BUCKLE UP!...TRICKY TOURNAMENT IS HERE!

Sports Editor
(At the SMVAF Boardroom)

MBABANE – “You see, it’s never the environment, it’s never the events of our lives, but the meaning we attach to the events – how we interpret them – that shapes who we are today and who we’ll become tomorrow,” said Tony Robbins.

As a stony silence, palpable tension filled the air and emotions ran high inside the plush Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (SMVAF) boardroom before the draw for the 4th edition of the magical tournament was conducted yesterday morning, the immortal words of essayist Tony Robbins came to fruition.

It was not just the glittering occasion in the affable decorated boardroom or the important guests inside including new Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga (interestingly now described as the best man for the post by the self-same Football Association that fired him for no logical reason) in attendance, but it was the occasion marking the start of the fourth edition of the country’s richest club competition that warmed the heart.

Unique

Having began in earnest in 2015 after being launched sensationally on a warm Tuesday night of November 10 at Lozitha Palace, by its patron, His Majesty King Mswati III, the tournament became unique in not only its princely first prize of E1.1 million but how a football tournament was able to incorporate what is central in the lives of emaswati, culture, so beautifully.

History will reflect that on March 13, 2016, at a filled-to-the-rafters Somhlolo National Stadium, red and white glamour side, Mbabane Swallows beat their nemesis Royal Leopard 2-0 in the final, courtesy of goals by wing-wizard, Banele ‘Pupu’ Sikhondze in the 23rd minute and midfield dynamo, Njabulo ‘D4D’ Ndlovu with five minutes left on the clock to be the first winners of the new tournament. Then again on February 5, 2017, gangly striker, Sabelo ‘Sikhali’ Ndzinisa ensured Swallows defended their crown when he finished off in the 27th minute, a ball crossed by midfielder, Njabulo ‘D4D’ Ndlovu after a deceptive Tony ‘TT’ Tsabedze cross had drawn Young Buffaloes goalkeeper Nhlanhla Gwebu off his line.

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