The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
WHEN Mzilikazi won the 1999 Copa Coca-Cola, so excited was their headmaster, then Cuthbert Chiromo that he left some of his clothes at a Bindura Hotel.
Mzilikazi had defeated Bernard Mizeki College 1-0 in the final played at SOS Hermainn Gmeiner with the goal scored by Joseph Ngwenya.
The Bulawayo school had won the inaugural tournament in 1989 and were victorious again in 1993.
In total, Mzilikazi have been crowned champions of the country’s most prestigious schools soccer tournament four times, a record they share with Hippo Valley. The last conquest for Mgandane came in 2001.
All the four titles for Mzilikazi came when Chiromo was the school’s headmaster.
“When we won the Coca-Cola tournament in 1999 I was so excited that I left some of my clothes at a Bindura hotel. My wife is the one who discovered when she was unpacking my bag. I had to phone my brother in Harare to go and pick up my clothes in Bindura,’’ Chiromo said.
For him, winning the Copa Coca-Cola meant a lot as that pleased a lot of people and put the school on the map.
He showed his appreciation to Coca-Cola for the wonderful work that the world’s biggest beverage company is doing in developing sporting talent in Zimbabwe.
“Winning a competition like that made everyone happy, you put the name of your school on the map and you also created a chance for the young ones to show their talent, to be noticed. This is where the likes of Peter Ndlovu, Benjamin Nkonjera got to be noticed and for that I think we should applaud Coca-Cola, they are ploughing back to the community and that also benefits the nation,’’ he said.
Chiromo, headmaster of Mzilikazi from September 1989 until end of 2002 refuses to take all the credit for the school’s success in the Copa Coca-Cola.
“The credit there, I must be honest, doesn’t belong just to one person. It was team effort. There was me of course to drive and try get things moving, I had my vision. I love soccer, that is the first thing, you cannot give what you don’t have. Fortunately I got to Mzilikazi High School where the suburb surrounding the school is full of soccer players,’’ Chiromo said.
His belief while at Mzilikazi was that children did not have to concentrate on their studies alone as they were those who were not gifted in that area.
“I also said in a school you don’t only concentrate on the academics, there is a mistake where every parent would say ‘I want my child to pass O-level, A-level and my child is going to be a doctor, my child is going to be an engineer’ but when you look at the child as a head for example, not every child is going to be a doctor, there are some people who are going to succeed using the talent they were given by God and that might be sporting activity,’’ he said.
With other headmasters not really focusing on sport at the time, Chiromo made sure that he maximised by bringing the best talent to Mzilikazi.
“At the time there were a few headmasters who were in my position who appreciated soccer. I may go on to say very few of them knew where their sporting fields were. Because of my interest many parents who had children in other schools, when they realised the talent of their child was not being appreciated in the school they ended up bringing those kids to Mzilikazi High School,’’ Chiromo said.
As the head in charge of soccer in the province, Chiromo took time to scout but insists that he never used any underhand tactics in getting players from other schools as proper channels were followed.
“Added to that was the fact that I was head in charge of soccer in the province which gave me an opportunity to move from place to place identifying talent just like all the big teams do.
I made sure that the child moved to Mzilikazi High School but fairly, we made sure that when they were leaving whatever school they were at they follow the normal channel.”
On why he thinks Mzilikazi has failed to win Copa Coca-Cola since he left the school, Chiromo appreciated that times have changed. He is not sure if he were still at Mzilikazi now he would have achieved the way he did in the years he was there.
“I don’t want to judge other people on what happened while I was there because obviously times have changed. If I were at Mzilikazi now, I don’t know if I would have achieved what I achieved then. I have tried to follow soccer, to encourage kids, I went to Mzilikazi one time and said now guys if you qualify to this stage here I will come and give you this, it didn’t happen,’’ he said.
One of the reasons Mzilikazi were successful, Chiromo believes is because the team camped at his house in Parklands which made the players feel significant.
“When we had a tournament at Mzilikazi, my kids over the weekend, say Friday, they camped at my house in Parklands. My car a Toyota Cressida it’s still there where Peter and Benjamin would be in the boot moving them to my house. In the morning we ferry them to the field, give them that importance. Imagine they are together there, they are talking soccer, they are watching soccer, when they go there they stop playing for themselves, they play to please you. My wife was their mother, she cooked for them,’’ Chiromo said.
He remembers when Highlanders wanted to use Ndlovu for a club match while Mzilikazi were preparing to play in Copa Coca-Cola. A plan was devised to move the youngsters from his house to the deputy headmaster’s residence in Hillside.
“All the time I was at Mzilikazi High School, it would start on a Friday, at times we would camp at school. There was a time that Highlanders wanted Peter to play in a game, we moved the kids from my house to my deputy’s house in Hillside where they didn’t know. It was for the Coca-Cola tournament, the big one, I would get the boys to camp together, about 18 of them plus their coach.
“They slept on the floor and watched television,’’ he recalled.
A number of players went on to make a name for themselves after winning Copa Coca-Cola with the school. Ndlovu, Nkonjera, Ngwenya, Vusumuzi Nyoni, Voster Chitema, Stanford “Collymore” Ncube, Castro Ndebele, Mkhokheli Dube, Lenny Gwata, Johannes Ngodzo and Lloyd Jowa are some of those who won the country’s most esteemed schools soccer tournament with Mzilikazi.
The 30th edition of the tournament will be officially launched on Tuesday at last year’s boys’ champions Rusununguko High School in Mashonaland West.
Rusunguko overpowered a hard to conquer Pfupajena 4-2 on penalties at a packed Trojan Mine Stadium.
This was after the match had concluded 1-1 in normal time. -@Mdawini_29
