Dhlomo the fish monger, Beach Volleyball star
WHEN Kimberly Dhlomo first resorted to beach volleyball, it was a form of escapism after having just lost her mother to cancer.
Now, as a way of coping with the loss of her loved one, she never envisioned that the sport would become her passion, opening a new chapter in her life.
“After my mother succumbed to cancer in 2010, I was left devastated.“She had been my everything and it was a difficult time for me and I needed a copying mechanism and it was at this time that coach Sober came up to me and asked if I wanted to try beach volleyball.
“I did try it and I fell in love with it,” said the 33-year-old Zambezi Amazons player.
The idea of taking up the sport as a coping mechanism paid off, with Dhlomo discovering she actually had a passion for beach volleyball.
“I spent a lot of time and energy there (Beach Volleyball), I became quite obsessed by it as I would be first to get there and probably the last to leave the training ground, until it grew into a passion,” she said. In no time, Dhlomo, was to represent the country at the national team level, before she retired after only representing Zimbabwe for three years.
“I was to represent the country at the 2012 All-Africa Games, then more and more people got interested in the sport and I thought of retiring to put my focus on Zambezi Amazons,” said Dhlomo. Her dream now is to spread the sport across the country.
“I’m hoping that I’ll be able to put beach volleyball in Zimbabwe on the map.
“With the right funding and as long as we keep going to these tours we will acquire points and the more we play the better we get, the more we play the more points we get. If we come first in Africa we would have secured our ticket to the Olympics
“We also want little girls and boys to play the sport. We can’t all be good at soccer or netball or rugby. There are so many other options and beach volleyball is one other option,” Dhlomo said. The demise of her mother also meant Dhlomo had to drop out of university to start a day job in order to fend for herself and her brother, Christopher, who now represents the Zimbabwe Rugby Sevens side, the Cheetahs.
The ends were still not meeting financially for the Dhlomos and Kimberly had to make a tough decision pertaining to her sporting career.
“A girl’s got to do what she has to do, and seeing that we can’t exactly make ends meet as athletes in Zimbabwe, I had to trace my roots back to Kariba where I ventured into the fish business,” she said. Now she has to juggle between Beach Volleyball and fish mongering.
“Because I grew up in Kariba it’s easier to get stock and you know you are getting a quality product unlike some of the fish we sometimes see
“I’m hoping the business will grow. I’ve been at it for almost three years now starting with my only salary after I quit a day job,” she said.
“I have to juggle the two, I want to bring Kariba to everyone the same way I want people to know about beach volleyball,” she said.