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Burta De Kock - Head Coach of UFS Netball
Burta de Kock has been re-elected to serve on the new World Netball Coaching Advisory Panel.
Burta de Kock, the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Netball Head Coach since 2002, has been elected to serve on the new World Netball Coaching Advisory Panel. 

De Kock, whose coaching career spans the past three decades, has coached the Kovsie Netball team, the national South African Proteas, as well as the South Africa Under 23s in the past twenty years. 

Under her leadership, Kovsie Netball is the university team that has won the most gold medals and produced 18 brilliant South African Protea players, with Refiloe Nketsa as the latest Kovsie Protea player. Moreover, the university has also won several Varsity Netball competitions, as well as other titles like USSA and Varsity Netball.

Currently, she is still coaching the Kovsie Netball team and the Free State A team in the SA Spar Championships.

Fifth year serving on the panel

De Kock describes her reappointment to the World Netball Coaching Advisory Panel as a great honour. This will be the fifth year that she will serve on the panel. 

According to a statement by World Netball, the panel will advise the World Netball CEO, Clare Briegal, and the board. The structure, consisting of nine members – with Dr Anita Navin as Chair, will be working with the board to support the development and implementation of agreed priorities in the World Netball Strategic Plan, particularly focusing on driving the development of quality coaches and coaching worldwide.

As a South African serving on this international platform, De Kock believes she brings a way of thinking from the African side of netball. 

As a result of the direct contact with international teams and coaches that this platform brings, she looks forward to making use of this opportunity to learn from them, to share information, and to develop successful players and coaches at universities, both locally and internationally.

Learn from one another 

She also believes that her exposure to international teams and coaches can provide valuable guidelines to Kovsie Netball – with their unique style – on where they need to adapt to enhance their performance and win games against international teams such as Australia, New Zealand, and England. 

In addition, she is also excited about connecting the university with international institutions and clubs. “This is how we grow. We can learn from each other and serve Africa,” she says. 

News Archive

Vice-Chancellor honoured with major awards
2013-05-02

02 May 2013

The University of the Free State (UFS) is proud to announce that Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector, has been awarded a number of major awards recently.

The University of California in the United States awarded him the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance. The award is made in recognition of persons who exemplify in their work the delivery of social justice, diplomacy and tolerance in the diverse local and global society.

“The committee was very impressed with the commitment that Prof Jansen has had to reconciliation and forgiveness as a way to build bridges and to find common ground. Prof Jansen is following in the steps of many of our greatest peace-time leaders and we support his efforts to bring understanding to all cultures,” said Mark Aldenderfer, chair of the awards committee and Dean of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Art at the University of California.

Prof Jansen also received the 2013 Academia Award at the Sixth Annual Ubuntu Lecture and Dialogue Awards Ceremony of the Turquoise Harmony Institute on 4 April 2013 in Johannesburg. The Institute aims to foster relations among different faith and cultural traditions to contribute to the well-being of humanity.

According to the organisers, “outstanding individuals who made noteworthy contributions to dialogue, peace and harmony in the society,” are given recognition during the ceremony. The awards are made in a number of different categories. Prof Jansen was among the recipients who included Graca Machel and the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF). Previous winners of Turquoise Awards include Ahmed Kathrada, Chester Williams, Dr Frene Ginwala and Prof Russel Botman.

On 10 May 2013, Prof Jansen was also honoured by Kappa Delta Pi International Honour Society in Education. He was awarded membership of the Laureate Chapter of the society founded in 1911 which “is comprised of men and women who have made distinguished contributions to education, and is limited to 60 living persons”. Prof Jansen joins an exclusive membership of 293 which includes such luminaries as Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jean Piaget and George Washington Carver.

Also in the United States, Prof Jansen has been invited to be Messenger Lecturer for Fall 2013 at Cornell University. He will give three lectures and interact with the students and staff of Cornell at various functions.

“This is a significant honour and it will really allow members from across the university to get a deeper appreciation of the work you are doing at UFS and in South Africa more broadly,” said Prof Judith Byfield of Cornell’s Department of History and Director of Graduate Studies at the department’s Africana Studies and Research Centre.

On the local front, City Press published its inaugural 100 World Class South Africans on 28 April 2013. During a rigorous selection process, 100 of our country’s most extraordinary citizens who have achieved world-class status were chosen. Prof Jansen’s achievements procured him a place on this prestigious list in the category: Heroes and Mavericks.

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