Veronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
HER name is Egness, not Agnes as many mistake her.
This is how Tumbare, the Mighty Warriors defender is wired differently from her ‘namesakes’ spelt Agnes and her fellow mates.
Unlike other female footballers who have a visible femininely soft side, Tumbare is just different.
Bullish in character on and off the football pitch as she always spots a natural hair style and barely applies makeup when most of her mates do.
Her appearance oozes some inferiority complex to many, yet she wears it with pride as it actually depicts the tough background she hails from.
Precisely her upbringing was rugged.
About a decade ago, Tumbare was a Ziki Primary School product.
Without girls soccer at the institution, Tumbare would walk more than 10 kilometres daily after school to Checheni Primary, a distant school where girls soccer was a major pulling factor for her.
The turbulent adventure in worn out black “Tomy” tennis shoes on the thorny-gravel path which cuts across the sparsely forested Bikita lands molded her into a tough young girl.
With each footstep to and from the school, Tumbare’s feet adapted to thorn pricks and as the wounds healed, her feet grew stronger.
“That same pair of worn out “Tomy” shoes were my football boots, covered in patches but I was unstoppable in them on the pitch,” recalls Tumbare.
“I had to walk long distances daily because that is where I could get women’s football, I knew the game from playing with boys in Togarawani Village and I loved it.
“I could see that the distance I had to walk everyday was overwhelming for my mother, she felt that it was too much for my age but my love for football kept me going.”
The family survived on occasional farm work and whatever small jobs Tumbare’s mother could find around the community.
Some days meant going without meals while school fees too was a constant worry.
Tumbare still recalls watching her mother carry that burden alone as she hoped to one day rewrite her family story through football.
Her background gave her the urge to want to do more.
Putting in extra shifts on the training, Tumbare grew into a prolific striker at Ziki, building a profile that helped her easily earn a spot at Masvori Secondary where Women football had just been introduced.
As the school fought to popularize the game and recruit more players, financial challenges hindered the team’s progress while societal ills also became a huge barrier.
Tumbare still finds it difficult to talk of how most of her mates briefly joined football before shortly falling on the wayside due to social ills while others got into early marriages.
Growing up in a community that believes a woman’s place was in the kitchen not the classroom or football pitch, she too, almost got into an “arranged” marriage at the age of 15.
But for a young girl who had a dream, the football gods intervened.
“A relative who understood my family’s poverty had arranged the marriage in the name of rescuing us,” she said.
“However, I was more focused on developing into a professional player so I spent my time in football trying to perfect my goal scoring art.
“Eventually the potential groom gave up pursuing it as he noted that I was fully focused on football and looking back, I believe football saved me.”
Just after completing school, Tumbare moved to Harare in search of employment.
Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services, the National Army and the Zimbabwe Republic Police were the top options in her list.
However, while she awaited responses to her application letters, she would play football.
It was not long when she found herself in the books of Silver Queens, a club that unlocked the massive potential in the striker.
In 2016, she scored seven goals for the team in nine games, amplifying her status in the capital as she started to attract potential suitors.
The following year, she was snatched by Zimbabwe Republic Police side Morris Depot Queens as they sought to strengthen their strike force with the hope of bouncing from the lower league to topflight.
Tumbare would be quick to fit in and stamp authority as a trusted starter in the team.
Interestingly, it is at this time that the club decided to experiment, converting her into a defender to pluck a persistent yawning gap in the backline.
Much to their surprise she stood out at the heart of their defense with her solid performances.
Since then, she never reverted to her old position.
As her market value increased, she would have stints at Harare Queens, Black Rhinos, ZISD Women FC in Zambia, Harare City before landing at Correctional Queens where she eventually got employed as a Prison Officer.
With age, Tumbare evolved into a complete defender who became feared across the league.
In 2019, she got her first national team call up where she has remained a constant feature up to date.
She is now a force to reckon with across the region and has represented Zimbabwe at the COSAFA, Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers and CAF Women’s Championship COSAFA qualifiers.
At the CAF games in 2021 and 2024, she won two Player of the Match accolades apiece.
In 2024, when Herentals made their debut at the CAF Champions League they roped Tumbare in on loan from Correctional Queens as they needed her services in the African Safari.
Her performances earned her another callup for the 2025 COSAFA edition where she emerged “Player of the Match” in the Mighty Warriors’ 1-0 victory over Botswana.
Her 2025 honors include Norton Times Player of the Year, ZWPSL Player of the Year, Footballer’s Union Best 11 and second Runner Up FUZ Soccer Star of the Year.
This was before recording a historic treble at the Golden Footprints Football Awards as Player of the Year, Female Footballer of the Year, and the First Runner-Up spot for Soccer Star of the Year.
Inform Tumbare is not looking back as she eyes making history with Correctional Queens by winning their maiden ZWPSL.
Currently they are in sixth position on the log with 17 points, three short of leaders Black Rhinos, after eight games.
She is also hoping to be part of the Mighty Warriors to fight for an LA 2028 Olympics spot when they face Malawi back to back in the Qualifiers in October.
Whenever she steps on to the pitch, Tumbare is always looking into the rear-view mirror and reminiscing on the difficulty she endured growing up in Bikita and the need to rewrite her village’s story motivates her.
She dreams of opening a football foundation for young girls in rural communities with her “earnings” meant to help the beneficiaries with toiletries, football boots and other provisions.
“I am living proof to young girls in the village that with focus and determination they can also rise from a vulnerable village girl to professional athlete on the international stage,” said Tumbare.
“I am always grateful that my mother supported my dream, and whenever I step on the pitch, I am motivated to do it for her and the other girls in communities like the one I grew up in.”
