tawandamusarurwa
Sports Reporter
WILLIAM Chimuchere cut the figure of a man deeply disturbed as he surveyed what can best be described as ruins of the once-great sporting complex — the Mabvuku Sports Centre.
Once one of the capital’s foremost sporting facilities, the complex has seen better days and is now decrepit.
The sunbaked soccer field is now covered with ridges of sweet potatoes, while tall grass is smothering what used to be a tennis court.
Maize fields now dominate the landscape.
Nurture sporting talent
Established roughly 22 years ago by locals to nurture abundant sporting talent in the capital’s eastern high-density suburbs of Mabvuku and Tafara, the sporting facility was the brainchild of Dominic Lampiyao; Edmund Njazi; Chimuchere; and Billy Flower, who is the father of Zimbabwe’s greatest cricketers, Andy and Grant.
Chimuchere’s heart breaks at the sorry site of the sports centre.
“Our dream was to build a state-of-the-art sporting complex in Mabvuku, which would allow all youths and schools in the area to access these facilities,” said 63-year-old Chimuchere.
“We hoped to provide proper coaching techniques by qualified coaches, who would be based at the centre.
“Unfortunately, it has now been turned into a farming zone, with maize fields and ridges of sweet potatoes all over the place.”
This is hardly what the centre, which hosted some international events at some point, was established for.
“The centre once hosted some foreign sports teams such as England and West Indies, who played against the Zimbabwe national cricket team.
“Matero Magic (a Zambian basketball team), the Kenyan schools’ select basketball team, the Angolan women’s basketball team and Athletes in Action from America all played some matches here. This is in addition to some Harare top rugby teams.”
In a bid to fight drug abuse among the youths, Chimuchere now intends to resuscitate Mabvuku Sports Centre’s basketball club.
“In 2019, before the Covid-19 lockdowns, I came back home thinking that I really needed a long rest from the sport,” said the former basketball coach.
“I was totally wrong, as another programme was waiting for me.
“I couldn’t say no to the cause as my last-born son wanted me to help him and his friend become better basketball players.
“It was around this time that I noticed that they were not the only two, but a lot of young upcoming basketball players also wanted my help.
“That is how we came up with Mabvuku Basketball Club, which we affiliated to the HBA (Harare Basketball Association) B League in the 2021-2022 season.”
Fight drug abuse
He hopes to use sport to fight drug abuse among youths.
The scourge has become pervasive in communities.
“We have been using basketball as a tool to educate youths about the importance of education, and trying to use the sport as an alternative . . .
“We are currently negotiating with the basketball mother body (Basketball Union of Zimbabwe) to allow us to establish a franchise in Zimbabwe.
“The goal is to set up, for the first time in Zimbabwe, a national amateur league that focuses on development teams.
“These are specifically the B league teams from all of the country’s provinces.”
Online Reporter