Zimbabwe Women Sables
Women Cheetahs caps :13
Women Sables caps :7
Former Lady Sables Captain
I was born on the 28th of August 1988 in Sanyati, where I grew up. I have always been a sports person from a very young age, winning sporting accolades since from my primary school days. Growing up my favourite sport codes were netball, athletics and volleyball.
While still at school I was the voted and named the Sportsperson of the year at Sanyati Baptist High School in 2006. After school I continued to play netball and volleyball in the Sanyati community. In 2010 I joined the Zimbabwe Republic Police and my love for sport had found its new home. The police service gave me an opportunity to pursue my love for sports as many opportunities were presented to me to compete with other top level athletes within and outside of the police service.
In 2012 I won the 100m dash at the Police Commissioner General Sports Gala and with the police netball team we were promoted into the Harare province League and I made the Provincial team as a player. In 2012 after the Commissioner Generals Games ,the Police Defenders Queens coaches Julias Madzima, Isaac Machesa and Rachel Tembo invited me to try out rugby for the Women’s team. Naturally I was very sceptical at first as i had never played the game and the perception was always that it’s a violent male sport where players literally manhandled each other and call it play.
It took time for me to be swayed and convinced to join in. Peer persuasion won , over my scepticism and I lazily joined and l found myself enjoying the odd shaped ball game. I got my first national rugby call up in 2012 for the Pangolins ( the Zimbabwe Womens Sevens National Team), now Cheetahs and I got my first National cap for the Women’s Cheetahs team in Middleburg, South Africa with two other debutants Ruvimbo Musere and Marylyn Mangoto. From there I never looked back and my hunger to learn more about the game grew by the day. Our next assignment with the Cheetahs was Morocco and the rest is history.
I have earned (13) thirteen caps for the Cheetahs and Seven caps for the Sables. I am happy that I am part of the pioneers of the Women Sables team and I captained the side from 2018 until December 2019. The women’s game has grown in leaps and bounds over the last couple of years and it is set to grow to fizzy heights. While still actively involved I was inspired and motivated by Abigail Kawonza who was Women Cheetahs coach at the time and a rugby referee to take up rugby officiating as it would improve my game through the appreciation of the laws.
They say being involved in rugby doesn’t mean just putting your kit on every weekend to play, there are many ways to be involved either as player, a coach, an administrator, a medical person or match official. With the inspiration and motivation of Abigail Kawonza and Walter Njowa I joined the Mashonaland Rugby Referees Society in 2013 and I have at times juggled playing and officiating junior games a way of giving back and capacitating the next generation of women rugby stars. I am still actively involved as a match official. With time I realised that some teams that I officiated did not have the basic appreciation of the Laws and slowly but surely I was drawn into coaching in 2016 and was inspired and fascinated by Goromonzi girls team so much that when their coach Prosper Fumheee Mubaiwa offered me an opportunity to understudy him at Goromonzi I took it with both hands and it has been a wonderful journey thus far.
In 2019 i was awarded the Forward player of the year at the Harare Province End of Year Awards Dinner. My coaching journey is still a few pages but I am looking forward to many more years on the touchline now. I have been with Goromonzi since 2016, and in 2019 I was appointed Assistant Coach to the Zimbabwe U20 Women Sables and was also player coach for the Police Defenders for the 2019 season. Currently I am also the head coach for FS Raiders RFC womens division.
My best rugby moment was when I toured with FS Raiders for our first ever Tournament outside Zimbabwe in February to the Tuks 7s in Pretoria, it was my first time experiencing what my mentors, coach Julius Madzima, coach Abigail and coach Fumheee always told me that the coach might be more nervous than the players but you can’t show it. The girls made us all proud as we finished 3rd out of 16 teams.
Going forward, my plan is to further contribute to the development of the women’s game in the country. To be a role model for young girls and inspire them to take up rugby and enjoy the values and lessons that come with the game.
My wish is to see a primary schools league, a stronger and better high schools league, bigger and better clubs leagues and more international games and tournaments for the national sides. Despite everyone being hit hard by the Covid 19 pandemic it is still my wish to see corporates coming in to support the girl child be it a school, club or national team, we need the support from all angles. My greatest wish is to see the Cheetahs in the World 7s circuit and the Sables qualifying for the World Cup