The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
WHILE most football players, both male and female, dream of scaling dizzy heights and scoring goals in front of multitudes of fans, Young Mighty Warriors upstart Cynthia Shonga simply dreams of stopping them.
Since her school days at Sakubva Primary School in Mutare, the young Warriors upstart’s dreams have always firmly been situated between the posts — from the days her brother Misheck, a former Tenax FC player — took her to her first game to the day she first put on her goalkeeper’s jersey.
In 2011, when she was 11, she made her school debut.
“I started playing football in 2011. It was the first time I tasted any type of football action and, despite my age, I felt so composed and ready to block the balls.
“Football already meant everything to me and at matches people would be surprised at how much I knew and understood about the game given my age,” she said.
That very same year, she joined Faith Drive Football Club as a midfielder, but it was not long before she was eventually reverted to being goalkeeper.
During her spare time, she would imitate goalkeepers, for to her being between the sticks was the place she would always envision herself.
Unlike other girls, she spent most of her time with the boys absorbing everything she could about the beautiful game when she enrolled at Nyamauru High School.
It’s quite sad that her parents did not support her dream in the beginning as they tried talking her out of it or simply refused her permission to go train.
But what is success without a little struggle?
“I had to sneak out of the house or simply make up stories just to leave the house, and on the occasions I got caught I would be beaten up,” Shonga.
“After the beatings, the following day I would go back again and train.
“I always knew that one day they would understand my passion for the game,” said the goalie. In 2018, she made a maiden appearance beyond our borders at the Region V Games in Botswana.
It is at the tournament that she made her first meaningful impact, and so began her journey to the national fold.
Harare City Queens would soon come knocking and she answered the knock.
The two have been inseparable ever since.
In 2019, she made her COSAFA U20 Women’s Championships debut under the Rosemary Mugadza-led Young Mighty Warriors.
At the contest, the Young Mighty Warriors fought up to the semis after beating Namibia 4-0 in the quarter-finals.
With four accolades to her name, so far, 20-year-old Shonga now eyes a dance with the Mighty Warriors.
Such is her profile that many have already started touting her as a potential replacement for veteran Chido Dzingirai, who could retire any time now.
“My dream is to play for the Mighty Warriors and make an impact for both club and country.
“It is the goal I am working hard towards now.
“I envy those who made it to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games and I want to scale to such heights with the Mighty Warriors.
“If we could have adequate preparations, time and funding, I know we can go to the Olympics and make an impact,” she said.
Last week, when the Young Mighty Warriors played against Malawi at Barbourfields, Shonga boosted her growing profile with a spectacular performance that led her side to a 1-0 victory.
The result gave the Young Mighty Warriors a 2-1 aggregate win, this after holding Malawi to a one-all draw in the first leg at Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre, the previous week.
Mugadza’s girls face Ethiopia next, while the Fifa Women’s Under 20 World Cup final is scheduled for Costa Rica and Panama in August.
