Time sports, council and tourism officials had a chat
For Moyo, every day is Christmas
THE concept of a sports club, back in the day, was a place where people of similar interests could get together and play their favourite sport, followed by drinks at the bar.
A membership model ensured that the clubs were able to cover their running costs, while the use of their facilities came at a fee.
At any given moment, there would be some activity going on, even now.
Golfers pay green fees to get on the course. Non-members make a payment to enter the bar, or are signed in by a member.
Rugby matches attract sizeable crowds, with the club controlling the gates, the bar and the food stalls.
The first consideration that went into the establishment of a sports club was to secure a sizeable piece of land on which to build their
WHEN Qadr Amini suffered a career-threatening knee injury in 2017, the end of the road seemed nigh for him.
Things got even worse before the start of the 2018 season, when he aggravated the injury during pre-season training for that year.
Amini had suffered the injury while featuring for Ngezi Platinum Stars in a league match against Triangle at Baobab in December 2017. The injury was so bad it forced the versatile player to consider early retirement and it did not help matters when it flared up ahead of the 2018 season.
This time it left him grounded for the whole year.
His mother Zayanab Amini remained as defiant as she was hopeful that her son could overcome the pain and resume his work, even as he considered giving up.
However, Qadr required specialised care in South Africa in order to have a chance of recovering, particularly considering his past history of injuries from his time spent playing for FC Platinum, Dynamos and Gunners.
It also took some lenience on the part of the Ngezi club executives to agree to send the player for an operation in South Africa.
The Ngezi gesture was made against the backdrop of neglect of injured players by many local clubs.
But Qadr was fortunate to have both the costs of his surgery and rehabilitation catered for by Ngezi. The Amini family felt obligated to the platinum miners. This gesture warmed their hearts.
Ironically, Qadr’s contract with the club was set to lapse at the end of the same 2018 season when he was sidelined by injury.
He, however, agreed to new terms with the club, with the determination to win Premiership honours with them uppermost in his mind.
The defender, who is equally at home playing in midfield, had to wait another five years until he finally realised his dream of winning the championship with Ngezi. base. The presence of large tracts of fields in the middle of or very close to the central business district speaks to the success of the model adopted by the clubs.
Last week, we looked at the need for a geographical spread of match-fit stadiums. The onus lies with local authorities to make this happen. This week, I will talk about the local authorities again, because I believe many of them are staring a cash cow in the face and not doing anything about it.
The late music legend Zexie Manatsa held his wedding at Rufaro Stadium, and filled the venue. Interestingly, people paid to get into the venue.
When Bob Marley came to Zimbabwe for the independence celebrations in 1980, it was to Rufaro Stadium that he trekked and proceeded to put on a memorable show.
When Paul Simon was on his Graceland tour, it was to Rufaro Stadium that he took his gigs with a star-studded team from South Africa that included Ray Phiri of Stimela, Bakhithi Kumalo and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
The walls of Rufaro are loaded with history. It is hard, though, to imagine that Rufaro would be the first venue to pop up in the mind of, for example, Winky D or Jah Prayzah if they wanted to host a major live event.
I appreciate times have changed, but some deliberate efforts to retain the venue in the minds of people for its place in the cultural history of the nation would help
The opportunity that lies with the land that grounds occupy is immense.
Just about every local authority in the country has land set aside for a stadium and many have taken the time to construct a structure that they call a stadium. That is great foresight.
Many authorities had several of these spaces. Some still have them, if they have not fallen into the hands of land barons
Imagine the possibility of Marondera Municipality, Zvimba Rural District Council or the local authority in Shangani making a deliberate effort to get the stadium in their jurisdiction up to Premier Soccer League (PSL) standard.
Suppose they take the time to build facilities
AIN’T A . . . Qadr Amini poses for a picture with his mother Zayanab Amini soon after winning the club Player of the Year trophy while his wife Millicent Mutseta (left) looks on at the Ngezi Platinum Stars awards gala in Mhondoro-Ngezi
And, as it turned out for him, 2023 became a year to savour, as he landed a treble of gold medals for his trophy cabinet.
Ngezi were crowned Premiership champions while he won the Castle Soccer Star of the Year and the club’s Best Player accolades. It was equally fulfilling for Zayanab, who has been an unsung heroine in Qadr’s career. “I would have loved to go on stage and thank Ngezi Platinum Stars publicly for their role in making sure Qadr played football again.
“When he suffered that injury in 2017, we thought that was the end of his career but Ngezi Platinum Stars came through and footed all his bills and helped with his recovery,” Zayanab said.
“Up to this day, thinking about the injury makes me cry. I thought that was the end of his career.
“I never envisioned Qadr playing again, let alone for him to be crowned Soccer Star of the Year and the Best Player for his team. “The two awards came as a surprise.” She also revealed that she had been instrumental in the extension of Qadr’s contract with Ngezi, using her motherly influence to swing the pendulum.
“I remember, when his contract was about to come to an end, I sat down with him and told him that he needed to extend his contract with Ngezi Platinum Stars and help them win a title because no other club would have done what Ngezi did for him.
“He did and here we are celebrating the Ngezi league title, and now he can do what he wants because I feel he has paid his debt at Ngezi Platinum Stars,” she said. outside the stadium that allow for easy and stress-free catering and drinks management.
Picture the environs of the stadium spruced up to create ample parking space and sufficient resting and relaxation areas.
