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Blood, sweat, and cheers: a Shimla triumph

24 April 2024 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Francois van Vuuren

Varsity Cup 2024 — The FNB UFS Shimlas are the winners of the 2024 FNB Varsity Cup.

The FNB UFS Shimlas are the winners of the 2024 FNB Varsity Cup. This comes after a 45-42 victory over the FNB UCT Ikeys in the final, which took place on 21 April 2024 at Shimla Park. “It was one of the best matches I have been involved in as a coach; both teams played unbelievable rugby and we are just so pleased to get this great result,” said Andre Tredoux, Head Coach of the FNB UFS Shimlas.

The last time the Shimlas won the title was in 2015. As such, Tredoux indicates that the team is thankful to bring the trophy home. Prof Francis Petersen – Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Free State (UFS) – was also in attendance at the final. In his congratulatory message, Prof Petersen described the match as a fantastic scene. “The team represented the University of the Free State; they represented one of our key values, which is excellence, but they also showed that sport – in this case rugby – has a social cohesion value,” he said.

The battle for the championship

Tredoux indicates that the match was a tough one, especially when the score stood at 14-0 and 31-19 against the Shimlas. He says the team had to dig deep to find its footing in the game again, considering that they were behind so early in the game. As such, he highlights, “It was a huge effort to get back into the game and keep playing as a team. We really focused on staying in the fight and being connected, as we knew Ikeys would tire in the later stage of the game.”

Subsequent to this monumental victory, he describes the team as having the ‘hearts of champions’ and credits their love and enthusiasm for the game as part of the reason for their success. In fact, one person who exemplifies this is the Shimla scrumhalf Jandre Nel, who was named the FNB Player that Rocks.

Furthermore, Tredoux thanks the UFS community for showing up in their numbers at the game. He also commends his team for working towards this victory, including “Inus Keyser, Mark Nichols, and Edith Maritz – our physiotherapist – for keeping the team healthy, as well as assistant coaches Melusi Mthethwa and Tiaan Liebenberg, and Jerry Laka, Director of Kovsie Sport at the UFS”.

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News Archive

UFS arts are experiencing a boom

2013-09-03

Dot Vermeulen
3 September 2013

The arts at the University of the Free State are experiencing a boom, with several Kovsie artists achieving on a national platform. Dot Vermeulen, a junior lecturer in the Department of Fine Arts, is the latest UFS artist to be honoured nationally as the winner of the 2013 Sasol New Signatures art award.

The award is rewarding emerging young artists. The winning entry, entitled “Desperately disciplined,” by Vermeulen, who is currently studying toward her master’s degree in Visual Arts, was chosen from approximately 400 entries.

Earlier this year, Pauline Gutter, a former Kovsie, won the Absa L’Atelier competition, which is South Africa’s most prestigious art competition. The year before, another former student from our Department of Fine Arts, Elrie Joubert, won the competition.

Vermeulen says there are brilliant people at the UFS who are active in visual arts at various levels. "People such as Janine Allen-Spies (lecturer in painting) and Angela de Jesus (curator of the Stegmann gallery) are not only good artists, they are also involved with the community and invest a great deal of energy into the development of young artists. From my own experience, I can say that I have benefited a lot from academic scholarships from the UFS in the course of my study career."

She says her winning entry refers to the relationship between traditional tactile painting and contemporary digital media. "The focus is especially on hidden moments of absorption and correspondence during the art-making process. The painting installation depicts a reading nude figure on a couch. A computer screen is mounted on a stand in front of the painting, animating the same image, while at the same time blocking the view of the painting. In the animation, the nude figure pages through her book from time to time, with the paint and digital drawing marks moving around her. The text “Envoi is typing…” is also animated on the surface of the couch repeatedly. It is suggestive of internet chat boxes, which often pop up on the screen while I am working on my laptop."

As winner of the Sasol New Signatures art award, Vermeulen won R60 000 and the opportunity of a solo art exhibition in the Pretoria Art Museum.

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