Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo-Zimpapers Sports Hub
AT the entrance of a bustling Mt Darwin shopping complex, 19-year-old Tanyaradzwa Anderson tends to his makeshift stall, selling sweets, cigarettes and loose odds and ends.
Every so often he has to play cat and mouse with Pfura Rural District Council officers, just like the other illegal vendors.
And often, unlike the others, he is pardoned.
Anderson has a hearing and speech impairment.
Yet he makes sure that whenever Mt Darwin’s only Premier Soccer League (PSL) team, AGAMA FC, are training at Pfura Stadium, he is there in the stands, watching.
He once trained with them. The audition almost came off. It was a near-breakthrough.
Still, the struggling side remains his heart and soul — he even travels to watch them in their battle against relegation.
Some 470km away in Shurugwi, Trayvon Dongo is in the same boat.
He is 20 and survives on vending, selling mostly to small-scale artisanal miners.
Dongo, like Anderson, has a hearing and speech impairment, yet is a gifted goalkeeper.
He once turned out for Mutare City in the Eastern Region Soccer League, inspired by those with a hearing impairment who made it big — former Yugoslavia and Rijeka striker Damir Desnica and Australia women’s national team goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.
For those with hearing impairment in Zimbabwe, those near-breakthrough stories have left a lasting impression.
They know the talent is there.
But most of their near misses in joining professional teams, they believe, come down to a lack of early development — most of the kids with hearing and speech impairment rarely make it into football academies.
They hardly take that pathway fearing discrimination.
Anderson’s father, Shuta, confirms it.
“Tanyaradzwa had a twin, Tinotenda, who died in 2022 after being hit by a car here in Mt Darwin,” he said, his voice shaking.
“The two used to play football together at Mt Darwin Primary and later at Emerald Hill Secondary.
“They loved the game but because they are hard of hearing we couldn’t allow them to be with the other kids because we feared they would be discriminated against.
“That’s how they missed an opportunity to develop at a young age. You know, when the academy coaches don’t know how to use sign language to speak to them.
“So, yes, I wasn’t allowing them to go out there and play. I only got to notice the kids had hearing and speech impairment when they were four years old. It sort of traumatised me and I was maybe overprotective due to the special needs I always had to provide.”
According to AGAMA’s technical team, Anderson is a promising prospect who just needs a little refinement.
To change that trend, the deaf community has formed its own Deaf League with more than 16 teams from across the country.
Anderson and Dongo are now teammates at Deaf Red Buffalo FC in Mutare.
Strikingly, all the clubs are run by the deaf themselves, with players contributing towards the upkeep of the teams.
Red Buffalo founder Mpumelelo Moyo, a vendor based in Harare who previously played professional football for Buffaloes in the Eastern Region Soccer League (ERSL), said: “Basically, most, if not all, of our members and players in the league survive from vending. We have our Deaf Football League and competitions organised through Deaf football structures, including the Zimbabwe Deaf Football Federation (ZDFF) and the Zimbabwe National Deaf Sports Federation (ZNDSF),” he said.
“We have come to the realisation that we have so many talented deaf footballers who are not making it because they lack consistent playing time.
“That’s the reason we came up with the idea of a league so that we also prepare them when they want to go into mainstream football. I am glad we have about three players, including Trevor Tekere, who will be going on trials at different Premier Soccer League teams in December.”
Beyond developing football skills, Moyo says, the Deaf Football League also works as social glue to stitch those with such impairment.
“Football also helps the Deaf people to build confidence and leadership skills, promote teamwork, discipline and respect, create opportunities for deaf players to showcase their talents and bring deaf people from different provinces together,” he said.
“Football also creates awareness and greater recognition of Deaf athletes in Zimbabwe, while giving players opportunities to compete and represent their communities as well as promote healthy lifestyles and keep young people active.
“For us, football is more than just a game; it is a way of building unity, confidence, friendship, opportunity and pride within the Deaf community.”
One of the coaches at Rusape Deaf FC, Anyway Mugoviwa, who also played professionally for Buffaloes, said he uses sign language as a method of instruction.
“It’s all about passion. I am hard of hearing but I can talk. I understand the deaf very well and I know the language that they speak,” he said.
“I am really happy to be working with them because I can see potential and I am inviting professional teams to come and scout talent in our league.
“The talent we have is massive and you see players always improving.”
For ZIFA, the coming in of the Deaf League is more than welcome.
The association recently met with the Deaf League leadership and pledged to guide them where they need administrative help.
In a statement, ZIFA told Zimpapers Sports Hub: “We are very happy to see them launching their league. We are keen to see them succeed and have their players in the professional setup. We wish to see them in the national teams because we don’t discriminate.
“Everyone can play football at any club and at national team level provided they are good enough.
“So, this is a great step in the right direction by the Deaf community. We will give them all the support they need.”
