“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.