Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sports Hub
A Saturday morning visit turned into heartbreak for former Bulawayo tennis standout Barbara Nkomazana, who returned to her old stomping ground, Tshabalala Tennis Courts, only to find them reduced to a shadow of their former self.
Once a buzzing hub where rackets clashed daily and dreams were born, the courts now lie in silence. Grass has pushed through cracks in the surface, fences are broken and the only thing echoing through the place is a deafening neglect.
For Nkomazana, who honed her game on these very courts before earning a scholarship to play college tennis at Union University in Tennessee in the United States, the scene was painful.
“I couldn’t believe it. These are the Tshabalala courts where I grew up playing tennis,” she said, pausing to take in the decay.
“This place has been run down, it has not been well kept. It’s disappointing to get back home and see things like this. These courts were always full of life. Kids had something to look forward to. Now, nothing.”
Nkomazana, who studied International Marketing, Accounting and later earned her MBA in the United States, credits these courts for shaping not just her career but her character.
She came up through the National Tennis Development Programme under coaches Prince Mademe, Mkhululi Khuphe and Jonathan Dube and represented schools in the area including Mahlabezulu Primary and Ihlathi High.
But what hurt the most, she says, was not just the physical neglect, it was the lost opportunity.
“These facilities were very good and they brought children together,” she said.
“When I see little kids around here now, I see myself. We should fix this place and give them a chance. We need a tennis programme running again in Tshabalala.”
Her visit wasn’t solo. Joining her was Msindazwe Masunika, another former player, who still lives in the community and has been leading efforts to revive the facility.
Masunika says they’ve been knocking on the Bulawayo City Council’s doors since 2018, hoping the courts could be restored using Ward Development Funds, but all they have got is a string of unfulfilled promises.
“Kids from Tshabalala, Sizinda and Nkulumane now have to look for transport just to train at academies across town,” he said.
“We grew up with tennis on our doorstep. Now the courts are a white elephant.”
He said some former players in the diaspora are willing to help refurbish the place, including drawing court lines and installing a new fence, but they need the City Council to step in.
“We’ve been referred from one office to another. We’re just asking Council to do their part. Fix the courts. Help us keep these kids off drugs and in sport.”
For Nkomazana, the damage is not irreparable. But the longer the silence remains, the harder it will be to reclaim what these courts once gave, discipline, purpose and dreams that reached across continents.
