Lovemore Dube, [email protected]
THE Highlanders Clubhouse will next Saturday ring with something other than the familiar football chants and loud music associated with Bulawayo and the country’s oldest football institution.
There will be children’s laughter, the thud of stomping feet on the ground, the soft tap of darts hitting the board and the cheers that accompany a volleyball spike.
Some supporters will struggle to contain their excitement as they meet Douglas Mloyi, Madinda Ndlovu, Lawrence Phiri, Peter Nkomo, Thabani Masawi and many other former greats of the institution, men they first heard about on the radio, watched on hazy television screens and read about in the pages of The Chronicle and Sunday News, through the work of legendary writers and correspondents such as David Ncube, Fred Moyo, Clayton Peel, Nkosilathi Baleni, Tito Asani, Jealous Mpofu, Clemence Marijeni, Steve Campion, Stanley Dube, Enos Mhlanga and Innocent Kurwa.
It will be the Highlanders Family Fun Day, when the focus shifts from the pursuit of three points on a weekend afternoon to something much bigger: family, sport and social cohesion.
For decades, Highlanders has been known to the outside world primarily as a football club. The name Bosso conjures images of packed Barbourfields Stadium, black-and-white flags and legends who wore the jersey with pride, but in Bulawayo, the older generation knows that the institution’s story extends far beyond the football pitch.
Highlanders was never just about football.
Soon after Independence, the club evolved into a multi-sport association and social institution, providing a home for families and a launchpad for athletes who went on to achieve national prominence across several sporting disciplines.
It was where a father could spend weekday evenings playing darts, while his sons and their friends learnt to shoot hoops at the basketball court and his nephew honed his defensive skills in the boxing shed.
Football was the loudest child in the family, but it was never the only one.
That is the history next Saturday’s event seeks to revive, celebrating the sporting interests that made the clubhouse a meeting place for athletes, families and supporters. By 1989, disciplines such as darts, chess, basketball, athletics, volleyball, rugby, hockey and netball, alongside traditional dancing and singing groups such as Sunduza, were part of the broader Highlanders family, reflecting ambitions to develop a vibrant, self-sustaining clubhouse that would create employment and contribute to Bulawayo’s sports tourism.
Organising committee spokesperson Lawrence Phiri, Highlanders Half Marathon chairman Mgcini Nkolomi and 100 Years Committee vice-chairman Nicholas Nyathi have confirmed that the family-oriented celebration will feature several sporting codes that helped make Highlanders a source of pride for the city.
From Edwin Matwila in boxing to Hall Brown, Walter Moyo, Edson Sibanda, Thembinkosi Ngulube, Vulindlela Moyo, Mbekezeli Mthunzi and Xoli Lubimbi in volleyball, the institution has produced athletes who left their mark on national sport.
Its basketball fraternity has also featured prominent players, including Filaviasi Zharare, Vimbai Muhoma, Vusa Ndlovu, Ngqabutho Ndebele, Unita Dube, Angela Chikomba, Basil West, Bradley de Jongh and others, while Victor Olonga and Arthur Mathe are among the names associated with its rugby tradition.
Across these disciplines, Highlanders has made a meaningful contribution to Zimbabwean sport, with several codes producing national champions and athletes who represented the country.
Its basketball, darts and volleyball teams won prestigious national tournaments and supplied significant numbers of players to national teams, demonstrating the depth of sporting talent nurtured beyond the football department.
“People forget that Highlanders is a multi-sport club. We want to remind Bulawayo of that history. We want to celebrate all our athletes, not just the footballers,” said Phiri during the week.
Saturday’s programme has deliberately been designed as a family celebration, with the Highlanders Half Marathon, which organisers intend to make an annual event, taking place in the morning.
Runners will start at the clubhouse and cover a 10.55-kilometre route towards Nkayi before turning back to finish at the starting point, with a Zumba session providing an energetic conclusion to the race.
Wellness and environmental awareness are among the values organisers hope to promote as lasting benefits of the centenary celebrations, alongside membership recruitment and stronger social cohesion within the Highlanders family.
The programme offers something for every generation, with attendees expected to participate in various activities and, in some sporting disciplines, team up with or compete against club legends.
Athletes who grew up within the Highlanders system are also expected to attend, representing former teammates, many of whom have since passed away, and reconnecting with a sporting heritage that helped shape their careers.
In a city where sport’s economic and cultural value is closely intertwined with Bosso’s presence, the Family Fun Day promises to be a major celebration of community, history and belonging.
“This is about bringing back the clubhouse culture. In the 1980s and 1990s, the clubhouse was where families met. You brought your wife and children. You ate, you drank, you watched sport together safely. We lost that. We want to bring it back,” said Phiri.
The timing is significant because, while Highlanders remains a powerful brand, its relationship with the community requires continuous nurturing, particularly through activities that extend beyond match days and bring supporters together in a shared space.
Events such as the Family Fun Day reinforce the idea that supporting Bosso is not merely about spending 90 minutes at Barbourfields Stadium, but about belonging to an institution whose identity can be celebrated and experienced throughout the year.
The club has called on supporters to turn out in black and white, bring their families and camp chairs, and arrive ready to participate in the activities planned for the day.
Gates will open early at the Highlanders Clubhouse next Saturday, with activities scheduled to run throughout the day and into the evening.
For once, the emphasis will not be on who wins or loses, but on rediscovering the shared history, sporting heritage and community spirit that have sustained the institution across generations.
Highlanders has always been more than a football club; it has been a family and next Saturday offers Bulawayo an opportunity to celebrate that legacy together.
