Visually-impaired coach defies odds

Sport
Spotting black glasses, holding his walking stick in his right hand and small tiny multi-coloured corns in the other hand, visually-impaired Kadoma coach Mochani Nyoni moves slowly

Spotting black glasses, holding his walking stick in his right hand and small tiny multi-coloured corns in the other hand, visually-impaired Kadoma coach Mochani Nyoni moves slowly in between two groups of his Under-13 team at Rimuka Stadium outside arena in Kadoma.

By Brian Nkiwane

Visually-impaired-Kadoma-coach-Mochani-Nyoni

As he walks, he stops, tilts his head to one side, listens to sounds made by his players before issuing instructions that are accurate and in line with what had been happening during the morning training session. He listens to giggles, fidgeting, laughs, footsteps and other sounds made by his players and in most cases, his instructions suit the situation.

“Move, spread out, increase pace, communicate with your teammate,” he will occasionally bellow out from the beginning of their training session until the end.

As usual, every good sportsperson has a special secret that makes them a cut above the rest in any competition.

For Nyoni, listening has been his greatest weapon of all time. Although visually-impaired, he continues to make great strides as a football coach.

“Listening, not just listening, but listening attentively, has been my greatest weapon,” Nyoni says.

“If any of the players that I started coaching when I started this project in 1998 cheated me, that was that. Those that I am working with now cannot do that to me because I am improving day by day,” he brags, adding: “When you see me tilting my head, I will be calculating whether the player that I would have given an instruction is doing the right thing.

“For example, if I say he should sprint, I listen to his footsteps, then I can be in a position to tell whether he is sprinting or doing a three-quarter pace.

“In other cases, I listen to their conversations and the sounds they make and I can tell whether they are doing things the wrong or right way.

“But most of them actually forget that I am visually-impaired, so they don’t risk doing things the wrong way,” Nyoni says with a chuckle.

At one point, during the training session he told a group of players that they had failed to do a drill as instructed.

“Can’t you see that you are crowded, spread out!” he shouted.

Asked how he knew that the boys were crowded, he had this to say: “I listen to the distance between two communicating players and sense that they are too close to each other to do the exercise properly.

“That is the reason why I emphasise on communication. It also helps me detect the distance between two people.” Nyoni’s love for football grew when he played soccer at school in Zimuto before graduating with a switchboard operator’s certificate.

His love for the game saw him quit his job as a switchboard operator to take up coaching fulltime and his coaching bag of tricks has left many dumbfounded as his Western Pirates project is doing well in age groups that range from Under-13s to the Under-17s, a team that plays in Division Three.

His Under-13 side, which he was giving a run on Thursday, has been playing very well, sitting third on a 12-team log table, with 33 points, five points shy of log leaders Blue Sky and four points away from second-placed Cuma.

Out of the 16 matches played, Nyoni’s side has won 10, drew three and lost three.

“I think from the boys that I have now, I will produce a few stars for the national team structures,” he boasts.

Apart from his listening instincts, Nyoni has created a relationship with captains of all the age groups.

“My captains from all age groups now know what I want and how I operate. So at times, they are my eyes,” he says.

“They have learnt how to mark cones, supervise other players as well as give me feedback whenever necessary.”

Under-13 skipper Arnold Mugiyo said they had developed a good relationship with the coach.

“We always try our best to do what he tells us. None of the players tries to take advantage of his disability and cheat. In most cases, when you try to cheat, he always finds out. He is a tough coach,” Mugiyo said.

The opportunity he had been waiting for in his coaching career availed itself in September when his Under-13 team was invited by Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze to Harare to curtainraise for the Warriors/Guinea match at Rufaro.

“That was a lifetime opportunity that we needed to grab by both hands. I could not be on the touchline that day,” he said.

“I had to summon my assistant Vena Nhongo to do the job. You know how it is at Rufaro.

“Usually when we play in Kadoma, I have no problem, but if we travel, then it means I would need someone for the security of the boys. It was unfortunate that we lost to Harare City 4-1.”

Nyoni blamed the loss to the grand stage that his boys were exposed to for the first time in their careers.

“Most of them had never been to Harare, let alone stepping into Rufaro, which has an artificial turf. For some, it was their first time to play in such at stadium. So all this had a bearing on their performance,” he said.

However, Nyoni said the project that he started with his friend Kudzai Shava (who is also visually-impaired) in 1998, would soon fold if they don’t get the much-needed support in terms of junior development programmes infrastructure.

“We have sat down as the founders and identified areas of concern. We need equipment to keep this project running,” he said.

“You can see for yourselves that some of the kids are running barefooted.

“Look at the cones that we are using, these are meant for infants, but what can we do? Nothing! We have to improvise.”

Nyoni said it would be a major boost for the project if they could get even five matchballs, training bibs and match kits going forward.

He said lack of training equipment had seen junior players flock to a rival team sponsored by South Africa-based Warriors player, Cuthbert Malajila.

“Most of the players flock to Malajila’s team. This then creates a situation whereby players compete for places and we end up getting those players that would have failed to make it at the best club, which is not supposed to be the situation,” Nyoni complained.