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29 May 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Reg Caldecott
Khanyisa Chawane
Khanyisa Chawane is one of 12 members of the national netball team to the World Cup in July. Other team members include former students of the University of the Free State, Maryka Holtzhausen and Karla Pretorius.

Exactly one quarter of the South African netball team to the World Cup tournament in England in July will consist of current and former students from the University of the Free State (UFS).

Less than a year after making her Protea debut, Khanyisa Chawane was selected for the team alongside former UFS students, Maryka Holtzhausen and Karla Pretorius.

Chawane is a fifth-year BSc Geography and Statistics student who made her Kovsie debut in 2015. 

“The selection means so much to me. It’s such an honour and privilege to represent my country at this high level of netball. I’m super excited about it, because any team can win it this year,” Chawane, a centre court player, said.

Both Chawane (2018) and Pretorius (2014 and 2015) were previously named as die best student netball player in the country.

Pretorius, with 80 caps behind her name and widely regarded as the best goal defender in the world, represented and captained the UFS team from 2009 to 2015. She is the Protea vice-captain.

Holtzhausen, a goal attack and only the second player to reach 100 tests for the Proteas (106 in total), played for and captained the UFS between 2007 and 2014. She played her netball in England over the past couple of months. When she returns from the World Cup, she will again take up her part-time job as a sports manager at KovsieSport.

Burta de Kock, who has coached all three players at the UFS, said they serve as a motivation and example for the current group of players from the UFS.

News Archive

Dreams come true
2014-06-11


Lizelke Klindt – part of the Kovsie family

 

“To be a Kovsie is awesome.” This is how Lizelke Klindt starts the conversation.

Who is Lizelke?

She is one of our top emerging academics. Expanding on her BSc in Astrophysics, she obtained an honours degree in Physics this year – cum laude – earning her the Dean’s and Senate Medal.

At this year’s Kovsie Open Day on the Bloemfontein Campus, Lizelke beamed across the stage at prospective students and their parents – embodying true Kovsie pride.  

Her academic journey has just begun, though. Lizelke is currently doing her MSc in Astrophysics. Her thesis focuses on the ‘Multi-wavelength Analysis of Unidentified Active Galactic Nuclei in the Fermi 2LAC Catalogue’.

“This will allow me to travel around to collect my own data and will broaden my skill set in order to reduce the various data,” she says.

Her achievements have gone hand in hand with hard work and grapping every opportunity the university has to offer, she admits. She also has a lot of praise for our university for offering research opportunities to graduates in their respective fields.  

“My studies have allowed me to travel a lot and to meet people from all over the world. I have made friends in Germany, Poland, Australia and other European countries.

“And the best part of it all is I get to fly a lot. I absolute love it. And if there was such a thing as a second life, I would definitely be a pilot or hopefully an astronaut. It’s a good feeling to be part of the Kovsie family.”

Lizelke plans to continue onto her PhD in the coming years. And then? She fervently wishes to get a post-doctoral position at the very same university that opened a world to her that she loves passionately. A world she has dreamt of since childhood.

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