Zimbabwe senior netball team assistant coach Tatenda "Ninja" Shinya has called time on his netball coaching career spanning over 15 years.
The 34-year-old, who was arguably one of the youngest national team coaches in Africa, revealed that his decision was a result of pressure and frustrations from the game.
"It is time to rest from netball after 15 good years. I have experienced happiness, sorrow, stress, frustration, abuse and it is time to go," said Shinya.
"I need to focus on other things because I am sure that there is nothing that I will miss in netball because I did all that I wished for and had a chance to live my dream.
"Thank you, netball family, for the time and love, but I have to move on although it is not an easy decision to make."
The youthful coach received his first national team call-up in May 2022 ahead of the Confederation of Southern African Netball Associations (COSANA) games that were held in Malawi.
He came in to assist Ropafadzo Mutsauki, who had just been elevated following the departure of Lloyd Makunde.
"The call up came when I least expected it . . . I did not think that at my age I could be entrusted with national duty," said Shinya.
"It was a moment for me to fulfil my dreams because I had always wished to coach at that level."
Shinya's coaching career started during his ordinary-level days at Glenview 1 High School where he would coach the school team.
He would later go on to mentor the Jazeera Netball Club of Dzivaresekwa, Support Unit, Air Force of Zimbabwe side Falcon Queens, Glow Petroleum Queens, Conmara, Nehanda, Beta Queens and Ngezi Platinum.
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With a Netball Africa C certificate, he later left coaching and assumed umpiring.
He rose to be one of the trusted umpires across the country, who was tasked with handling some high-profile league games, which are often characterised by pressure.
Ninja as he is affectionately known helped the Gems to qualify for their second successive Netball World Cup when Zimbabwe featured at the tournament in Cape Town last year.
The Gems secured a 13th place at the competition.
He was also part of the team that brought bronze from the African Championships in Botswana in December.
Before the African Championships, the Gems had camped for a fortnight in Harare but it was marred by friction between the Zimbabwe Netball Association and the players who were unhappy with being paid $50 as their allowances.
The scenario was one of the low moments that frustrated Shinya but he remains indebted to the Gems for providing a platform for him to gain more coaching experience.
"It was quite an experience being with the Gems. I learnt a lot which I hope to use in the future in my netball journey but things had to change.
"You get to a stage where you weigh things and realise that it makes no sense to sweat but at the end of the day walk back home with nothing to show for it.
"Maybe I need to find a new passion and forget about my first sweetheart, it is not worth it," Shinya said.