Once armed with this prime piece of sporting real estate, the local authority could then engage the leading football clubs. Most of them do not own grounds, so this is a fertile area for partnerships.
Having worked in football, it has always been the clubs that go and ask about the stadiums and not the other way around.
The local authority enters into a mutually beneficial partnership with the club and they both set about promoting the new venue as an ideal weekend getaway, crowned with a football match.
Football fans follow their teams across the country.
Would they not be interested in a regular excursion 80 kilometres or 100km away to watch their favourite team and get to enjoy a day out?
With the right kind of ground in place, the
FOR former Zimbabwe senior women’s football team forward Precious Moyo, there will be nothing extraordinary to celebrate on Christmas Day tomorrow.
She contends since she started her charitable endeavours, every day of her life has resembled Christmas Day.
Moyo is, instead, looking beyond the festive season, thanks to her special circumstances.
Since retiring from the game that gave her some fame, Moyo has had a huge burden to shoulder.
She takes care of more than 50 children in her orphanage.
Hers is a rare tale of breathing life into what seemed a bleak situation.
Moyo’s story dates back to one sunny day local authority can even confidently approach the Zimbabwe Football Association and offer to host friendly matches, or junior national team matches.
I have deliberately targeted football because most of the grounds are configured for football (and athletics), as they have a central pitch with a track around it, so there is less to do to bring it up to standard.
The local tourism potential of this approach is quite exciting. The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, the Sports and Recreation Commission and the association that brings together councils need to have a talk about how to bring sport into the centre of the local authority business model.
Somehow, many of our communities have the notion that the stadium was only to be used for football, and once the game was played on Saturday or Sunday, we had to wait for another week before the ground saw active use again.
I also suspect that, because stadiums tend to fall under the Department of Housing and Community Services in most local authorities, in 2013, while going about her business in Chegutu, when she spotted five young boys playing by the street corner.
Being a school day, questions immediately popped up in her mind.
She wondered why the boys were not in class like other learners.
To get answers, she used that same route to her workplace for days. She even befriended the young boys before she could request to meet their parents.
Unbeknown to her, this was to become a mission that would provoke a lot of emotions for the former Mighty Warrior.
Two of the boys were orphaned, while the other three came from poor backgrounds.
And, as a result of poverty, they had all dropped out of school.
To rescue them from societal ills, Moyo they are seen as a form of welfare facility and are treated as such.
How about approaching schools and other institutions in the local area and offering them such a venue for their games at a nominal fee?
Many of the new suburbs being created do not have sports club space. There are schools. There are always churches. However, there are no sports facilities.
The Ruwa residential community has grown very fast and very wide in the last few years. I am sure there are enough fans of local teams to make the local ground a regular space of activity.
The level of care and attention placed on the grounds and facilities of most sports clubs should provoke and inspire our local authorities. There are many private homes with lawns the size of a regular football field, so there is ample capacity within the local communities for the maintenance of the centrepiece turf.
This would be a case of sport as a business; no longer as a community service. How about that? went on to set up a junior social football team.
“I would pick them up every day and get them to spend the day playing football for monetary gains,” she said.
“In a few weeks, the numbers had ballooned, so we ended up playing tournaments and everyone would go home with something in their pockets.”
Moyo would ensure some of their needs were met and that some of them were re-enrolled in school.
She would also help them balance school and football.
Ten years later, the former Zimbabwe international set up an orphanage. She took in 53 orphans.
To put smiles on the faces of her underprivileged extended family, Moyo, who is also a farmer, has to depend on her produce.
“I discovered that there were many orphans out there, so I felt compelled to do more.
“I started going into different communities, scouting for orphaned and underprivileged children who were out of school. I provide for them through my farm produce.
“The main idea then was having them off the streets and I had to do everything I could,” she said.
Moyo dug deep into her pockets, ensuring that the teams had refreshments and kits.
Due to limited resources, she would buy the cheapest kits, which went for US$2 per set.
When other parents saw her enthusiasm, they began to financially support her, and on game days, some even brought supplies and meals for the teams.
“They would bring huge pots and cook for the teams, and that made us feel like a family.
“We noted that there was plenty of potential among many underprivileged kids, hence we needed to create something workable and ensure they were safe all the time.
“I feel comfortable with them at the orphanage . . . At first, I had to convert my family home into an orphanage, then with time, I built some structures.”
Apart from the 53 children living at the orphanage, Moyo also provides for 41 others who are underprivileged but stay with their families.
The difficulties she endured — growing up in a poverty-stricken family of seven, whose breadwinner was her mother, a domestic worker — pushed her into developing a soft spot for the underprivileged.
Moyo is currently engaging some schools across the country, where she is securing scholarships for these underprivileged children.
Through this initiative, eight of her beneficiaries have received scholarships at various boarding schools.
“I am happy that starting January, they will be in school. These boarding schools have agreed to assist with basic provisions.
“I now have to raise funds, secure places at some local day schools and pay fees for those who will not be able to get scholarships . . . All I want is for them to get a decent education,” she said.
“Some youngsters are being tempted to engage in drug and substance abuse. The initiative has gone a long way in keeping them away from such ills.
“Sponsorship, however, remains a challenge. I wish we could get help . . . I rescued some of them from criminal activities, drug and substance abuse, so I would be heartbroken to see them go back there,” said Moyo.