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Veronica Gwaze
HAD it not been for volleyball, Harare City Volleyball star Tatenda Masawi reckons he would have never enrolled at a group A school.
It was a far-fetched dream, one that would never come true until…
“It is the quiet, humble guy that’s not saying anything, that is the really dangerous one”- is perhaps the best description summing up the lanky attacker.
The 21-year-old “Sawela”, as he is fondly known within volleyball circles, is not the most vocal person in the changing room. Neither does he say much on the pitch.
Most of his contemporaries respect him for both his quiet nature and his lethal instincts that take over once he steps onto the court and lets his actions do all the talking.
The Mufakose-born attacker, is a deadly star whose signature many clubs would scramble for.
Could these be effects of his background?
“I used to play soccer at school and one day our senior master who was also the school volleyball coach approached me having been impressed by my height,” he said.
“He asked me to attend volleyball training, and as a student I obeyed.
“I would at times abscond the training sessions not knowing that this was in fact the foundation of something huge for me,” he recalled.
Within a short time, he was selected to be part of the school team to participate in a tournament at Prince Edward High School.
And this was to be the tournament that changed his life forever, and set on a course for volleyball.
He still remembers one of the then senior players who may have spotted the potential in him (Masawi).
“It was during this tournament that a senior mate of mine, Ignatius ‘Sir Blatter’ Chigwanha, said to me that one-day I will be the ‘centre of attraction’ and those words changed my life forever,” he remembers.
The remarks planted passion for the sport.
In 2014, at a tournament in Mazowe, Masawi was spotted by Churchill Boys’ High who then offered him an academic scholarship.
He recalls the opportunity to learn at a group A school feeling like a dream come true for him as he had never pictured himself beyond schools in the ghetto.
Chigwanha had become one of Churchill Volleyball greats. He handed his number 10 jersey to Masawi. That was symbolic recognition of a star in the making for Masawi.
“That is when my volleyball journey made huge strides. In 2015 I took almost every Under-17s tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
“We also went for the Nash Nationals, making history as the first team to make it to the Under-17 Nash provincials — this was huge.”
Masawi became a vital cog and the team went on to win gold in 2015.
That same year, he bagged several tournaments’ individual prizes before being selected into the national Under-17 Cossasa team, which won the gold at the 2015 games held in Zimbabwe.
Masawi made the great leap to club volleyball when in 2016, he accompanied his then coach Nigel Muzongombi to one of his club games.
A fellow coach, Munosumana, who mentored Black Rhinos back then, asked Masawi to cover up for a missing player.
Masawi agreed and that encounter launched his professional volleyball journey.
“Surprising even to myself, I became the top scorer of that game and it gave me the confidence to believe in myself.”
In 2017, he joined newly-formed Harare City, and quickly established himself as a rookie of note.
He was voted the best attacker at the Zimbabwe Open Tournament.
That year, he collected all local tournaments including Nash MVPs and was voted Best Attacker- something that had never happened in the country’s volleyball history.
Later that year, in December, he made his Zone VI debut in Bulawayo, before moving to Black Rhinos the following year.
The Volleyball player would balance well his studies and sport and he believes anyone else can excel in both.
“I became the best attacker and blocker during that year before being loaned to NABA for the Zone 6 games that were held in Durban, South Africa,” he recalls.
“My life had literally become all about volleyball and that is all that mattered to me.”
In 2019 he moved back to Harare City to mark what he recalls as his best volleyball year.
At the beginning of the season he bagged the MVP and Best Attacker awards at the Zimbabwe Open Tournament before propelling the Municipal team to league Champions.
In December, he also played a key role in helping Harare City bring home silver from Zone VI tourney in Lilongwe, Malawi.
The finish helped the team to gain entry to the African Club Championships that had been slated for April this year in Egypt.
However, the games were cancelled due the outbreak of the Covid-19.
“With the way the team had gelled, we were definitely going to bring home some silverware.
“We were going there as underdogs and we were ready to surprise them but the pandemic disrupted everything. I was personally affected a lot in terms of my development and training as a player although I am conducting my personal sessions and workouts.”
Masawi has more than 20 accolades under his belt and he looks forward to an action-filled season when Covid-19 clears and games resume.
Online Reporter