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Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
TEENAGE Dynamos midfielder, Hamilton Gomba, says his aim is to try and eclipse the levels his father, Carrington, reached at the Glamour Boys, just over a decade ago.
The 18-year-old, who is also a 100m sprinter, appears to have made up his mind and given up the track for football boots.
He is proud to be following in the footsteps of his father, who starred for DeMbare in 2009, before moving to play for FC Lupopo and Don Bosco in the DRC.
For the record, Carrington is still involved in the game, and has been on the books of Zambia’s top-flight league side, Red Arrows, from 2018 to 2020.
He is battling a knee injury and contemplating retirement.
His son, who like his father started his career in Hwange, has vowed to take over the baton, from his 36-year-old dad, with distinction.
“I started my football journey early in life,” he told The Saturday Herald.
“I was still eight then and I remember the first game I watched my father play, he fired home a ferocious shot, from the centre zone.
“He motivated me to play football although I never expected I would play for Dynamos, at this age.
”I am here to fulfill a long-cherished dream, it was also my father’s wish that I should play for Dynamos.
“Today, I am here but one day I hope to play in Europe. For that to happen, I have to fight with all that I have got.
”I would want to thank the Dynamos coaches for giving me the chance to play for such a big team.
“It’s a dream come true, I have just completed my O Levels and I am honoured to be part of the squad and, hopefully, I will be able to surpass whatever my father achieved with Dynamos.
“He was committed to his work, he works hard and puts all his effort in everything that he does, he is a generous guy, smart and intelligent.
“I trust myself I will reach those goals.
“I hope to settle in well and be able to prove what I have in me. It’s a family thing, it runs in our blood, I hope to carry the family name to higher levels.”
He said his strength lied more in athletics than football.
He proved himself at Lwendulu Primary School in Hwange before moving to Gebuza High and then Marist Brothers-Dete.
He enrolled at Prince Edward in 2018, as a Form Two student, and was involved on the track, as well as with the Prince Edward football Academy, which moulded him into the player he is today.
His friends and teammates have nicknamed him Bolt, after Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, because of his speed, in the short distance dashes.
He was in the Prince Edward’s 4x100m relay team, along with DeMbare teammate, Bill Antonio, an Upper Sixth student, who is the current Prince Edward Athletics captain.
The relay team also had Kelvin Mutsvedu and Brian Tagarira.
Gomba was the fastest student at Prince Edward in the 100m sprints last year.
he clocked his personal best time of 10.65s at the Prince Edward Sprints Challenge in February 2020.
“When I arrived at Prince Edward, I never told anyone that I was a 100m sprinter,” he said.
”But, in my last year of high school I proved to the school authorities, and to the whole country, that I can run 100m at any competition you can think of.
“I was also in the school relay team and we won the relays with very good times. I have always been a footballer but I did athletics, mostly at school.
“The PE Academy groomed me very well. Without them, I wouldn’t have been here. Now it’s up to me to show the world what I can do.”
He featured in about seven football tournaments, during his two-year stay at Prince Edward, and won three medals at national level.
He was second in the Golden Boot race at the Under-17 NASH tournament in Bulawayo, in 2019, with four goals.
Gomba is one of the three teenagers recruited by Dynamos this season, under their deal with Prince Edward.
Livewire winger Antonio and 16-year-old Luke Musikiri are the other two.
The 18-year-old Antonio is a prefect and athletics captain at Prince Edward.
He was part of the Young Warriors at the COSAFA Under-20 tournament last year.
“These boys have serious potential. Bill is an Upper Sixth student, a very good player and I think, in terms of maturity, he is far ahead of the other two,” said DeMbare coach, Tonderai Ndiraya.
“Hamilton joined training a bit late but he also had great potential. He is the fastest of them all.
”They have nicknamed him Bolt, because of his pace.
“Luke is the youngest of the three but if you look at how he has developed, since we started our pre-season, I can say he is a beast.
”He should be knocking on the doors of the first team quite soon.
“That’s the beauty about our team this year. Apart from the 25 senior players we have registered, we also have these three very good, quick young players, with a lot of future ahead of them.
“We have a Memorandum of Understanding with Prince Edward Academy. They have the first refusal on the five slots for our juniors.
“They have gone around to scout for serious talent and they are developing the talent very well.”
Chibuku Super Cup Fixtures
Saturday: Bulawayo City FC v Chicken Inn FC (Grp 2 – Barbourfields, 11 am), Whawha FC v FC Platinum (Grp 4 – Mandava, 1 pm), CAPS United FC v Yadah FC (Grp 1 – National Sports Stadium 3 pm), Tenax CS FC v Black Rhinos FC (Grp 3 – Sakubva 3 pm).
Sunday: Ngezi Platinum Stars FC v Triangle United FC (Grp 4 – Mandava, 11 am), Harare City FC v ZPC Kariba FC (Grp 1 – National Sports Stadium, 11 am), Bulawayo Chiefs FC v Highlanders FC (Grp 2 – Barbourfields, 1 pm), Herentals FC vs Dynamos FC (Grp 1 – National Sports Stadium, 3 pm), Manica Diamonds FC vs Cranborne Bullets FC Grp 3 – Sakubva, 3 pm).
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