The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Highlanders captain Dazzy Kapenya has been handed an opportunity to flourish as a football coach after he was engaged by Falcon College.
The 42-year-old Kapenya, an ex- Highlanders and Zimbabwe Warriors defender will work with all the football teams at the Esigodini school next term.
Gavin Ewing, the Falcon College director of sport said he decided to give Kapenya an opportunity the same way that he was given a chance when his sporting career ended. Ewing is a former Zimbabwe national cricketer who played three Tests and seven One Day Internationals for the country.
“Dazzy Kapenya is a former Highlanders and Zimbabwe national soccer player. I met him through a friend who said that Dazzy was struggling after his playing career finished to get into the coaching game,’’ he said.
Ewing believes that this is a wonderful opportunity for the 2002 Soccer Star of the Year to get involved with the schools coaching system.
“Falcon College gave me an opportunity, when my career ended, to get into coaching and I thought this was a wonderful way for us to help a former player get a start in the school system and allow him to network with other schools while we would also benefit from his incredible knowledge of the game. He will assist with all our teams as well as try improve the levels of our coaching staff,’’ Ewing said.
According to Ewing, football has shown great improvement under Rodwell Khumalo, son of former soccer referee Thomas and engaging Kapenya is a way of presenting them with a chance to further progress.
“Soccer has shown real improvement under Rodwell and his team and this a fantastic way of offering them something different as well as saying well done and keep up the good work,’’ he said.
Since his retirement from football in 2007, Kapenya, a Caf C holder has coached Emakhandeni City Pirates, Josiah Chinamano Primary School, First Mobile Sports Academy and Zifa Southern Region Division One side Casmyn.
Kapenya was at Highlanders from 1997 until 2003 and won a total of five championships with Bosso. He was part of the Highlanders team which won four championships in a row from 98/99 up to 2002. He returned to Highlanders for the second half of the 2006 season when Bosso won their last title. He ended his playing career in 2007 at FC Windermere who were playing in the Zifa Southern Region Division One. -@Mdawini_29
