Suburban
HARARE soccer giants Dynamos’ partnership with Prince Edward High School under which the former are recruiting young players from the school’s soccer academy continues to grow as more rookies from the school are finding their way into the DeMbare ranks.
H Metro Reporter
The latest PE student to don the famous Dynamos blue jersey is promising midfielder Stephen Chatikobo who made his debut on Sunday when DeMbare played Harare City in the last group match of the Chibuku Super Cup at Baobab Stadium in Mhondoro-Ngezi.
Chatikobo joined schoolmates Bill Antonio – who plays as a winger and has two goals to his name since the start of the tournament in the first half of this year – and another highly rated striker Luke Musikiri who has also been given some minutes in the tournament by coach Tonderayi Ndiraya. An old PE boy Hamilton Gomba (18) is also on the books of DeMbare.
Ndiraya has been investing his trust in the youngsters he is blending with experienced old war horses in a clear sign of the vision for the future and giving the youngsters a platform to showcase their talent and develop into future household names for DeMbare and the junior and senior national teams.
DeMbare’s partnership with one of Harare and indeed Zimbabwe’s powerhouses in schools’ sport, Prince Edward, brings back memories of the team’s relationship with PE’s fierce rivals Churchill in the early 2000s. The Churchill partnership gave rise to talented players such as prolific goal scorer and the last striker to surpass the 20 goal mark in the Zimbabwean Premier Soccer League Norman Maroto, the mercurial Samson Choruwa whose career was unfortunately cut shot by injury, defensive lynchpin Leo Kurauzvione and star midfielder Eddie Mashiri among others.
It looks like the current leadership at DeMbare both at the boardroom and technical levels are alive to the power of junior development and it looks like the partnership with PE will unearth more gems.
In an interview with our sister paper H-Metro about his debut for the Glamour Boys in the goalless stalemate with Harare City, Chatikobo is already showing signs that he has a sharp football brain if his utterances are anything to go by.
He displayed a deep understanding of modern football and its techniques in the interview for a boy who is only 17 and still has more years of learning.
Narrating his attributes, he left nothing to doubt about the qualities he brings to the team.
“I will be helping the team in marking, be it positional or man marking. I think I can give an edge to my team on that aspect. I also enjoy forward play.
“Opening up spaces and unlocking closed pockets in the opponent’s half. I’ve seen Trevor Mavhunga (Dynamos teammate) playing and that inspires me a lot.
“I will be happy if I manage to consistently replicate top quality form week in and week out like him,” said Chatikobo.
He could not hide his joy at making his debut at the biggest team in Zimbabwe and looks forward to a bright future in his soccer career.
“I am honoured to make my debut for the greatest football club in the country. I was thrown in the mix when the club needed to maintain its unbeaten run. And just continuing with the run made it special for me. I would have liked us to collect maximum points on the day but still I am grateful for what we achieved on the day,” said Chatikobo.
He also showed his maturity, in speaking about his coach and DeMbare’s next opponents in the quarter finals of the Chibuku Super Cup, Black Rhinos.
“I am grateful to the coach for his trust. I was thrown in the mix at a crucial time for his unbeaten run against a strong Harare City side which was vying for maximum points to secure qualification. It boosted my confidence a lot realising I can do it on the big stage. When we play Rhinos I am expecting the team to progress to the next round.
“By no means shall we underrate our opponents but for us being Dynamos our fans expect us to progress and I expect us to win the encounter.”
