Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
FOR the men’s volleyball national team’s head coach, Itsanang Abu-Basutu, grey hair is a visible badge of honour.
It has earned through decades of resilience in the game.
The gaffer neither oozes the swagger nor is he an outspoken person.
Yet he is undeniably the man on the verge of making history with Zim-Volleyball and deserves to make all the noise.
Abu-Basutu last week guided the national team to gold in the LA 2028 Olympic Zonal Qualifiers.The impressive performance means that Zimbabwe grabbed the solitary ticket to the next round of Qualifiers scheduled for Democratic Republic of Congo in October.
“I am really happy that finally the fruits of two decades of hard labour are coming,” said Abu-Basutu.
“I have been in the field for a long time, through the game’s highs and lows…it was not easy but we knew that eventually light will show at the end of the tunnel.”
For almost two decades, Zimbabwe Volleyball had disbanded both the men and women’s national teams due to funding and other issues.
This phase, notes the renowned coach, was one of volleyball’s lowest moments as some of the players dropped out of the game due to frustration while foreign clubs also turned Zimbabwe as their hunting ground.
It was at Unit Fair Bridge that he bagged his first individual medal.
“Unit Fair Bridge was my first real home where I also had a short coaching stint and I just loved how positive my professional volleyball journey had just taken off,” he said.
In 1992, he joined Black Rhinos under the mentorship of Martin Dururu and, within a short time, became a member of the national army.
For more than five years, he played as a power hitter and won several accolades with the team while in three of those years, he was the captain. Rising through the ranks, he was eventually appointed assistant coach for the army side where he deputised Makuyana.
Resigning from the army side, Abu-Basutu left to mentor Colba Volleyball club and later Railstars.
“For some reasons I never considered life away from the volleyball court, I invested my all in the game and just wanted to make a name,” chuckled Abu-Basutu.
“For the Qualifiers, we actually had two or three players from foreign clubs but we have more out there and it is my wish that for the African Qualifiers they will be here.
“If we make history by being at the Olympics, I am sure that will be the major highlight of my career,” he said.
“Hopefully we will get enough sponsorship for us to get all the preparations we need…for years we struggled and I want something different now. For me volleyball is passion, I was taught to be a winner and whenever I step on court, I am hungry for victory.”
