Celebrating Excellence, Student Athletes Shine at Maties Sport Annual Sport Awards

The 49th edition of the Stellenbosch University (SU) Maties Sports Awards took place on Friday, 18 October, at the Coetzenburg Centre. A number of awards were given to prestigious guests, our student athletes.

The guest speaker for the event was Mr. Ben-Jason Dixon, former Maties Rugby player who successfully captained the Varsity Cup team in 2020 and graduated from SU with a degree in Industrial Engineering (class of 2022).

Following his graduation, he got signed to the Stormers and made his debut for the Springboks earlier this year. During his address, he shared several inspirational messages with the student-athletes, drawing on his own experiences as a former student athlete. He emphasized the importance of maintaining consistency in all pursuits, whether in sports or academics.

At the start of the ceremony, Prof Stan du Plessis, SU Chief Operating Officer and Ilhaam Groenewald, Chief Director, Maties Sport bestowed 35 student-athletes with full colours awards, celebrating their national representation through sport in the year of 2024.

Paralympians Daniel du Plessis and Kerwin Noemdo, both Maties alumni, along with Paul Daniels, a member of the Maties Parasport club, were honoured with the Chief Director’s Special Recognition Award for their inspirational achievements.

This year’s prestigious Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year awards were presented to student-athletes who have achieved full colours, excelled academically, and represented their teams at senior provincial, national, and international levels.

Ezekiel Ngobeni, a second-year student was honoured with the Sportsman of the Year Award, having represented South Africa at the Under-20 World Rugby Championship, and being a part of the Team that won the USSA 15s Rugby Championships in 2023 and 2024.

“Receiving this award feels surreal to be honest. Being in a team environment, individual accolades aren’t what one strives for, and for that exact reason I’m humbled to be a recipient of an award of this magnitude. As it rewarding for hard work that has been put in and motivating for the exciting times that God has planned ahead,” says Ngobeni.

The 2024 Sportswoman of the Year Award was handed to Cystal Beukes, final year student and passionate golfer. Crystal has been selected and has represented the university and South Africa on two occasions at the FISU World University Golf Champions in 2022 and 2024.

“I feel extremely blessed to have received the award. I am so honoured to be part of the Maroon Machine and it is just a great feeling to see the blessing of all the hard work. This was definitely the highlight of my year!” says Beukes.

This year, 37 students achieved a cum laude distinction based on their performance in the previous academic year. All students have remained dedicated members of their respective clubs, whether in high-performance or competitive sports. Each of these student-athletes received an award for being top academic achievers.

The Coach of the Year Award was presented to Maties Rugby Head Coach Kabamba Floors, celebrating his unwavering commitment to the growth and development of his students this year.

The first major team award of the evening, the 2024 Club of the Year Award, was presented to Maties Rugby. They retained their University Sport South Africa (USSA) Rugby 15’s title for the third consecutive year and achieved the remarkable feat of having all three of their Varsity Cup teams-men’s senior, men’s junior, and women’s reach the semi-finals in 2024.

Maties Cricket was named Team of the Year after winning the Boland League and achieving promotion to the Championship at the end of the 2023/24 season. Additionally, the team has secured four professional signings for their players. Lehan Botha, Gysbert Wege and Ethan Cunningham signed their professional contracts with Boland Cricket George and South Western Districts have signed former South Africa Under-19 captain George van Heerden.

For the first time this year, the Most Improved Club award was given to Maties Rowing who have made incredible strides this year. The clubs’ Men’s A and B eight both won bronze at the USSA Boatrace Championships earlier this year, marking history for the club.

Athletics Coach, Daniel Damon was named the Coach of the Year (Individual Sport), having once again being appointed as Head Coach for field events for South Africa at the 2024 Paralympic Games.

Seasoned Squash Coach Richard Castle was been honoured for his exceptional dedication to elevating the Maties squash team. His coaching strategies earned him the Coach of the Year award in the Competitive Sport category.

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners of the 49th edition of the Maties Sports Awards. Your efforts are worth celebrating on and off the stage as they continue to improve the sporting discipline.

The 2024 Maties Sport Awards Winners are:

Sportsman of the Year – Ezekiel Ngobeni (Rugby)

Sportswoman of the Year – Crystal Beukes (Golf)

Coach of the Year (Team Sport) – Kabamba Floors (Rugby)

Coach of the Year (Individual Sport) – Daniel Damon (Athletics)

Coach of the Year (Competitive Sport) – Richard Castle (Squash)

Team of the Year – Maties Cricket

Most Improved Club of the Year – Maties Rowing

Club of the Year – Maties Rugby

Student Administrator of the Year – Dylan Schmidt (Rowing)

By Jamie Wyngaardt