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Hockey coach excited about team’s chances

03 May 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Zimbio

Simoné Gouws (right) in action for the Protea hockey team last year. The defender will be a key player for the Kovsie team in the Varsity hockey competition.

The coach of the first women’s hockey team of the University of the Free State is confident that they can do well in the upcoming Varsity hockey tournament.

The competition works on a gender-rotation system every year. This will be the fourth term of Varsity hockey for women. The Kovsie women has a good record. In 2013 they ended fourth, in 2015 they were second, and in 2017 fifth.

The Kovsies will be facing the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Friday 3 May 2019. On Saturday, the Maties is lying in wait and the North-West University on Sunday.

“I am confident that we will be doing well. If each player plays her role very well, we should reach the semi-final stage. We have put in the hard work, with good progress. We have played three matches so far in 2019 and haven’t been on the losing side yet,” said Luke Makeleni, head coach.

In friendlies last month, the Kovsies drew to NWU (0-0), defeated UJ by 3-1, and had a good win (6-0) against the Johannesburg club, Shumbas.

“We have quite an experienced squad, with seven survivors from the previous Varsity hockey competition (in 2017), so they know what is expected,” Makeleni said. He is in his third year of coaching the women.

The Kovsies have several players with national experience. Simoné Gouws made her debut for the Proteas last year. Casey-Jean Botha, Shindré-Lee Simmons, Antonet Louw, and Lizanne Jacobs have all represented the South African U21 team. Botha is also in the Protea squad.

■ The Kovsie team: Wiané Grobler, Chane Hartel, Mikayla Claassen, Anke Badenhorst, Casey-Jean Botha, Shindré-Lee Simmons, Esté van Schalkwyk, Nadia van Staden, Antonet Louw, Michelle Ngoetjane, Heraldine Olin, Lizanne Jacobs, Refilwe Ralikontsane, Mielanka van Schalkwyk, Nela Mbedu, Simoné Gouws, Frances Louw, Kia-Leigh Erasmus.

News Archive

An out-of-this-world experience

2015-12-14

Film premiere hosts Professor Matie Hoffman, manager of the Naval Hill Planetarium and the planetarium’s operations manager, Tina Mangope.

The Naval Hill Planetarium in Bloemfontein premiered two new short astronomy films on 4 December 2015, with marvellous cosmic visuals explaining how the earth and all the planetary formations in our galaxy and the universe were created.

The two films, aptly titled ‘Cosmic Collisions’ and ‘Journey to the Stars’, were both made to enhance people’s knowledge about the universe and the vast dynamics within it. They were donated to the Bloemfontein-based planetarium by the American Museum of Natural History in collaboration with several other US space science intuitions, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

“These two fantastic state-of-the-art films are scientifically accurate and very expansive,” said Professor Matie Hoffman of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of the Free State. Hoffman is also the planetarium’s manager.

Nestled in the bushy landscape of historic Naval Hill - also home to the iconic statue of Nelson Mandela and the Franklin Game Reserve - the Naval Hill Planetarium was opened in 2013. It is the first digital planetarium in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is situated at the old Lamont-Hussey Observatory Building, which was closed in 1972.

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