IN the years gone by, when many a young man ventured into the “wild” in search of fortune, the parents would often encourage them to “look back – don’t forget where you came from my son/daughter”.
These words would mark the last words before the son or daughter boarded the train or bus from their rural homes to the big city. Even today, as many Zimbabweans either skip the borders – or as they wave goodbye at the airport – to seek the elusive sustenance in foreign lands, the impassioned plea to “look back” is a common refrain from relatives and friends.
This is the story of the Kanyongo siblings, who have decided to “look back” and never “to forget where they came from”. Born and raised in dusty rural Mutoko in Mashonaland East province, the Kanyongo siblings are a testament to the age-old wisdom to remember where one came from.
Now based in Ohio, in the United States, the Kanyongo siblings are proud sponsors of a vibrant annual soccer tournament, named after their late father Kennedy B Kanyongo, an educationist for many years.
In the interview below, Standard Sport (SS) engaged the siblings, through one of them, Gideon (GK), about their motivation and more on this annual football jamboree that has become a not-to-miss annual event in the Nyamutsahuni area of Mutoko. Below are the excerpts:
SS: Tell us a bit about the Kanyongo Annual Soccer Tournament?
GK: The Kanyongo annual tournament brings together soccer teams in Nyamutsahuni ward in Mutoko to compete for a floating trophy and cash prizes. The tournament brings together teams from in and around Nyamutshuni for this annual event.
Besides the annual tournament, we also sponsor the Kanyongo Football Club. The team is made up of youngsters drawn from the area and some are from as far as Mutoko Centre. The club plays in Division 2 as well apart from participating in the local league.
The tournament is held annually at the local business centre, Kanyongo Township. Everyone in the community is allowed to attend and participate in various ways. It’s a community initiative so no one is left behind.
SS: What was the motivation behind the creation of the tournament?
GK: The motivation was to give back to the community and help youths stay away from drugs and help combat early marriages and raise girls’ confidence in society. We also wanted to honour our late father whose whole professional life was dedicated to help youths as a teacher and headmaster.
Our father was a headmaster for almost 30 years. He passed on in 1998.
Besides, we are big football fans ourselves and we saw this as an opportunity to give back to the community in which we came from.
SS: Tell us more about the Kanyongo siblings – how many are you and where are you based?
GK: We grew up in this area and went for our primary education there. There are eight of us and two are based in Zimbabwe.
Me and my twin brother, Gilbert, went to Nyadire Secondary School after that. A couple of years later after working briefly as teachers, we were afforded the opportunity to come here in the United States for further studies.
SS: For how long has this tournament been running?
GK: The tournament has been running for six years now. The first edition was held in 2018.
SS: Who is bankrolling the tournament?
GK: The tournament is bankrolled by KB Kanyongo’s eight children. Each child makes their contribution. Those in Zimbabwe are the ones who coordinate the tournament from that side. We all participate in this noble case of helping the youths in our community.
This year, the family put in US$5 000 towards the tournament. This includes prizes for teams, soccer balls and food for teams and VIPs. The tournament winners got US$200, losing finalists US$100 and the semi-finalists US$75.
You will appreciate that this is a new tournament and is still in its infancy; we hope that as we go, the prize money will also be reviewed upwards. However, the emphasis is not on the financial rewards, but to afford a life-changing platform on which the youth can showcase their talent as well as provide entertainment to the community. This way, we hope, will discourage loafing among the youth, hence our objective of keeping the youth away from drugs and other dangerous activities.
SS: Which teams competed this year in this tournament and who were the winners?
GK: This year there were six teams which competed for honours, namely Kanyongo Football Club, Dip FC, Gumbure, Manhemba, Star City and Chingondo FC. All these teams are drawn from Mutoko.
Star City were the winners this year beating Kanyongo FC 2-1. We are happy that they managed to win because that keeps the spirit of competition alive in the players. Kanyongo FC has won it for the past two years. So for Star City to win it this time it shows the tournament is competitive because other teams can win as well.
SS: Where do the other teams that compete in this tournament come from and what is your target player age group?
GK: The teams come from the surrounding areas in the district, especially those near the Nyamutsahuni ward. The target age is eighteen (18) years and below. This is the age we think the youth can express themselves best in terms of talent. We also wanted to include kids from primary schools to participate and be part of this community initiative.
SS: Do you have any players who have advanced to higher leagues of the football leagues in the country?
GK: We have had four players who tried out with Dynamos, but didn't make the cut into the first team. This is encouraging for a team which hails from the rural areas.
They were scouted by Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya and his assistant coaches of Gift Muzadzi and Naison Muchekela, who graced the tournament before inviting them for further assessment in Harare.
What it also means is that there is untapped talent in the rural areas and that is one of the reasons we have this annual tournament.
SS: Does the tournament also incorporate female football and/or netball teams?
GK: No female football yet, but we started netball this year. We will incorporate female football in the future as the resources permit.
SS: What has been the response to the tournament from the community?
GK: The community loves the initiative and is very supportive. You can see by the numbers that come to the tournament – it’s amazing. You would think there is a Premier Soccer League game!
At the just-ended tournament, about 4 000 people were in attendance. This is a huge figure considering that Kanyongo Township is surrounded by just a handful of villages.
SS: What other initiatives do you support besides football?
GK: We also, from time to time, provide food hampers to senior citizens from the community. We can’t, however, provide you with the figures since this is a charitable initiative and don’t want to be seen to be boasting about it.
Besides the food hampers, we also provide stationery to schools targeted at the less privileged children.
SS: What was this year’s theme for the tournament (and guest speaker and also previously)?
GK: This year’s theme was “Stay Away from Drugs”. This is informed by our desire to see our community free of drug and substance abuse.
We would encourage communities to engage in more tournaments like this one because that’s where the talent can be scouted. Also I would advise the youth to stay away from drugs because that’s where most of them are failing. They engage in these toxic stuff that will eventually ruin their talents, hence our theme for this year’s tournament to stay away from drugs.
Our guest speaker at the tournament this year was football legend Stewart Murisa. His message centred on the need for youth to stay away from drugs. He also emphasised the importance of grassroots soccer as he also benefited from it to become a professional soccer player.
SS: Notwithstanding the fact that you live in a foreign land, away from the day-to-day goings on in your home country, what’s your take on the state football in Zimbabwe in general and what would be your recommendation/s?
GK: The state of football in Zimbabwe is going down. There should be grassroots structures for player development. We should have more leagues and tournaments to help scout for talent, especially in the rural areas.
SS: Any future plans for the tournament? (Where do you see the tournament in, say, five years’ time?)
GK: We plan to incorporate more teams into the tournament to include teams from Mudzi and Murehwa and Marondera. The sky is the limit.
SS: Being ardent European football fans yourselves, what teams do you support?
GK: I’m a Liverpool supporter and Gilbert is a Chelsea supporter. Our love for soccer made us introduce grassroots soccer to help the local kids to realise their talents.
SS: Any last words?
GK: There are a lot of talented youths in Zimbabwe but that talent is going unnoticed because people are not investing in youth sports.
Young people should strive to work hard at all times; don’t look for a quick buck and don’t wait for others to do for you what you can and must do for yourselves.