Journeys that become a legacy

Nqobile Magwizi

Inside ZIFA

Every football match begins long before the referee blows the whistle.

It begins when someone locks the front door before sunrise and begins a journey.

A player boards a team bus. A coach reviews one last page of notes. A referee checks the route ahead. A club official confirms that everything needed for the match has been packed. A supporter climbs into a car wearing club colours, already imagining the 90 minutes to come.

Across Zimbabwe, thousands of people make that journey every weekend.

Most of them return home quietly, carrying stories of goals scored, chances missed and debates that continue long into the night.

Last week, four members of the Highlanders Football Club family never made it home.

The tragic loss of Colonel (Retired) Kenneth Mhlophe, Fiso Siziba, Nkani Khoza and Mbalenhle Sibanda has left a wound that extends far beyond Barbourfields Stadium.

It has touched every corner of Zimbabwean football because, in moments like these, we are reminded that before we are rivals, administrators, players or supporters, we are one football family.

There are weeks when football asks us to celebrate. There are weeks when football asks us to compete. And then there are weeks like this one, when football asks us simply to stand together.

Over the past year, this column has reflected on systems, structures, youth development, Dream2030 and the future of our game.

Those conversations remain important because they are about building stronger football.

But this week reminds us of a truth that sits beneath every strategy, every competition and every ambition.

Football is, above all else, about people.

It is about the countless men and women whose names rarely appear in headlines, but whose service keeps our game alive.

The chairman who spends evenings balancing club responsibilities with family life. Who takes up the issues of players and administrators while managing his own business and family life.

The executive member who quietly manages finances so that players can travel, get paid and oversees the best possible use of, sometimes, limited resources. The security officer who ensures that teams are safe wherever they compete.

The supporter who follows a club with unwavering loyalty, asking for nothing more than the privilege of standing behind the badge they love.

These are acts of service that go beyond any defined roles. Football often celebrates those who score the winning goal. Rightly so, but every goal is made possible by dozens of people whose contribution is never measured in statistics.

Every fixture depends upon administrators who organise, volunteers who give their time, drivers who travel long distances, medics who stand ready, groundsmen who prepare pitches, journalists who tell the stories and supporters whose passion gives the game its heartbeat.

When we lose people like Colonel Mhlophe, Fiso Siziba, Nkani Khoza and Mbalenhle Sibanda, we are reminded that football’s greatest strength has never been its stadiums or its trophies.

It has always been its people.

One of the most moving aspects of this tragedy has been the response from across Zimbabwe.

Supporters who usually spend 90 minutes urging their teams to defeat Highlanders laid rivalry aside. Clubs offered messages of comfort.

Former players, sponsors, Government, football administrators and ordinary Zimbabweans united around a grieving football family.

For a few days, the colours of our jerseys became less important than the compassion in our hearts.

That is the Zimbabwean football family at its very best.

Compassion removed our rivalries and reminded us that our shared humanity is greater than any rivalry could ever be. There is another quiet lesson we should carry forward.

Every football weekend depends upon journeys. Journeys made by players, referees, supporters and club officials who willingly sacrifice weekends with their families because they believe that football is worth serving.

We often take those journeys for granted. Perhaps we should not. Perhaps every safe arrival deserves the gratitude we seldom express.

Perhaps every volunteer deserves greater appreciation than we are accustomed to giving. Perhaps every person who quietly carries Zimbabwean football deserves to know that their contribution matters.

Dream2030 speaks about building a stronger future for our national game.

That future will certainly require better coaching, stronger youth pathways, improved facilities and sustainable investment. But it will also require something else.

It will require us never to forget that football is built first by people. People who give their time, their talent, their energy, their resources.

And sometimes, as this heartbreaking week has reminded us, people who give more than they ever imagined.

As we remember the Highlanders Four, let us honour them not only with our condolences, but by continuing to build a football culture worthy of their service.

May we become a football family that values one another a little more deeply. May we travel a little more thoughtfully. And support one another a little more generously.

And may we never forget that every whistle blown, every match played and every dream pursued begins with ordinary people making extraordinary journeys in service of the game they love.

Some journeys end at the stadium. Other journeys become a legacy.

Our four beloved family members have completed their earthly race. While their journey home was never completed, the impact of their contribution to Zimbabwean football will never truly end.

While they sleep, we hold on to the blessed hope of the resurrection at the Lord’s glorious return.