adminWe hope that they will share what they saw in the country with their families and friends back home, thus act as tourism ambassadors for the country.
Benjani and his friends had an opportunity to meet with the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces President Mugabe who held a reception for them at State House, a gesture few sportsmen will receive.
We believe Benjani deserved the honour accorded to him. He was a fitting role model and ambassador for Zimbabwe.
While many sportspeople, especially footballers, are known for the shenanigans off the pitch once they strike it rich, Benjani managed to keep a cool head most of the time.
He was rarely in the papers for the wrong reasons.
What the former Warriors captain has achieved in his career as a professional footballer should be an inspiration to other Zimbabweans, especially the youths.
Benjani emerged from the dusty streets of Magwegwe to rub shoulders with the very best in the football world and play at the very top of the game.
His astonishing career, which reached its climax when he turned out for clubs in the English Premier League, considered by some to be the best in the world, is the stuff dreams are made of. It shows that with determination and hard work nothing can hold you back, no matter your background.
Benjani should be commended for organising a testimonial match whose proceeds will be used to help charity and set up a soccer academy for a new generation of footballers.
Often we have read in newspapers of football matches being organised to benefit former footballers who would have fallen on hard times because they did not plan adequately for the future.
But this is not so with Benjani who wants to give back to society which supported him.
Zimbabwe has many talented young people who lack exposure and encouragement to pursue a career in sport. Long held societal beliefs that people should pursue academic education and get white-collar jobs are not helping.
Today some of the richest people in the world are those who are not academically gifted but those who pursued their other talents like being good in sport. The salaries sportspeople are getting in a season can never be earned in a lifetime by a person in an ordinary job.
It is time that parents stop forcing children to pursue academic lessons at the expense of their other talents.
We hope that when a stand-alone Ministry of Sport is set up as intimated by President Mugabe at the reception he held for the stars, it will among its objectives seek to ensure that sport is taken as seriously as academic education.
We also hope that when products of sporting academies such as the one being set up by Benjani graduate and are exported to big leagues, society’s attitude to sport will also change.
In the meantime we say to Benjani you played your part and all sports-loving Zimbabweans will forever cherish your heroics on the pitch.
Online Reporter