The Sunday Mail
Don Makanyanga
IT is often said football is a universal language, but for Falcon FC the game is much more than that – it is the world.
The Harare-based social soccer team – made up of players who are deaf and mute – brings to life Pele’s timeless assertion that football is the world’s most beautiful game.
For Falcom FC, there is no shouting, no arguing with the referee, and every goal is celebrated as if it is the first and last they will ever score.
“Football gives these guys something to enjoy, it gives them a platform to prove that being deaf and mute is never a limitation.
“Because to us it is more than just a game we respect the game so much. That is why you see that we will never mob a referee or show our displeasure through hand gestures when a bad call has been made against us,” said club chairman Israel Nyandoro.Falcon ply their trade in the Harare Marketers League.
Last year, at the annual Heroes Gold Cup, the team was given a kit by the Castle Lager Premier Soccer sponsors of Dynamos and Highlanders, BancABC.
“That gesture really meant a lot to the boys and they wrote a letter to BancABC thanking them for such a gesture,” said Nyandoro. “You see, these boys have struggled for everything – from a playing kit to the ball itself – so having a corporate as big as BancABC coming through was massive for us.
“Because we carry such a brand on our shirts, in a league that is for marketers, we believe we are the bank’s ambassadors just like Dynamos and Highlanders.”
Nyandoro reckons some of his charges can play in the Premier Soccer League if they can only get a chance to prove their worth.
He revealed that one of his players was turned down by a Premiership club when he reported for advertised trials because he “could not speak”.
“That was back in 2005 and it really hurt us bad,” said Nyandoro, who refused to name the club involved. “Prior to that incident we just trained and never thought of joining a league but that sad episode made us take the first steps towards the big time. “Our dream is to play in the Premier Soccer League and we don’t really mind how long that journey will take us . . . even if its two decades we don’t mind. We far come so far and can see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Nyandoro uses his own money to oil Falcon FC.
“I look at this task as a God given mandate and view these boys as family. We are in this together, the little I get from my business venture we share with these boys.
“We are always confident that brighter days are coming and appeal to other well wishers to come on board and help us as well,” he said.
