STEP aside, Warriors, here come the Chevrons.
That is the story of how times have changed as the Chevrons have taken over from the Warriors as Zimbabwe’s favourite sports team.
Yes, the Warriors had their time — especially during the days of Reinhard Fabisch’s Dream Team —when they could attract between 55 000 - 60 000 fans at the National Sports Stadium.
Yes, the Warriors had their time when they brought together whites, coloureds , blacks, and Asians, in song, drum, and dance as Cameroon and Egypt, among other African football heavyweights, bit the dust.
Yes, the Warriors had their moments as their array of crowd appeasing stars passed the baton from one to another from Moses Chunga to Peter Ndlovu later on to Khama Billiat and Knowledge Musona.
Sadly, though, the Warriors have been blown away by the Fifa ban but happily in their place are a new crop of sports heroes in the form of the Chevrons.
Never since the Dream Team days has a Zimbabwean sports team been so popular to the extent that Harare Sports Club was full to the brim and some fans had to be turned away during the game against the West Indies.
Turned away at the gates but not to go back home as would have happened had it been football but to watch the game on the big screen next door at the HSC rugby ground.
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That was quick thinking from Zimbabwe Cricket. Had it been in football, there could have been violent clashes with the crowd trying to force its way through, and the leadership unsure of how to handle the situation.
The Chevrons have proved that sport is for all as they have brought together, the young and the old, the rich and the poor, and people from all races in unity and common purpose.
At $2, the fans have been there in their thousands and have enjoyed more than their money’s worth yet football because of its dwindling standards and administrative upheavals has faced resistance even after reducing the gate entry fees down to $2 from $3.
What is heartening is that unlike with the Warriors whose fans boo their own team when it is not playing well and support the opposition, cricket attracts the right choice of fans who stick with their team even in times of crisis.
They also drink at Harare Sports Club and at Queens Sports Club but even in their drunken state they do not fight among themselves nor shout obscenities in front of women and children.
They see their national team game as a family gathering to celebrate and enjoy their team’s play in an environment of camaraderie, friendship and fun.
Even the nine teams which are in Zimbabwe for the ICC World Cup Qualifier have been left in admiration in the manner in which the Chevrons have managed to unite the whole nation.
They will surely have been left asking whether this is election time in Zimbabwe as nothing like political parties nor their campaign T-shirts existed at the Chevrons’ matches.
To the followers of the Chevrons, this is all about cricket and supporting their team’s goal of qualifying for the 2023 World Cup after painfully missing out in 2019.
The team itself has responded with venom, beating every team that stood on its way and with six points in the bag and two games still to go, they look poised to catch the plane to India 2023.
Surely, the sense of unity, the celebrations, the right administrative decisions, and above all the family atmosphere, are a lesson that football must take when the Warriors eventually return to international football.
Finally, It now remains for the Chevrons to reward their appreciative fans and the Zimbabwe Cricket leadership with qualification for the World Cup — It surely can be done.
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