WATCH: Volleyball legend Vulindlela Moyo laid to rest

FORMER women’s volleyball national team coach, Vulindlela Moyo, was buried at his rural home near Kezi Business Centre on Wednesday.

Moyo died in Bulawayo on Sunday morning after a long battle with a heart problem that had seen him in and out of the hospital for the better part of 2025.

At the time of his death, Moyo was aged 58.

Dozens of former players across several generations attended the funeral.

It was a moving burial attended also by hundreds of family members and friends from across the country and neighbouring South Africa.

Moyo was praised for his service to the game.

Nkululeko Ncube, a cousin of his who grew up with him, said Moyo had started off as a good footballer, but because of his character (short temper), he quit football because it was physical and opted for volleyball at Donkwe-Donkwe Secondary School before he proceeded to Entumbane Secondary School.
“Vulindlela was an intelligent pupil and played football as a kid. He had a number of nicknames like Lupane and Tsholotsho because of his strong rural background, but nobody dared to call him by those names,” said Nkululeko.

His elder brother, Martin Moyo, said they were shocked as a family and community to know at the end of Vulindlela’s life journey that he was such a big sports personality.

Speaker after speaker praised Moyo for his humility and commitment to volleyball, which was unparalleled.

Munyaradza Chigudu, speaking on behalf of the Zimbabwe and Bulawayo Volleyball Associations, praised Moyo for his service to volleyball as a player and coach. He said so many good players had gone through Moyo’s tutelage, and a number of coaches too.
“Moyo has left a big void in the sport. To see so many of us here across four decades of his volleyball is a testament to his true personality and the work he did in the sport,” said Chigudu.

Mailos Ncube, among his best associates, said Moyo had left a big vacuum not in sport but in life.
“I have lived with him since our Bulawayo Raiders years in 1996 to date. He was a very competent player and a great coach. We won so many tournaments, shared so many happy moments and sought to transform the lives of youngsters in our volleyball journey,” said Ncube, who first met Moyo in 1988.

Moyo was at Entumbane High School while Ncube was at Regina Mundi in Gwayi.

Itsanang Abu Basuthu, whose journey with Moyo saw them push themselves beyond to attain Level Three under the International Volleyball Federation, said Moyo’s deterioration in health had hit him, and his death was a sucker punch.