Chronicle Editor
Nkosilathi Sibanda, Sports Writer
YOUNG football players from Binga say they want to play like Peter Ndlovu.
So huge is the admiration for Ndlovu, who also hails from the area that even those who have never watched him, have so much to say. He is actually adored for having put Binga on the world map.
Growing up reading about Ndlovu’s exploits, was what got one Pride Ngwenya into football.
Ngwenya, who is the founder and director of Binga Football Academy speaks boldly about how he was inspired by Peter Ndlovu to play football. Although at the time, in the late 1980s, the two never met, there was telepathic inspiration that pushed Ngwenya to be a player.
He admits that at the young age of seven, he already knew that he was destined to use football to change the lives of budding players in disadvantaged communities. Born and bred in rural Matabeleland North, at Lupote, Ngwenya was exposed to challenges that no weakling would endure. The 40-year-old Ngwenya tells of his humble beginnings.
“I started playing soccer at the age of seven for Dynamites Juniors in Victoria Falls. Later on, I was to play for Ndangababi Primary School in Dete. I was inspired by the level of competition and how the basics of football were coached in Victoria Falls, everytime I went for holidays. At secondary school in the 1990s, I played and featured in the Peter Ndlovu tournament as well as the COPA CocaCola tournament where I rubbed shoulders with Johannes Ngodzo, Honour Gombami, Gilbert Banda and the likes of Castro Ndebele.”
He remembers how hard it was for any school team to beat Mzilikazi High School.
“I was to play for Regina Mundi Secondary School too. The boys playing for the school had character and I copied that. After completing school, I played for Buffaloes FC in Dete. There on I turned out for United Tourism Company in Victoria Falls, soon I was playing for Dynamics in Hwange,” said Ngwenya.
The football enthusiast joined the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services as a prison guard. While serving to guard prison walls and keep the convicts in check, Ngwenya never hung up his boots. After work, he would lace up and head to the football field. He played for Ntabazinduna Prison FC, which was at one time in the Zifa First Division League.
“I also played for Khami Prison. During that time, I was selected into the national prisons team that competed at the regional games in Zambia, Botswana and Swaziland.”
His career as a player was cut short. The pressure at work got the better of him and as fate would have it, he succumbed to injury.
“The Prison teams I played for did well and I am glad to have been part of that achievement. However, I was forced out of the game when I got a leg injury. I had to take time out nursing the injury but realised how much I had to deal with at work. More time was spent at work and playing football was to suffer. I took a sabbatical from the game and resurfaced playing for ZRP Hwange in Division One and Hwange Prison,” said Ngwenya.
He did not last long on the field. The next step was to follow the path so obvious and open for him.
Ngwenya took up coaching. Fortune was to follow the newbie coach. He quickly got to grips with new role.
“Coaching was the route open for me to take. My first team in the new role was Hwange Prison. I also coached the prisons select team at regional games in Zambia. My big move was when I went to coach Binga Pirates in the Zifa Southern Region Division One League. This is the team that taught me a lot. I am grateful to have been mentored by one of the respected football greats, Witness Munkuli. It was a life changing encounter. I got to understand more of the administrative side of football,” he said.
He did not stay long but he left impact. He and Munkuli groomed players that would later on play for big teams. On his leaving Binga Pirates, Ngwenya decided to give football development a try.
Not an easy decision to take, but he had to sink in and emerge as a champion at grooming players.
This was the start of the beautiful story of Binga Football Academy.
“I quit Binga Pirates and ventured into grassroots soccer where I started Binga Football Academy. I have a Level Three coaching qualification and also did a Sport and Recreation Commission administrative qualification. Our academy is mainly based on football, so we use football as a tool to discourage players from partaking in drugs. We use football again on anti- poaching awareness campaigns and back to school campaigns as well,” said Ngwenya.
Binga Football Academy’s Pauletta Mwembe just got a training stint with FC Platinum. The same player was to be voted the best player at the Fortune Fokoza Tournament in Bulawayo last year.
Another player, one goalkeeper Bayethe Mwembe got a scholarship at a Harare’s Twin Mat Academy.
“Binga Football Academy is work in progress and more is to be done to uplift the lives of the young players. With support from the community, businesses and other stakeholders, we can go a long way, said Ngwenya.
The Academy has 270 players under its arm in Under-10, 13, 15 and 17 years. — @NkosieLegend
Online Reporter