Students Fill Every Position in Granada

GRANADA – There are more than just athletes who participate in the Winter Universiades; there are organizers, volunteers, referees, reporters, coaches and much more.

One of the most prestigious positions at the Games is to become a Head of Delegation for your entire country.

And after the Universiade, there is one HOD who needs to rush back to class.

Twenty-seven-year-old Luleka Haya is one of the only HOD’s to be awarded that position and still be a student.

“I am part of a National Executive who believes in equality between students and administrators and giving students equal opportunity,” she said. “It is a privilege and an honour to represent my country.”

The economics and management major at the University of Forthare attended the FISU Forum in Korea in 2014.

“I learned a lot of great knowledge there,” she said. “I learned lots about gender equality in sport, the role of social media and tools on leadership.”

And those leadership tips she learned became extremely useful while working as the HOD for South Africa at the 2015 Winter Universiade.

“What I’ve gained in this experience is, in order to lead you need to be open to learning,” she said. “The best form of leadership is learning about [the members of the South African delegation] in order to lead them the right way.”

Not only has she gained valuable experience in leadership and management, she’s also learned a whole lot about figure skating; the competition South Africa’s sole athlete is competing in.

“South Africa does not really have big winter sports programmes,” she said. “So I’ve learned how figure skaters are judged, the difference between short and long programme, a lot of things actually. It would benefit [South Africa] to get more athletes involved in winter sports, I think.”

But for now, Haya is only responsible for making sure everything runs smoothly for Lejeanne Marais, the only South African athlete participating in the 27th Winter Universiade and she reports back to the National Executive of University Sports South Africa.

“My experience [here in Granada] has been amazing,” she said with a smile. “I’m having a lot of fun, I love the responsibility and I can feel myself growing as a leader. It just confirms that I am doing everything right.”

Kelcey Wright, U-Media Reporter