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Kovsie coach to assist Ghana hockey

21 June 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Ruan Bruwer

Braam van Wyk, hockey high-performance manager at the University of the Free State (UFS), wants to plough back whatever he can at international level.

Van Wyk has been appointed as assistant coach of the Ghana men’s hockey team. It is only a part-time appointment, as they don’t play that many matches in a year. Ghana is ranked 35th in the world.

He will assist the team in the run-up to the Africa Cup in August 2019, where they hope to perform well enough to get an opportunity to play in the Road to Tokyo qualifier for next year’s Olympic Games.

Van Wyk currently coaches the Ghana players who are based in South Africa.

“I see this as an opportunity to develop the players, but also for me as a coach to grow and to coach at international level. I am excited to try and add value. The plan is to implement it here at the UFS,” Van Wyk said.

He is also the head coach of the UFS men’s team since 2016, as well as the astro manager.

Learned a lot from coach dad

According to Van Wyk (32), who studied environmental management, he already started coaching in his first year of studies while he was still playing. He represented the UFS from 2006 to 2009.

“Between 2010 and 2015, my focus shifted to umpiring and I officiated in 19 internationals of which five involved the Protea men’s team.”

His father, also Braam, is never too far away for guidance. Braam Sr is an astute coach who stood at the helm of many teams over the years, including the Kovsie men and women. He also coached his son while he was playing for the UFS.

“While I was playing, I used to ask him a lot of questions. I learned so much from him and still approach him for advice. He has so much experience and has achieved so much.”

News Archive

Researchers receive study grant for research into Congo Fever

2015-03-10

UFS researchers will be contributing significantly to the search for a vaccine against the deadly tick-borne disease known as Congo Fever.

Prof Felicity Burt from the Department of Medical Microbiology and Virology was recently awarded a research grant by the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) to study candidate vaccines for Crimean-Congo heamorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus and other arboviruses.

Arboviruses are viruses transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks, or other arthropods.

Prof Burt is an internationally-recognised expert on the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF). The Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus is a tick-borne virus that is associated with severe haemorrhagic disease in South Africa and other parts of Africa, Asia, and eastern Europe. Her interests focus on medically significant viruses that are transmitted by ticks and mosquitoes. Her research group is involved in determining the immune responses that are induced by different viral proteins.

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus, a tick- borne virus found in Africa, Asia, the Balkans, and eastern Europe, causes severe viral haemorrhagic fever outbreaks.

Although a number of tick species are capable of becoming infected with CCHF virus, ticks of the genus Hyalomma, commonly referred to in SA as the “bont-legged ticks”, are the principal vector. The ticks have distinctive brown and white bands on their legs.

In February 1981, the first case of CCHF was recognised in South Africa (SA). To date, there have been nearly 200 cases of CCHF infection in SA with a 20% fatality rate. The majority of cases occurring in SA were in patients from the Northern Cape and Free State provinces.

“The funding that has been awarded will be used to profile immune responses against CCHF viral proteins, and investigate mechanisms and strategies to enhance these immune responses. We hope that the study will contribute knowledge towards the development of a vaccine against this medically significant virus.”

For more information or enquiries contact news@ufs.ac.za.

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