The Sunday Mail
George Mawere
We are most humbled, gratified and overjoyed as the FC Platinum family to have landed Zimbabwe’s most coveted title, the 2017 Castle Premier Soccer League Championship.
To our team, our coach, our players, our stakeholders and our supporters, well done!
At the formation of our club, we were clear that our intention went beyond simply joining the Premier League. Ours was a mission to emerge as a force to reckon not only in Zimbabwe but Africa at large.
The journey has not been an easy one. Over the years, we have had a fair share of heartaches and some moments to celebrate. We have learnt the virtues of patience and humility. Most importantly we have refined our footballing philosophy to go beyond just winning matches but exhibiting an entertaining style that is matched by a caring heart and the highest professional standards.
We are Pure Platinum Play.
Today’s Premier Soccer League title follows a four programme we set ourselves as we hired today’s winning Head coach, Norman Mapeza. The temptation then was to set demanding targets that aimed at instant results. They say, “Patience is bitter but the fruit is sweet”. We are glad we settled for incremental growth that has eventually rewarded us with this sweetness. While some pundits saw this strategy as an indication that we were a cursed club which enjoyed dancing with failure year in and year out. However, patience is not only ability to wait but what you do and how you behave whilst you wait. We remained resolute, disciplined and stuck to our plan. And true, for each of the past four years we have attained our yearly targets. Kudos to the entire team and stakeholders for displaying this rarely found attribute.
Furthermore, we also celebrate other notable achievements which include the qualification of our Netball team, Platinum Queens, into the Zimbabwe Netball Super League, as well as the notable success of FC Platinum Holdings, the business that sponsors our sporting teams.
However, as we celebrate today’s success, we are mindful that our vision is to be a leading football brand in Africa. This vision is no mean aspiration. It demands from us resources; both material and talent. It calls upon us to search for guidance and support of the nation at large. We hope our more experienced brothers who have ventured into this challenging African football Safari will be willing to lend helping hands.
Today we celebrate not only as a football club in Zvishavane but as the entire Midlands family. Hence this cup is not for FC Platinum alone but for the entire province.
In conclusion, I would like to once again express our most profound gratitude to:
Our sponsors, FC Platinum Holdings,
Our business partners Mimosa Mining company,
Our Patron, His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Honourable E.D Mnangagwa,
Head Coach, Norman Mapeza and his technical team,
Club Chairman, Evans Mtombeni and entire executive,
Our former club executives who were led by the now Honorary Lifetime President Nathan Shoko; whom without his initial guidance, there would be no FC Platinum success,
Club supporters, Zvishavane and Midlands communities
Media partners, in particular YAFM and all those who chose to believe we can do this.
Thank you.
G. MAWERE
CLUB PRESIDENT
