The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
WHEN the Mpopoma High School girls were knocked out at the group stage of the Copa Coca-Cola national finals held in Bindura in July, goalkeeper Fambainashe Mvere thought her dreams had been shattered.
Little did Mvere know that come end of the tournament, she would be selected into the Zimbabwe girls’ Dream Team which gave her an opportunity to attend a Copa Coca-Cola global camp staged in Durban, South Africa from 4 to 8 October.
Despite Mpopoma losing to Mwenezi and Vainona, Mvere had done enough to impress the Dream Team selectors.
Mvere was in goals in all of Zimbabwe’s matches in Durban where they lost 8-1 to KwaZulu-Natal Two in the final to return home as silver medalists.
Only three girls’ teams participated in the tournament, the third being KZN One. Despite losing 10-3 in the semis to KZN Two, the Yeukai Chiruvu-coached Zimbabwe still made it to the final since KZN One had not won any of their matches.
For the Zimbabwean boys, they lost all their group matches and did not progress further. They were beaten 8-3 by South Africa One before they lost 11-6 to Russia Two. On the last day of the camp, the Eremu Madzinga coached lads lost 8-6 to a Copa Select invitational team in what was a curtain raiser to the final.
“It was really exciting, I met a lot of friends, from Tunisia, Russia, South Africa and Nigeria. It was very interesting, being coached by a new coach, having new teammates,’’ she said.
Mvere sustained a finger injury during the course of the tournament which made her want to give up but she soldiered on for the sake of the team.
“I was the goalkeeper for all the matches. I suffered a finger injury, wanted to give up but put the team first and continued playing. The matches were exciting, we played Five-A-Side, I had never played that type of game before. It was difficult to adapt,’’ Mvere said.
The trip was an eye opener for Mvere since it was her first time to fly, she had never been outside the country or stayed in a hotel before, things she got to experience during that trip. She is really grateful to Coca-Cola for making it all possible for her to travel to South Africa. The Zimbabwean youngster got to be coached by former Bafana Bafana players, Benny McCarthy and Steven Pienaar.
“I want to thank Coca-Cola because if it was not for them I would have not gone to the beach. It was my first time outside the country, I had never flown before or stayed in a hotel. I met Steven Piennar and Benny McCarthy, I had never met them before,’’ Mvere said.
The 14-year-old wants to go far with her football career with her target being playing for the Mighty Warriors one day. It is not the first time that Mvere, who started playing football in Grade Five at Dumezweni Primary School in Pumula South has gotten national recognition. Last year she was chosen for the Zimbabwe Under-14 team which was meant to go to the Confederation of School Sport Associations of Southern Africa Ball Games in Botswana but the girls were dropped from the trip.
It was that aborted trip which saw her parents decided to secure her a passport. That proved to be a wise move by the parents since most children miss out on such opportunities such as the one Mvere recently had because they would not be having travelling documents.
Mvere is the second born in a family of three girls. Her mother Sarah is an Early Childhood Development teacher at Robert Sinyoka Primary School while the father Andrew is a truck driver based in South Africa.
Her mother was really grateful to the opportunity given to her daughter as well as the way she was treated when she went to welcome her daughter at the Harare International Airport. She has no qualms with her daughter playing football since that has not disturbed her studies.
“We are really grateful for this opportunity because they have made my daughter to be seen. We were really looked after in Harare. I have always encouraged her to play football because she grows physically, she can’t just focus on books alone. We don’t know how far she can continue playing but we want her to play football,’’ the mother said.
Besides football, Mvere, whose favourite club locally is Highlanders plays handball for the Mpopoma Under-15 team where she is also a goalkeeper.
Mvere’s marvellous experience in South Africa should serve as an inspiration to other youngsters to excel in next year’s Copa Coca-Cola as they also stand a chance of heading off to the neighbouring country. -@Mdawini_29
