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Raymond Jaravaza at Mtshabezi High School

HOSTED on a rotational basis, four educational institutions Mtshabezi, Milton, Gifford and Entumbane High Schools meet four times a year in a football tournament featuring boys and girls’ teams.

The tournament is sponsored by United Kingdom based Dumisani Ndlovu.

The tournament has been running for a number of years but was briefly disrupted by the Covid 19 pandemic.

On Saturday the schools met at Mtshabezi High School.

The schools will meet again at Gifford, then one more time at Milton before the finals at Entumbane High School in August.

The sponsors of the tournament provide playing kit for all the participating teams and this year an extra incentive of four uniforms per side has been added.

For teams based in Bulawayo, coming down to Mtshabezi High School in Matabeleland South Province was a moment to cherish and as well as a chance to foster friendships with their peers. It was bringing children from different cultural backgrounds together.

Such tournaments leave a lasting legacy of tolerance and healthy competition, especially among schoolboys from Milton and Gifford who tend to settle teenage scores through fights in the Bulawayo city centre when they meet after school.

Why the four schools?

The tournament sponsor Ndlovu did his secondary schooling at Mtshabezi and enrolled at Gifford for his ‘A’ Level before teaching at Entumbane High. One of his best friends at ‘A’ Level was at Milton High.

Results at a glance

Boys

Gifford 0-0 Mtshabezi, Milton 1 (Juninho Sibanda) -0 Entumbane, Entumbane 0-0 Mtshabezi, Gifford 1 (Justice Mupakaviri)-0 Milton, Milton 0-1 Prince Letha Mtshabezi, Gifford 0-0 Entumbane

Girls

Entumbane 1-1 Mtshabezi