If you don’t support the team, support development

NEW boys Tsholotsho FC started the new Premiership season in style yesterday, winning their first game in the top flight. It would be too early to start making fires for some barbeque deep in Matabeleland North, but it is certainly not a bad idea to throw your fist and punch the skies if you are one of those who support “Iziqholo Zezhwane”, as Tsholotsho are nicknamed, after a brave start to the season as they stood their own, more than 500km away from home, to beat Harare City 1-0 in their own backyard.

And if you take into account that big boys in the Premiership, teams that have been the barometer of Zimbabwean football, the likes of Highlanders and Dynamos, have in recent years found it difficult to beat Harare City at Rufaro, with Highlanders falling heavily two years back with the title within their grasp, you then realise how crucial that victory was.

You also get to realise how brave, determined, disciplined the new boys are, and they certainly deserve the screaming headlines after their first 90 minutes of action.

Every football personality knows the importance of winning your first game as it sets the tone, and for newcomers in the league, getting three points, away from home, when no one gave them a chance against one of the best funded teams in the country, that victory gives them the belief that they can compete in the Premiership.

While it is still early days, with the rest of the teams getting onto the pitch for the first time today and tomorrow, it is a job well done for Tsholotsho, and yes, they have made some piece of history again. After becoming the first team from rural Zimbabwe to qualify for the Premiership, they also went on to register their first win of the season, away from home. And what a goal it was, scored at the right time in the dying stages of the game. Simbarashe Gorogodyo received a pass from the left inside the box. With no one marking him close, he coolly placed the ball beyond the reach of diving Tafadzwa Dube in goals for Harare City. The world saw it. It was live on Supersport 9, and sports bars in Tsholotsho recorded brisk business with the team’s fans having an early start to the weekend, and having a good reason to be merry. There were wild celebrations from the bench and players, and their small band of travelling fans at Rufaro after the final whistle, and yes, they deserved their moment. The social media also responded with tweets and Facebook posts about the team with Zimbabweans across the globe talking about the team; at least discussing something new, something refreshing, something that makes everyone happy — football.

That result should spur all those who love the beautiful game from any part of the country to support the team, materially that is, because the season is going to be long and winding, and a lot of money will be needed, and for a modest side like Tsholotsho, they certainly need support from those who want history to record them on the good side of things.

There are already some fine gentlemen and women who have stood up to support construction of the team’s stadium in Tsholotsho after hearing the call from Information Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo, who hails from Tsholotsho, to come on board and cement development that has been triggered by the promotion of the team to the Premiership. And of course, kudos go to those who were on the team’s driving seat while in the lower rungs of football and Division One who sacrificed a lot to make sure it gets promotion and the world starts talking about Tsholotsho in football terms.

Construction companies like JR Goddard, Oliken Engineering and Masimba Holdings have agreed to construct the stadium without putting any mark-up to their work. They joined hands with government, which came in big time with the Ministry of Local Government providing architects and engineers, Ministry of Home Affairs providing a casino licence to help raise funds and the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate providing hunting concessions, in a good gesture that shows the world that wildlife, if put to good use, can be of much benefit to people who share the environs with it.

Tsholotsho Rural District Council is also heavily involved, after donating the piece of land where the stadium is being built, and the community is also joining hands for what will change the face of the business centre. Professor Moyo has already started to assist the team, taking care of its accommodation and meals for Harare matches, and I guess what coach Lizwe Sweswe and his boys are praying for are more Professor Moyos to come on board.

There are also other people who have pledged their support, materially and otherwise, and the message is even if you don’t support Tsholotsho FC, the least you can do is to support development in the area that can possibly come after the team’s promotion, because the stadium will attract other events to the area, events that will trigger further infrastructural development and give locals business opportunities. That is what sport can do to a community, and it gets even more interesting to hear that the stadium will also have an athletics track which will be used by schools in the area.

 

Where are the brave men and women?

Tsholotsho came in to give football fans and sports lovers some fresh air, after a frustrating week amid all the bungling at Zifa. What baffles the mind is why men, held with esteem and holding senior offices in the Zifa board would stoop so low and become stooges at a time the nation expects the best from them.

Allegations that there are some people in the Zifa board who are the so-called “blue eyed” boys of Zifa president Cuthbert Dube did not make good reading. There is nothing wrong with being close to your leader, but there is everything wrong with being a passenger, being a yes man, because by so doing, you do not serve anyone. You actually become a liability to the organisation, and in this case, you become a liability to the nation because Zifa issues have embarrassed everyone who is Zimbabwean after the country was suspended by Fifa from participating in the 2018 Fifa World Cup over a debt owed to former coach Valinhos.

What the nation asks for from Zifa board members is self examination, for people to ask themselves if they are doing the right thing, if they are truly serving the beautiful game and this beautiful country or certain individuals. And of course, we expect those who elected the Zifa board, and those who hired the CEO, to do likewise, that way we can at least start to dream of becoming a better footballing nation again.

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