NWU alumna to umpire at Olympic Games
A top hockey women’s umpire from Potchefstroom, Annelize Rostron, will be one of two hockey umpiring officials to represent South Africa at the Tokyo Olympic Games later this year. She will be joined by Michelle Joubert and Peter Wright.
After the 2016 Rio Olympics, the hockey committee of the games selected a group of 30 umpires for the next event. The committee later cut the group to 20 umpires and a year before the Tokyo games the committee chose the final 14 umpires, which included the three South Africans.
Rostron (37), a grade 7 natural science and technology teacher at Laerskool Mooiriver, started umpiring in 2005 and has gradually risen through the ranks to become a world-renowned International Federation Hockey (FIH) World League official.
Rostron graduated from the North-West University (NWU) Potchefstroom campus with a BA in human movement science with psychology. She has also earned a PGCE certificate.
The Olympic Games were originally scheduled to take place in 2020, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was moved to July of this year.
For Rostron, it is a dream come true to be part of the Olympic Games, as she’s no stranger to international hockey competitions. “My first big international tournament was in 2012 in Belgium. I had been umpiring in a lot of test hockey matches before I made the big break in an international tournament,” she said.
In 2018 she was one of two female umpires from South Africa who were selected to become umpire officials at the hockey Women’s World Cup. “It is a dream come true for me, I still feel like I’m dreaming. From the very start it has truly been one of my biggest goals,” Rostron said.
Stephan Spamer (27), who serves on the senior North West hockey committee in the rules and technical portfolio, is excited about Rostron’s achievement. Spammer also teaches grade 7 pupils at Mooiriver.
“The impact will not only be great for the quality of umpiring in the province but also for coaching, to develop the skills of young umpires,” Spamer said.
“Yes, in March 2020 the pandemic came. Now things are slowly but surely starting to look better, as we look to return to play. There are still plans being put in place behind the scenes in order for us to pick up where we left off,” Spamer said.
North-West University (NWU) Potchefstroom campus will be hosting the U21 Women’s World Cup this year in December, so for Rostron, it is another reason to be excited about Potchefstroom. “I am very excited about the future of umpiring in South Africa as well as Potchefstroom. We are lucky to have the NWU, which helps us get top umpires as students already.”