Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

UFS to contest first ever Varsity Football final

30 September 2021 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Varsity Sports

Soccer_web read more — Thabo Lesibe, captain of the UFS team, on his way to score the winning goal against Tuks in the semi-final of Varsity Football.

To finish his very last match for the Kovsies as the winning captain of Varsity Football would mean the world to him, says Thabo Lesibe.

The University of the Free State (UFS) men’s team reached the final of Varsity Football for the very first time. They will face the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in Pretoria on Monday, 4 October 2021. The match gets underway at 19:15.

The UFS booked their spot in the final thanks to a 2-1 victory over Tuks in Tuesday’s semi-final.

“It would certainly be the cherry on the cake and the best possible way for me to bow out,” Lesibe said. He is in his final year of study for a Bachelor of Laws, which he started in 2015. Lesibe was responsible for scoring the winning goal from a penalty against Tuks.

On their way to the semi-finals, Kovsies also defeated the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Tuks, and Wits and drew against the North-West University (NWU), Tshwane University of Technology, and the Vaal University of Technology. Their only loss was against UJ (0-1).

“It feels amazing to reach the final. We are all very excited. There is a strong unity in the camp and a common belief. We are playing for something far greater than the eye can see,” the captain said.

According to Lesibe, the pain of 2019 has been a motivator for them in 2021. In the 2019 Varsity Football competition, Kovsies and NWU finished level on log points and with the same goal difference, but NWU progressed to the semis courtesy of scoring nine goals to the UFS’s eight in the group stage.

“When it gets tough on the playing field, we remind ourselves of that disappointment which propelled us, as we did not want to experience that pain again.”

Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, congratulated the team on a successful Varsity Football season.

“This is a great achievement for the team as well as for the university. You have shown once again that the University of the Free State is home to top sports stars. Following the victory of our Kovsie Netball team, we look forward to adding another title to our sporting achievements this year.”

News Archive

New schools, restructuring part of streamlined Faculty of Health Sciences

2017-10-12

From the left, front are: Dr Jocelyn Naicker,
Prof Gert van Zyl, Prof Magda Mulder;
back from left: Prof Chris Viljoen,
Marlene Viljoen, Deputy Director: Faculty of Health Sciences;
Prof Nathaniel Mofolo; and Prof Santie van Vuuren.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin

Numerous developments, such as the creation of two new schools and one newly restructured School of Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), will catapult this renowned faculty to even greater heights.

Five-school structure to increase access
A five-school structure was proposed at the annual Faculty Management retreat in July 2016. The previous three-school model included the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health Professions.

The current School of Medicine has been restructured and will henceforth be known as the School of Clinical Medicine. The Schools of Pathology and Biomedical Sciences have been added to the faculty. “So, three new schools were in fact created within the faculty,” said Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the faculty.

“There was also a request from the National Health Laboratory Services to group academics that is rendering services in pathology into a new School of Pathology.” This is what motivated the faculty management to create two new schools.

Esteemed academics appointed
With the creation of the new schools, there were also new appointments within the Faculty of Health Sciences. Dr Jocelyn Naicker has been appointed as the new part-time Head of the School of Pathology, Prof Chris Viljoen was appointed as the part-time Head of the School of Biomedical Sciences, and Prof Nathaniel Mofolo as the new Head of the School of Clinical Medicine. Prof Santie van Vuuren remains Head of the School of Allied Health Professions, and Prof Magda Mulder as the head of the School of Nursing.

Research outputs to remain as usual
The addition of the new schools will not impact research output. “In the past, research was done across departmental boundaries between all the departments in the faculty,” Prof Van Zyl said. The advantages of adding two additional schools are that the workload will be distributed among the five schools. The heads of schools will work within their respective disciplines and related areas, and will eliminate the duplication of administrative functions.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept