In 2010, a knee injury forced then Red Arrows midfielder Chisi Mbewe into retirement. With no coaching badges, he had to settle for a position as the club’s kit master.
His new role, though crucial, was far from the limelight he enjoyed as a player but few could have predicted the fruits taking up such a role would bear for him at Nkoloma Stadium.
Accepting that role marked the start of a journey that even Mbewe himself might have found hard to believe if someone had told him back then about his future achievements.
Let us take you back a little bit.
Mbewe emerged on the football scene in 2000 when Power Dynamos, during their pre-season camp in Mbala, spotted him playing for Mungwi Technical Secondary School.
His talent did not go unnoticed, he caught the eye of then Dynamos coach, Ben Bamfuchile who lured him to Arthur Davies Stadium where he went on to play until 2004.
In 2005, Mbewe trekked to Lusaka and joined Red Arrows. Unfortunately, his playing career was cut short by a knee injury five years later.
“In 2010, I got what I would say not a serious injury…I had a knee injury which was supposed to be managed” Mbewe revealed exclusively to Bolanews.”The doctors who were there recommended that I cannot play football [anymore].”
Luckily, it was not the end of the world for Mbewe although it meant he had to settle for the lowest of positions in the Arrows dressing room.
Mbewe recalls his journey from a kit master to a coach
Ask any retired footballer, the post of kit master is not one they would willingly take because it is considered inferior, but Mbewe seized the opportunity.
“I took it with both hands, because I knew that being an equipment manager would be my foundation to even starting my coaching career,” he recalls.
Not everyone was in agreement, others felt Mbewe had dropped his bar too low.
“It brought a lot of mixed feelings from people, [others wondered] ‘from a player, now you have become a kit master?’ they thought that was a very low position, but I knew that I needed somewhere to start from,” Mbewe says.
His job gave him a chance to interact with some of the best coaches that have graced the local league. Multi – title winning coach George Lwandamina had a lasting impact on Mbewe.
“Coach Lwandamina is the one who played a major part in my coaching career, I remember when setting up the training sessions he would call and guide me what is supposed to be done,” he said, “ he later advised me to start working on my [coaching] badges.”
Mbewe’s patience would later pay him when he was among the assistants to Honour Janza. By 2018, Mbewe was handed the reins as Arrows coach first in an interim capacity.
Between then and now, he has guided Arrows to two league titles, one ABSA Cup and most recently, the 2024 CECAFA Dar Port Kagame Interclub Cup title in Tanzania.
He attributes his success and growth as a coach to a number of factors. Patience and learning top the list.
“Patience and learning from senior coaches has really helped me, learning is a day to day thing I won’t stop learning,” he says.
