TADIUS Whata’s mother Faith has always wanted to see her son revive the boxing sport in the family, but alas, the short and stout multi-talented athlete has defied family prospects and has started winning accolades in other sporting disciplines at will.
BY ALBERT MARUFU
Whata was recently crowned the 2013 Northern Rugby League Backline Player of the Year and Player of the Year with his 230 points making him the league’s Top Points Scorer.
Being in the books of Harare football giants Dynamos FC juniors, outpacing other athletes on the track, throwing punches in the boxing ring with the assistance of a boxing enthusiast mother, as well as playing rugby at school, choosing an area of specialty in sport was the biggest dilemma that Whata came across in life.
After some heartbreaking incidents in boxing, a sport that many thought Whata was good at, choosing to be a professional rugby player is one thing most people, including family members, never saw coming.
But growing up in a family tree of boxers — grandfather Ezekiel, mother Faith and uncle Richard — further put paid to the seemingly written script that he would become the saviour of the dying sport of boxing.
His single mother never hid her desire to see her son excelling in the ring and at the March 2010 International Women’s Day in Chitungwiza, she sparred with President Robert Mugabe “to showcase the boxing talent in my family”.
“Women were showing off their merchandise to President Mugabe on International Women’s Day in 2010, but I did not have anything to display besides my son’s boxing regalia. I wore the boxing gloves and greeted the President with a clenched fist,” said Faith, the president of the Zimbabwe Amatuer Boxing Association.
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“President Mugabe then challenged me for a brief sparring session. After the session, he just looked at me in the eyes, shook my hands smiling. He never uttered a word.”
Nicknamed “Boxer” for his love of the sport and acumen, Whata was looking forward to winning gold in boxing at the 2010 National Youth Games that were to be held five months later in Harare.
“I won silver at the National Youth Games in 2010, but I have the strong feeling that I should have been declared the winner of the welterweight division bout. From that day I lost interest in boxing,” said Whata, who is also known by his father’s surname Dzandiwandira.
His mother, who once played together with Stewart Murisa’s mother, Gladys at St Mary’s Netball Club added: “Everyone at the terraces agreed that my child had been robbed of the fight. I was not happy at all.”
With the loss, Whata and his mother felt they had not only been cheated of victory, but a chance to represent Zimbabwe at the 2011 Zone Six Youth Games in Swaziland.
“Out of frustration I left and joined Harare Sports Club rugby team in 2012 where I played in the reserves side,” said the former Churchill High School student.
This year he was promoted to the first team and though the club failed to win the title, he lifted the Northern Rugby League (NLY) Player of the Year, Backline Player of the Year with his 230 points seeing him being the league’s Top Points Scorer.
“I got a lot of advice from senior players and my mum who never missed a single match,” he said.
His mother, his number one supporter since his days at primary school when he captained the Zengeza Main Primary School soccer team, remains his main inspiration.
“Make sure Teddy. Make it count from there,” she shouts from the touchline whenever her son is about to take a kick and even takes notes of the game.
“When I go to a match venue I only carry my kit and the Bible and mum brings me fruits. She stands on the touchline urging me on and that motivates me. She has even learnt the game and sometimes advises me. It is my dream to play professional rugby and also represent my country at both Sevens and XVs rugby,” said Whata, who on the academic front wants to pursue a degree in Graphic Designing.
Whata, admitted to having a girlfriend but said he believes relationships can be a hindrance to a young sportperson’s progression. Whata only started playing rugby at Churchill High School in 2007.
This was only because it was school’s policy that everyone plays rugby.
“I was the senior soccer team captain at Zengeza Main Primary School where I played as a striker. I started playing rugby at Churchill in 2007 and I was being coached by Jeff Madhake and Bob Mahari. I realised I was also good at it and became a member of the school’s first team when I was 16,”
He continued pursuing his boxing dream as an amateur until he abandoned it at Belvedere at the 2010 National Youth Games in 2010 when he felt robbed of his victory over Bright Masiyambumbi.
After a year on the rugby sidelines owing to an injury, he resurfaced at Harare Sports and the rest, as they say, is now history.
