Online Reporter
Online Reporter
Founded in 2023, Visions Sports Academy aims to provide young athletes in Zimbabwe with the opportunity to compete with their peers from more affluent backgrounds.
The academy, led by 31-year-old founder Shoun Thabani Handirisi, works with kids aged 5 to 21 across multiple sports, including hockey, cricket, football, tennis, and general fitness.
Based at Alex Sports Club in Harare, the programme relies on a small team of coaches namely Handirisi and Antony Five (hockey), Handirisi (cricket), Aaron Mariserino (football), Hailey King (tennis) and former cricket player and coach, George Tinodaishe Murwira a holder of a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and Information Technology who also doubles up as the academy’s manager.
For Handirisi, the mission is to take organised, structured sport into the ghettos eventually.
“Talent is everywhere, but without facilities and resources, these kids are at a disadvantage,” he told Sports Hub.
“We want them to compete on equal terms with their peers from across town.”
The results are already showing. In less than two years, Visions has produced players who’ve made the Zimbabwe Provincial Hockey Teams, including Ruvarashe Madzudzo and Thandeka Nkomo from Lomagundi College who both made the squad this year, Thandeka Nkomo.
But the challenge now is sustainability. To keep growing and expand into more communities, the academy needs sponsorship and funding.
“Without support we can only go so far. With it, we can change the lives of many more young athletes,” Handirisi said.
Visions Sports Academy may still be young, but its ambitions — and early success stories — suggest it could play a major role in reshaping Zimbabwe’s youth sports landscape.
