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15 September 2021 | Story Jóhann Thormählen | Photo Charl Devenish
The University of the Free State (UFS) netball team was honoured by UFS management at a special celebration. The side won a fourth Varsity Netball title and the UFS has now been champion in 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2021.

Set goals for yourself, commit to it, and give everything to achieve them.

According to Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS), this is what the UFS netball team did and why it is an example for the Kovsie community.

He celebrated the team’s achievement of winning Varsity Netball for a record fourth time and extending the run of the UFS as the most successful team in the tournament.

The Kovsies convincingly beat Maties 55-39 in the final to be crowned champions. It was the biggest victory margin in a final, and they did it after losing to Maties (46-54) in the first round.

Prof Petersen and his management group honoured Burta de Kock, the UFS Head Coach, and her team during a special celebration on 13 September 2021.

Working as an outfit

He said the side’s determination is a lesson to others.

“Once you have decided that these are my objectives and you commit yourself to achieving them, that is all you focus on.”

“It will always be possible if you put everything in and you showed it. Thank you for doing this.”

He praised the team for building the UFS brand. 

“You really work as an outfit. What I saw of the players was a right attitude when they play the game.”

Everything made easy

Sikholiwe (Sne) Mdletshe, the UFS captain, thanked her team’s management, the UFS, and its lecturers.

“We really want to thank the university for putting so much into us. It gives us a lot of resources.

“Some tests had to be written while we were in the bubble and our lecturers made that easy for us.”

She said the players never take the effort for granted. “The UFS makes everything easy to go out there and play netball – the sport we have been playing since we were little kids.”

DB Prinsloo, Director of KovsieSport, is immensely proud of the team.

“We even lost one of our best players in the first match, Chanel Vrey, due to injury. We have to take off our hats to the Kovsie netball team.”


News Archive

Young PhD graduate gets international attention
2010-02-22

Dr Nalize Marais
Photo: Supplied


The youngest ever PhD graduate from the Faculty of Education at the University of the Free State (UFS), Dr Nalize Marais, has gained international recognition for her research study.

Her PhD thesis entitled Accountability and liability: an education law perspective on school leadership has been nominated for the Best Dissertation Award by the International Politics of Education Association. She will compete with two other finalists for this prestigious award.

The winner will be announced during the annual meeting and conference of the American Education Research Association (AERA) in Denver, Colorado, in April this year.

Dr Marais’ research study was driven by the principles of democracy founded in the advancement of human rights, equality and dignity. It dealt with issues of training and development in legislative knowledge and interpretation to empower school principals in their roles as accountable officers in a politically transforming environment.

She obtained her PhD at the September graduation ceremony of the UFS in 2009. She was only 27 years old when she submitted her thesis, making her the youngest person to obtain a PhD in Education at the UFS.

She is currently an instructional designer at the Centre for Higher Education Studies and Development (CHESD) at the UFS.

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