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Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
WHAT was once a lush green turf, much better than any of Manicaland’s sports venues including Sakubva Stadium, now resembles a deserted fortress without even a single patch of grass as dust from the sandy brown soils swamp the whole area on a daily basis.
Where yesteryear football stars such as Joseph Kabwe from Border Timbers FC, Lloyd Jappa of Forest FC, Gunzan Nyangulu, Taurai ‘Dhana’ Makukutu, Washington Arubi, Supren ‘King Sapu’ Muchabaya, Clemence ‘Skude’ Mkudu, Hibron ‘Adala’ Makukutu, Blessing Gumiso, Steven Matsaire, Moses Chikudza, Tendai Bango, the late Onismo Muzondo, Allan ‘Chibhodhoro’ Manhanga from the then Red Seal among many others honed their skills on their way to stardom, the ground has now become a mere venue for primary school pastime activities.
The dilapidated structures on the sidelines of the pitch have become a convenient resting place as well as ambushing spot for rogue youths pouncing on unsuspecting passersby.
Welcome to Sports Oval in the sprawling suburb of Sakubva. Sports Oval is in a deplorable state and an urgent need to act for the city authorities of Mutare is too loud to ignore as each year passes by without anything being done.
Back in the days, Sports Oval used to be, not just a sports facility, but a family outing facility that used to cater for all sorts of entertainment activities including political rallies and musical shows.
It was well looked after by the capable hands of reputable groundsman known to many simply as Baba Mushunje.
Every weekend in Mutare, one would see both the young and the old being entertained at Sports Oval, with football rivalry such as Read Seal FC, Forestry FC and Boarder Timbers FC being the star attractions.
The matches would draw crowds that would fill it to full capacity.
All this is history!
The rivalry would be a source of inspirations to all young upcoming players who would find time to watch their idols playing every weekend.
In fact, Sports Oval became a theatre of dreams and eventually became a springboard from which many players would break through to bigger clubs in the Premier Soccer League.
As if that was not enough, Sports Oval also created job opportunities within the community of Mutare such as informal traders who would come and sell their products to spectators.
Surely, such history can never be ignored!
Please note: Post Sport will be running a series of articles on the need to give attention to some of dilapidating sports facilities around Manicaland with the Sports Oval campaign being the first.
In the next insertion of this series, Post Sport will talk to stakeholders on the need to revamp the venue.
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