The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
AS a musician, netball player and coach, police officer and a Minister, it is a miracle that Maxwell Nyandoro has time to breathe, let alone handle the duties that come with his many passions.
The 39-year-old is credited with introducing men’s netball to Bulawayo, where he was the founding coach of Black Panther.
He is a member of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, a pastor at St Peters Apostolic Faith Mission and has a music career on the side.
This is on top of his studies at the University of Zimbabwe, with which he has a Bachelors’ degree in Adult Education, and is currently studying towards an honors degree.
“When you are doing things that you love, you discover that you will have time to do them all,” said Nyandoro.
“I give myself time to do my netball, punctually attend to my police duties, do my music, study and remain with some for family.
“However, pastoring may seem like it’s meant for Sundays, but for me it is actually an everyday thing so apart from daily evangelism sessions, I use ministry in my police work, music and netball.”
However, Nyandoro reckons that his first love is and has always been netball, with his earliest memories in the sport coming from his days at Bulawayo’s Lukhanyiso Primary School.
There, he would spend his hours at the netball courts watching the girls train, nurturing his love for the sport.
With time, he then started to horn his skills in the sport.
Nyandoro was then entrusted with coaching duties of the school’s division two team.
Despite his age, he set up a lethal squad that earned silverware for the school.
“I was young and we made waves in our division.
“Socially though, it was not easy.
“Netball is predominately a girls’ sport, so many people said all sorts of things,” said Nyandoro.
“I did not pay attention to all the talk, and have never looked back since,” he said.
Next up was Mpopoma High, and there he would occasionally assist in the school’s training sessions.
Netball was then put on ice, as 2002 came, and Nyandoro joined the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
It is during this time that he decided to venture into music, recording his debut album in 2004.
“I had limited resources, so the album was recorded in a backyard studio.
“It was not that good and failed to penetrate the market,” chuckled the gaffer.
With the disappointment of his failed music career; Nyandoro traced back to his netball roots in 2009, taking a coaching assignment with Bulawayo Police Provincial team which participated in ZINA’s Division Two.
He took the team to the Commissioner-General’s galas, making a name for himself.
Noting that most countries globally had introduced men’s netball, Nyandoro brought the game to Bulawayo as he founded Black Panthers in 2014.
Two years later he found his way back into music as he joined Bulawayo Police praise and worship team.
This is when he met Daniel Mbiza, Raymond Mutizwa, Hault Mucheni among other officers and established the “Just in time” music crew.
By then, men’s netball was also gaining popularity and Nyandoro’s club was overwhelmed, which led to the formation of more clubs around the country.
The men’s league was then birthed in 2018.
“I had a full plate, but somehow I managed,” said Nyandoro.
“Come 2019 when we did our second project, we had to dedicate more hours in the studio, so I had to plan properly.
“I was now a player/coach in netball, the men’s league was running and I was also umpiring on the side.
“I made it work,” he said of his hectic schedule.
