2018 Wits Sport Awards bows to greatness
- Tshepiso Mametela
The University’s exceptional sporting talent was celebrated at the 2018 edition of the annual Wits Sport Awards.
It was a night to remember for the amazingly talented Wits student-athletes who were the proud recipients of accolades and due recognition awarded at the annual Wits Sport Awards.
Hosted at the Linder Auditorium at the Parktown Education Campus, athletes across the more than 25 sporting clubs were honoured.
At least 21 athletes were awarded the Half-Blue colours – in recognition of those student-athletes who have excelled at senior club or provincial tournaments, among other things.
Full-Blue colours, awarded in recognition of excellence in national or international sporting competitions, were awarded to the 25 athletes across eight sporting codes that have shown the grit and determination needed to compete at the highest level.
Recipients included Everisto Pasipamere for basketball, Matthew Lovatt for cricket, Andrea Cabanac for fencing and Nicholas Meinel, Jessica Teneil Berry, Marvin Orie and Tyrone Green for mountain, yacht and rugby respectively.
Six Full-Blue colours were awarded to the Tang Soo Do club which included 2017 Gauteng Sport Awards (GSA) Sportswoman of the Year winner, Tanita Ramburuth-Hurt alongside GSA Most Promising Athlete of the Year nominee, Madimetja Malebana. Others included Refilwe Gomba, Makgadi Mohopo, Daniel Chen and Jichandre Sambo.
Eight more recipients received the award courtesy of the Wits hockey club, while four athletes from the karate club walked away boasting the prized honour.
Merete Goosen and Rubina Valodia, both of whom represented South Africa at the Frisbee World Ultimate Club Championships in Cincinnati, USA in July 2018, were awarded Full-Blue Cum Laude colours for their sensational efforts.
The highest individual sporting accolade awarded at the University, the Full-Blue Suma Cum Laude colours, went the way of the Wits Tang Soo Do pair. The joint winners areTshegofatso Titus Masike – winner of the gold medal in sparring in the black belt division of the 2018 Tang Soo Do Championships, and Kim Lucas, who won the gold medal of swords in the black belt division of the same event in London.
Meanwhile the Wits chess club received commendation for their winning the University Sport SA chess tournament in Mpumalanga in July, alongside the hockey, rugby, football, basketball and Tang Soo Do clubs, who were recognised for the same after exceptional performances and wins at regional and provincial tournaments in 2018.
The Student Administrator’s Award went the way of Shaun Sepuru of the Wits Chess Club, while the 2018 Mel Siff gong was awarded to captain of the FNB Wits 1st rugby team, Constant Beckerling. This award goes to the person who exemplifies integrity and displays solid sportsmanship both at Wits and for external stakeholders, through the example they set both on and off the field.
Wits Football’s star player and captain fantastic, Tshireletso Motsogi walked off with the Varsity Sport and Cup Player of the Year award. The 2018 Wits Junior Sportsman of the Year accolade was awarded to Daniel Chen, while Merete Goosen won the 2018 Wits Junior Sportswoman of the Year award.
Wits Cricket’s Farhaan Sayanvala, who is engaged in cricket in the Northern Cape and Full-Blue colours recipient, Tanita Ramburuth-Hurt were awarded 2018 Wits Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year, respectively, while the Wits Tang Soo Do Club were voted 2018 Sports Club of the Year.
“The Awards are incredibly significant because our athletes and teams have achieved incredible things over the past year,” said Chairperson of the 2018 Wits Sports Council, Kamal Ramburuth-Hurt. “And so, it’s very important that we honour them for putting hours and hours every day, into being elite athletes while pursuing a qualification at a top University like Wits.”