George “Mastermind” Shaya – Zimbabwe’s Greatest Soccer Star Of All Time

The Impeccable Profile Of A Soccer Legend George “Mastermind” Shaya

George Shaya was born in Harare, on Christmas eve of 1948 in the then Rhodesia and he is the second born in a family of eleven. He grew up in the neighborhood of Harare, to be called Mbare, after the attainment of independence by the people of Zimbabwe, in 1980.

The boys who were growing up in this era had so much interest in soccer. Regrettably, most of the parents of the boys of that era would not afford to buy their children conventional soccer balls, hence, these boys had to be innovative enough to the extent of improvising their own hand-made version of the soccer ball. The ball was crafted out of newspapers and plastics mounded in the shape of ball, which would then be put an empty Roller Meal or Parlenta plastic bag and tightly tied together by rubber bands, maintaining the round shape resembling a ball in the process. These improvised plastic balls were popularly known as “mabhora e zvikweshe”. Coincidentally the author of this article belongs to the later generations of Shaya’s era who also grew up and were bred in the same George Shaya neighborhood.

From these humble beginnings as well as through constant soccer playing and practice in the streets of Harare, George Shaya mastered incredible soccer skills which paid enough dividends by the time he went on to play soccer for his school, at St Pauls School in Mrehwa. His unique soccer wizardry skills catapulted him to play for Dynamos “The Glamour Boys “senior soccer at a very tender age of sixteen years. This would not only mark the-end-of-the-beginning of a soccer career that we today, collectively celebrate as a nation but it also give birth to the universal title by which George is popularly affectionately known and celebrated, the “MasterMind”.

According to mukoma George, the most dazzling and vivid soccer moment in his career was during the 1976 Castle Cup final, when Dynamos played Zimbabwe Saints. In that deciding moment, his unique and mesmerizing soccer skills enabled him to convert a direct free kick into a ball which went round and behind the wall of defenders for an astonishingly and miraculous goal which gave Dynamos the Castle Cup.

The late legend soccer writer, Alan Hlatywayo, once conceded of Shaya, in 1976. ” When Shaya is out of the game, Dynamos is reduced to a mere ordinary team. When he is playing, all of the team’s magic is woven around him.”
Most soccer followers, both fanatics and conservatives alike, have ideally equated George Shaya’s superb performance in playing soccer to that of Pele, Brazil’s soccer legend. Its not surprising that Shaya deservedly earned such accolades throughout his soccer career. This all emanates from his scintillating soccer mastery combined with his wholehearted love for soccer. Egnes Shaya, his wife is testimony to Shaya’s inner-depth love for soccer.

During a recent interview with ZimLegends in August his year, she had the audacity to share with us that when Dynamos had a game the following day, Mukoma George would, in his dreams, would be kicking the soccer ball, resulting in her being the victim.

George is one of those few, calm, soft-spoken, down-to-earth, man-of- short-words, soccer legend who exemplifies the profile of a selfless legend. Up to today George attributes his success and fame to his teammates with whom he played. He further clarifies this point by saying that, soccer is not like in boxing where all the credit goes to the only and single winner.
George Shaya remains a bottomless reservoir and fountain of inspiration to all Zimbabwean soccer aspirants and fans alike. Shaya, to this day, still bears the intrinsic, sentimental love and attachment to his club Dynamos.

Mastermind Shaya is one of Zimbabwe’s, if not the most illustrious and treasured soccer player of all time who holds a historic record that may never be eclipsed by any other soccer player n Zimbabwe. He is the only Zimbabwean soccer player, who during his hay days, won the Soccer Star of the Year, for 5 times, in 1969,1972,1974,1975 and 1977. No other soccer player, in Rhodesia or Zimbabwe, for that matter, has ever beaten that record, up to now and I can not foresee any possibility of such an eventuality in the near future.

During the recent August 2019 interview with Audrey Nyikadzino of ZimLegends, Shaya paid tribute to the exemplary role played by the municipalities of his youth days, throughout Zimbabwe, in the development of sports and recreational activities for the youth.

In conclusion, George “Mastermind” Shaya triumphantly holds a uniquely historic soccer player performance record that non other has held in the annals of soccer history either in the then Rhodesia or in the present day Zimbabwe

Written And Published By: Joel Masuka : ZimLegends Founder and Executive Director