The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
Sports Reporter
GOING through FC Platinum’s public relations executive Chido Chizondo’s Facebook post, one can easily notice that life in the football trenches has taught her the art of drawing positives even from tough situations.
Chizondo, who recently tested positive for Covid-19, took to social media to share her daily experiences with the world while she recovered in isolation at her Zvishavane home.
She got the result a day before travelling with the team to Tanzania for their CAF Champions League second round, second-leg tie, where the miners crashed out of the tournament following a 4-0 defeat to Simba Sports Club.
After undergoing regular tests since the Premiership champions began their Champions League campaign, Chizondo assumed she would get a negative result as usual, hence she was already on her way to Harare enroute to Dar es Salaam the following day.
She, however, still has memories of the fear and confusion that gripped her when she got the call that suddenly changed her life for the next few weeks.
“I was just past Boterekwa when I got the call that would change everything. After getting the news, my first instinct was fear because imagine testing positive at the beginning of the year when you least expect it.
“I got out of the car in confusion and panic; in fact, I was taken aback, asking myself if I was doing anything wrong in terms of regulatory measures. That is when I realised that with Covid-19 you can never be too sure or trust anyone, so I had to make a U-turn and go back home.
“When I got home, my husband could tell something was wrong. I had deliberately not called him to avoid unnecessary panic, so I told him and went into isolation.”
But this was not the first time to isolate.
Just before Christmas last year, Chizondo had a bad flu and suspecting that somehow it could be Covid-19, she voluntarily decided to isolate, hence it was easy for her family to adjust.
Because this time the tests confirmed that she was positive, isolation was tougher.
“The process was not easy… you get low points, feelings of anxiety, panic attacks, but despite all this, you need to focus on the positives.
“A lot of people around me started to feel sick, worse others even succumbed to Covid-19, so going to sleep my fear was of not making it to the following morning,’’ she said.
“Whenever I woke up, I would feel so grateful, which then gave me the zeal to share my battle with the world to try and encourage others because it is mentally challenging when dealing with Covid-19.”
Chizondo, who last year scooped the top corporate social responsibility manager of the year gong at the CSR and Responsible Business Awards, has been with FC Platinum since 2013.
Since then, she had never missed any of the club’s games due to an ailment.
“Missing the game was heart-breaking. I enjoy travelling with the team; in fact, I get that adrenaline rush when I am in the stadium.
“I had to miss the emotions of winning or losing, the anger, the passion.
“I remember almost smashing the TV as I watched the game, but I told myself that there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and that is when I learnt that Covid-19 is a battle that people are underestimating. Once you have it and you see people around you succumbing to it, you need to keep strong and optimistic.”
Born to former footballer Anderson Dick, Chizondo’s passion for soccer started at a tender age.
Dick was a midfielder for Dynamos Under-16, Highfield Tornados, Metal Box, City Spinners and later Salisbury Pick in 1971.
This gave Chizondo the drive to learn more about the game, and during her high school days at Goromonzi, she was often at the pitch watching and cheering on the school team.
However, her mother tried to talk her out of football and even banned her from going to the stadium.
Conversely, her father was supportive, and this left her mother without any choice but to follow suit.
After high school, she proceeded to tertiary education where she focused more on her academic studies.
She then joined Buy Zimbabwe for a brief moment before the then Mimosa Mining Company chairperson Winston Chitando, now Minister of Mines and Mining Development, asked her to assist FC Platinum with public relations.
Through secondment in 2013, she left Buy Zimbabwe for the Premiership side.
“It has been a journey of ups and downs. For the longest time, we were less than a handful females in soccer, but then later it evolved to being an actual business and more women began to emerge, creating a proper support system around us.
“Women in football are still generally stigmatised because it has for a long time been a space where men thrived and women were seen to bring bad results, which also came with myths, but over the years the environment became friendlier. . .” Chizondo said.
