The Sunday News
Lawrence Phiri
HIGHLANDERS Football Club is regarded as one of the best organised, best managed and most successful clubs in Zimbabwe.
While accepting that with a pinch of salt, I would say that Highlanders is one of the biggest and better structured clubs in Zimbabwe. A lot of people have contributed to the building of Highlanders into the institution it is now.
The majority of these people had the qualities of focusing and understanding what Highlanders is, who Highlanders is, taking the responsibility of interpreting the vision and aspirations of the Highlanders staunch, inspirational and sometimes volatile supporter base.
For Highlanders to be where it is today a lot of sacrifices, courage and strong leadership was required. It has never been the result of the fainthearted.
Like a majority of achievers, Highlanders has had to go through a rough and worst patches and situations on the way up.
The club has reached what I could term to be a plateau or highland. At this plateau it is very easy to maintain a general status quo, believing you are managing the best at its highest point of achievement. It is easy to believe that you are managing success when in fact you are managing survival with no progress. You then fail to see that there is greater sterling work needed for you to reach the true summit. If you fail to see the challenge for improvement and progressing to the top, you tumble or struggle to maintain the status quo. You need that elusive extraordinary quality to look up and strategies and chart innovative new paths to the far up summit.
Highlanders has gone through many of those mirage plateaus and extra-ordinary leaders have reached rock bottom and picked the club up and prodded their way up. The best example that I can point out to are the numerous breakaways organised by our enemies! But all of them just turned out to be a very strong motivational reason for starting afresh and rebuilding.
One of the few icons who stood resolute and worked his guts out to build and triumph through all those challenges is none other than the Late Edward “Sales House” Dzowa. The icon sadly passed away on Tuesday night (22 January 2019).
Dzowa was a no-nonsense defender, captain, coach, mentor, strict disciplinarian, committed member of the Highlanders group of illustrious players who weathered all the challenges mentioned above and became the base of who Highlanders are today.
More importantly to me and some of my colleagues, Billy Sibanda, Barry Daka, Tymon Mabaleka, Josiah Nxumalo, Douglas Mloyi, Boet Van As, Mark Watson, Cavin Duberly, Bruce Grobbellar, and his younger brothers – Kenny and Paul Tsumbe, He was our captain and Coach. And what a coach! who demanded nothing less than guts and victory.
Till the time of his sad graduation to the Lord, he and his two younger brothers (Paul Tsumbe and Kenny) were one of the three families that ever produce a set of as many as three exceptional, quality players into Highlanders. The other families were the Mloyi (Douglas, Tennyson and Mbi) brothers and the Ndlovu (Madinda, Peter and the late Adam) brothers.
For me it’s impossible to speak about Edward on behalf of my colleagues without speaking about myself and the impact he had on my life.
Highlanders is renowned for its Junior development policy. A lot of people do not know that policy started with us (Barry Daka, Kaynot Luphahla and myself), as early as age of 13 years. While Barry moved on to other clubs, Edward Dzowa adopted me under his wing and guidance.
This was during a difficult period of my upbringing where I literally had supper at his house everyday before I retire home. I was a very bright student in my primary school years but when I failed my Standard Six mainly because of deviant behaviour tendencies, Dzowa forced me to repeat Standard 6.
This put me in the same class with his brother Tsumbe Dzowa. He was one of the most prolific charismatic players that Highlanders and Zimbabwe ever produced. At that early age Dzowa allowed me to do the team’s laundry and even (He and Andrew Jele) bought me a set of school uniforms. Highlanders later paid for my secondary school fees.
Highlanders gave me my first job in the Bulawayo City Council Community and Youth Services Department. That is where I met the great crop of the Madindas, Netsai, Willard, Mercedes group of talented youths who were handed over to Ali Baba.
In 1965 we became the first students of Mzilikazi Secondary School where we re-grouped with Barry, Billy Sibanda, Kenny ‘Sparks’ Ngulube, and we became the young school going crop of the future Highlanders.
Edward Dzowa was our captain, coach, manager all rolled in one. I will never forget the way he belted me for refusing to run one pre-season cross-country to Mguza Dam. I teamed up with Tsumbe, Kenny ‘Sparks’ Ngulube, Billy ‘The Kid’ Sibanda, Barry Daka at Mzilikazi High School. The rest is history – Silas Ndlovu and Chris Mhlanga.
Edward was one of the most committed players that Highlanders has ever produced. Very strict, a believer in full fitness and he never accepted any excuses for failure.
He was among a few players who consistently scored goals straight from the corner kick. Edward Dzowa was captain, coach and Mentor to a lot of us from the early 1960s and literally handed over the team to the likes of Luigi Granato and Silas Ndlovu.
He comes from the great days of the Scholars, Mackenzie “Duly” Sibanda, Dan Bhejane, Jambok, Mike “Sofie” Moyo, Edward “Magungubala” Dlamini and James Nxumalo. His era gave way to the great Bosso of the Boet Vas As, Tymon Mabaleka, Josiah Nxumalo, Barry Daka, Billy Sibanda, to name a few.
Some players believe that I was a strict manager. They even called me “Major Dyke” behind my back. I think it must have rubbed off from Edward Dzowa
Our biggest concern as former players is why Edward was never given the opportunity to continue to be of service in Highlanders in appropriate positions as in the Board. We believe Edward Dzowa could have added respect and value to the statue of the Board of Elders.
His experience and commitment was much greater that an aggregate of a number of members of the Board of Elders some of whom don’t even know where the first offices of Highlanders were.
Highlanders has over the years produced great players who respect and believe in the institution. We know of Clubs where former players have usurped authority but our players have always respected that the team belonged to the community of great supporters. However, we are concerned that despite a growing suggestion that former experienced players who qualify and can play a meaningful role in the growth of the club should be given that opportunity.
That right must be entrenched in the Club’s constitution. We as former committed players would like to assure the Highlanders family that a calculated involvement of the experience of some of the former player will convert the present still growth to greater heights.
Allow us to help to develop the “Hotel California” for the purpose it was bought. Allow us to contribute to bring the senior team, our juniors and all the other Highlanders sporting disciplines to the Clubhouse complex as originally planned.
That is a dream that resembles the vision and wishes of Edward ‘Sales House’ Dzowa. Thank you M’dala Dzowa we are what we are because of you “Babesithikayibulawe, Highlanders, kayisoze ibulawe, lala ngokuthula Qhawe leBosso.”
– The writer, Lawrence Phiri, is a former player and manager at Highlanders.
