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Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter

“Genius is the gold in the mine, talent is the miner that works and brings it out,” wrote the late Irish novelist, journalist, and literary hostess Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington.
Many believe an aspiring model can’t venture into sport nor can a athlete pursue other avenues where they feel they can make it.

The description of a miner working hard to bring out the gold, best describes a young Bulawayo woman and former Girls’ College student who has gone out to pursue her talent and has represented Zimbabwe in three different codes.
From the hockey field to squash courts and walking down the runway at one of the biggest modelling stages in the world – there is no end to her talent.

Tumi Sibanda Miss Teen Universe Zimbabwe

Tumi Sibanda, was part of the Zimbabwean women’s team that played in last year’s Senior Squash Championships that were held in Bulawayo, represented the national under-18 hockey team and was recently named in the national under-21 hockey side for the Junior Africa Cup of Nations slated for March thi year in Egypt.

Not only is Sibanda donning the national colours with pride in sporting activities, last year she also got the chance to represent Zimbabwe at the Miss Teen Universe modelling contest.

For her, the journey into the sporting world began at primary school where it was mandatory for one to be into sports and continued at high school where she was introduced to a game she was unfamiliar with before she ventured into yet another field she has always been fond of.

“Hockey was my first love since I have been playing that for the longest, I learnt at Carmel Primary School so it was normal for everyone to play every sport. That’s how that came along and with squash I only started playing in form three, I was playing team tennis at Girls College and it was just suggested that if I enjoy tennis then I would probably enjoy squash even though I had never heard of the sport in my life, I had no idea what it was like but I definitely fell in love with it the quickest.

“With modelling, that only came about last year. I always had an interest in it and I have always had family and friends pushing me towards it, but I never started until last year. My parents always wanted me to reach a certain age before I pursue that side of things and I’d say the Miss Teen Universe pageant is what kick-started everything in my modelling career,” Sibanda told Saturday Chronicle.

Taking the sport in high school, Sibanda fell in love with squash more as it is an individual sport whereby whatever happens in the court will all be on her.
“Squash is an individual sport so the pressure is all on me. I’m the one that messes up or I’m the one that takes the win. It is literally all on me and I enjoy that and I’d say its therapeutic for me in a way. Modelling would be a close second because it is fun and I do enjoy it, but not as much as squash,” she said.

Time management is a key factor in everything one does and failure to properly handle it might lead to poor results. This is one thing that the youngster has mastered as she managed to balance her academia and sport at the same time.
“It takes a lot of hard work and time management to make sure that I’m at my peak throughout the whole year in every single way. Yes, I have the three elements, hockey, squash and modelling but above them all I will always put my academics first and I know what to focus on throughout different seasons,” she said.

Going all the way to represent Zimbabwe across three different fields, on and off the field of play, the young Sibanda said it is an incredible feat and is grateful to all who supported her.
“It feels quite unbelievable. Not because I was able to achieve these things, but the support I received from people was unbelievable. The idea that so many people saw something in me and selected me for their teams, or invested their time, energy, efforts and money for sponsorship. That is what has been so emotionally overwhelming for me. So, above it all, I just feel so thankful,” she said.

Just like many others out there in different fields, challenges will always be there and for Sibanda one of those she faced was continuing to train, work hard and putting in her all even after she repeatedly couldn’t represent her country due to lack of finances.
“Because you start to wonder, why am I putting in all this time and effort to make the team when I know that I probably won’t even be able to go and represent my country? So staying hopeful despite this has definitely been my biggest challenge in every area,” said Sibanda.

With the year 2022 being the highlight of her career to date, where she finally got the chance to represent Zimbabwe in the three codes, the 18-year-old encouraged other young females who aspire to pursue different fields to have clear goals and the zeal to work hard which can be achieved through prayer.

“Excelling in many different fields is never easy. You need to have a clear goal, the drive to work hard and trust in yourself and I believe all this can be achieved through prayer. Pray your way through life. Give thanks to God before, during and after every win or lose. Faith is the confidence boost you need to get through life,” she said
The goal for Sibanda is to take her career to the next level where she will be participating in international events. — @brandon_malvin.