TuksSport achieved outstanding results in 2015. Our athletes went into battle well prepared, focussed and intent on earning their stripe. 32 of our student-athletes, two coaches and two managers represented the University of Pretoria and South Africa at the International University Sports Federation (FISU) 28th Summer Universiade (aka the World Student Games).

Shadine van der Merwe (netball) and Robin Swartz (football) took top student honours at the TuksSport Colours and Awards function held in Pretoria on Friday, 16 October 2015.

Van der Merwe, a BEd HMS student, has been an integral team member in two sporting codes, namely softball and netball, and became the first Tuks student-athlete to win national USSA titles in two sporting codes in the same year.

Swartz, an honours student in Sport and Recreation Management, has been an active member of the TuksFootball Club for the past ten years, having progressed through the ranks and captained every team he for which he played. Over the course of his studies, he has contributed to the success of two student programmes as captain of both the USSA and Varsity Football teams.

Lenize Potgieter (netball) and Akani Simbine (athletics) were crowned Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year respectively.

Potgieter represented the Proteas in Australia in August where she quickly became a talking point among the opposing teams and commentators owing to her accurate playing and shooting. With a goal scoring average of 89,5%, 16 rebounds and 39 turnovers, she narrowly missed out on the highest number of goals scored (298) to the winner of the Most Valued Player of the tournament.

At the 20th European Athletics Classics meeting in Slovenia, leading up to the World Student Games, Simbine joined a select group of sprinters by becoming the 104th man ever to run 100 m in less than ten seconds completing it in 9,99 seconds. At the World Student Games in South Korea he ran the 100 m in 9,97 seconds in the final, breaking the long-standing record set in 1987. With this time, Simbine joined his Tuks team mate, Henricho Bruintjies, as the joint South African National record holder.

Awards

Prof Antonie de Klerk is retiring at the end of the year, having served as the Executive Member of TuksSport for nine years. He has not only been the person to whom we reported on clinical matters, he became the face and voice of sport at the University, regularly attending events and matches, talking to the students and encouraging them. We will miss him for always being there for us, wearing his stripe with pride. We thank him for his commitment and support and for continuously creating small miracles to help keep the TuksSport boat afloat. We wish him a well-deserved rest and a happy retirement with his wife Irma. We look forward to seeing him at future events. Prof De Klerk was awarded University Colours at the TuksSport Colours and Awards function on Friday, 16 October, for his exceptional service to TuksSport.