The Midlands State University handball team popularly, known as the Pythons, are a force to reckon with in Zimbabwean handball having conqured at the Zimbabwe Universities Sports Association games.

This – for them – comes after having defeated arch rivals University of Zimbabwe Wild Cats for the second time in a row.

However, this has not always been the case.

At an institution primarily dominated by traditional sports, the emergence of handball is strongly owed to the bravery and passion of the team’s pioneers Tatenda “T-kay” Kahonde and Loice Nemutenzi.

For the duo, the dream was not to just have an ordinary team, rather the Pythons were to be a brand symbolising commitment, determination, hard work, endurance and most important team work. A legacy that would live on beyond their graduation date.

Lloyd Tapiwa, one of the founding members remarked that despite handball being born at MSU in 2011, 2012 marked the point when the vision materialised.

“On an old clay court we sweated and tossed two balls to each other and the commitment and joy we exhibited generated a lot of attention which captivated even those who didn’t know what handball was”, said Tapiwa.

The team began entering into local competitions and engaging in friendly matches without a coach, with only commitment to establish a sport they were overly passionate about.

Tapiwa said that these local matches were barely won as they faced stiff competition from Guinea Fowl High School captained by Anopa Mugomba who currently plays for the Pythons.

Never lacking in zeal and talent the Pythons only got better and in no time they had the strongest male and female teams that made opponents shudder when they faced them on the court.

In 2013 the team made it to the prestigious ZUSA games and won gold for both teams. The ZUSA champions went on to dominate at the Zimbabwe Tertiary Institutions Sports Union games.

Captain Nash Nyamutora remarked that the teams are set on maintaining their current domination in the local Handball and are planning to participate in international competitions.

They hope to become a recognised club breeding professional athletes and ensuring their players of a handball career after university.

“We want to be able to produce players who can successfully engage in professional careers. The team is set to continue to nurturing current partnerships and seek more sponsorship packages.

“Currently we have been relying much on our institution’s coffers but we have realised that it is time we incorporate the corporate sector and other well-wishers as sponsorship will help boost our capacity and enable us to play in more competitive and international competitions such as the Partille Handball Cup in Sweden”, said Nyamutora.