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28 March 2022 | Story Jóhann Thormählen | Photo Supplied
Rassie Erasmus en Jacques Nienaber
A few Kovsies were winners at the South African Sports Awards. Rassie Erasmus (Coach of the Year) were among the current and former Kovsies honoured. Pictured here with Jacques Nienaber, Springbok Head Coach.
The influence of the University of the Free State (UFS) on the South African sporting landscape and the world stage is outstanding.

DB Prinsloo, Director of KovsieSport, says this was emphasised when a few Kovsies were among the winners at the South African Sports Awards held on 12 March 2022.

According to him, this is testament to the contribution that the university makes on a daily basis in the careers of sportsmen and -women.

The UFS shared in the spoils at the 15th version of the awards in Durban as former Shimla Rassie Erasmus was named Coach of the Year, while Miné de Klerk was the Newcomer of the Year. The young athlete, who is studying in America, is a member of the Kovsie Athletics Club.

The UFS also had a hand in the Team of the Year award, which went to the Springboks. Many former Kovsies are involved with the team.

Hard work pays off

“We are very proud of administrators, sportsmen and -women who excel in this way,” says Prinsloo.

“It is a reward to the individuals and teams for their infinite determination and focused hard work.”

He says it shows the university’s impact to the rest of the country. “The hours, days, months, and years of hard work have paid off.”

Erasmus is South Africa’s Director of Rugby and was the 45th Springbok produced by the UFS. He helped the Boks achieve success in 2021, including a series victory over the British and Irish Lions.

De Klerk won gold (shot put) and silver (discus) medals at the World Athletics U20 Championships last year.

Erasmus, Jacques Nienaber (Head Coach), and Daan Human (Scrum Coach) are all former Kovsies and part of the Springbok management, while the former Shimla, Ox Nché, plays for South Africa.

Attracting prospective students

Another Kovsie, Louzanne Coetzee (T11), was nominated for a SA Sports Award. 

The UFS Akasia Residence Head won silver (T11; 1 500 m) and bronze (T12; marathon) medals at the Paralympics.
She and her guides, Estean Badenhorst and Claus Kempen, were nominated for Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability. The sprinter Anruné Weyers (T47) took the honours.

Prinsloo says these achievements have an impact on prospective students. 

“Through this, they are made aware of the contribution that the UFS and KovsieSport make, and its attitude towards sport and the promotion thereof.”
Mine de Klerk

(Miné de Klerk was named Newcomer of the Year at 2022 SA Sports Awards. Photo: Dan Vernon (World Athletics) 

News Archive

Two Kovsie women involved in international sports events
2012-05-14

 

Hetsie Veitch and Ebeth Grobbelaar
Photo: René-Jean van der Berg
14 May 2012

The organisers of two international sports events will depend on the expertise of two Kovsie women to make the events a major success.

The honour to be involved in international sports event has befallen Ms Hetsie Veitch and Ms Ebeth Grobbelaar.

The honour is the result of many years’ hard work and devotion in their respective fields.

In June, when the USA chooses the team to represent it at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, Ms Veitch will be one of the classifiers who will determine in which categories athletes may compete.

Ms Veitch, Head of the Unit for Students with Disabilities at the University of the Free State (UFS), has been invited to be a member of the Classification Panel at the final USA Paralympic athletics trials. The trials take place from 27 June to 1 July 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the USA.

Ms Veitch and four other classifiers, two from Brazil, one from Canada and one from the USA, will test and verify the international classification status of the American athletes. No athlete will be allowed to take part without their classification being verified by the panel.

Ms Veitch, who recently achieved the status of International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics Classifier, the highest achievement for a classifier in sport for the disabled, said that this category of sport has always been her passion.

“To have the opportunity to be involved in the classification of the USA team for the London 2012 Paralympic Games is a huge honour. I am going to start working on being chosen for the official IPC classification panel for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Brazil.”

Ms Grobbelaar, Assistant Director of the South African Testing Laboratory for Prohibited Substances at the UFS, was invited to be involved in the Drugs Control Centre in the unit against prohibited substances which will test sportsmen and women during this year’s Olympic Games in London.

Ms Grobbelaar said that even though the future of sportsmen and women would be in her hands, she is totally capable of carrying out the task that awaits her.

“I will be part of the laboratory team who will test the athletes’ samples for prohibited substances. I was part of the South African team who tested samples in our own laboratory in 2010 during the FIFA Soccer World Cup, as well as for the All Africa Games. The task is one I perform every day in our own laboratories. Each sample that I analyse determines an athlete’s future. The circumstances during the Olympic Games are different, but the work remains the same.”

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