Warren Park 2 Primary on cloud nine

Brenda Phiri Cool Sport
WARREN PARK 2 PRIMARY SCHOOL is on cloud nine and it is reflected from the school’s head probably to the youngest pupil in Grade Zero.
The pride of the school right now is its Under-13 soccer team that after 10 years won the Warren Park championship title. In Warren Park cluster, the school beat neighbouring teams from Warren Park 1 Primary, Warren Park 3, Warren Park 6, Westlea Primary and Warren Park 5 Primary School to emerge the champions.
They are the reigning champions thereby  earning the right to represent Warren Park in the upcoming Zone Tournament at Alfred Beit Primary School next term.
Cool Lifestyle visited the school and met the team behind the winning team. A peek into what is happening at the school proves their success can be credited to neither luck nor chance but a well-thought-out strategy that bore fruit.
The swag centre spoke to the visibly excited head of the school,  Mrs Chirere, also known as the “Iron Lady”. Her recipe for success is simple.
“When it is time for work, we do just that,” she said.
“I have adopted that policy and it has yielded positive results wherever I go. I am very strict and passionate on achieving set goals. Since joining the school last year, I have worked closely with parents, the staff and the rest of the team and embarked on a number of projects to uplift the school.
“Among these was purchasing a new kit for the team and doing away with the old one that had been in use since 1984 in an effort to boost the confidence of our team. We modified our tracksuits and added our badge and gold stripes so that our students look presentable and do not feel out of place when they get together with others,” she said.
The head could not help but boast that the soccer team would continue to excel, considering success “follows” her in all aspects if her record at previous schools is anything to go by. As the “Junior Warriors” prepare for the next edition of the zonal tournament, there is still work to be done. The chairman of the SDA, Mr Herbert Mangwanya, highlighted that mobilising resources for the team remains a challenge.
“The children’s achievements have made us all proud but now as it stands there will be a lot of travelling for them. We are appealing to the corporate world to help us as we struggle to raise funds to buy a school bus. We have come so far and the children have done their part,” he said.
He also encouraged parents and SDA teams to work in harmony with teachers and the community if they intend to reach such levels of success, not only in sports but different aspects of children’s education.
A point of interest, however, was it was on record that the last time the school had taken the cluster championship title was in 2003. It took a former member of that particular “Dream Team to take up the role of coach, 10 years after leaving the school to lead it to victory.
The proud coach and former Warren Park 2 Primary school student, Evidence Tinago, said having a passion was all it took to achieve goals.
“As a former player I know the challenges that are faced by the kids so I have worked hard to groom them to be winners. The pride of our team lies in our airtight defence that comes in the form of Tinotenda Chingandiwa (12),” he said.
He said that part of their preparations for the next level of the tournament was to strengthen their attack. Their strategy since they have a strong defence is to have the midfield to work closely with the strikers and attack for maximum goals. The team’s acting captain, Munashe Mbundire (13), echoed similar sentiments and shed light on the preparations for the next stage.
“We are happy to have come this far but we are not ending here. An even bigger tournament awaits us next term so we will be training hard for it. Some of us will not be going for holidays because we want to continue working so that we will be fit enough for the games,” he said.
Mbundire added that as part of the preparations, they get together most weekends and climb a local mountain to keep fit.
He said it helps strengthen their bones to avoid injuries during matches.
An interesting contribution was made by teammate Andre Charinga Lundu (13).
“We are aware that we are not as heavily built as most senior teams in other primary schools but just like Lionel Messi, we will out play our opponents.
“Dynamite comes in small packages, therefore other teams should be on the lookout because we are going there to win,” he declared.