Discipline, dreams: top athletes crowned

The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) student athletes, teams and coaches were the stars of the show at the sports awards evening, held on 21 October.

Karate, kickboxing, judo, rowing and rugby were some of the sporting codes that received awards. Furthermore, awards such as “Rookie of the Year”, “Service to Sport” and “Coach of the Year” were also handed out to students during the evening ceremony hosted at Kelvin Grove Club, Newlands.

Presentations were given by Professor David Maralack, sports council chairperson; Pura Mgolombane, the executive director of the Department of Student Affairs (DSA); as well as Professor Mosa Moshabela, UCT’s vice-chancellor. The awards come at a time when several athletes are on national duty on different levels and for different sporting codes.

“As chairperson of the UCT sports council, we are at the interface of policy and performance, and I want to say we are proud of our student athletes who have had to juggle academics and sport. It is a particularly exciting time of their life: they are full of energy and shaping their careers and futures and we are proud to be part of the journey of creating better human beings,” said Professor Maralack.

He thanked the sponsors for their invaluable loyalty to the sports programmes they support. “One of our passions is also working with alumni and businesses to [partner] with us in this journey of creating better human beings, first and foremost, and sportspeople who can perform at a global stage.”

When it was time for Mgolombane to address the audience, he noted that it was appropriate that he draws on the lesson from the cancelled Cape Town marathon, which was meant to take place on 19 October. “Runners who had risen before dawn, fuelled by discipline and dreams, stood in disbelief hearing about the cancellation at the 11th hour, but therein lies the lesson: life will not always unfold according to our plan.”

He added: “In those moments, sport reminds us that resilience is not the ability to run – it is the ability to pause with grace, to hold disappointment with dignity and to prepare again for tomorrow. What the marathon taught us was that true victory was not in the medals to be won, but in the training, camaraderie, community and spirit that brought thousands together in anticipation.”

Camaraderie

Professor Moshabela, delivering the keynote address, told students that UCT is on a mission to celebrate all student athletes, as far and as widely as possible. It’s a work in progress, but work, nonetheless, he said.

“Our institution is calling on us to create an enabling environment for you to excel in every facet of your talent. I’d like to witness that, so that when we [management] take pride in your achievements, we do so with the knowledge that we did everything possible to help you get there.

“The sports team has taken me on a tour of our facilities to talk about support we provide for high performance, and I said we can do better, and so now it’s for you, student athletes, to answer whether you have the sports facilities to excel in your sport.”

He added: “UCT understands what it takes to provide the right sports infrastructure and right expertise for athletes to succeed. I don’t want you to feel as though UCT robbed you of an opportunity to be the athlete that you are.”

Excellence in sport was celebrated on 21 October.

Rookie of the Year was awarded to Grendon Cass (volleyball). Rowan Henry Felix (table tennis) took home Service to Sport. Usivile Giyose was awarded the Chairperson’s Award. Rugby’s Ikey Tigers were honoured as the 2025 Team of the Year.

Other notable awards included:

• Club of the Year – UCT Kickboxing
• Transformation and Outreach – UCT Kickboxing
• Performance of the Year – Ntokozo Makhaza (rugby)
• Coach of the Year – Josh Cassius Cloete (kickboxing)
• Sportsperson of the Year – Ntokozo Makhaza (rugby) and Saskia Jantjes (kickboxing)

After securing several awards, including “Club of the Year”, the chairperson of UCT Kickboxing, Emilio Fernandes, gave credit to their coach: “It’s been about camaraderie and figuring out who we wanted to be. We already knew that the chemistry among us would be there, and we have received great support from our coach, who has been in the kickboxing space in Cape Town for a while.”