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Kovsie women end fourth in Varsity Football

23 September 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Varsity Sports

Noxolo Magudu, captian of the Kovsies Women Soccer team — Noxolo Magudu (right), captain of the Kovsie football team, were one of her team's standout performers in Varsity Football.

The Kovsie women’s football team made history when they reached the semi-final stage of Varsity Football for the very first time.

They won two out of their three group matches (2-0 against the Central University of Technology and 1-0 against Tuks) on Thursday (19 September) and Friday (20 September) in Potchefstroom to finish second in their group behind the Tshwane University of Technology.

In the semi-finals on Saturday (21/09), the University of the Western Cape was too strong, prevailing by 7-0.

Finishing in the fourth place is, however, a great improvement on the sixth place in the previous two years. This was the fourth year of participation for the UFS ladies. They didn’t play in the first three renditions. In 2016, they finished fifth.

According to coach, Godfrey Tenoff, he placed his hope on the trust and unity of the team to carry them far. “When you have that as a coach and as a team, you can do really well. A willing player and team are always easier to coach than a talented team or player.
“Our goal was to make it to the second phase of the tournament,” he said.

One of the standout players for the Kovsies was their captain and striker, Noxolo Magudu, who walked away with two Player of the Match awards. Even in the quarter-final defeat, she provided a moment of brilliance which earned her the Pulse Moment of Brilliance cheque.

The UFS team has recently been doing well in the Free State’s SASOL Women's League, winning eight of their ten matches thus far.

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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