The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
A celebratory mood has engulfed Bulawayo’s Mpopoma High School once more following the institution’s girls volleyball team conquest at the National Association of Secondary Heads 17 years and under competition staged at Chinhoyi High School last weekend.
The lasses, led by power position player Rosemary Ncube put up a dazzling show as they dropped just one set at the national finals on their way to being crowned champions. In the final, they defeated Chibi High School from Masvingo province 3-1 in what was sweet revenge for the Bulawayo girls who had lost by a similar margin to the same opponents in Gwanda last year.
Coached by computer teacher Georgina Chauke, Mpopoma defeated Chinhoyi and Munene by identical scores of 2-0 in the group stages. In the quarter-finals, they faced Dindinyongwe of Mashonaland Central and the girls from Bulawayo triumphed 2-0. Mpopoma defeated Masarakufa 2-0 in the semi-finals and then took care of Chibi in the finals.
Mpopoma received a trophy accompanied by a cash prize of $500 and beach volleyball uniforms for two players. On top of that, Ncube was voted as the Most Valuable Player at the tournament for which she got $40, Jennipher Tembo took the Best Attacker Award worth $32 with Cathy Moyo walking away with the Best Centre Blocker accolade which had a similar monetary value. The three, together with Proud Nyoni from the school’s Under-15 team were selected into Zimbabwe’s team for the Confederation of Schools Sport Association of Southern Africa Ball Games to be staged in Lesotho.
It is the second time that the school has triumphed in a Nash volleyball competition, the first trophy having been brought home by the girls’ Under-20 team in 2015 who were again coached by Chauke.
A delighted Chauke said she was thrilled by her team’s triumph in Chinhoyi with the victory over Chibi being retribution for the loss they suffered to the same team last year.
“I am really happy after beating Chibi High 3-1, it was like a revenge for us because they beat us 3-1 last year at Manama High so I am overwhelmed by their performance, they did well,’’ said Chauke.
Mpopoma won the ticket to represent Bulawayo in the national tournament by being crowned provincial champions on 8 June. In their preparations, Mpopoma took on senior women’s teams from Faibridge and Ross Camp which made Chauke believe even before they headed to Chinhoyi that they would be crowned champions. She attributed their success in the sport to the early identification of talent done by physical education teachers.
“The secret behind the success is we have the junior policy where we have the PE teachers identifying students from form one then we train those students with the help of the PE teachers. We also have a supportive school, the SDC, our headmaster and the sports director, even other teachers they are supportive,’’ she said.
On their chances of retaining their title next year, Chauke is convinced that it is possible seeing that they are only losing one player who is moving to the Under-20 age group which gives them an upper hand.
Mpopoma sports director, James Rugwevera expressed his gratefulness to the school headmaster Christopher Dube for making things possible for the teams to go and compete at national tournaments. According to Rugwevera, Dube’s backing comes in the form of providing the finances and moral support.
“We are happy with the support we are getting from the headmaster, he is the one who is making things possible because he is supporting us in terms of money, in terms of moral, in terms of the vision that we have got and our vision is to conquer Zimbabwe. We would want a situation whereby our teams are qualifying in a provincial way and probably go on to win at national level,’’ said Rugwevera.
On what was behind their success on the sporting field seeing that they have little space for extracurricular activities, Rugwevera’s belief is that the name Mpopoma is itself powerful enough to inspire the youngsters to win.
“I think the name Mpopoma is the one which actually makes us do well. When these kids are playing and they talk of Mpopoma they always feel they are the best and no other kid from other schools should beat them because of just the name but probably we are also coming to help them realise their talent,’’ he said.
In 2015, when the girls’ Under-20 team conquered in Marondera, the trophy was paraded through the streets of surrounding suburbs, something that is also planned to celebrate this year’s success.
There are chances of other Mpopoma teams conquering in Nash tournaments as the school soccer boys and girls teams have qualified for the Under-15 Copa Coca-Cola provincial finals at Gifford on 7 as well as 8 July. If they win the provincial tournament, they will then win the right to represent Bulawayo at the national finals to be staged in Bindura on 21 and 22 July.
