PENHALONGA is a mining town in Mutasa District in the Manicaland Province in Zimbabwe, located 18 km north of Mutare in a valley where the Tsambe and Imbeza Rivers meet the Mutare River.
Here they do not only mine gold, but they also produce gems- netball Gems.
One of Zimbabwe netball’s brightest stars, Claris Kwaramba, hails from this humble place where big mines just mine and take their stash away without developing the site.
In 2019, a 19-year old Kwararamba was not only part of the record-breaking Zimbabwe netball team that did duty for the nation at the Liverpool World Cup but was also a guaranteed starter in most of the games.
As they are famously known, the Gems took Liverpool by storm and became neutrals favourite due to their gutsy performances and post-match victory dances.
After the highs playing at a Seniors World Cup in Liverpool, England, in 2019, the 21-year-old Kwaramba, had to deal with the devastating blow of missing out on captaining Zimbabwe in the Under-21 World Cup Qualifiers due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A few months ago, she was preparing for her last age-group World Cup Qualifiers, but Covid-19 had other ideas.
Failing to play in the U21 World Cup Qualifiers was a setback Kwaramba has accepted with her usual humility. Everything about her embodies the ultimate team player. She is more worried about her performance and what she brings to the team, not the captain’s armband.
“This was my last year in the 21 and Under team, and l wanted to give it my best and qualify for the World Cup,” the soft-spoken Kwaramba told EnterSportNews.
“I’m confident that we were going to qualify, and captaining the team was not so important to me. All l wanted was to qualify and be in the top five on the world rankings.”
The Zimbabwe junior team eventually failed to make the cut to the World Cup because they were ranked outside the top 10. The other teams played in several international tournaments and earned points, whilst the junior Gems did not participate in any games during the cut-off period.
Kwaramba has missed another pathway to a high profile netball tournament and another opportunity to be scouted by the Australian, English or New Zealand clubs.
“l believe it’s every netballer’s dream to play at the world cup; that’s the only way l can be exposed to international teams and gain more experience,” Kwaramba added.
Her netball prowess aside, the FC Platinum Queens defender is also an academic genius who got 20 points in her Advanced Level and is now pursuing a Law degree at the University of Zimbabwe.
Balancing her school work and pursuing her netball career has not been easy for the former Pamushana High School student.
“It’s not easy to balance the two. Law is very demanding. I have to study, write assignments, attend online lectures, and at times, my lectures and netball training do clash,” she the wing defence player.
“I am part of the UZ Netball team, and I can’t wait to represent the Varsity, we were supposed to have played some games but the Covid-19 ended it all.”
Gems’ captain Felisitus Kwangwa’s move to the English Netball Super League has given the current generation of Zimbabwe netball players hope and opened their eyes to the possibilities out there.
Many scouts were impressed with Zimbabwean players during the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup but most players have been overlooked because of their height based on their positions. Kwaramba is one of those players but is still on the scout’s radar.
Despite her diminutive height of 1,6m, she was able to dominate wing attacks on the world stage, who were much taller than her with her speed, assured footwork and making crucial intercepts for her team.
Kwaramba is focused on overcoming the doubts about her playing level that have festered over the past few months because of her height at WD.
Wing Defence needs someone who is consistently focused and swift to react, all of which Kwaramba possesses.
It is not a coincidence that scouts scrutinise players who play wing defence because recent studies show that the centre player has the highest intensity per match, followed closely by wing defence, then wing attack and goal-attack.
We have not seen or heard the last of Kwaramba yet as it is not perturbed by anything.
She has tasted what it is like to play with the world’s best, and now she wants it to be an everyday thing following in the footsteps of her role model, Kwangwa and play in the Netball Super League.
“She (Felisitus) has always been my local role model. At one point, I thought Zimbabwe didn’t have talent before she went to Surrey, but I now believe that it’s possible even for me and others to follow in her footsteps. It’s just a matter of time,” said Kwaramba with a wry smile.
