The Sunday Mail
Steven Muzawazi
THE televised and biggest High Schools Quiz Tournament on the land, proudly sponsored by Old Mutual and other stakeholders, kicks off on the 29th of June to the 2nd of July with 30 schools from the country’s 10 Provinces battling for supremacy.
The desire to take home the bragging rights of who has the sharpest minds in Zimbabwe is bringing the much hype to this much eagerly awaited contest.
All the schools dubbed the ‘Davids’ and ‘Goliaths’ of this prestigious event have at one stage gone on to the big podium amid their coronation for being the best performing school, the latest being St Marys Beitbridge, who, on their first appearance at the National Finals, did not have an idea of how to win it. But a combination of renewed fighting spirit, sheer determination and amazing answering
prowess formed the core of the Mat. South School’s dazzling performance as the fired up kids silenced their fellow big brothers and sisters in a pulsating tournament.
It will obviously not be easy for St Mary’s Beitbridge to retain the top gong again as they should be aware that other schools will be eager to make ammends and will not be quiz’s versions of Father Christmas.
2015 winners Marist Brothers Inyanga will be seeking to bury the disappointment of not being able to be the first school to defend the title, hoping to take back the trophy to the Eastern border of the country, a feat which will also not come on a silver platter as the likes of Sanyati, Fletcher, Rujeko, Wanezi, John Tallack, to name but just a few, sent their intensions after winning their respective Provincial Tournaments.
Bulawayo schools in the form of Montrose , Townsend and Northlea will be hoping the the city of kings and queens schools’ campaign at the national finals will finally impress at the country’s biggest knockout quiz competition. Bulawayo representatives have never tested the nervousness of being on the Grand finale.
Past winners of this Old Mutual-sponsored quiz like St Faith and Mwenezi will tell you that history can repeat itself and this year’s tourney will present another stern test of their title credentials.
St Faith, the only school to have appeared at all the National Finals since the inception of this tournament, will be another charged buffalo and will be aiming to transform their academic fame onto the quiz stage.
2014 winners Mwenezi High, whose spirits were deflated when they missed out an appearance at the nationals, will be eager to repeat their astonishing show of three years ago.
The sunshine city will be represented by Kuwadzana 2, Prince Edward and Zengeza 1 High. Kuwadzana 2 made a surprise appearance in last year’s national final, and with the school retaining most if not all of their team, continuity and experience will be key to their title charge.
Known for their success in sporting activities, Prince Edward will be eager to also show that they are up there when it comes to mind-stretching games. Zengeza have been faring very well at the big occasion for the past 2 years, managing to get to the Semi-finals.
Mtshabezi, Dadaya and Mazowe are some of the schools that were not part of last season’s participants. They will be joined by Mosi oa Tunya, St Anthony’s, Pamushana, Chikangwe, Vimbai in a league of schools whom odds will be against, but can cause a major upset. A battle of Regina Mundis will be on the cards, as both schools from the Midlands and Matebeleland North put up some encouraging shows in the preliminary rounds.
Mashonaland East province is slowly turning into a warzone as Rusununguko has of late gate-crashed into the debate of who owns the bragging rights of one of the country’s competitive zones. Goromonzi and St Ignatius’s rivalry will be rekindled again, with the former having scooped third prize last year. So, who will win the televised Big One? That question will be answered on the night of Saturday 1 July 2017.
Special thanks goes to Old Mutual Foundation , who are the proud sponsors of the Zimbabwe Schools Quiz Tournament. For a fourth year running, the Foundation has been the core benefactor of the revived televised quiz .Old Mutual is no stranger to supporting the development and growth of students and individuals as a whole as it has an Maths Olympiad, sponsorship for junior developmental rugby and its long distance marathon
