Dube’s unrelenting passion for netball
DURING her days at Tsholotsho’s Mpindo Primary School, Sibonginkosi Dube would spend most of her time on the netball court.
If not on court, she would visit a local company to enjoy the sight of electrical technicians clad in work suits, installing and testing electrical systems.
Despite her age, Dube already had a picture of what she wanted her future to be like and her heart was already torn between the two.
Close to two decades later, the netball gaffer of repute is marvelled for her bullishness in and out of the changing room.
Interestingly, in all these years, she still has to divide her heart between netball and being an electrical technician.
What makes her story peculiar is how the 38-year-old netball coach is a force to reckon with in both fields.
Dube is the current Greenfuel head coach.
She is celebrated for assembling a strong youthful side composed of raw talent, finishing the 2022 and 2023 seasons as Premier Netball League Runners-Up.
In fact, Dube is respected for identifying talent in fringe communities, converting them to dominating stars in the elite league and the national team.
Netball pundits feel that the 2021 Premier Netball League Coach of the Year now deserves a chance on the Gems technical team.
Off netball, she recently resigned from a local beverage company where she had been employed as an electrical technician for years.
Still pursuing her love for work suits, she went on to join an engineering consultancy firm while also pushing her own electrical company.
“Age is taking a toll, I cannot keep up with some physical demands as a technician so I decided to move towards paperwork,” she said.
Ordinarily her daily routine would have been expected to be demanding and arduous, yet she nails it with ease.
Dube started playing Netball at Mpindo in 1993 under the guidance of her mother, who was the then coach of the school netball team.
Proceeding to St James and Luveve High Schools respectively, she made a name for herself in netball and athletics.
“During my last days in High school I dropped athletics to fully concentrate on netball, under the tutelage of coach Dube who then encouraged me to join a Division One side, NMB Bank,” she said.
In 2005 she went on to join Khami Queens before moving on to Railstars two years later.
Unfortunately, in 2009 she was involved in a road traffic accident which tore her left knee ligament, forcing her to quit playing.
She reckons that this was a difficult time as she had to watch the game from the side lines.
In 2014, she bounced back under Division One side, Sparrows.
It is at that time that she realised that Bulawayo lacked structures for junior development.
To complement the only academy then, Free Stars which was founded by renowned coach Menfree Tanyanyiwa, Dube went on to set up Unshaded Netball Academy.
Mostly targeting youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds, she would visit marginalised communities for untapped talent.
“Growing up in the rural areas where there was vast raw talent motivated me to go into peripheral communities to scout,” reminisced Dube.
“Unfortunately with no strong financial muscle, things got tough and I ended up settling for underprivileged kids in town which is why at any given chance l still look out for that forgotten rural girl.”
At the recent PNL awards, her team walked away with more individual prizes.
Rising star Faith Mutero was crowned Player of the Season.
Green horn Upenyu Kelly Muyambo, who also made debut in the national team at the African Championships in Botswana in December where Zimbabwe finished as bronze medallists behind Zambia and Namibia, walked away as the Players’ Player of the season.
Gems shooter, Nicole Muzanenhamo, who grabbed the Player of the Year gongs in the past two seasons, was this time crowned the People’s Choice Player of the Year.
With her husband’s assistance, Dube has toured Matabeleland South, attending most of their social tournaments and NASH games to scout for raw talent.
Resources permitting, she plans to tour Matabeleland North for more talent.
“Every time I see my players in the national team, l smile. There is no greater feeling than investing in a player who then thanks you by leaving everything on court,” she said.
“My trick has been in building confidence in my players and making them believe that they can take on the best teams in the world.”