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Veronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE year is 1999 and it is a hot Saturday afternoon in Mutare when Eunice Chidhindi, a Grade Three learner at Dangare Primary School at the time, sells avocados and freezits on the streets.
Her two elder sisters are also busy peddling their stock around the community to supplement what their just-widowed mother brings home.
Sweating profusely due to the simmering temperatures, Chidhindi decides to find somewhere to escape the heat and rest a bit.
It is at that point that she spots a few ladies playing netball at a local court and decides to watch the game.
Little did she know this was to be the sport that would change her life some years later.
“When I watched that game, I fell in love with it instantly,” recalls Chidhindi.
“That day, I smiled all the way home because the players bought all my merchandise, which meant a bonus from my mother.”
Chidhindi then started frequenting the school’s netball ground, watching as her schoolmates played the game.
The courts became a go-to place whenever she sought to be away from a demanding home where life was a little difficult.
One day, she decided to take a chance and try out the game.
Much to her surprise, the coach instantly spotted some potential and asked her to report for training the following day.
By the time she got to Grade Five, she was already one of the trusted players in the school team. This meant that whenever she had games during the weekend, she had to balance playing netball and peddling her merchandise.
She was then spotted by a coach, who took her under his wing at a local club.
Chidhindi later enrolled at St Joseph’s High School under the Basic Education Assistance Module. The national school assistance programme was launched by the Government to assist orphans and vulnerable children struggling to pay school fees.
This was when she met Naphtali Nyanguru, the man who has been her coach for close to two decades now.
“I was in Form One when he signed me under Sakubva Stars and nurtured me into a professional player,” she said. “Most of the players were older than me, so I had to learn fast to fit in.”
As if the netball gods had opened the heavens for her, she, through netball, got a job at the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service in 2009.
For someone who had only managed a single pass at Ordinary Level, Chidhindi felt lucky securing such a job.
This, she said, made her realise that netball meant more than just sport to her.
“The new job changed life at home; I could now assist more and relieve my mother of the pressure of raising three children alone,” she said.
In 2010, she joined Tenax before moving to Correctional Queens in 2016.
Despite being a regular in the team, she had to wait for this season, a year that Correctional Queens seem poised to win the Rainbow Netball League, to get her time in the spotlight.
During the past three seasons, Glow Petroleum Queens had dominated the league.
However, after falling 34-37 to the prison side in a high-profile contest at the Stodart Netball Complex recently, Glow Petroleum dented their title ambitions for this season.
Both sides have two remaining fixtures before the season ends, and they are likely to bag maximum points in both.
With veterans Felisitus Kwangwa and Tafadzwa Mawango away on national duty on the “big” day, Correctional Queens had to bank on Chidhindi in the game against Glow Petroleum Queens at Stodart.
She was deployed to assist in scoring goals and play a pivotal role in their attacking formation. Chidhindi, proving to be a mature mid-court player, created the much-needed space and options in the shooting third.
“The pressure of playing the most crucial match without our renowned senior players Felisitus and Tafadzwa was too much,” she recalls.
“In the initial stages of the game, I struggled but my coach calmed me down. I remember years ago when we made a pact that we would bring the championship back to ZPCS one day.
“I have been with Coach Nyanguru for close to 20 years and I owe him a lot.”
Online Reporter