Online Reporter
Tendai Chara
Zimpapers Sports Hub
WASHINGTON NAVAYA can walk the streets of Gweru without being recognised.
Yet the Hardrock striker is the reigning Soccer Star of the Year, last season’s Golden Boot winner and the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL)’s leading scorer with 15 goals.
Those goals have also carried newly promoted Hardrock into the championship race in their maiden top-flight season.
Navaya is now chasing a second successive Golden Boot and a league title.
Zimbabwean football loves its showmen, players known as much for their celebrations, dress and public behaviour.
Navaya is not one of them.
Farai Humba, a Gweru-based football supporter, believes that helps explain why the striker’s achievements have not brought him wider recognition.
“He lacks the charisma that usually comes with stardom. He does not have the same street-level visibility as players who thrive on fame,” Humba said.
He pointed to Denver Mukamba, Evans Gwekwerere and Nathan Mutasa as players whose colour and personality have endeared them to supporters.
Highlanders winger Mongameli Tshuma, he said, also fits that mould.
There is little theatre to Navaya’s game.
But popularity is not the same language as scoring. Navaya speaks in goals.
His game rests on timing, positioning and finishing. He arrives in the right place and takes his chances.
Ernest Jamu, who coaches Cranborne Bullets in the Northern Region Soccer League, describes him as a predator and believes his low profile may be working to his advantage.
“Scoring 15 goals and still avoiding the limelight, in my view, is working to his advantage. He is the type of player who does not rely on hype,” Jamu said.
Navaya scored 17 goals to win the Golden Boot last season. Two more would match that tally, this time in Hardrock colours.
Club allegiance may also explain his low profile.
Would the same 15 goals in Dynamos colours have made him a household name?
Chris “Romario” Musekiwa, a well-known cheerleader, has no doubt.
“The teams that he plays for are small, without a wide fan base. If he joins Dynamos and scores regularly, he will transform himself into an instant superstar,” Musekiwa said.
TelOne and Hardrock do not command the nationwide followings of Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United.
Navaya’s record has been built away from the country’s biggest crowds.
Karoi United coach Ndawana Dube believes the “Navigator” has taught Zimbabwean football an important lesson.
“Not every good player needs to look like a star. Some simply keep doing the one thing that matters most,” Dube said.
