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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.
Lottery grant will boost public art at UFS
2009-05-25
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Public art at the UFS will get a major boost with money made available by the National Lottery Board. Here are Dr Ivan van Rooyen, Director: UFS Marketing, Ms Nontombi Ntakakaze (Artists in School Project) and Mr Ben Botma (Head of Department: Fine Arts) at one of the existing works of art by Edoardo Villa on the Bloemfontein Campus.
Photo: Leatitia Pienaar. |
Emerging and established artists will showcase their work in a comprehensive public sculpture project on the campuses of the University of the Free State (UFS). The aim is to create a greater understanding of cultural differences and promote the UFS vision of a truly multilingual, non-sexist, non-racial campus, says Dr Ivan van Rooyen, Director: UFS Marketing.
The National Lottery Board has approved a grant of R4,125 million in total for three major projects, one of which is the public sculpture project. The others are a Khoe-San Early Learning Centre pilot project in Heidedal, and a boost for the Artists in Schools project, which is already underway.
Dr Van Rooyen says one way of promoting the UFS vision is to create an alternative environment and provide visible, tangible symbols of change and transformation. This will enrich the educational and cultural experience of students and visitors to the campus by stimulating intercultural dialogue and providing a setting for historical dialogue between past and future.
The dream of the UFS is to inspire a sense of ownership of the campus of an open university, worthy of a democratic South Africa. “Therefore, a large-scale project of national significance has been conceptualised, where the development of infrastructure will involve the creation and acquisition of major South African art works for the long-term benefit of all South Africans,” Dr Van Rooyen says.
The public sculpture project will be implemented over the next few years. Artists will be commissioned as funds become available. The UFS will also consult extensively with local and national art museums with experience in the public art field. A wide spectrum of artists, especially artists from the black community, will be used.
Dr Van Rooyen says that many black artists have not had an opportunity to exhibit public sculptures because of prohibitive costs and the project will empower them to develop their skills. The project makes provision for both established and emerging artists to showcase their work.
The aim of the Khoe-San Early Learning Centre pilot project is to compile a curriculum that is sensitive to multiculturalism and multilingualism. The centre will be the first in the country and will respond to the need to promote and revitalise Khoe-San languages. Using arts and crafts and storytelling, as well as literacy, numeracy and life skills, children will learn to adapt to their environment and contribute to our diverse society. This centre will be a collaborative venture between the Heidedal community and the UFS.
Finally, the Artists in Schools project, which has been running successfully since 2004, will also receive a boost from the Lottery funding. Through a series of workshops that the Department of Fine Arts presents at schools, participants develop functional art products with a distinctive Free State character. These products are marketed and sold to benefit the artists, designers and craftspeople.
Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt.stg@ufs.ac.za
25 May 2009
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