Dzokamushure: A Bluefield Soccer Standout

Photo provided by Rampage student photographer Jaxon Bast.

Although not entirely popularized in the United States, soccer is the most viewed sport globally, including in the country of Zimbabwe where soccer (known there as football) is the most popular sport and where a young boy from Harare, Zimbabwe, named Denzel Dzokamushure developed his desire to play the sport professionally.

Harare, formerly known as Salisbury, is Zimbabwe’s capital city. Known as the Sunshine City, it’s a hustling, bustling urban environment that Dzokamushure said he enjoys.

“How it works in Zimbabwe is with the cities and the rural areas, mostly old people stay in the rural areas,” said Dzokamushure about his love for the city. Christianity, he added, is another big part of his life.

“I was born into Christianity because my mom was a full-on Christian,” Dzokamushure said. “She was born into a Methodist family, and she just made us go to her church.”

But soccer is where Dzokamushure found his greatest love. He remembers it always being a part of his life. Growing up in the city, he played pick-up games in the streets.

“I was a small kid, and sometimes we’d just go (play) in the street,” Dzokamushure said. “We’d create like a boat to plastic, you know, and then we’d play. So that was the first time I actually started playing soccer.”

Later, Dzokamushure was part of a local club team named ASA Academy. As part of this team, he traveled and competed in Spain, England, and Belgium, developing his game to the point that he could see himself playing collegiately.

“My father wanted me to do school and soccer,” Dzokamushure said, “and when he thought of school, the U.S. was the only place we could think.”

That’s what brought Dzokamushure to America to pursue his college education while working toward his dream of playing soccer professionally. Through a connection with his home coach, Dzokamushure wound up at Allen Community College in Iola, KS. His education in Zimbabwe prepared him well for his studies abroad.

“I would say most of the things that we were learning at my JUCO I had already done that in high school,” Dzokamushure said. But he wasn’t quite prepared for the change in culture. The two biggest culture shocks for Dzokamushure were the rural setting and the food.

“I was used to the city, and it was more rural,” Dzokamushure said. “The food is really different. Like back home in Zimbabwe, in many African countries, there is a lot of their culture in the food. So there’s a lot of flavor. The way they prepare it is not just food. In Zimbabwe, we mainly eat food we cook at home.”

After junior college in Kansas, Dzokamushure received offers from several four-year schools to continue his playing career. He said he chose Bluefield because of the scholarship opportunity and the international influence on the team. Off the field and in the classroom, Dzokamushure is a graphic design major, but he did not originally intend to pursue this degree. The schools he considered didn’t offer architecture, so he had to choose an alternative.

“Growing up, I really wanted to be an architect,” he said. “That’s something I really loved. Even at Google SketchUp, I used to design houses, like so many. What’s closest to architecture? What’s more designing like? The closest one was graphic design. That’s how I chose graphic design.”

Dzokamshure has only spent a little over two months in Bluefield, but the geography was the biggest thing that stuck out to him.

“The mountains — I think that’s the first thing I noticed about it,” he said.

In preparation for his first season with the Rams, Dzokamshure played on a semi-pro team during the summer. With his experience at the collegiate level and in semi-pro, he brought a wealth of soccer knowledge to the BU team. He said he’s getting used to the team and doing his best to help them out. His teammates say he’s already making a big impact.

“Denzy has brought a complete change of energy and intensity into the team,” said goalkeeper and team captain Jake Mendoza. “It was very beneficial for the team that he joined a semi-pro team this past summer. The entire team has been positively influenced from his and other teammates’ experiences. He is one of the hardest working guys on our roster. His soccer IQ is through the roof, along with his athletic ability. It is always a pleasure to share the pitch with Denzel.”

Dzokamushure said he’s thankful for the opportunity to play at Bluefield and that he can’t imagine a life of not playing soccer.

“Soccer is just my life,” he said. “I always say I’m married to this. It’s my first love. Soccer has played a huge role in my life in terms of that’s all I know. That’s literally all I know.”

Dzokamushure said he lives his life by the expression, “Go for it!” That’s the advice he would give others, and while he hasn’t quite achieved his lifelong dream of playing professional soccer, he’s still going for it. He added one other piece of advice: “Get to know God.”

“Because he can do so much,” Dzokamushure said. “He’s an amazing God. He can do things you wouldn’t think he can do. So I would say ‘go for it’ and pray and believe that God will help you through it.”