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10 March 2022 | Story Jóhann Thormählen | Photo Supplied
Long jump
The University of the Free State (UFS) is leading the charge when it comes to the training of athletics coaches in South Africa. The first certified online course presented by the UFS is one for long jump coaches.
The University of the Free State (UFS) is renowned for producing top athletes, but now also provides training to athletics coaches from all over the country and beyond.

In a first for South Africa, coaches can now learn from the best, stay up to date with the latest research, and get certified from the comfort of their homes or offices.

This is the result of pioneering work done when COVID-19 forced the sporting community to adapt to new challenges.

KovsieSport, the Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences at the UFS, and Athletics South Africa (ASA) have collaborated to make high-level training available for coaches through online courses.

The Higher Education Quality Committee of the Council on Higher Education endorsed the very first short learning programme presented by the UFS.

Latest coaching research

The first online course started on 17 January 2022 with an ASA Level 1 qualification course for long jump, which attracted participants from across South Africa and even Namibia.

“The academic legitimacy of the course content is ensured, and we provide an opportunity to keep abreast with the latest research with regard to sport science and the biomechanical, as well as updated articles,” says Emmarie Prinsloo, UFS Athletics Head Coach and project manager.

She says COVID-19 made everyone look at traditional coaching differently.

“In this way (online studies) the course is accessible to any participant in South Africa and even further.”

Course content

The courses consist of three online sessions over six weeks. During the contact sessions, practical videos are analysed, with continued assessment and an exam part of the course.

According to Prinsloo, a lot of effort went into the content, as manuals were updated by experts and high-level coaches. These manuals were moderated by Prof Derik Coetzee, Head of the UFS Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences.

In this way (online studies) the course is accessible to any participant in South Africa and even further. – Emmarie Prinsloo
Prinsloo, a renowned jumping coach and Head of the KovsieSport Jumping Academy, is the facilitator of the long jump and triple jump courses and co-writer of the pilot project.

Richard Stander, former Chief Executive Officer of ASA, will be part of the facilitation of some courses.

The long jump course is the first of many. Certified courses in sprints, triple jump, high jump, pole vault, middle distances and steeplechase, javelin throw, discus throw, hammer throw, shot put, hurdles, relays, and race walking will follow.
Prinsloo says Level 2 coaching courses will be presented from 2023.

• Get more info and contact information on the KovsieSport website.

 

News Archive

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu visiting the UFS once again
2012-07-13

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
13 July 2012

The University of the Free State (UFS) will once again be honoured by the presence of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on Wednesday 18 July 2012.

Dr Tutu will be speaking at our Bloemfontein Campus for the first session of a two-day “In Conversation With …”event that is part of the Global Leadership Summit currently being held on the campus.

This sessions starts at 09:30 at the Centenary Complex. The media is invited to attend this session.

Dr Tutu will be in dialogue with Prof. Mark Solms, Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Cape Town and owner of the Solms-Delta Wine Estate in Franschhoek.

The theme for this conversation, facilitated by Prof. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, will be “Living Reconciliation: Winds of Change in Franschhoek and Transformation at Solms-Delta Wine Estate”. This is based on the transformation introduced by Solms on his farm in the Franschhoek Valley.

Prof. Gobodo-Madikizela is a Senior Research Professor on trauma, forgiveness and reconciliation at the UFS.

As owner of Solms-Delta Wine Estate in Franschhoek, Prof. Solms led an initiative to transform the lives of farm workers on the estate through the Wijn de Caab Trust. This initiative was extended to empower the wider community of farm dwellers when Prof. Solms co-founded the Delta Trust and the Franschhoek Valley Transformation Charter. This organisation aims to break trans-generational cycles of social division and inequality in the valley.

The dialogue with Dr Tutu will highlight the significance of these initiatives as examples of deepening the link between socially responsive scholarship, commitment to social justice and responsible citizenship in contemporary South Africa.

Last year, the UFS awarded Dr Tutu an honorary doctorate in Theology, marking a milestone in the history of the university.

At 12:30, Dr Tutu will visit the Red Square in front of the UFS Main Building, where he will join in the fundraising festivities for the university’s official Nelson Mandela Day event and deliver a short address.

Schools in the vicinity, UFS staff and students and the public are invited to take part in the R5 coin laying ceremony in front of the Main Building.

The money collected at this event will be used to benefit the No Student Hungry (NSH) campaign as well as Bloemfontein Child Welfare.
 

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