Mbaiwa: From top footballer to rural teacher

Sport
One of Brazil’s greatest players, Sócrates — the 1983 South American Footballer of the Year — completed a doctorate in medicine while playing professional football and practised after retirement and also held a PHD in Philosophy.

One of Brazil’s greatest players, Sócrates — the 1983 South American Footballer of the Year — completed a doctorate in medicine while playing professional football and practised after retirement and also held a PHD in Philosophy.

BY FORTUNE MBELE

Closer to home in South Africa, Orlando Pirates forward Lehlohonolo Majoro is a radiologist with a degree attained at the University of Johannesburg a few years ago.

Back home, former Dynamos striker Tauya Murewa graduated with a degree in medicine while playing for the Glamour Boys and disappeared from football in South Africa after playing for Umtata Bush Bucks.

Former Highlanders, Chapungu, Chicken Inn and Zimbabwe Saints player Abraham Mbaiwa graduated with a Diploma in Education at Hillside Teachers’ College last year and was posted to Mabhikwa High School in Lupane where he teaches and that has affected his football career but he says he is still keen on making a return.

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“I am no longer active in playing where I would have wanted to play. The only thing that is stopping me from playing is I am at work – 200km from Hwange and 160km from Bulawayo. If I was still playing I would be back at Highlanders or Bantu Rovers. I like Bantu Rovers for their professionalism and I worked with Methembe Ndlovu a lot. He brought me back to Highlanders in 2006 after I had been loaned to Chapungu, which helped me get promoted to the Premier Soccer League under the late Benjamin Moyo,” Mbaiwa said.

Upon returning to Highlanders he was to play cameo roles alongside the likes of Cuthbert Malajila, Nqobile Mpala and Francis Kanda and scored 12 goals for Highlanders in 2009. He was, however, not offered a new contract the following year.

“I was not offered a contract at Highlanders in 2010 and I was approached by [the late] Adam Ndlovu at Chicken Inn where I played before joining Zimbabwe Saints,” he added.

He joined Zimbabwe Saints when they bounced back into top flight football after buying Eagles’ franchise in 2011 and was converted into a defender by coach Willard Mashinkila-Khumalo (late) and he played as a right-back.

That Zimbabwe Saints, which was relegated back to Division One the same year, bundled Highlanders out of the Mbada Diamonds Cup after beating them 6-5 in a penalty shootout at the Colliery after a 0-0 stalemate.

Mbaiwa converted one of the spot-kicks against his former side.

In 2012, when he started training as a teacher at Hillside Teachers’ College, he played for Bantu Rovers in the Zifa Southern Region.

“It was a tough time having to balance between playing football and education, but it gets easier when you have colleagues that you work with as a team at college and coaches understanding your programme. After I graduated last year, I was posted to Mabhikwa High where I am in sports director,” Mbaiwa said.

“I also coach all the football teams at my school and I am in town every weekend as I assist Dazzy Kapenya in coaching FMSA Academy, which is in Serie ‘A’ in the Zifa Bulawayo Province Junior League, and I also coach Lupane Stars, which is in the Matabeleland North Division Two League. I am very busy throughout, no time to rest,” he said.

First Mobile Sports Academy (FMSA) is the brainchild of Canada-based coach Isaac Mbedzi, who runs a similar academy in that country.

Mbaiwa is a product of Highlanders’ once vibrant junior policy and was coached by Ali “Baba” Dube, along with the likes of Johannes Ngodzo, Mkhokheli Dube, Honour Gombami and Wellington Sibanda.

He played at Mzilikazi High School which won the Nash Copa Coca-Cola Under-16 Boys tournament in 2001 with the likes of Dube, Vusa Nyoni, Thembani Masuku, Petros Ngodzo and Castro Ndebele.

At Hillside Teachers’College, he was voted the Sportsman of the Year in 2013 and was the Best Student in Foundation of Sports.

He says he will still return to playing in top-flight leagues despite age seemingly catching up with him.

“If Joel Luphahla has bounced back and is playing at Tsholotsho, what will stop me,” Mbaiwa says.