{"id":79975,"date":"2025-08-04T09:55:55","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T07:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spu.ac.za\/?p=79975"},"modified":"2025-09-17T12:24:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T10:24:25","slug":"spu-student-joins-springbok-sevens-training-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spu.ac.za\/index.php\/spu-student-joins-springbok-sevens-training-squad\/","title":{"rendered":"SPU student joins Springbok Sevens training squad"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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SPU<\/span><\/a> is proud to celebrate the national call-up of first-year student Liden\u00e9 Kruger to the Springbok Women\u2019s Sevens Training Squad<\/span><\/a>. The trial camp will be held from 3 to 15 August 2025 at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport<\/span><\/a> in Cape Town.<\/span><\/p>

Liden\u00e9, an SPU Sport bursary recipient and high-performance sport recruit, was scouted earlier this year and has already made her mark as a key player for the Griquas<\/span><\/a> Women\u2019s Rugby Team. Her selection into the national training squad places her among South Africa\u2019s most promising rugby talents.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cBeing named to the Springbok Women\u2019s Sevens training squad was an incredible moment. Honestly, it still feels surreal,\u201d said Liden\u00e9. \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve dreamed of for so long. The hard work, early mornings and overcoming setbacks have all led to this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Her rugby journey has been one of perseverance and growth. She credits SPU\u2019s coaching staff, sport department, and her lecturers for playing a meaningful role in her development as both an athlete and a person. \u201cCoach Claudia Franke played a big part in my development. She made me fall in love with rugby and helped me believe in myself as a player.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Despite facing setbacks, including the recent loss of her grandmother just two weeks ago, Liden\u00e9 remains focused and grounded. \u201cThat\u2019s been my biggest challenge this season. But every sacrifice now feels worth it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

When asked what message she has for young girls with similar dreams, Liden\u00e9 shared: \u201cNever let where you come from define how far you can go. Work hard when no one is watching and surround yourself with people who believe in your dreams. Rugby is not just a sport. It\u2019s a platform for growth and empowerment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Her words echo the values SPU celebrates during Women\u2019s Month – a time to honour women\u2019s strength, resilience and potential. Liden\u00e9\u2019s story stands as a powerful example of what young women can achieve when talent meets opportunity and community support.<\/span><\/p>

The University extends its full support as she balances academic commitments with her sporting aspirations. We commend Liden\u00e9 for this outstanding achievement and salute the staff, coaches and academic teams who continue to support student-athletes in reaching their full potential.<\/span><\/p>

We wish her success as she steps into this exciting chapter with the Springbok Sevens.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SPU is proud to celebrate the national call-up of first-year student Liden\u00e9 Kruger to the Springbok Women\u2019s Sevens Training Squad. The trial camp will be held from 3 to 15 August 2025 at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport in Cape Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":79982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,67,57],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"coauthors":[264],"class_list":["post-79975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sport","category-spu-student-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSPU student joins Springbok Sevens training squad - Sol Plaatje University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SPU is proud to celebrate the national call-up of first-year student Liden\u00e9 Kruger to the Springbok Women\u2019s Sevens Training Squad.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SPU student joins Springbok Sevens training squad - Sol Plaatje University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SPU is proud to celebrate the national call-up of first-year student Liden\u00e9 Kruger to the Springbok Women\u2019s Sevens Training Squad.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.spu.ac.za\/index.php\/spu-student-joins-springbok-sevens-training-squad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sol Plaatje University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/solplaatjeuniv\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-04T07:55:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-17T10:24:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.spu.ac.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Picture1-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"416\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Prudence Kelly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@solplaatje\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solplaatje\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Prudence Kelly\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spu.ac.za\\\/index.php\\\/spu-student-joins-springbok-sevens-training-squad\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spu.ac.za\\\/index.php\\\/spu-student-joins-springbok-sevens-training-squad\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Prudence Kelly\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spu.ac.za\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e282a1283a059f941befc87dfe8ef8ab\"},\"headline\":\"SPU student joins Springbok Sevens training squad\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-04T07:55:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-17T10:24:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spu.ac.za\\\/index.php\\\/spu-student-joins-springbok-sevens-training-squad\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":391,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spu.ac.za\\\/index.php\\\/spu-student-joins-springbok-sevens-training-squad\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spu.ac.za\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/Picture1-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Sport\",\"Student news\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spu.ac.za\\\/index.php\\\/spu-student-joins-springbok-sevens-training-squad\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spu.ac.za\\\/index.php\\\/spu-student-joins-springbok-sevens-training-squad\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spu.ac.za\\\/index.php\\\/spu-student-joins-springbok-sevens-training-squad\\\/\",\"name\":\"SPU student joins Springbok Sevens training squad - 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