Chronicle EditorGerald Sibanda, [email protected]
IN most cases, people praise a player when he or she is thriving, but no one focuses on the grassroots and what it took for those players to reach those stages.
Humphrey “Mzizi” Maseva is an unsung hero from Nkulumane who has been developing players for 16 years.
His team Flame Stars has been one of the starting points for every young footballer living in Nkulumane and areas around Nkulumane such as Tshabalala and Sizinda.
The team was recently promoted to the Bulawayo Province Serie A Junior League, which is the highest level for junior football leagues in Bulawayo.
He said he was delighted with how the team has managed to develop youngsters and still continues to do so.
“I am happy with how the team continues to develop youngsters. It is not easy to run a team for such a long time without proper funding but I am grateful to the people who have believed in this and have helped me at some point just to keep the team running,” said Maseva.
He also reacted to his team’s achievement last season which was being able to gain promotion to Serie A.
“In 2018 we won our first promotion to Serie A, but unfortunately things did not go the way we had hoped for and we were relegated the following year. This time around we come back with lessons learnt. We will be hoping not to repeat the same mistake that got us relegated, but generally I am happy that we found ourselves here,” said Maseva.
Notable players that have come out of the club are Farau Matare at Bulawayo Chiefs, marquee export Daniel Msendami plying his trade at Botswana champions Jwaneng Galaxy, Thamsanqa Pricka Ncube, Tanaka Nyoni also in Botswana. Butho Phiri in Namibia and Dalubuhle Mbuyisa turning out for Sporting Johannesburg and countless other players playing in the lower divisions in the country.
The club also produced Arenel Movers assistant coach Boga Ndebele who is a former player as well as Alvin Nyathi who is the Under-13s coach and won the championship in his debut season.
Administratively, they are guided by Mthokozisi Sibanda who came on board in 2022 to help eradicate challenges faced by the boys such as walking long distances to and from games as in previous seasons.
Some players to watch for this coming season are 16-year-old Junior Tshabalala who is the all-time scorer with 42 goals, and 12-year-old forward Prince Ncube.
In the Serie A league, they will find themselves playing against teams like Highlanders and Chicken Inn who will come with intense competition.
Online Reporter