Zimbabwe women's national football team at the 2016 Olympic Games
Zimbabwe Sevens Rugby Team at the 2009 Hong Kong Sevens
Zimbabwe at 2018 World Rowing Junior Championships

Sport in Zimbabwe has a long tradition and has produced many world recognized sports names and personalities. Football is the most popular sport, although rugby union, cricket, tennis, golf, and netball also have a following, traditionally among the middle class and the white minority. Field hockey is also played widely.

Although Zimbabwe has produced many athletes that have competed for Zimbabwe, there are also many athletes who learned their sport in Zimbabwe, but have chosen to represent other countries, due to greater earning opportunities abroad. Despite this the country has long punched above its weight, with international success in cricket, tennis, rugby union, field hockey, and swimming among other sports. Much of this can be attributed to the country's historically strong sporting and educational culture as well as an attractive climate that encourages outdoor pursuits.

Cricket

Cricket is the second most popular sport in Zimbabwe after football. The national team is one of 12 elite Full Members that play Test cricket. They began after defeating the Australian national cricket team in an upset in 1983.

This led to the country achieving test status in 1992, and further international success in the early 2000s. Andy Flower, a Zimbabwean batsman, ranked as the top batsman in the world, during this era. However, issues of corruption, mismanagement, emigration and a decline in funding led to a series of poor performances in Test cricket into the past decade. The team have recently improved with a revamped domestic structure.

Field hockey

Field hockey has the second biggest player base in the country after football, equally split among genders and a strong youth foundation in many schools. Currently, Zimbabwe has three pitches, two in Bulawayo – one water base and one sand filled – and another sand filled at the Arundel School in the capital city of Harare. Bulawayo has approximately 1,000 hockey players and Harare 8,000.[1] While the country had a tradition in the sport, with the women's team being gold medallist of the inaugural Olympic tournament in Moscow 1980, they struggled in recent times largely due to their inability to participate in international competitions organized by the African Hockey Federation (AfHF) and the International Hockey Federation (FIH), until the Khumalo Hockey Stadium was refurbished and played host to the 2011 African Olympic Qualifier.[2]

Football

The Zimbabwe national football team, nicknamed The Warriors, have qualified for the African Cup of Nations twice (in 2004 and 2006), but have never passed the group stages.

The Zimbabwe women's national football team, nicknamed Mighty Warriors, qualified for the 2016 Olympic football tournament.[3]

The Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League (known as Castle Lager Premier Soccer League) is the top professional division in Zimbabwe. There are 16 teams in the division with FC Platinum from Zvishavane being the defending champions (2018 season). Dynamos F.C has the most league wins followed by their arch rivals Highlanders FC whom they play against in the Zimbabwe Derby. There are two main cup competitions played in Zimbabwe, both are knockout tournaments, the first is the Mbada Diamonds Cup with Highlanders FC being crowned champions of the 2013 edition and the Banc ABC Super 8 which was won by Shabanie Mine in 2013 as well. Of late the Football administrators have partnered with a local company to launch another cup game – Chibuku Super Cup. The CBZ FA Cup was first created as the Southern Rhodesia Castle Cup in 1962. The other major cup is the Zimbabwean Independence Trophy created as a clubs competition in 1983.

Zimbabwe has eight main stadiums where football is played, the largest being the multi-use National Sports Stadium.

Notable Zimbabwean footballers are Benjamin "Benjani" Mwaruwari, who plays for Blackburn Rovers F.C. as a striker, having taken over the captaincy from Peter Ndlovu. Ndlovu is also a notable Zimbabwean footballer having spent twelve seasons playing for top English football clubs. Another well known Zimbabwean footballer is Bruce Grobbelaar, a goalkeeper, who played for the national team, but most notably for Liverpool F.C. from 1980 to 1994.

Rugby union

Rugby union is a significant sport in Zimbabwe, dating back to the late 19th century. The Zimbabwe national rugby union team has been at the Rugby World Cup twice. The country has also produced a number of significant rugby players, although there most of the country's best often leave for the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia, due to the lack of a professional league and the lure of much greater salaries abroad.

Golf

Zimbabwe has a long history in the sport with highlights provided by greats such as Nick Price, Brendon de Jonge, Mark McNulty and Tony Johnstone.

With dozens of courses for the 15 million population, the country is well served. Zimbabwean golfers compete on the Sunshine Tour with a strong rivalry with South Africa. Many of the most prolific golfers tend to move on to the European and PGA Tours.

Polocrosse

Polocrosse has been played in Zimbabwe (at the time Rhodesia) since 1948.[4] In 1997, Zimbabwe became the World Champions when they went unbeaten against Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa in Pietermaritzburg. Zimbabwe came fourth out of eight countries at the inaugural World Cup in 2003. Zimbabwe also won the Polocrosse Africa Cup in 2004. There are currently an estimated 156 playing members from 10 clubs. At the sports playing peak in 1996, there were 420 players.[4] The decrease in Polocrosse players is due primarily to the Zimbabwean diaspora, and on-going economic and political crisis in the country.[5] Polocrosse is often played by people from a rural background, and due to the land reforms in Zimbabwe, many of these people have left the country.

Tennis

Zimbabwe has also competed at Wimbledon and the Davis Cup in tennis, most notably with the Black Family, which comprises Wayne Black, Byron Black, and Cara Black. Zimbabwe's tennis players have also competed in most of the Olympic Games since independence in 1980.

Olympics and other games

Zimbabwe has won eight Olympic medals, one (team medal) in field hockey at the (boycotted) 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and the other seven by swimmer Kirsty Coventry, three at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and four at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Coventry won two gold medals, four silver, and one bronze.

Zimbabwe also did well in the Commonwealth Games and All-Africa Games in swimming, with Coventry winning 11 gold medals in the different competitions.[6][7][8][9] The country hosted the 1995 All-Africa Games.

In golf – in 1995 – Zimbabwe reached the final of the Dunhill Cup, where they narrowly lost to Scotland.

In snowboarding – Zimbabwe have a single pro snowboarder by the name of Michael Lewer. Born in Bulawayo, he moved to Scotland, where he began his snowboarding career. After 8 years in Scotland, he moved to Alberta, Canada in 2012. Michael's main riding locations are Lake Louise and Sunshine, but his favourite is Norquay.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Scope for growth in Zimbabwe | FIH". fih.ch. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  2. ↑ "Hockey in Zimbabwe makes a comeback | FIH". fih.ch. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  3. ↑ Neshamba, Rudo (18 October 2015). "Zimbabwe and South Africa qualify for women's Olympic football". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  4. 1 2 Foot, Craig. "Polocrosse World Wide". Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  5. ↑ "BBC News On-Line". BBC. 8 November 2005. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  6. ↑ "2004 Olympic Games swimming results". CNN. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  7. ↑ "Montreal 2005 Results". Archived from the original on 28 January 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2007.
  8. ↑ "12th FINA World Championships". Archived from the original on 6 June 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2007.
  9. ↑ "BBC Sport Commonwealth Games 2002 Statistics". BBC News. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  10. ↑ 1995 Dunhill Cup
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