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Sports Reporter
HEROLD Banda dreamt of being a pro football player for the longest time. And when the opportunity arose, he took it with both hands, eventually playing for Premier Soccer League clubs such as now defunct Sporting Lions.
Sadly, Banda’s dream lasted for a short period before a serious knee injury all but took out the utility way before his time. But he clung on. Clung on just long enough to learn a craft while he fought to preserve what little was left of his footballing dream. A passionate man in all he does, he is man who saw his dreams of a trophy laden playing career go up in smoke only to open the door for a new and perhaps even more fulfilling career path.
Today, that supposedly ‘dead-end job’ gifted him that non-descript craft which has turned this once elegant midfielder into an elegant yet abundantly creative pastry chef! And creator of Herroe’s, a catering company that specialies in baking with cakes and pies his top sellers.
Elegant in the center of the park much like Bayern Munich’s German midfield general, Stefan Effenberg whether on or off the ball, ‘Maan’ or ‘Herroe’ as he is popularly known in football circles, managed to bring the same elegance driven by his cultured feet to his work with dough powered by patient hands and today stands as one of the best around – a pastry chef with one of the best tasting pies in town.
Forgetting to mention his sweet touch as a cake maker would be a travesty on much the same level as Jairos Tapera’s treasonous decision to leave out the country’s top goal scorer, Lynoth ‘Sonji’ Chikhuwa, who also happens to have grown up in Mzilikazi township, Bulawayo from the national team. Story for another day that one!
‘Maan’ is an assuming gent who realised that his football career may not head in the direction he had hoped it would and began thinking about how to make a life for himself off the field. And make a life he did!
“When I suffered a knee injury after I had just arrived at Sporting Lions, I knew there was very little I could hope for in professional football. However, I stuck it out and eventually found myself at Chicken Inn which was way before it became a premier league outfit,” Maan shared.
“It was while I was at Chicken Inn that I got a job at Haefelis as one of the kitchen staff. I chose not to worry too much about the sort of job I was doing given that I had hoped for pro career and picked up a craft, I decided to learn as much as I could about baking and cooking in general,” he added.
His development journey began at Celtics founded by renowned development coach, Charles Dhliwayo (now at Chicken Inn) which was so talent laden that it attracted the attention of local businessmen, the late Nhamo Rhusamo who became its sponsor renaming the club Rutz Celtics. Here he shared the dressing room with Shayne Mushekwa, Kieth Dangarembwa, Elias Mwale, Nqobile Mabhena, Bhekhimpilo ‘Bhaka’ Ncube, Petros Ngodzo and Farai ‘Stam’ Chimboza, among others.
In the mid-2000s after serving their apprenticeship at Celtics, he and Dangarembwa moved to Zimbabwe Saints where they both quickly progressed to the fringes of the first team and earning him (Herroe) a move away to the capital to join legendary muso, Thomas Mapfumo’s Sporting Lions.
“My football journey began at Mzilikazi Primary School but the business end of things really began when I joined Celtics as a junior player but soon began to play with older players because of my frame. Sometimes, I would play as many as four games in a day. I eventually moved to Zimbabwe Saints along with my teammate, Kieth Dangarembwa after his father, the Saints legend, Philemon Dangarembwa advised that this was the next logical step in our development,” Herroe told B Metro Sport.
The senior Dangarembwa became an ever-present voice during his playing career offering priceless career guidance.
“Fincho (Philemon Dangarembwa) helped make a lot of the decisions I made during my career. He was my defacto manager,” Herroe said.
The now hugely popular pastry chef also lists strong football personalities like the late former Zimbabwe Saints, Highlanders and AmaZulu star, Nqobizitha Maenzanise, Gift Lunga (Junior), Martin ‘Metso’ Ncube, Isaac Riyano alongside his own peers, Kieth Dangarembwa, Ncube, Elias Mwale, Bhekhimpilo Ncube and Ashwin Banda as also being key to his personal development on and off the field.
“Apart from the advice I got from established footballers like Nqobizitha Maenzanise, Gift Lunga (Junior), Martin Ncube, and Isaac Riyano, I also got a lot of great advice from own peers including Kire (Kieth Dangarembwa), Baka (Bhekhimpilo Ncube), Mwale (Elias Mwale) and Ashwin Banda. Making the decision to pick up a skill during my time at Haefelis was with the support of my friends and to them I credit my growing business,” Herroe added.
Banda has made peace with the injury that ended his playing career and is also grateful that football gave him a craft that has become a passion and a source of income before adding that he is working on becoming a dietician working primarily with sports persons.
“I’d like to bring some of what I learnt on the football field to the kitchen as a dietician,” Herroe said.
Big dreams for the retired football player. Achievable dreams for the pastry chef!
Online Reporter