Women football’s Iron Lady

qualification for the All-Africa Games finals to dedication and hard work.
The national senior women’s team did the nation proud last weekend when they booked their place at the quadrennial games after beating Angola 2-0 in the return leg at Rufaro to go through 3-1 on aggregate.
Gumbo came into office last year in March and since her election, women’s football in Zimbabwe, which had gone into oblivion for the past years resurrected.
The Mighty Warriors, once a force to reckon in the region, returned to the international scene last October when they played South Africa in a friendly match and were hammered 4-0 in Johannesburg. They went down again to Banyana Banyana 3-0 in the Unity Cup International Challenge match at Rufaro in December.
But that was to be the end of the beginning. The Mighty Warriors were drawn against Zambia in the preliminary round for the All-Africa Games qualifiers and won the first leg 1-0 at Rufaro.
Against the odds, they went on to win the return leg 3-1 in Lusaka in February and the victory saw them booking what appeared to be a tough final qualifying date against Angola.
The team regrouped in April for a one-month camp ahead of their tie against the Angolans and went to Hwange for a 10-day training camp, to underline the seriousness of their bid to qualify for the All-Africa Games finals.
The good preparation paid off when they managed a 1-1 draw away in Dundo, Angola, on May 1 and then accomplished their mission last weekend when they defeated the Angolans 2-0 at Rufaro, sealing their place at the All-Africa Games finals set for Maputo, Mozambique, in September.
The Mighty Warriors became the second local team to qualify for the All-Africa Games finals after the women’s basketball side booked their place in January when they finished second in the qualifiers held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
For the women’s soccer team, their qualification marks a new era for women’s football in Zimbabwe as the Mighty Warriors had almost been forgotten due to lack of competition. After a poor start in the friendly matches they played against South Africa’s Banyana Banyana one could have been excused for doubting the Mighty Warriors’ pedigree.
But it takes courage and determination when faced with such a daunting situation.
The 46-year-old Gumbo and her crew have proved that.
“Nothing comes that easy. When I came into office we were facing a lot of challenges. Women’s football was in the woods and nobody had confidence that we can scale up to great heights.
“When we went to South Africa we lost 4-0 and they beat us again 3-0 here. But since then we have never looked back.
“We were drawn against Zambia and Angola in the All-Africa Games qualifiers.
“We tried to give the technical team whatever they wanted and they were in camp with the team for one month, which is something that has never been done.
“Fortunately, we beat Zambia 3-1 and that is when other people started communicating with me. We then went to Angola and we scored a goal.
“The match was supposed to be played in Luanda but the venue was changed at the last-minute and we were to be chartered there in a small plane, which could only accommodate 29 people, but we wanted to show the nation that we were serious.
“When they (Angola) came here for the second leg we beat them 2-0. Angola are one of the best teams in Africa and so far I can say we are going somewhere . . . There is some activity,” said Gumbo.
The ZWFL boss said there was no time to rest as they have a busy schedule in preparation for the All-Africa Games finals. The Mighty Warriors are first scheduled to compete in the Cosafa tournament in Reunion in July and Gumbo indicated they would need more resources for their dream to be a reality.
“Nobody has come in a big way, that’s why I am calling on the corporate world to come on board. We have a busy schedule ahead of us.
“We have the tournament in Reunion coming from July 2-9 and the Germany tour from July 22 to August 7 and we are busy working on that and to me that’s something positive.
“It will also be part of the preparations for the All-Africa Games. We are not looking back anymore and we have to continue engaging other big countries.
“We want to have as many friendlies as we can. Nomsa (Mahlangu) from South Africa asked for an international friendly and we are still to finalise on the dates.
“Perhaps after Germany we will try to engage one of the countries from West Africa so that we can have a feel of their play,” said Gumbo.
She said despite facing some challenges along the way to revive women’s football, her dedication has kept her going for the past year.
“Dedication and devotion has kept me going. My strength is in the Government and in the people. I am a public relations person and I have a lot of people who support me behind the scenes.
“The branding team is doing well. I also have two wonderful girls who keep me going. Besides, my greatest inspiration is from the girl child in the remote area whose love for football never die. I am doing something good in my life.
“I am doing this for my mother, she is the one who brought me up and taught me not to give up easily and I owe it to her. She passed away in September, 2008,” said Gumbo.
Gumbo urged the corporate world to come in and support the girl child.
“I am appealing to the corporate world now that they have seen that there is light at the end of tunnel. We need a lot of resources to make them scale greater heights. We won’t disappoint as long as there are resources.
“What a boy can do a girl can do even better. A girl has got more talent . . . Girls do it more heartedly and now that there is light, people are starting to appreciate,” added Gumbo.
Gumbo said they are working hard to ensure that the team will be well prepared when they take part in the Maputo Games.
“We are hoping to fly the Zimbabwean flag high. By the time we go to Mozambique, we would be ready. We will be facing giants such as Ghana, Cameroon and South Africa and that’s why we engaged Maxwell Takaendesa Jongwe in the technical team and he has been very helpful ever since he came to assist the girls,” said Gumbo.
The veteran administrator said they are hoping to start the national league at the end of this month with nine teams competing. The teams are New Orleans, Faith Drive Queens, Cyclone Stars, COSA Guruve, Black Rhinos Queens, Flame Lily Queens, Masvingo Queens, Chipembere Queens and Mufakose Queens.
She also indicated that there is need to develop junior players who would feed into the national teams, starting with the provinces up to national level and they have put structures in place for the programme.