The Sunday Mail
There are Russell Madamombe and Onai Chingawo, Kirsty Coventry and Tyrone Seward, as well as former Warriors stalwart Esrom Nyandoro and his beau Ruth Banda!
These are Zimbabwe sports power couples.
Simbarashe and Sukoluhle Mungomezi (pictured) might be relatively unknown at national level because our country is obsessed with football. However, in the basketball fraternity, the two are the true embodiment of the romantic movie “Love & Basketball”.
Simba is a national team player and the 2015 Basketball Union of Zimbabwe National Championships’ Most Valuable Player while Sukoluhle is a key player for national women basketball champions Vixiens.
“I met my wife back in 2007, after I and a couple of friends went for a drink up at a mutual acquaintance’s house,” recalls Simba.
“I don’t really recall the circumstances that led us into talking, since they were so many people there, but we immediately clicked and became good friends.
“It was a bit later that we decided to take our friendship to the next level and the courtship lasted about a month after which we dated for another four years before we finally got married.”
Sokoluhle’s version is slightly different and the more romantic one.
“For me it was love at first sight, but we took our time establishing a friendship before we dated and eventually got married,” she says.
The Mungomezis have quietly risen — dribbling and dunking their way to the top of the game.
Their secret?
“Well it’s quite easy to be honest, we have a relationship based on trust and respect and have put our lives and marriage in the hands of God,” says Sukoluhle. “Due to the demands of work and our careers , were we work all day, train after hours and have games every weekend, we make sure that we go to church together every Sunday and catch up as a family whenever we can.
“We have even built a half court at our house and play whenever time affords us . . . it helps us bond and as a result our two-year-old son, Darrel, has since picked up on the sport and recently learnt how to dribble the ball we bought him.”
The Easter weekend was a good one for the “first family of basketball” as they both collected winners medals when their teams, JBC and Vixens, won the 2015 edition of BUZ National Club Championships in Mutare.
JBC, which Simbarashe skippered, beat rivals Cameo 49-39 in the final; while Sukoluhle’s Vixens saw off Green Stars 70-50 to successfully defend their title.
Simba duly collected the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament award with Vixens’ Margret Magwaro bagging the same in the female category.
The championship was Simba’s sixth title with three different clubs. He has also played for Mbare Heat and the now defunct Kingdom Cavs.
The couple celebrated their championship wins, the local equivalent of the NBA championship in the United States, with a romantic dinner.
“Simba took me out for dinner when we got back to Harare and it was a beautiful night,” says Sukoluhle.
While they love each other and basketball too, the couple — like any other — has its differences.
“Obviously we share our love for basketball and the life we have built together but we are different people and we accommodate each other.
“Let me give you an example, I’m a Miami Heat fan but he pretty much follows Lebron James around, supporting whichever team he plays for. He supports Chelsea but I’m an Arsenal fan,” says Sukoluhle.
