Lovemore Dube, [email protected]
IT was no ordinary school assembly when almost a thousand pupils and teachers gathered at Sobukhazi High School on Friday morning.
The school headmaster, Cain Ncube and staff took a sedate walk to the quad to meet with pupils who had no clue what was happening.
In some classrooms, some school athletes changed into sporting gear, aware of what the occasion was.
Prominent city lawyer Tawengwa Hara drove into the school yard with his club’s assistant coach Fortune Ncube on tow.
The occasion was a simple one that did not even last 25 minutes.
It was a send-off ceremony to some of the school’s most outstanding athletes, footballers and netballers, children whose performances attracted national selectors.
Three of the school’s most promising footballers, Brandon Tshabangu, Sibusiso Nyoni and Thabani Ncube were identified two weeks ago by Bayern Munich scouts and will be leaving soon for a camp at one of the world’s biggest soccer clubs.
Raymond Moyo and Malvin Ngulube were chosen for the Zimbabwe national Under-15 side for the World Cup Festival in Azerbaijan. They leave for trials in Harare at the weekend.
Ayanda Moyo was part of the Zimbabwe netball team at the Confederation of Southern Africa Schools Sports Association (Cosassa Games recently, while sprinter Andile Hleza is part of the Zimbabwe team for the Region Five Games set for Mozambique in December.
It was a morning to celebrate talent.
The head, Ncube, did not want a situation where the kids just slip out or appear to have skipped classes for no apparent reason.
With the school’s motto: “The Child First’ a formal ceremony in the eyes of both fellow pupils, teachers and community members was ideal.
“It is a time to celebrate our children’s performances. Doing this in front of everyone is to say, let others be inspired by their own. Very soon they will be reading about and watching some of their own in the media.
They must know it started at Sobukhazi High School, others who saw their friends and classmates being bid farewell will feel challenged next time. Among them was an introvert who may even be better, who may feel challenged and come back next term to show he is better,” said Ncube.
Ncube said the school will continue to put the interests of pupils first.
“We will continue to provide a wide curriculum for both academics and sport so that a child feels accommodated with at least one field in which he/she feels they may be a champion.
To those selected to represent their province and country, we wish them well, let them go and fly the Sobukhazi, Bulawayo and Zimbabwe flag high. Ours is a legacy worth celebrating today and will also be celebrated in years to come through these kids,” said Ncube, who has transformed the school with better performances on the academic end and in sport.
“We want to produce a whole being, who has an educational background to back him up, good physical position and can take up sport as a profession and inspire the next generation,” said Ncube.
Hara, who was the guest of honour, presented the school with a ball and a framed Chicken Inn jersey.
He urged the pupils to balance both education and academics, saying he is proud of some of the players the school has produced for Chicken Inn.
“You should combine sport and school,” said Hara.
“Bayern Munich is not a small team, it’s one of the biggest teams in the world. You are going there as ambassadors of Zimbabwe, go there and be disciplined,” said Hara.
He said one of the players going to Germany plays for his club.
He told the pupils that Tshabangu has the talent to be playing Premiership football next year and challenged them to watch games next season.
Sobukhazi has been one of the best schools in Bulawayo, producing great football talent with some of the players having played for Highlanders and Zimbabwe Saints.
Godfrey Paradza who played for Highlanders, Zimbabwe Saints Darryn T and Dynamos and national teams was both a 400m champion and footballer at the school with other notables being Nkululeko Dlodlo, Makheyi Nyathi, Gift Lunga (Senior), John Maseko, Dumisani Ngulube, Licoln Siwela, Nomsa Moyo, Lucky Dube, Lucky Siziba, Chipo Tsodzo, Makwinji Soma-Phiri,
Sikhumbuzo Ndebele, Dumisani Dube in a very long list of outstanding footballers.
There were other heroes in other sports like Membe Phiri, Justin Sibanda, Augustine Ngulube, Thulani Moyo, Qinisa Fuyana, Xoli Lubimbi-Ndebele, Hahlosi Khumalo, Sehlule Sibanda, Rhoda
Kamanga, Patrick Ndlovu, Sikhumbuzo Gwala, Nkululeko Ndlovu and Anna Mwanza who made a name for themselves in volleyball.
Others went on to shine in the arts and among them is Simeon Mambazo Phiri of Siyaya, now a respected event planner and manager.
Methembe Tshuma and Thandazani Ndlovu, who at one stage held top 20 times in their respective sprints this year, are former pupils of the school.
