Sundaymail Editor
Veronica Gwaze
WATCHING her do a routine shooting practice daily, one assumes all is normal for reigning Rainbow Amateur Netball League Golden Hand champion Tafadzwa Matura.
She netted 862 shots in 26 games on her way to winning the award, but her exploits were not enough to help her club Falcon Queens secure the championship in 2019.
They ended that season in eighth place.
Matura would ordinarily be shattering the local courts ahead of the return of netball following more than a year’s absence because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead, as fate would have it, the lanky playmaker now finds herself clubless.
Falcon Queens — her home for the past eight years — folded due to financial constraints.
“When I got the news, I was heartbroken. I could not believe that my home for so many years was crumbling,” she said.
She has a lot of colourful memories from her long romance with the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) side.
It was through the club that she found employment in the AFZ, where she currently holds the rank of corporal.
Despite the setback, the former Gems and Harare City Queens player still trains daily.
She hopes to be back in action.
The 31-year-old versatile player recalls how her life evolved from volleyball to netball during her days at Gawa Primary School in Bikita.
She then moved to Tamuka Secondary, where she would bag several accolades, and with them a scholarship to complete her studies at Pamushana Mission.
In 2012, she joined Harare City Queens.
A year later, she was on the move again, switching to Falcon Queens.
At the 2015 National Youth Games in Hwange, she captured the attention of then Minister of Sports, Makhosini Hlongwane, who encouraged Zimbabwe Netball Association (ZINA) president Leticia Chipandu to take a closer look at her.
It resulted in Matura’s first national team call-up.
That year, she got her debut at the Pent series in Namibia.
Later, she was part of the team that participated at the World Cup qualifiers in Zambia in 2018, but could not make it into the side that travelled to Liverpool, England, for the finals the following year.
This is the first time she finds herself without a club.
“Joining Falcon Queens, I was still very raw, but I got the chance to grow . . . until I bagged the award that I had targeted for years.
“I am hurt because I have never hunted for a club before. On the other hand, I am thankful because it is through netball that I got a job which is helping me take care of my parents.
“Life has not been the same because we should be busy preparing for the return of the game after such a long break, but here I am with no home.”
Being clubless has not taken away her love for netball.
She has taken to a strict fitness regime that starts at 5am with a five-kilometre run before goal-shot practice.
“I know it may sound crazy for others to just train without any idea of what is going to happen, but my brilliant past pushes me every day.
“I am available to any club who are ready to engage AFZ; my life is on the court and despite the current predicament, my eyes remain on the court.
“I am ready to defend my title with any club, which is why I am investing a lot of my time on individual intense training and the gym.
“I am going to miss my teammates; they had become family…I wish them well, but I just hope one day AFZ will reconsider and bring back the club because this is our life.”
Her former coach Tapiwa Chirenda believes she is a rare talent and still has more to offer.
“She is a natural player who has the ability to change the tone of the game at any time, and I pray she finds a strong team so that she may play her heart out.
“If she finds a competitive club, I know she can reclaim her title,” said Chirenda.
Online Reporter