Patience finally pays off for Jaure

Sport
BY ALBERT MARUFUAT 21, Warriors and Dynamos utility player, Patson “Yellow” Jaure, can still be described as mummy’s boy.

The first born in a family of four cares deeply for his mother, so much that he can be mistaken for the last born.

This softly approach to family matters for a grown up man is however an antithesis of the aggressive and tenacious defender that he is in the field of play.

Not only has he managed to “walk” his way into the Dynamos first team where he normally plays as a centre half, but he has also won a call up to the Warriors where he was one of the unused substitutes in the game against Guinea last weekend.

Though he is not included in today’s game against Mozambique, Jaure has made his mark and is heavily knocking on that door for future assignments.

Blessed with the ability to use either foot, to recover quickly, Jaure, who for the past three seasons had been loaned to first division clubs “to mature”, has been a revelation at Dynamos.

When DeMbare started their dance in the Champions League, panic buttons were pressed at the club following the suspension of regular centre back Guthrie Zhokinyu who formed a formidable partnership with George Magariro in the heart of defence last season that saw the team conceding only 15 goals the entire season.

Jaure however managed to fill in the void with relative ease.

Dynamos assistant coach Tonderai Ndiraya could only marvel at the phenomenal rise of his former protégé at the club’s juniors.

“His disciplinary record even at school speaks for itself. He is one of a very few players who have played all levels of junior football in our local league and is maturing very fast.  If he continues working as hard as he is doing, only the sky is the limit.

“His recovery is excellent and he can play almost every position in defence as well as a linkman,” said Ndiraya.

For someone who was turning out for La Liga in the first division last season, Jaure’s performance has even surprised the player himself.

“My first Champions League game was against Mozambique’s Liga Muculmana and I did not believe it when the referee blew the final whistle. However, the game against Esperance in Tunisia was very difficult,” he said.

Born to Petros and Beauty in 1990 at Parirenyatwa hospital, Jaure started playing soccer against his parents’ wishes at Rusununguko Primary School.Teachers had to beg his parents  to allow him to play.

Unlike his age-mate Khama Billiat who broke into big time football earlier, Jaure patiently waited for his turn to make a breakthrough when he was loaned to Division One sides three years ago.

“I remember playing against Khama when he was at Gwinyiro Primary School.  However, it did not bother me when he started playing for bigger teams such as CAPS United and later Ajax Cape Town. I knew my time would come,” he said.

Jaure joined Dynamos juniors when he was in Grade Five and stuck with the club until he was loaned to first division side AMC between 2009 and 2010.Last year, Jaure had to face another disappointment of being loaned again to another Division One side, La Liga, despite having played in almost all the team’s warm up games. “I was disappointed when I was loaned out again, but everything happens for a reason. My junior level coaches Richard Chihoro, Elvis Chiweshe and Ndiraya always emphasised on the need for patience as well,” he said.

“Dynamos have done well for me as they even gave me a scholarship to study at Churchill High School in 2008 where we won the 2009 Schools Coca Cola Championships. I could not travel to South Africa with the team because I did not have a passport,” he said.

Jaure, whose young brother Prosper is in the books of CAPS United juniors, has an ambition to help Dynamos retain the league championship and to also play for Liverpool in England.

However, his coach Ndiraya could not have summed it better; “He still has a lot to learn. His major weakness is the inability to deal with aerial balls. We are working on that and he is improving.”