Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo in TETE, Mozambique
CAPS United chose the logistically challenging route, travelling by road to Lilongwe, Malawi but it was an inconvenience they gladly and comfortably embraced given it tallied well with the whole purpose of this trip.
Off-season team bonding is all about getting players to spend more time together, having them face challenges together and proffer solutions as a group. That’s what this trip presented to this group of Makepekepe players under the hand of new coach Takesure Chiragwi.
This is virtually a new team in terms of personnel with players coming from different directions including from outside the country.
They have been training together for the past three weeks, but they have never spent more than six consecutive hours as a unit.
However, this sojourn has thrown at them that platform, leaving Harare at around 3.45am yesterday and hitting the border post at Nyamapanda just over two hours later.
Members of the public at the border post including others travelling to and from both Malawi and Mozambique jostled not just for pictures but just to greet the immaculately dressed Green Machine players and their technical personnel.
Beyond the border and deep into Mozambique, temperatures were sweltering especially as the team made some stop overs to site see.
The players were always huddling together, sharing food and drinks. They even carried a huge loud speaker where they played some music at every stop and they even stole attention in Tete where they had lunch.
At the time of writing, the Green Machine were still midway through Mozambique heading to the Malawian border.
They were scheduled to cross into the Warm Heart of Africa late on.
But the cohesion in the group is now telling of a team rich on purpose and eager to live up to the legendary status of built by previous generations of CAPS United players.
And for the next fortnight, the group will be together in Malawi to consolidate and further cultivate the unity that they will need for the entire 2026 season when the club is expected to creep back to their optimum competitiveness.
CAPS United will play three friendly matches in Lilongwe, starting with a date against one of the giants of Malawian football, Silver Stars at the Silver Stadium in Buwandilo.
The players know they should already activate the beasts in themselves given the new term in Zimbabwe starts only in three weeks.
That’s the mood they were showing through the journey yesterday and their conversations often revolved around encouraging each other especially in the background of the massive investment poured into the team by club president Farai Jere.
Chiragwi, never mind his extra passionate posture in the dugout, is often a reserved figure but he was moving back and forth often in the bus just to greet and laugh at the jokes being thrown by his players here and there.
He knows the power of this pre-season camp.
“Football is a team game and team bonding is key at this point,” said Chiragwi.
“As the CAPS United coach, I would like to salute club president Farai Jere for enabling this to happen in this manner.”
“The time we are spending together travelling is actually part of the bonding process. We are just chatting casually, getting to know each other well outside the playing pitch.
“The bus is a different environment. Someone falls asleep, someone wakes them up, someone looks tired, someone wants to find out why.
“It’s those things that matter and it’s that time spent together that is ultimately key in getting a team out of these individuals.”
Apart from the friendly games in Malawi, Makepekepe are also expected to carry on different activities that help in their bonding and understanding of each other’s traits and behaviour.
The Green Machine have plenty of personnel in both their technical and playing staff, who are from Malawi including assistant coach Joseph Kamwendo, who was part of the advance crew and that should make their lives in this country even more enjoyable.
On their return from Malawi CAPS United will stop over in Tete to play another warm-up match before proceeding to Harare to begin their Premiership campaign with a clash against newcomers Agama.
