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18 June 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo BackpagePix
Lefébre Rademan
Lefébre Rademan, wing attack and goal attack, received seven Player of the Match awards in her last 17 matches for the Free State and the University of the Free State.

While she had an outstanding Telkom Netball League and was recognised as one of the best players, Lefébre Rademan is keen to take her game to the next level.

The 22-year-old BEd honours student at the University of the Free State captained the Free State Crinums to the third position in the league, and was named as the best shooter. Her 201 goals from 235 attempts (86% goal average) was the second highest by any shooter with more than 100 attempts.

Rademan’s four Player of the Match awards was the joint most. This followed last year’s Varsity Netball tournament where she also finished with the joint most awards for the best player in a fixture.

“Yes, I would say this has been the best form of my career. But I believe I can take it a step further. Reaching this form is something that comes over time with hard work.” 

Rotating between positions

What impressed about the South African A (2018) and SA U21 (2016 and 2017) player, was how she adapted when she was rotated between wing attack and goal attack during matches.

Although the majority of her career was as a defender (school) and wing attack (post school), goal attack was a position she always thought she would like. 

“In my first year, I used to nag our coach (Burta de Kock) to give me some playing time there. It is funny how it worked out, as I’m now playing mostly goal attack.”

She still hopes to win a couple of trophies with the Kovsie and Free State teams and said she will give her ‘absolute all’ to make the Protea team.

According to De Kock, Rademan is a hard worker with a never-give-up approach. “I can play her anywhere and she won’t let anyone down. Lefébre never takes praise for herself. She sets the example on and off court.”

News Archive

Research on locomotion of giraffes valuable for conservation of this species
2016-08-23

Description: Giraffe research 2016 Tags: Giraffe research 2016

Technology was used in filming the giraffes.
According to research, giraffes will slow
down when a drone is positioned
approximately 20 - 30 m away. When the
drone moves closer, they will revert
to galloping.
Photo: Charl Devenish


The meaning of the Arab term Giraffe Camelopardalis is ‘someone who walks fast’. It is precisely this locomotion of their longnecks that encouraged researchers, Dr Francois Deacon and Dr Chris Basu, to study the animals more closely.

Despite the fact that giraffes are such well-known animals, very little research has been done on the manner in which these graceful animals locomote from one place to the next. There are only two known ways of locomotion: the slower lateral walking and the faster galloping. Most animals use these ways of moving forward. It is unknown why giraffes avoid intermediate-speed trotting.

Research of great value to the industry

Research on the manner in which giraffes locomote from one place to the next will assist the industry in understanding aspects such as their anatomy and function, as well as the energy they utilise in locomoting from one place to another. Information on the latter could help researchers understand where giraffes fit into the ecosystem. This data is of great value for large-scale conservation efforts.

Universities working together to collect data

Dr Basu, a veterinarian at the Royal Veterinary College in the UK, has studied the animals at a zoo park in the United Kingdom. He visited the University of the Free State (UFS) in order to expand his fieldwork on the locomotion of giraffes. This study was done in cooperation with Dr Deacon from the Department of Animal, Wildlife, and Grassland Sciences at the UFS. Dr Deacon is a specialist in giraffe habitat-related research in South Africa and other African countries.

The fieldwork for the research, which was done in the Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate and the Willem Pretorius Nature Reserve, preceded research on the movement and the forces involved in the locomotion of giraffes. Due to the confined fenced area in the zoo park, it was practically impossible to study the animals at speed. “The study of actions ‘faster than walking’ is crucial for gathering data on, inter alia, the frequency, length, and time associated with each step.


Technology such as drones offers unique
opportunities to study animals like giraffes.



Technology used to ensure accuracyTechnology such as drones offers unique opportunities to study animals like giraffes. Apart from the fact that it is possible to get high-quality video material of giraffes – moving at speed – it is also a very controlled device that ensures the accuracy of data.

It is the first time ever that a study has been done on the locomotion of giraffes with this level of detail.
Research on the study will be published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

The project was approved by the UFS ethics committee.

 

 

 

Previous research articles:

9 March 2016:Giraffe research broadcast on National Geographic channel
18 Sept 2015 Researchers reach out across continents in giraffe research
29 May 2015: Researchers international leaders in satellite tracking in the wildlife environment


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