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Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
Failure by footballers to take advantage of academic opportunities that come their way in the face of windfalls they get in their line of trade has since time immemorial been of great concern to football followers and pundits the world over.
In Zimbabwe many players have been presented with many such opportunities and what is painful is that many of these players find themselves in abject poverty when they hang up their boots.
Many of them would have squandered their football earnings instead of investing some of their money.
At the end, many of them die paupers because they would have failed to secure their future during their playing days.
Ex-Warriors duo of goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze and defender Onismor Bhasera do not want to fall in the the same trap hence are grabbing every opportunity that comes their way.
The duo was part of a 22-member class that was picked last season by South Africa’s DStv Premier Soccer League to enrol at University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science where they attained certificates after successfully completing core modules that included Business Fundamentals, Project Management, Information Technology and Leading as an Entrepreneur.
They did it alongside South Africa’s most celebrated goalkeeper Itumelang Khune and Orlando Pirates’ Linda Mthambo among others.
“We were picked by the South African Premiership sometime last season to do lessons. We had various modules and I am happy that we managed to complete the core modules last month hence the attainment of the certificates that I think will add so much value to us in the near future. I’m 100 percent confident that the certificates and knowledge that we got will be really helpful,” said an ecstatic Chipezeze in an interview from South Africa.
Chipezeze, a former Chicken Inn goal minder and Soccer Star of the Year finalist, is now in the books of Mzansi’s lower division side Magesi, who play in the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
He previously did duty for Baroka who are now also playing in the lower rung of South African football.
Bhasera (36), a veteran of many football battles captains Pretoria-based DStv Premiership SuperSport United who are based at Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. — @FungaiMuderere
Online Reporter