By Sukuoluhle Ndlovu
Masvingo – Two Masvingo based tennis players, Mlungisi Mhlanga and James Makaranga secured student athlete scholarships for their outstanding performance.
Mhlanga (19) is going to study Sports Science at Lewis and Makaranga (18) will be studying Engineering at Clark Community College in Illinois, USA.
The two were selected based on eligibility of them exceling on two front ends. The two needed to have Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) above 8.5 and meet the American GPA academically to come through to college.
In an interview with Masvingo Tennis Coach, Mark Chinyenyani said that the two have made the province proud.
“I just hope it helps to grow the appreciation of sport and it inspires the next generation. We are all proud of the boys and l hope they go on to be great ambassadors of our province. It is a huge opportunity that shows that hard work pays. To find a balance of sport and academics can create opportunities that our community needs to utilize. Our local schools and cooperates should embrace sport as it is part of the modern societies entertainment and employment industry. Sport is a multi-billion-dollar industry that is tapped into correctly can transform lives,” he said.
The two boys are the first to earn a student-athlete Tennis Scholarship from Masvingo since 2008 when Munashe Makuni attained one.
Coach Chinyenyani said that Makuni has been ploughing back to the Masvingo Tennis Community since 2008 by running the biggest Tennis Clinic in Zimbabwe dubbed The Masvingo Tennis Clinic. She has also used her networks and pulled together the Masvingo Tennis Alumni Community to support the current generation of players.
