adminFreedom Mutanda Sports Correspondent
It is a clichéd expression that dynamite comes in small packages, but then for the lanky Nyasha Sithole her physical attributes have never been a disadvantage to her since she started her long journey to athletics stardom from her primary school years to the present dance with the stars and boarding aeroplanes from Zimbabwe to Mauritius and Lesotho.
Muumbe is a place where you least expect to get a gem, but then they say ‘never judge a book by its cover.’ It is in this area, ruled by Chief Musikavanhu in Chipinge, that Sithole began her career when she was a ten-year-old at primary school.
Her teachers saw a rough diamond in her, which, if polished, would grace the Diamond League races in future just as Maria Mutola, Caster Semenya and Julia Sakala did in their prime.
For someone who started using official running shoes last year, Nyasha Sithole is natural. Her personal trainer Pumulani Dube, a sports enthusiast and expert, is obviously delighted that his project is bearing fruit.
“Nyasha is a hard worker and she is determined to scale dizzy heights. Her response to instructions is phenomenal; she is a coach’s dream athlete.’’ Pumulani Dube, a graduate of NUST Sports Science Faculty said.
Indeed, for NUST Sports Science Faculty, this shows that their curriculum is really meeting the needs of the sports arena if we look at the products of talent identification.
The Manica Post last year appealed to stakeholders to help Sithole, a Muumbe Secondary School student then, get funds to the tune of $990 for her to go to Mauritius where she would compete in the Africa Youth Championships after she showed her fellow 400m hurdles competitors a clean pair of heels in the NASH National Championships in March 2014.
That’s when she won a gold medal in the Under-16 category, which proved to be a ticket to Mauritius. The school helped her acquire a passport, but the airfares proved prohibitive.
Seized with the onerous duty of funding the girl’s airfare to Mauritius, the school head, Mr Khosa, went everywhere in search of good Samaritans. He discussed with his fellow heads and the Chipinge NASH executive came in and helped.
‘“Mr Needmore Maposa came like a knight in shining armour. He proposed sending the talented girl to Mauritius, but then she would be attending Chibuwe High School in line with the already planted stigma of it being a centre of sporting excellence. Nyasha Sithole would be the first sports talent to be groomed at the school,” Mr James Dhube, the Chipinge NASH treasurer, explained to The Manica Post recently.
Chibuwe High, through the tireless efforts of its head, Needmore Maposa, helped Sithole’s dream of going to compete at a higher level come to fruition.
Earlier in the year, Sithole had swept everything before her up to national level in the Under-17 girls’ 400m hurdles, culminating in her getting a gold medal under Team Manicaland in Chiredzi. She subsequently booked a ticket to the COSSASA Championships in Maseru, Lesotho.
What makes this humble daughter of Chipinge tick?
“I want to excel. My coach is my inspiration. He always tells me that success comes from perseverance. The more practice I have, the more chances I have of success. Last year I was at a rural day school and now I have got a scholarship to study here at Chibuwe High; thanks to the head, Mr Maposa. I wish to make my family, school, province and nation proud by getting more accolades.”
She is naturally shy, but one can see the girl wants to succeed at all costs.
She is a chip off the old block, according to Sifelani Tonje, the Senior Master at Chibuwe High.
“Nyasha is a clear example of how there is an interplay of genes in the performance of children. Her father and mother were excellent athletes during their time. Now, she is on the brink of stardom.
“What is wanted is to nurture the talent and we have an international athlete in the mould,” Tonje said at his Chibuwe base.
It takes two to tango. Nyasha Sithole needs support if she is to realise her full potential; like that she got from Maposa, a former soccer referee and sports enthusiast who heads Chibuwe High.
“I am convinced that my grand plan of upgrading the school sports grounds would see the light of day. Once that happens, when there is a state-of-the-art athletics track, Nyasha Sithole’s dreams of getting to the top of the athletics world will be realised,” the Chibuwe High head said, with a far-away look in his eye.
Today Sithole will be in the City of Kings doing what she knows best — competing in the 400m hurdles event.
One hopes that the will to win within her will continue to spur her on.
The Chikore area brought the district the exciting Beauty Dube, who was a middle-distance queen that enrolled at an academy in Harare, but her star waned and she never reached the dizzy heights we expected.
Now, it is up to Sithole to mark a career path in athletics just as many Kenyan female athletes have done over the years.
We can only say go, Nyasha Sithole, Go!
Online Reporter