Director's Message
THE FINAL WHISTLE
The year began with more than 3,000 first-years making their way to the cricket oval for games and welcoming speeches. This is the event that introduces new University of the Western Cape (UWC) students to the campus culture while helping them to find new friends. It also gives our sports clubs the opportunity to introduce themselves so that each first-year can make an informed decision about which one to join. Shortly Afterwards we launched our new mascot, Cara the Caracal, and I was deeply touched by the way the UWC community welcomed Cara.
On the competition side, our years always begins with rugby’s Varsity Cup, but this was a season to forget for our first team, the worst in my nine years at UWC. However, our women’s side and the Young Guns provided some hope. The women’s side, playing in the Varsity Cup for the first time, progressed to the semifinals where they lost to the 2023 defending champions, Maties. After a slow start to their campaign, the Young Guns found their rhythm and recorded important wins against strong opponents, finishing fifth out of eight.
Our women’s football first team also had a slow start in the Hollywoodbets Super League but made their way towards the top of the table as the season progressed. And our track and field athletics team had good victories against a strong local and international field at the University Sports South Africa championships in Stellenbosch.
As I say goodbye to UWC, I’d like to reflect on my time at what I regard as a hub of talent that just needs to be unearthed and given a chance to shine. If UWC can be so competitive with minimal facilities and resources, just imagine how great it would become if it had all the required infrastructure in place. For now, its competitiveness relies purely on talent, commitment, passion, great management and leadership.
Since 2015, I have worked with a wonderful team of sport coordinators, facilities managers and coaches. I am proud to say that half of the sport coordinators I appointed as permanent staff started as student assistants in the department. Over the years, I had to bid farewell to a number of colleagues, including the late Cedric Achilles, the late Edwin Wyngaard, the late Chester Williams, the late Frederick Alexander, and recently Wynand Andreas, Jonathan Swarts and Erens Januarie. These men were pillars of strength, and while most of them were much older than me – some even my father’s age – they consistently gave me as much respect as I gave them.
I must also pay homage to my colleagues in Student Development and Support (SDS), the likes of Khaya Magopeni, Mike Kwatsha, Laetitia Permall, Manoj Bagwandeen, Mark Seale, Winston Middleton (retired) and the previous and current deputy vice chancellors: SDS, Prof Pamela Dube and Prof Matete Madiba. These colleagues were an unfailing source of support and provided me with a safe space to air my views. Magopeni, especially, went out of his way to ensure my team had the support it needed.
It has always been wonderful to know that we have had a vice chancellor with an unreserved commitment to the success of UWC Sport. Prof Tyrone Pretorius’s infectious passion made the past nine years memorable. Not every university sport department has guaranteed support from the executive management, board of trustees, council, faculties and student leadership structures. In this respect, UWC Sport is blessed.
Sadly, my journey with UWC has come to an end and it is time to seek new challenges. I am confident that those I leave behind will continue on the path we set and deliver more improvements. I move on with a happy heart, knowing I have built a team that is passionate about UWC because it was built from UWC.
I wish UWC and UWC Sport all the best in their next chapter of sport leadership and I have no doubt that my successor will enjoy as much support as I did.
