The Accidental superstar
Veronica Gwaze SIMBARASHE Mutambirwa’s meteoric rise to stardom is an inspiring tale.
It is one riddled with several truisms. His life is a rags-to-riches tale, a classic case of the road least travelled. His life is full of second chances. Where life has handed him lemons, he has made lemonade.
The 29-year-old Harare City setter is on the cusp of international stardom after stamping his authority at last month’s Zone Six Volleyball Championships.
After leading his side to a second place finish at the games held in Malawi last December, Mutambirwa walked away with the Most Valuable Player gong.
““At Harare City, I feel at home. We are always improving. To finish second at the big tournament was a huge honour,” he said.
“In the 2018 edition, we finished seventh. Our instruction was that this time around, we needed to leave a mark. We did exactly that,” he said.
Coming next is the continental showcase — the Africa Club Championships — which is slated for Tunisia in a couple months’ time.
Most likely, Mutambirwa will take that as another opportunity to shine. That is the gospel according to head coach Itsanang Abu- Basutu.
“He is a hardworking player who showed great improvement this season,” said coach Itsa.
“During the national final game against UZ, setters Mutambirwa and Tazviona Zvirawa played a very key role. We owe them the gold prize.
“The Zone VI award is evidence of the young man’s hard work,” he said.
lndeed, volleyball runs deep in Mutambirwa’s blood. Yet he says volleyball is not his first love. “Volleyball is a family sport. My brothers Ngoni and Misheck all played for the national team. Soccer is my real talent,” he said.
Sadly, the 29-year-old’s football tale is a tragic one.
Having started playing the sport at the age of 10 at Mufakose Academy, he moved to Gunners four years later.
During his stint at the academy and as the youngest player in the team, Mutambirwa acquired the moniker “Kadhara”.
After three years with Gunners FC, Mutambirwa failed to reach his full potential as a midfielder due to an ankle injury that put him off the shelf indefinitely.
Thus the volleyball gods opened their doors to the court.
Kadhara refers to his first interaction with the sport as a “fortunate accident”.
“The first day I played volleyball, it happened accidentally,” he said.
“I had just accompanied my friend Darrel Bangajena to a game. As fate would have it, they did not have enough players on that particular day, so he asked me to fill in the slot.
“I had no idea how the game was played but, surprisingly, I put up a very fine performance and we won,” he recalls.
“Several people took notice of my perfomance,” narrated the 29-year-old setter.
Having seen his friend’s potential, Bangajena made it a point to drag Mutambirwa to the volleyball courts at any given chance.
Suitors soon took notice of Mutambirwa. Mufakose 2 High and Churchill Boys offered him volleyball scholarships. He chose the latter.
In 2008, Mutambirwa ventured into professional volleyball under the Bulldogs banner.
He went on to join Hoax and Duels before eventually finding a home at Harare City at its inception in 2017.
Mutambirwa, who is also a Bindura University sports office employee, is still playing for Harare City while his friend Bangajena now turns out for Black Rhinos.