Online Reporter
Langton Nyakwenda-Zimpapers Sports Hub
AT the peak of their athletic powers, they were unheralded players who nonetheless made a huge impact at army teams Black Rhinos and Buffaloes.
Shepherd Nkata, Danai Chinowawa and Kastigu Zhuwakinyu are still inseparable, years after hanging their boots.
The trio is now part of Highrange Football Club’s technical team.
Highrange will make their debut in the Northern Region Soccer League this season, after beating Scottland Academy in the Harare Province Division Two A and B play-offs.
Yet only three years ago, the team was merely a Sunday afternoon social club.
But the club is now attracting the attention of many football followers in Harare and across the country.
Former Zimbabwe national team striker Lazarus “Mali” Muhoni has also been charmed by the project.
“I am now based in the United Kingdom but I am always following Zimbabwean football.
“The Highrange project has impressed me not only because I share some history with the club’s owners, but the general way in which the club is run and the hunger for success,” Muhoni told Zimpapers Sports Hub.
Muhoni played junior football at Tanganda with Wayne Zimunya, who co-owns Highrange with his brother Kuziva.
Zimpapers Sports Hub spoke to Kuziva, who is confident Highrange will cope with the rigours of the Northern Region Soccer League.
“We started sponsoring this team when it was still a church football club at AFM Goodhope near Westgate in Harare.
“Seeing what was happening to our youths who were being destroyed by drugs and talent being wasted, I decided to form Highrange Football Club.
“The club is sponsored by Highrange Property Developers and we joined Division 2 three years ago,” Kuziva Zimunya said.
Former Black Rhinos and Buffaloes defensive midfielder Nkata heads the club’s technical team that also has Chinowawa as assistant and Juwakinyu as the strikers’ coach.
Ndukwani Simango is the goalkeepers’ coach.
“This season we are targeting a top eight finish.
“We know Division One football comes with a lot of travelling hence the need for more resources but what I can assure you is that we are geared for the rigours of the Northern Region Soccer League,” added Zimunya.
