No hard feelings for Gems’ unsung hero

TAPIWA Chirenda might not be known outside the netball community, but his invaluable contribution to the sport is there for all to see through the exploits of the Gems.

The 41-year-old former Gems coach is credited for the careers of several top players.

Under his tutelage, the country’s netball team moved from 38 to 17 on the International Netball Federation rankings. He accomplished all this in three years. However, he did not get the credit he deserves — that is until now.

Chirenda’s Gems’ story began in 2012 in an all-too-familiar tale, alongside the incumbent team manager, Ledwin Dondo.

The two took the team to Malawi and surprised many at the African Championships.

“I still remember my first assignment in Malawi, after we had camped for less than a week,” he said. “Pauline Jani’s performance is still fresh in my mind; she was practically unstoppable, and I believe she actually made a name for me at that tournament.

“The team beat Botswana for the first time in years and from there, we never looked back.”

Ironically, the gaffer, who now mentors Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) side Falcon Queens, is respected and consulted by several coaches around the continent.

Sadly, what most people do not talk about now is that Chirenda and his Gems’ team used to camp for less than a week before assignments.

There were even times when the team would camp for just two days and go on to give an outstanding performance.

“During those days it was simply passion-driven: there was no money to speak of, with the players occasionally getting allowances which would maybe afford them to buy a pair of sneakers.

“I was with the team for the first Diamond Challenge, where we broke the Zambia jinx, and during those times the players survived on the generosity of well-wishers.

“I was then unceremoniously dropped, but that squad went on to excel in Hong Kong,” he said.

It is during his national team stint that the AFZ recruited him as the head coach.

He is now employed as a member of AFZ. Growing up, Chirenda, who is 1,93 metres tall, was a basketball player and still plays under the Harare Basketball League.

He would watch current Gems gaffer Lloyd Makunde and Rainbow Netball Amateur League champion Christopher Simeone, coaching netball at Tafara Community Hall. It inspired him to join the sport. He taught himself the basics and studied extensively before getting into coaching.

Despite being an amateur, he bagged a couple of awards and Youth Games medals with Harare province.

Without a formal coaching qualification, he took Mabvuku High School Under-16 squad to their first-ever Tanganda national finals.

Realising he had a knack for coaching, in 2004, he acquired a ZINA netball coaching certificate.

The following year, he got his first formal professional netball coaching gig under Grain Marketing Board (GMB)’s Silo Queens.

His team, with mostly rookies, was unbeaten in Division One.

In 2006, he set a national record in the then Netball Super League by finishing third.

“GMB dropped all professional sports and the players who were now all household names were taken up by other teams.

“Moving to Stanbic in 2007, I remember recruiting renowned defender Patience Chinhoyi, who has since been recruited by Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services to play under the prison team.”

During his time at Stanbic, the Zimbabwe Republic Police engaged him to assemble the police outfit, Mambas Queens.

In 2009, under his mentorship, Mambas Queens swept through Division One, after which he briefly moved to the army side ZDF Queens and then joined Glow Petroleum Queens (2010).

As the nation celebrated the Gems’ fine performance at last year’s World Cup, where the debutants finished eighth, Chirenda smiled from a distance.

“When the Gems qualified for the global tournament, for me, it was a special moment,” he said. “I had looked forward and dreamt of it for years, and it did not matter that I was no longer part of the team.

“I was just content at seeing the impact of my work on the team.

“I watched all their World Cup matches and celebrated with no hard feelings.

“I was sacked without an explanation after doing a lot of the dirty work, but that is all in the past,” said the coach, who also mentors Zimpapers Netball Club.