Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
WASHINGTON NAVAYA walked into the banquet hall on Friday night carrying nothing more than quiet hope.
He had heard the chatter about the Soccer Star of the Year prospects all week, but none of it pointed his way.
The room was already tilting towards Elvis Moyo and Emmanuel Jalai as if the script had long been written.
Yet, when the announcement finally came, the man everyone had overlooked sat frozen for a moment.
The name they called out was his. The Navigator had arrived at the summit of Zimbabwean football.
For a player who dragged TelOne through the fire with 17 goals, it felt almost strange that doubt had followed him into the building.
He had led from the front and turned a team once scrambling for safety into a side with presence and bite. Still, he admitted he never saw this coming. Not him. Not after the way some chapters of his story had folded.
Those debates in the buildup to the crowning of the Soccer Star of the Year had been charged by emotion.
Moyo had guided Scottland to a historic title in their debut season and the country marvelled at the parallels with Black Rhinos in 1984.
Jalai was praised as the calm at the centre of Dynamos’ last-day escape.
People said those tales were enough to tip the scales.
Yet Navaya’s name rarely surfaced, except in passing.
When the final decision came, it was the boy from Mtapa who stood tallest. His walk to the stage felt like a full circle. A path that once looked broken had drawn him back to the limelight.
His story begins in the heart of Gweru, where kids learn to chase dreams on dusty open grounds and where Mtapa holds its heroes close.
The same neighbourhood raised Maxwell “MaRhino” Dube, the 2001 Soccer Star of the Year, and later Kudakwashe Musharu.
Navaya grew up in their shadow, shaped by a place that never rushes to give up on its own.
His speed and instinct for goal made comparisons with Dube almost inevitable.
That was how he found himself at MaRhino7 Academy at just 15, learning the game under a man who saw something in him long before anyone else did.
Those who know Mtapa are aware that its faith can be stubborn.
When Navaya struggled at Highlanders, whispers were loud. He had arrived with expectation. He left with a label he still carries.
“Let me say I flopped at Highlanders as I was still trying to learn the ropes at a big team,” said Navaya. “It was a huge responsibility placed on me to deliver for a big team like Highlanders. I tried my best, but things never really gotta go my way.”
For many, that kind of disappointment turns into a drifting journey from one club to the other.
Navaya chose the opposite. He went home. Back to Gweru. Back to TelOne. Back to people who had known him before the burden of judgement.
In his hometown, the belief in him never dimmed. Even when TelOne fought relegation last year, when the ground felt like it was tilting beneath them, his old neighbourhood stood by him.
More importantly, he found a way to stand by himself.
“I just decided to take a bold decision and returned to TelOne. Last year, things were never okay as we battled relegation,” said Navaya.
“However, we did manage to secure our place in the top flight, which was good. And this year, we told ourselves that we were never going to struggle.
“I think many thanks should go to the team management for signing a lot of good players. It made our lives easier and allowed some of us to thrive.”
Navaya saluted his coach, Herbert Maruwa, for working on his mentality and helping restore his confidence.
“He was the trump card and here I am,” he said. “I always talk to Maxwell Dube and he is always there to share a piece of advice or two.”
On Friday night, their names stood side by side in history. Two men from the same neighbourhood, two decades apart, carrying the same crown.
Dube rescued Chapungu in 2001 with goals that steadied a sinking ship. Navaya did more than score. He lifted TelOne to fifth place and kept them flirting with the top four far longer than anyone expected.
His resurgence became the heartbeat of a club rediscovering its ambition.
Maruwa has watched that transformation from close range.
“Washy is a player who is always up for the grind. He is always willing to give the extra and I am of the opinion that he was supposed to score at least 20 goals. I am really happy for him,” said Maruwa.
“When I arrived at TelOne, he was that man who looked low on confidence. Then I decided to just work on that and he started to show signs of recovery late last season.
“Until this season, he had never scored double figures. It’s a well-deserved recognition as he was the most consistent player in the top flight.”
The people of Gweru saw this years before the rest of the league did. They filled Ascot Stadium and lifted him every weekend, turning the ground into a place where his confidence could breathe again. Navaya knows this. He carries their voices with him.
He won the award on a night many thought belonged to others, yet the journey that brought him there had its roots in something far deeper than one season.
It was shaped by rejection, by homecoming, by a community that refused to let him disappear, and by a player who learned to trust the compass inside him again.
Tinaye Agere