Unsung Sporting Hero: Chipo the loyal servant of the game

NICKNAMED Senior by the Luveve and Emakhandeni communities for his contribution to football, Chipo Mhlanga remains a pale shadow of the man who has done so much for the game.

He lives in relative obscurity to the broader football family but those that have associated with Bulawayo’s lower division and the Zifa Division One leagues since the mid 1990s know the man.

Mhlanga is a master tactician unlucky to associate with teams without good sponsorship. He is a loyal and persevering servant of the game.

“I love football, I love to develop talent so that the boys can rise and play for bigger and better teams than the ones I am coaching. The players I have at Makhandeni must dream big, it must be beyond where we are now,” said Mhlanga.

He said his commitment was to help Makhandeni do well and shape the futures of children from nearby suburbs.
He is head coach of Makhandeni FC, a team that plays in the Zifa Southern Region Division One League. His team lives from hand to mouth.

“That does not deter me from working up to push the boys to realize their true potential. I want better for them, I want club to grow. Right now we closer to collapse than fulfilling the next fixture. It would be sad to see the boys without a place to shape their talents,” said the 66-year-old gaffer.

When he talks about the Makhandeni project he brightens up but is quick to put on a heavy face as he laments the future of the project.

“We are a modest club, US$1800 – US$2000 is enough for us to have two away matches and as many home matches. My appeal is for individuals to come forward and support these kids. They are off the streets, they want a permanent home and thing to do and football is all what their hopes are pinned on,” said Mhlanga.

Mhlanga started coaching in 1994 a Bulawayo Amateur Football Association side known as Solidarity.
In no time he had attracted the attention of City Rovers a junior development project from Luveve and would in 1998 attract Olivine in Division Two whom he led to Division One.

His next destination would be Njube Sundowns who he guided from 2001.
He says over three dozens of players who have played Premiership and Division One at teams he coached are his products from the juniors.

With a Zifa Level Four certificate, the Premiership is the highest point of his coaching.
Mhlanga has often found himself at loggerheads with clubs in lower divisions accusing him of aiding one of the teams when he is found on the terraces.

“I was assisting Philani ‘Beefy’ Ncube as his analyst. I have worked with him for a long time at Chicken Inn and How Mine. At How Mine I was coaching juniors too and I have been to Beitbridge where I worked with Border Strikers,” said Mhlanga.
Mhlanga was born in Harare on January 8, 1957 and attended Matshayisikhova Primary School in Luveve, Bulawayo.

He proceeded to Luveve Secondary School and remembers with his first club Big X1 losing to Wankie FC in the semi-finals of the 1973 Castle Cup.

They lost 1-0.
He remembers players like Posani Sibanda and Amos Rendo playing with his team that was composed of a number of schoolboys.

At Big X1 Mhlanga played with former Highlanders midfilelder David Phiri, former Hwange and Zisco defender Denis Gumunyu and Sam Faraday Mthembo.

Among the players he coached include Stanford Ncube, Mephias Webb, David Kutyauripo, Babbington Chingoto, Jeoffrey Ndlovu, Matthew Muhoni, Makhathini Ndwalaza, Patrick Tom, Sageby Sandaka, Jabulani Ngwenya and Augustine Zinyowera.

Guiding Njube Sundowns to the Premiership in 2003 is among his biggest achievements.

“I have worked with several generations of footballers and my dream is to keep on being of service to Bulawayo and its football,” said Mhlanga.
His challenge to Bulawayo and the football loving community is: “Come on board Makhandeni Pirates and help build a legacy.”