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24 September 2024
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Story Aimée Barlow
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Photo Supplied
Louzanne Coetzee, who made history by clinching South Africa’s second medal at the Paralympics, earning a bronze in the T11 1 500 m women’s final with a personal best time, received a warm reception when she recently returned home.
The celebrated Paralympic bronze medallist Louzanne Coetzee returned home to a warm welcome at the Bram Fischer International Airport on 10 September 2024.
Family, friends, colleagues, Arista students, and media gathered to celebrate her remarkable achievement and show their support.
Coetzee – KovsieSport Coordinator of Parasport at the University of the Free State (UFS) – made history by clinching South Africa’s second medal at the Paralympics, earning a bronze in the T11 1 500 m women’s final with a personal best time. Her dedication and hard work have not only brought her personal glory but have also inspired many in her community.
Among those present to welcome her was Jerry Laka, Director of KovsieSport, who expressed his pride in Coetzee’s accomplishments.
"We as KovsieSport are so proud of our colleague Coetzee. It is amazing to see a product of KovsieSport achieving greatness on the world stage. She is truly an inspiration to us all," said Laka.
“I am so glad to be back, and to have Laka and my colleagues here. It means the world to me. Having Laka here shows his commitment to my career and ParaSport and his staff in general,” shared Coetzee, her gratitude evident.
She further expressed her appreciation for the support she received, stating, “I don’t have the words to describe how thankful I am for the support from the UFS community.”
Coetzee’s return is a proud moment for South Africa and the University of the Free State (UFS) community. Welcome home, Louzanne! Your achievements have made us all proud!
UFS football team promoted to ABC Motsepe League
2017-06-01
The Kovsies were the best football team at the SAB
playoffs held in Sasolburg gaining access to the
ABC Motsepe League in 2017/2018.
Photo: Kyle Marais
It means a lot to the football loving community at University of the Free State (UFS) and gives them something to be proud of. This is according to Godfrey Tenoff, coach of the UFS Men’s Football Team, after his team’s recent promotion to the ABC Motsepe League.
The Kovsies were crowned SAB Provincial Champions, an amateur senior league, for a second consecutive year in 2016/2017, but gained access to the ABC Motsepe League by winning the SAB playoffs on 20 and 21 May 2017 in Sasolburg. Thabo (Number) Lesibe and Tenoff was also respectively named Player and Coach of the Tournament at the playoffs. The university has been promoted to the semi-professional ABC Motsepe league for the first time since 2008.
Flirting with success over past few years
Tenoff said UFS football can now be seen as “one that can make a significant contribution to championship culture of sport at the university”.
His troops had flirted with success over the past few years, but couldn’t always translate it into championships. They finished fourth in their SAB provincial league in 2013/2014, second in 2014/2015 and in 2015/2016 won the region, but lost in the SAB provincial playoffs.
Three reasons for outstanding season
Tenoff said there are three reasons for the team’s success and it went on a 22-game unbeaten streak, with 20 games won and two drawn.
They retained most players from the 2015/2016 season and many of them were recruited during that season. Local talent from high schools in Bloemfontein were also recruited and introduced earlier – in July 2016. Lastly, Tenoff said the players and technical team were resilient and objective in their planning.