Posts by natheerah
Maties Sport Rugby Newsletter June 2025
Groundbreaking Research from 13th African Games Explores Life After Sport for Athletes.
The 13th African Games, hosted in Accra, Ghana, from 8–23 March 2024, brought together over 5,000 athletes from across the continent to celebrate elite performance, unity, and sporting excellence. With 29 disciplines on display, the games created a unique platform for research into critical issues shaping the future of African sport. The research investigates the…
Read MoreTime to check in with Maties Sport Alumnus: Reniel Hugo (Maties Rugby)
Being a Matie is a privilege Varsity Cup matches on Monday nights in a packed Danie Craven Stadium were special not only because of the atmosphere but also because he ran on the field with friends. This is how Maties Rugby’s Reniel Hugo describes one of the three parts of a student’s life. Reniel obtained…
Read MoreLeading with Honour Before Pride
Ahead of USSA, we connected with our Varsity Cup captains, Ezekiel Ngobeni, Carel van der Merwe and Liza Slabbert to get their take on their Maties experience. All three describe their Maties Rugby experience as one of enormous personal growth that has taught them teamwork, self-discipline, strategic planning, communication and leadership skills, and provided them…
Read MoreAll Stars win the inaugural Maties Netball Regional League
The inaugural Maties Netball Regional League final concluded with a thrilling display of skill and determination, marking a significant milestone in the development of competitive netball in the Western Cape. Held at the Coetzenburg Centre in Stellenbosch, the final showcased the culmination of a season that brought together top teams from across the region. …
Read MoreTime to check in with Maties Sport Alumnus: Aneurin Robyn (Maties Sport)
Aneurin wants to change lives He has stood on the sidelines several times when the final whistle blew and his team was crowned champions. However, for Aneurin Robyn, it is not about titles or gold medals but the relationships he builds. Aneurin was the physiotherapist for the 2023 World Cup Springboks, the Stormers when they…
Read MoreMaties Rugby Welcomes Riley Norton, From Dual-Sport Prodigy to Junior Bok Captain
Riley Norton, a first-year BCom Investment Management student at Stellenbosch University (SU), has quickly become a household name in South African school sports. At just 18 years old, he has achieved South African schools’ colours in both rugby and cricket, a distinction held by only a few athletes in the country. Riley’s sporting career is…
Read MoreMaties Esport shines in first split of Varsity Esports competition
Stellenbosch University has made a powerful statement in the first split of Varsity Esports 2025, with Maties Esport dominating across multiple titles. An impressive 50% of the seeding finalists – 6 out of 12 teams hail from Stellenbosch, highlighting the university’s growing presence in the national esports scene. In FC25, Keeran and Vihape stood out…
Read MoreChampion Across Codes, Shanidine Bezuidenhout secures another Gold
Former Maties netball player and 2022 Varsity Netball champion raised eyebrows when she scored the first try for the Maties Women’s rugby team in their opening match of the 2025 FNB Varsity Cup. The postgraduate student graduated last year with a postgraduate certificate in education with distinction and decided to switch her sporting focus to…
Read MoreMaties Cheerleading: Champions of the 2025 Varsity Cup ‘Cheerleaders That Rock’ Competition
Q&A with Maties Cheerleading Captain Tiffany Van Wyk and Manager Elroy Smith. Q: How did the team feel after winning the award? A: We are over the moon. It’s a back-to-back win. There were a lot of emotions that night because we were really stressed and burnt out because it was a very long season…
Read More