SINIKIWE Mpofu collapsed at her Masvingo home and was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital aged 37.
She became the first Zimbabwe woman to coach women’s franchise side when she coached Southern Rocks in 2013 and later took over at Mountaineers, guiding them to a Pro50 title in 2021.
However, she will be best remembered for her stellar playing career as a batting all-rounder who was part of the first group of women who laid the foundation for the current generation of Zimbabwe women cricketers.
Mpofu, popularly known as Sneeze in cricket circles, was born on February 21, 1985, and raised in the Njube suburb of Bulawayo.
Her love for cricket began in 2001 when South Africa toured Zimbabwe for a two-Test match series. The then Zimbabwe Cricket Union board sent buses to the high-density areas to ferry school children to matches.
After that live stadium experience, a seed was sown, and Mpofu started dreaming about one day representing her country.
Her dream was made possible by her solid cricket grounding at Mpopoma High School, where she was in the same class with former Zimbabwe international and current member of the women’s cricket selection panel, Thando Mlilo.
Mpopoma High School was famous for producing the dance group IYASA and Sandra Ndebele. It also had first-class cricketers in Freedom Takarusenga and Tinashe Hove.
After finishing her Ordinary Level, Mpofu enrolled at Hilltop College for her Advanced Level and continued playing cricket with the likes of Siphathisiwe Moyo and Mlilo under the watchful eye of Trevor Phiri, the former Lady Chevrons coach and current Zimbabwe Under-19 women’s coach.
Meanwhile, women’s cricket in the country was starting to be more organised at the national level, and former cricket development manager Jimmy Chikange spearheaded that drive across the country.
Mpofu made the Western provincial team and was subsequently selected to play for Zimbabwe in the World Cup Regional Qualifiers in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2006.
She moved to Harare soon after the regional qualifiers to pursue a Diploma in Journalism at the Christian College of Southern Africa (CCOSA).
Women’s cricket at that time was primarily an amateur sport, she needed something to fall back on, and Sneeze wanted to add her voice to sports journalism.
Her generation played for the love of the game with the hope that those that would follow would take the game further and get better recognition.
She, however, had to make a tough decision between cricket and pursuing her journalism career as her journalism exams continued clashing with her cricket assignments.
Sneeze gave cricket a chance, and cricket reciprocated by giving her many opportunities within the game, including being a scorer and umpiring a few games, but she gave back more through coaching.
After moving to Harare, she joined Highfield-based Takashinga Cricket Club, where she played alongside other pioneers of women’s cricket in Zimbabwe, the likes of Sharice Saili, Nohlahla Nyathi, Julia Chibhabha, Susan Kudzibatira, Chipo Kamuchetsa and young batter by the name of Ruvarashe Chinyemba.
This team became the bedrock of the senior Zimbabwe Women’s cricket team. She formed a formidable opening partnership at the club and national level with Emily Jinjika.
She would sometimes open the bowling or come in first change, bowling at a medium pace.
The Takashinga women’s team, which Sneeze was part of, trained and played against Takashinga men. This prepared her to become a good opener.
During her time at Takashinga, she caught the eyes of an eligible bachelor by the name Shepherd Makunura.
Their courtship led to marriage and put brakes on Mpofu’s career after they were blessed with their firstborn child Farrell.
In 2010 she broke new ground again when she joined Godfrey Koti, Jeffrey Murimbechi, Julia Chibhabha and myself as part of the first-ever vernacular radio cricket commentary team during the Stanbic domestic T20 tournament.
Sneeze never stood out as an outrageous talent like her peers Mlilo and Chibhabha, who both represented Africa against Asia in 2008. But she developed the smarts to survive and thrive, which put her in good stead as a coach.
In 2013 during her time in Masvingo coaching Southern Rocks, she knew the only way to sustain the longevity of the women’s game in the province was through having a solid grassroots programme.
She convinced the Headmaster at Mucheke High School to start a centre of excellence. The programme attracted many girls and continues to churn out more, with some going on to play for the Under-19 and senior national teams.
When she became a coach, what pained her was how some of the current generation of women cricketers do not take their cricket seriously and not understanding the price that her age paid for them to enjoy the game today.
Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) had earmarked Sneeze as the future coach of the women’s senior national team after she called time on her playing career.
She worked as Adam Chifo’s assistant, and like those before them, they failed to clear the final hurdle of the Global Qualifiers and that cost Chifo his job in 2021.
Former Zimbabwe bowler Garry Brent took over from Chifo in 2022. He was happy to have someone in the dressing room who had played for the national team. Mpofu was appointed to be Brent’s Assistant.
The duo almost scripted Zimbabwe’s historic T20 World Cup appearance in South Africa later this year. Still, Ireland heartbreakingly denied them in the Dubai desert heat.
Speaking to her after that near-miss experience, you could tell that it had taken a toll on her and the girls, but such is sport.
She, however, did not have enough time to reflect on that defeat as she had to nurse her husband, Makunura, whose health had deteriorated.
Sneeze disappeared from public appearance as she stood by her husband until his demise four weeks ago.
As fate would have it, Sneeze would be reunited with her husband in death exactly three weeks after, Makunura was laid to rest at Warren Hills.
Mpofu was unique in that she was passionate about everything, be it cricket, family and above all else, she valued relationships more than anything.
She will be greatly missed, and we will only see some of her attributes through her two sons, Tyrese and Farell.
Sinikiwe Gava Mpofu, former Zimbabwe women’s national team player, born February 21, 1985, died January 7, 2023.
