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27 December 2019
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Story Ruan Bruwer
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Photo Supplied
Tanya Britz (left) and Liné Malan, former Kovsie and Protea teammates who are now both playing club hockey in Perth.
“Kovsies shaped me into the player I am now.” Two former UFS hockey players plying their trade abroad, attribute the opportunity for them to play in Australia to the foundation laid at the UFS.
Australia is one of the leading hockey countries in the world.
Tanya Britz and Liné Malan, former Kovsie teammates and both former Protea players (Britz reached over 50 test caps), are both playing club hockey in Australia. Malan represents the Hale Hockey Club and Britz the Aquinas Hockey Club in the Perth Premier Hockey League.
Between October and November, Malan also played for the Western Australian team, the Perth Thundersticks, in the professional league called Hockey1. It is Malan’s third season in Australia and Britz has been playing there for four years.
Kovsies a close-knit family
“I grew so much as a player at Kovsies, which shaped me into the player I am now,” said Malan, a former UFS captain. She and Britz were key members of the team that reached the Varsity Hockey final in 2015. The team did not lose once in the run-up to that final.
“The UFS is such a close-knit family setting, which gave me many opportunities to receive a lot of individual attention as a player and also opportunities to play in big tournaments. This all played a part in reaching my goals, representing my country, and ultimately ending up in Australia. I am very grateful,” said Britz.
Got to face each other in 2019
After playing in the lower division the past few seasons, Britz’s team was promoted to the Premier division, which meant that she and Malan faced each other (twice) in 2019.
“The standard is very high, the Australian players are drafted evenly into each club team to strengthen the team,” said Malan.
If not playing hockey, Britz is a hockey umpire, studying Marketing and Communication, and working in the same field.
US embassy consolidates relations with the UFS
2009-05-21
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Delegates from the American Embassy recently visited the University of the Free State (UFS) to strengthen relations and to offer assistance with regards to staff and student development on diversity issues. This was a continuation of the Fulbright scholarship agreement that the UFS has with the American Embassy. As part of this agreement two student leaders, Andries Moekoa (SRC Transformation) and Jamie Turkington (IRAWA editor), will go to the USA next month for six weeks. They will be placed, together with students from other countries, at universities with the same challenges as the UFS. During the visit of the delegates from the American Embassy they had meetings with the Student Representative Councils of the Qwaqwa Campus and the Main Campus, Student Affairs Management, as well as members of the Executive Committee of the Executive Management. Pictured from the left are: Prof Ezekiel Moraka (Vice-Rector: Student Affairs), Mr Andrew Passen (Consulate General: US Embassy), Prof Teuns Verschoor (Acting Rector and Vice-Chancellor), Dr Choice Makhetha (Acting Dean: Student Affairs) and Mr Steven Stark (Public Affairs Officer: US Embassy).
Photo: Stephen Collett |