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Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter
THE four Majarira brothers wouldn’t have been footballers had they followed their other passion – bricklaying.

Their immediate preoccupation, as soon as they were done with their Ordinary Level education at Mbaza Secondary School in Rusape, was finding a way to earn a living.

They are not of the same age but, somehow, finished their secondary education at the same time.

Bricklaying, which flows in the family, was the natural option.

After all, none of them had good academic results to pursue something better.

Rinos (34), Blessing (30) and Brighton(26) had been unfortunate to lose their father, at the turn of the new millennium, and toiled along, with the help of their mother, just to complete their secondary education.

Their cousin, Archmore, Blessing’s age-mate, was in the same predicament although his father is still alive.

With poverty biting, the quartet quickly forgot they were once key members of the school team back at Mbaza.

Football, to them, didn’t offer any solution to their problems.

They saw it as a pastime, especially now that they played it sparingly when, and if the village team, had any tournaments.

Blessing was even closer to crossing the border to Mozambique to look for work, while Rinos was invited to Harare by a close relative.

“It was tough, very tough, growing up with just one parent to look up to,’’ said Blessing.

‘’We struggled a lot along the way but the fact that both me and Brighton were able to make a difference in the school football team made our life a little bit easier at school.

“We wanted to pursue bricklaying, because that is what my father used to do. Even my uncle (Archmore’s father), who sometimes chipped in to rescue us, is a bricklayer.

“So it was natural that all of us wanted to pursue careers in bricklaying.”

But Rinos’ journey to Harare would change everything, for good.

With a penchant to succeed, and an unquestionable work ethic, he didn’t take long before landing a decent contract as an assistant builder with Herentals Group of Colleges and Schools.

“That was to be the turning point of our footballing careers. As soon as Rinos got a contract with Herentals Group, he quickly facilitated for the three of us to join the same institution,’’ said Blessing.

“That was the beginning of this journey.” Archmore chips in, during the conversation, and credits Herentals proprietor, Innocent Benza, with whom they hail from the same rural area, for the turn around.

“It all started when we were constructing the institution’s Mabvuku Centre. Benza proposed to the group of his workers that he wanted to form a social football team for his workers,’’ said Archmore.

“We seconded the idea and that was to be the genesis of Herentals Football Club you see today.

“That was back in 2012 thereabout.

“With time, the team fused in teaching staff, including the current head coach Kumbirai Mutiwekuziva, and incorporated some students, including Wilmore Chimbetu.

“But, basically, the core of the team was made of builders, including the four of us, as well as the likes of William Kapumha.”

The rave reviews the team got in the social leagues they had joined propelled Benza to dream even bigger.

And, that’s when he bought the franchise of ZIFA Northern Region Division One side, Bindura United.

Suddenly, the Majarira brothers, whose journey to Harare was driven by bricklaying venture, were promoted to full-time footballers, and dumped their construction tools.

In 2015, Blessing, the current captain of the team, was even called into the national team for the COSAFA tournament in South Africa where he scored one goal.

Two years later, he would help Herentals get promotion into the Premier League and walked away with a brand new Toyota Corolla vehicle, courtesy of the ZIFA Northern Region Division One, for being the Soccer Star of the Year award winner in that division.

Blessing was on the verge of joining Dynamos during the off-season while Brighton came close to putting pen to paper with Chicken Inn.

But, both felt they still owe Herentals a lot and needed to help the Students in their quest for glory.

Archmore spent the better part of last season on the sidelines, due to a knee sprain, but has since fully recovered.

Rinos has dropped into the team’s developmental outfit which plays in Division One.

To them, Herentals is culture and even though the team’s future in the top-flight looks uncertain, they don’t care.

They say theirs is a connection that should last forever.

And, given where they came from, and where they are now, one can understand why the bond is very strong.

The brothers believe they are where they really want to be, the team that gave them a home, plucking them from poverty, and giving them a chance to be professional footballers.