Four 12-year-olds set the tone for women’s football … Rangers’ natural born thrillers
AS their club coach Godwin Moyo is fond of saying, it is easy to forget that Western Rangers’ four prodigies are still to reach their teens, yet he is already part of our women’s football furniture.
These are players who have set the Zifa Southern Region Division One Women’s League alight after being fast-tracked by their gutsy coach and are played above their age group, outshining their peers. This is their story. And it is just the beginning...
The four 12-year-old girls were 10 when they began to take an interest in football, playing in a dusty field popularly known as ‘‘Emarolini’’ near their family homes in Pumula South. They were too young to join youth teams, but after Moyo saw them during a kick about with boys their age, Rangers became the only local side that took in girls that young.
Moyo signed Cleopatra Tshingila (Dumezweni Primary School), Tatenda Gambiza (Dumezweni Primary School), Zoliswa Masuku (Godlawayo Primary School) and Thandiwe Ngwenya (Robert Sinyoka Primary School) and registered them for Division One football when no other club would have touched them with a stick regardless of whatever obvious talents they may have had.
During the Covid-19 lockdown period, they played in the under-15 team as they began to learn the game. By that point, the quartet appeared good enough to join any boys’ football team — a mean feat to achieve for the girl child.
“These girls stood out when I first saw them and what struck me was that they were holding their own against boys. It was obvious that they had bundles of ability. They were just naturally very gifted. They were exceptional.
“They were maybe 10 years old when I first saw them playing football. I spoke to their parents and they let them join Western Rangers. The moment they arrived at the club, they played with teammates four or so years above their age group. They just handled it so well. Their mentality was different from the rest. They were mentally very tough,” confesses their coach.
When Moyo spotted the quartet and gave them the opportunity to join Rangers, it was always going to be a tough ask for anyone that young and more so a set of young girls who could have wilted under the pressure and training. It was a tough decision that meant leaving their non-footballing friends for hours of running, skills development and, later, football matches.
But determined they were and already, six matches into the season, Gambiza has scored four goals! The four girls have thrived under the tutelage of Moyo and his team of coaches, while continuing their primary school studies. Moyo calls them role models.
“I thoroughly enjoy watching my young girls play and have done ever since I first set eyes on them. They are role models for other young girls. You could see that they had exceptional natural ability.”
Football fans who have seen the girls, they remember lovely, quiet little lasses who displayed a professional-esque level of commitment to their football.
“Their commitment and dedication is extraordinary. They don’t just come in here as flash players — they have real application and determination. They used to get frustrated that other children weren’t seeing what they were. They were so football-intelligent and just had it. Good luck to them — their progress certainly hasn’t been without hard work,” said Mandla Dube who now regularly watches Rangers’ matches.
As they have progressed at Rangers, these frustrations have begun to take a backseat. Now they look to be well on their way to earning their first representative select sides. Last month, the quartet made their debut for Rangers’ first team. Their competitive first-team debut against Highlanders Royals, when they became Rangers’ and the league’s, if not the country’s, youngest league debutant at 12 years.
In that same game, Gambiza scored her first competitive goal in a 7-0 win over Highlanders Royals. In fact, the starlet scored a brace! And quite possibly the youngest footballer to have scored a goal at this age at this level of the game the world over!
Tony Mlauzi remembers it well. He said: “I had watched Tatenda in training and in friendly matches for Rangers so had an inkling of what she was about. Even so, her movement and awareness took even some of our most senior players by surprise. When I think back to the way she ran the show at 12 years old, her selection for Zimbabwe age group national teams just seems a natural progression. She is not fazed by being up against senior players, not fazed by crowds and not fazed by constantly finding the ball at her feet,” Mlauzi said. — @RealSimbaJemwa