Wits Netball, Football Ladies among finalists for Women in Sport Awards
- Tshepiso Mametela
Continuing Wits University’s rise to the highest echelons of sporting dominance in the province and beyond, a number of the institution’s best student-athletes and clubs recently cracked the nod for the year’s Futballing Girls Johannesburg Women in Sport Awards.
Wits Yacht Club's Emma Clark and Michaela Robinson came in as the institution’s nominees for Sportswoman of the Year alongside Wits Football’s Thabelo Mammburu. Making the cut for their own slice of glory in the same category were Wits Netball Club’s Panashe Chiranga and Simone van Reenen, who was also nominated in the Sports Achiever of the Year category.
The plaudits did not end there as the Wits Tang Soo Do Club’s Anushka Monema, a finalist in the same category at last year’s Wits Sport Awards and the subsequent 2019 Gauteng Sport Awards, also made the cut here. Rounding up Wits’ hoard of nominations were Robyn Johnson, Nomnikelo Veto and Ashleigh-Jean Datnow, who came in as Wits Hockey’s very own star trio in the highly-contested Sportswoman of the Year category.
Additionally, Datnow made the cut for the subsequent Sports Achiever of the Year prize, while a star of the hockey landscape in her own right across the vast University scene in Johannesburg, Lezaan Jansen van Vuren, also put her hand up in the same category. Another prominent athlete, who has risen to prominence across a competitive University sporting circuit, is Wits Football’s Shakeerah Jacobs, who got a mention in the Sports Achiever of the Year category.
Both the University’s Netball and Football Women’s clubs asserted their profile by storming in as nominees for the coveted Team of the Year award, while Wits Football’s Nokwanda Ngcobo made the nominees list for Volunteer of the Year. In the end, it was the Wits Football Ladies who secured a berth as finalists for Sports Club of the Year award.
Wits Netball became the second club from Wits to secure a finalists spot for the Sports Club of the Year award while also impressing en route to landing as finalists in the Team of the Year category. One of the club’s most prominent figure’s, Veto, was the eventual finalist from the institution for the prized Sportswoman of the Year accolade.
“I am happy that we get to recognise our female sport athletes and give them the recognition they deserve,” commented Wits Yacht Club sports officer, Ntshembo Vukeya. “The club’s nomination shows that Wits University Netball has quality in terms of playing personnel and comprises of classified staff doing a great job behind the scene,” added sports officer for Wits Netball, Tebogo Rabothata.
Sharmin Naidoo, the Wits Hockey Club sports officer, said it is always great to have any player that is nominated for an award on any stage. “These ladies have really been special for the Wits Hockey Club over the last few years and their nomination is just reward for the hard work they have put in,” said Naidoo.
Njabulo Xulu, Wits Tang Soo Do sports officer, was full of praise for Monema, who continues her ascent in the martial arts form. “It is great news that Anushka has been nominated again at such a big event as she was also nominated for Junior Sportswoman of the Year at the Wits Sport Awards last year. This shows that her hard work and dedication has been paying off. Congratulations to her on the nomination!”
Wits Women's Football Team at the 2019 USSA Football Tournament