokone during a training
session for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
Photo: Johan Roux

“Coetzee is someone with a lot of perseverance. She is becoming a world-class athlete with the help of her guide, Khothatso Mokone.” These were the words from Rufus Botha, the coach of 23-year-old Louzanne Coetzee.

Coetzee, who works at the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice at the University of the Free State (UFS), said that the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro was never a big dream for her, because she never thought she was good enough to make it, but God had a different plan for her life.

Louzanne and her formidable team

Coetzee said that she still struggles to come to terms with the fact that she is competing at the Paralympics and experiences a rollercoaster of emotions. “I am excited, nervous, and confused all at the same time.”

According to Botha, who has been her coach for the past four years, Coetzee and her guide have such a unique rhythm and work together well. “After Mokone, also a former Kovsie, stepped into the picture, everything just escalated.”

The 2016 Paralympics and beyond

“Coetzee is someone with a lot of
perseverance and is becoming a
world-class athlete.”


“Making the Paralympic team is already a bonus. The next target we are aiming for, is for her to reach the finals in the 1500 m,” Botha said.

Coetzee and Mokone were included in the South African team to participate in Rio from 7 to 18 September 2016. Her heat takes place on 15 September 2016 and the finals of the 1500 m on 17 September 2016.

Coetzee’s main goal after the Paralympics is the World ParaAthletics Championships in London 2017.

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