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MIXING WITH THE BEST . . . Top Zimbabwean motocross female rider Tanya Muzinda (right) chats with French legend Yves DeMaria (left) at the track while her mother, Adion, looks on during one of her training sessions in Turin, Italy, last week

Collin Matiza Sports Editor
TANYA Muzinda is a talented young girl.

Tanya chose the sport of motocross to show the entire world that if you have a dream and you work very hard at it, you may very well make your dream come true.

The 11-year-old female biker knows what she needs to do for her dream to come true and one of the first important steps were to sail off to Europe and learn.

On July 21 Tanya’s European experience began in Italy.

She landed in the Italian country side of Bologna on a hot Saturday afternoon and she was brought directly to the motocross track.

Riding a motorcycle in Italy is definitely a more intense experience than riding in Africa and Tanya was tossed immediately into the middle (or thick) of things.

She handled the media like a champ but the track got the best of her. Uphills, downhills, off cambers and lots of mud, plus an unfamiliar bike where a lot to take in, but Tanya did not give up and tried conquering the heart of everyone present.

During her tour of Europe, Tanya was accompanied by her father, Tawanda, and mother, Adion.

Team Tanya got the invite to go visit one of her sponsors headquarters. AXO, her gear sponsors, is based in Treviso and the Muzindas got to spend a few days with the AXO family trying very good local Italian food.

It was then time to fly off to Belgium for training and to watch the MXGP round in Lommel.

Stefy Bau, Tanya’s United States-based mentor, arrived in Belgium on a Friday and got to finally rejoice with the Muzindas since last time they met, two years prior. The energy that Team Tanya brings once the team is together is just an amazing experience to witness.

In the same afternoon the team goes to pick up the 2017 brand new KTM 85cc bike that Factory KTM provided for Tanya and went off to the track. Seeing Tanya ride with her Team around is just magic. Everything clicks and with every lap Tanya becomes more comfortable and faster. Sometimes we all forget that Tanya is still an 11-year-old kid!

The afternoon was great and ended with Tanya walking into the MXGP track to set up media interviews for the weekend with Youthstream, the MXGP organiser.

Saturday and Sunday were two important days in Tanya’s lives. The entire motocross circuit embraced this little star.

Riders, team managers, sponsors and the public all went on to meet and greet Tanya.

Lots of interviews were done and Airoh, one of Tanya’s sponsors, even raffled off a helmet to a lucky winner that could come up with their best dream when they were 11 years old.

The lucky person won the helmet because he mentioned that at 11 years old he wanted to become a motocross world champion . . . which is the same dream that Tanya is working forward.

Back home in Zimbabwe, Tanya is backed by a number of sponsors who include NetOne, MBCA Bank, Pan African Mining, Bilboes Gold, Nicoz Diamond, Nyaradzo Funeral Services, Doves Holdings, Schweppes, Nestle Zimbabwe, LaFarge and TIMB.

At international level, Team Tanya have engaged a number of big sponsors and individuals such as KTM Factory, AXO, Airoh, Stefy, Aiste and Tore.