The Sunday Mail
Thomas Mangwiro – Sports Correspondent
THERE are players who master their positions so well one gets the feeling they were born to play in their designated areas.
Players of grit and gusto who are prepared to fight and win everything no matter what it takes.
One such player is Brighton ‘Nzungu’ Ngunzi.
The 25-year-old Stanbic Thunder power hitter is one of the most talented players in local volleyball.
He also has a dark side to his talent.
Ngunzi has earned himself the tag of being the bad boy of the local game, always on the move amid complaints that club administrators mistreat him. He has played for five clubs since making his top flight debut with Trojan Mine in 2005.
However, the Bindura University third-year Finance and Banking student defends his club swapping antics, saying the “rotten system should not be allowed to prevail.”
“People should not play with others’ emotions so that they see their indiscipline,” he said.
“Some of us play this game because we love it and have given everything for it, so people must not do whatever they feel like doing with us and expect us to suffer in silence. Players are the game’s lifeblood.
“We stand for the development of this sport, but we are not getting due recognition yet we have done a lot to keep volleyball afloat in Zimbabwe.”
Ngunzi also defends his journeyman career.
“No one wants to be always on the move, but circumstances force you. One cannot stay at a club where they are mistreated,” he said.
“I left Trojan in 2007 to join Jewels where I played for only half a season before I packed my bags for Hawks.
“I played for Hawks from that time up to mid season of 2011 before I joined Zimpost where I featured for the remainder of that season.
“I then moved to Stanbic Thunder in 2012, left them again and rejoined Jewels. Now I am back at Stanbic Thunder. All my moves where triggered by some push factors.”
Ngunzi’s career started off in 2005 with Trojan, but it was the now defunct Ashanti Volleyball Club that ignited his love for the game.
Unlike most of his peers he grew up with in Bindura, Ngunzi would choose to go and watch Ashanti training at Hermann Gmeiner Secondary School rather thanfollow the football action in the mining town.
“It was during my regular visits to watch the Ashanti training sessions at Hermann Gmeiner that I developed interest in the sport. However, my decision to become a player came after watching them play Black Rhinos in a league game.
“Unfortunately, I never got the chance to train with them, but I made sure I never missed any of their sessions. I found joy in retrieving balls and talking to the players after sessions,” he disclosed.
His stellar debut season at Trojan saw Ngunzi being drafted into the national Under-19 squad in 2006, with a senior national team call-up coming a year later ahead of the Olympic qualifiers in Durban, South Africa.
Despite his somewhat temperamental nature, Ngunzi says he strives to be a role model to the upcoming players.
