Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sports Hub
IN a country brimming with untapped athletic potential, a 23-year-old student believes Zimbabwe is dropping the ball by failing to document its sporting heroes.
Albert Tshuma, a final year Information Management and Technology student at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) in Bulawayo, says it’s time Zimbabwe embraced data driven sports management. Through his start up, Superplay, he is building a digital archive of player profiles, match footage and performance stats to preserve the nation’s sports legacy.
Tshuma, a fourth year student says the country lacks proper systems for archiving and profiling athletes and sports institutions.
From his base in Harare, Tshuma told Zimpapers Sports Hub he founded Superplay, a company focused on building detailed digital profiles of Zimbabwean athletes.
“In this day and age, it’s necessary to create a digital library to store information like bio details and footage,” he said.
“This helps maintain historical archives for future use.”
Tshuma believes that without a structured system for tracking performance and player history, Zimbabwe risks losing its sporting identity, and missing opportunities to promote local talent.
“A key part of our vision at Superplay is the importance of archiving and managing sports information.
By creating a detailed digital archive of player data, match footage and performance statistics, we can preserve the history and development of Zimbabwean football while providing invaluable resources for coaches, scouts, and players,” said Tshuma.
He emphasised that modern sport increasingly relies on data. Having statistics and records at hand helps in making objective decisions and comparisons.
“This approach helps us make data driven decisions, improve training programmes and reduce biases in talent selection,” he said.
The benefits aren’t just for coaches and scouts. Athletes themselves can track progress, set goals and stay motivated.
“Moreover, it allows players to track their progress and stay motivated throughout their careers. My degree in Information Management and Technology plays a crucial role in this process, as it equips me with the skills to develop efficient digital systems for managing and sharing,” Tshuma said.
“This integration of technology and sports management positions Superplay as a pioneering force in Zimbabwean football, enabling us to elevate local talent onto the global stage more effectively.”
Through Superplay, Tshuma has already profiled several players from the Premier League and Division One, including Emmanuel Zinyama, Gareth Madhake, Russel Chifura, Tapiwa Mandinyenya, Munashe Pini and Junior Meya.
“Superplay Sports is more than just a scouting network, it’s a movement dedicated to identifying, nurturing and promoting the best football talent Zimbabwe has to offer by compiling data and keeping footage of a player progressively in his career, with a view of one day providing scouts with a full package of their expectations,” he said.
Tshuma, who is now a certified professional scout with Level 1 accreditation from the Professional Football Scouts Association (PFSA), says the problem extends far beyond football.
“It’s not just soccer. Most sports in Zimbabwe ignore the value of scouting and data preservation,” he said.
Using athletics as an example, he explained that global scouts might look for specifics such as race times, race locations, elevation and temperatures over several past races, but that kind of data is often unavailable here.
“This is the direction sport needs to move towards,” he said.
He also noted that many players don’t keep even the most basic records of their careers.
“Players don’t even keep their own pictures, newspaper clips, or videos of themselves in action,” Tshuma said.
Tshuma’s vision is clear: to use technology to tell Zimbabwe’s sporting story, one player profile at a time, and to make sure that story isn’t lost to time.
