YOUNG female cricket star, Beloved Biza's rise to stardom did not come without challenges as the 15-year-old had to duck resistance from her father who wanted to have nothing to do with the bat and ball game.
If it weren't for her stubbornness and perseverance, which she also demonstrates while playing for the Zimbabwe senior women’s cricket team, her achievements in cricket would have gone unnoticed.
After all, who can go against their father at home?
On Friday, a form three student from Herentals Chitungwiza Campus received a scholarship for her outstanding performance in the game.
She played a key role in the Zimbabwe U19 ladies' team's 6-0 series whitewash against Namibia, scoring three half-centuries and emerging as the batter and player of the tournament.
Her father, Richman Biza confessed before a packed auditorium at Herentals Chitungwiza Campus that cricket was a name he hated with impunity in his household and did not want her daughter to pursue a cricket career.
"I would like to thank the Herentals school leadership led by Professor Innocent Benza for this recognition accorded to Beloved. She is everyone's child now because she is representing the nation now not only the Biza or Herentals family," said Biza's father during the event," he said.
"Beloved knows I was hard on her heels concerning cricket. Her friend Kelis Ndhlovu would hide whenever I stormed their training ground. It was their strong-minded coach Malcom Chikuhwa who would sit me down and tell me how talented Beloved was.
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"I was caught in between our cultural values where the girl child is not treated with the same respect as the male child.
"Teachers at her primary school St Aidans used to tell me how good she was academically and said she would become a doctor one day.
"So with all this information, I did not want cricket to be a hindrance to my daughter's aspirations of becoming a doctor. I'm, however, grateful she stood tall, she's a very strong girl and now this has happened because of her strong-willed attitude, I am now her biggest cricket fan."
Biza also saw a Cricket Academy launched at Herentals Chitungwiza Campus in her honour to inspire other children from similar backgrounds who may want to follow in her footsteps.
She was happy to be honoured by her school.
"I want to be a businesswoman and manage a number of my own businesses contrary to my father's wants. I have never loved to be a doctor though I want to be assisted by one when I go for medical checkups and reviews," Beloved said.
"I'm grateful for the support and encouragement from everyone, to the school I am so indebted to them for giving me a scholarship and starting a cricket academy for the other kids who may want to take up the sport. I have benefited from my elders, those who have come before me such as Kelis and happy to be an inspiration to other young girls like me. I'm still growing, I'm still that little girl and still need all the love, guidance and support.
