ERIN SLINGERLAND
UP is flooded with new faces and sporting potential every year. UP-Tuks has produced, and been a home to, some of the most accomplished sportspeople in South Africa. Hennie Kriel, Caster Semenya, Victor Matfield, Cameron van der Burgh, and Heyneke Meyer are some of the few names of well-known and successful athletes and coaches produced by UP-Tuks.
The common denominator among most of these athletes and coaches is that they are all involved in mainstream sports. Mainstream sports generally have a bigger fan base and are generally more popular sports to watch or participate in. These sports include rugby, soccer, cricket, athletics and netball. They have large and well-supported tournaments, the largest and most popular one being the annual Steinhoff Varsity Cup Rugby tournament.
While support for these sporting codes is encouraged, many people do not know what else is available at the university, and so don’t support or participate in some of the other available sports. Some of the less popular and lesser-known sports at UP include: TuksDance, TuksVollyball, TuksChess, TuksTennis, TuksCycling, TuksGymnastics, and the Tuks women’s rugby and cricket sides. These sports clubs are open to any student and they always happily welcome new members. Like many other sports clubs, they require a small once-of f joining fee valid for the whole year. Such clubs are filled with passionate people in small groups, and they never fail to surprise the university with some of their outstanding results and achievements.
Thanks to social media it is easier than ever to stay up to date with the latest results and when sports fixtures are takin g place. Perdeby and TuksSport have various social media platforms supporters can use to show support, discontent with teams’ performances or simply to keep up to date with events and results. There are Twitter and Facebook have accounts dedicated to sport, intervarsity sport and the latest scores.
The TSG is not only a place for hardcore fitness junkies, but even regular students looking for the occasional light workout can go. Overall, it is exciting to have so much variety at a hi gh standard with UP-Tuks. 2017 will bring new talent and new opportunities to support and participate in an array of sport with the option to pick one or multiple sporting codes.
Photo: Michael Ridge
