Chronicle EditorTakudzwa Chitsiga: Sports Reporter
BLACK RHINOS goalkeeper Herbert “Hubber” Rusawo is revelling in glory after he was crowned the ZIFA Northern Region Division One Soccer Star of the Year and said he hopes to carry the form into the Premier League.Rusawo was crowned together with his coach Stanford “Stix” Mtizwa, who won the Coach of the Year. Rusawo walked away with a Toyota Corolla for his efforts and said he is now looking forward to doing well in the Premier League.
“I owe this to team work and this will go a long way in my career, I hope we will continue to do well. I am happy that I managed to clinch this accolade. For me it is important that we worked as a team and the results shows for themselves. I am now looking forward to returning to the top flight and continue with my fine form. This award, I dedicate it to the Black Rhinos family and I hope we will get motivation from this as we return to the top flight,” said Rusawo.
Rasawo garnered 24 votes to win the title that was held by former Mushowani Stars forward Evans Katema, now at Ngezi Platinum.
Chipembere coach Mtizwa said he was happy and congratulated everyone who supported them throughout the campaign.
“I am happy to win the Coach of The Year award and I owe this to teamwork, the players did well and we worked as a team. It was difficult but we soldered on.
“We now shift our focus to the Premier League and I hope we will do well. It will be challenging to play at a higher level but we have been there and we will do our best,” said Mtizwa.
The ZIFA Northern Region managed to find a sponsor in Fidelity Life Assurance, who bankrolled the awards and chairman Willard Manyengavana paid tribute to the company for coming on board.
“We are grateful to Fidelity Life Assurance for making this event a success. Sponsoring our region for the monthly Top Goal Scorer award was good and I believe this is the beginning of good things to come. By sponsoring, I think it makes our league exciting and competitive,” Manyengavana said.
Rusawo also won the 2014 Premier League goalkeeper of the year despite Rhinos having been relegated that same year. With 21 clean sheets to his credit, the player managed to command his defence well and they could have wrapped up the championship with more than 10 games to spare, but a slump in form during which they drew a number of games, derailed their championship march.
Rhinos, however, had their goalkeeper to thank for largely keeping them in the race. Herentals striker Blessing Majarira finished runner-up after affording 23 points in a tight contest.
Despite Herentals losing the championship race to Rhinos, Majarira had an outstanding season, which saw his side finish second in the race and his goals were crucial to the extent that club captains, soccer coaches and sport journalists recognised his efforts.
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