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Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
THE late Zimbabwe Cricket women’s national team assistant coach, Sinikiwe “Sneeze” Mpofu is set to be laid to rest today at Lady Stanley Cemetery in Bulawayo.
According to information released by the family yesterday, the funeral service will start at 7.30am at UCCSA in Njube suburb.
Mourners will then depart for the cemetery 10.30am where she will be laid to rest. Her body will lie in state at her family home in Njube.
At the time of her death, Mpofu (37) doubled as the Lady Chevrons assistant coach and Mountaineers women head coach. Her untimely death came barely a month after that of her husband and senior men’s national team fielding coach, Shepherd Makunura on December 15.
Mpofu, one of the pioneers of women’s cricket in Zimbabwe, was born in Bulawayo on February 21, 1985.
The talented all-rounder was part of the history-making team that represented Zimbabwe women in their first-ever international cricket match in December 2006 having started her cricket journey as a student at Mpopoma High School, together with her former classmates, Siphathisiwe Moyo and Thandolwenkosi Mlilo. The trio went on to represent Zimbabwe and also took up cricket scoring.
A year after making history, Mpofu moved to the capital pursuing further education and joined Takashinga Cricket Club. She also made it to the provincial side, Northerns.
After ending her playing career, she ventured into coaching and scoring, becoming an integral part of ZC’s game development structures at provincial and national levels.
Mpofu was part of the technical teams that have seen Zimbabwe women dominating Africa, earning One-Day International status and recently finishing just one win away from qualifying for the International Cricket Council Women’s T20 World Cup to be held in South Africa next month.
She will be remembered for being the first Zimbabwean female cricketer to transition from being a player to a national team coach. —@brandon_malvin
Online Reporter