FS Raiders Women’s rugby had a stellar debut season bagging all accolades before them at home and in the region to cap a stellar 2021 laden with trophies.
Raiders’ raids resulted in them winning trophies in all the competitions that they took part in the year under review.
Their blend of exciting rugby has won them a new set of fans and turned heads as they were the team to beat throughout the Covid-19 shortened season.
They won the Exide Sevens tournament at home, Harare Province 7’s, Harare Province 10’s and the Sable Chicken national 7’s.
Their most significant achievement was winning the Zambia Independence Challenge Cup against formidable Zambian clubs. Ironically, these Zambian clubs that Raiders beat provide the bulk of national team players where Zambia has dominated Zimbabwe.
Raiders won all the awards on offer for their efforts at the Harare province awards ceremony.
Lissy Wasarirevu was named Coach of The Year, Club Captain Chioniso Mabika and Pauline Sianga were named backline players of the year. Mabika went a step further as she was crowned the overall Player of The Year.
Such has been the dominance of Raiders that Maxine Mufambisi and Rumbidzai Chigumbu were jointly named Forward Players of The Season.
To cap it all, Raiders won the Club of The Year award, and their chairman Savious Ngundu won the Administrator of The Year award.
Despite all these achievements in their entire season, club chairperson, Ngundu, it is not yet time to relax as they try to build on this success.
“2021 was a great season for us, albeit short, but as a club, in these Covid-19 times, we can take playing little rugby than not having games at all,” he told EnterSportNews.
“We would have loved to test ourselves in the Fifteens format, but it is what it is; hopefully, next year we will play a full season of rugby.”
Ngundu, who loves doing the work behind the scenes and letting the players enjoy their place in the sun, spoke passionately about Raiders’ vision 2025.
“All our achievements this season feed into our vision 2025 of becoming the best women’s rugby club in Africa,” Ngundu added.
“That’s why our victory in the Zambia Challenge was so important because it showed that we can get positive results against opponents that are perceived to be better in the region.”
Running a club is not a walk in the park as it requires financial injection from corporates and individuals alike.
In their young life, Raiders have managed to attract sponsorship which has made life a bit easier for them in their bid to become the best in Africa.
“I would like to thank our sponsors, Jft Lifestyle, Events Evolution, Efe, Thundercraft and Printyard, without whom we wouldn’t have been able to achieve all the things we did the past season,” he said.
“We are forever indebted to all our sponsors, and hopefully, more can come on board next season as we try and grow the Raiders men’s team into a formidable brand.”
Raiders will be the team to beat next season and now have a healthy rivalry with the Police Defenders Women. Ngundu and his administration are already working flat out as they try to maintain the high standards they have set for themselves.
“Look, if we don’t follow up on what we did this year with strong performances next season, it means this year would have been a waste,” he said.
“We know that all our rivals are going to up their game, and we are also leaving no stone unturned because we are Raiders and were born to raid.”
