One of the oldest athletic clubs in the province, Tshakhuma Athletics Club, which has been struggling for years without a sponsorship, recently found a new home.

They received a generous donation last week of a hundred sweaters from one of the area’s leading security companies, Gwala Security. The presentation was made at the company´s head office in Shayandima. Gwala Security was only established last year, but is now known throughout the province. The company specializes in Cash-in-transit and general guarding

“Being a new company does not mean that we do not know our background; we know the plight of our communities,” said Norman Budeli, a manager at the company. He said they were very excited to be associated with a club that has done a lot to develop athletics in the province.

Budeli said the professionalism shown by Mr Baldwin Masutha, the founder and chairperson of the club, made them not think twice when he came knocking at their door. “He is a real marketer who knows what he wants for his club, and we could not resist him,” he said. Budeli said the mission of the club of taking the youth from the streets, developing and nurturing them in sport was extremely attractive to them.

He said his company had already made its presence felt by donating to orphanages, soccer clubs and many community initiatives. “We will continue extending our hand as long as the community continues to support us; it is our social responsibility,” said Budeli.

Mr Masutha said their club was like a lost child, wandering about not knowing where to go, until they reached Gwala’s door. The club boasts 250 members and had embarked on a door-to-door campaign, looking for sponsors. Despite the challenges facing them, the club, which was started in 1990, managed to produce champions with one of their members, Azwinaki Ndou, winning a trophy in France and Lutendo Chauke, Cynthia Baloyi and Aluwani Nkhanedzeni also selected to represent the province in a national tournament later this year.

“We survived through these years by the goodwill of the people, but our goal of producing top-class runners is not being realized, as we are faced with challenges,” said Masutha. Masutha said his runners run barefoot and do not have training tracksuits or training camps before important events. “This is affecting us very adversely and we seem not to be progressing without these facilities. Please help us out,” he said.

Masutha has since relocated to Shayandima and is thinking of changing the name of the club as it is no longer based at Tshakhuma. “After consulting local structures, we came up with a name that will depict the area where the club is based and the name Mvudi Athletics Club seems to be taking the lead.”