Darlington Murasiranwa had a year to remember both on and off the pitch in 2022. On the pitch, the young goalkeeper’s FC Edmonton side battled week in and week out – not letting their well-documented off-field situation deter them from giving everything they could on the pitch. It was a year without expectations – where personal growth was more important than making the playoffs. It was nicknamed FC Opportunity by head coach Alan Koch for a reason. “It started off with me not playing much, but at the end of the season came my opportunity and I felt like I grabbed it,” Murasiranwa told CanPL.ca. “I matured my game too, because of the situation we’re going through, and just having a chip on my shoulder. “I matured in my game as the person who is able to take responsibilities at a young age, and just having to be able to step up and try my best to get the team three points, or get something.” It’s off the pitch where Murasiranwa’s willingness to step up and take on responsibility really shines through. This off-season, the free agent goalkeeper travelled to his native Zimbabwe, looking to make a difference in communities that matter a lot to him. His first time back in a decade, the 21-year-old – 20 at the time of his trip – donated Eddies kits and soccer equipment to a community where many people don’t have those things. Murasiranwa mentions that many of the children were playing barefoot. In photos posted to his Instagram account in December, a dirt pitch can be seen, with wooden branches attached to one another to form a goal. It’s far from the state-of-the-art pitches in some of the professional leagues around the world, but those who play on it are just as passionate as anybody about the Beautiful Game. >
Next, as he mentioned, Murasiranwa wants to do even more. This year, he and his brother have the goal of collecting gently used clothes and soccer equipment and bringing it back with them for another visit. He recalled again seeing people playing barefoot, and the smiles on their faces as they kicked their new footballs and pulled on the FC Edmonton kits. He believes he can continue to help where he can, and he doesn’t forget that that’s where he came from. “Some of us, that’s how we grew up, and it’s always good to give back to where you came from, and never forget where you’re from,” he said. “I’m lucky enough to still know my roots and my family, even though I hadn’t been there for 10 years. My family, I still know the culture, they know where I’m from. It’s really important to give back to those that are less fortunate, because you never know, you can light up their day, and some of them can even get motivated to just keep pushing with their dreams. “One of the guys came up to me and he was telling me he was around my age, and he was like: ‘I love soccer, but I had a rough turn in my life. I got a kid early and started drinking a lot. Just you being here and seeing you grow up, seeing you do this, it motivates me to keep pushing and keep dreaming big and I used that as a motivation every single day.’” In addition to helping people, just being back in the country of his birth was a rewarding experience, and a long overdue one. As mentioned, it had been about a decade since his last time on Zimbabwean soil, and he made sure to soak it all in while he was there. “Seeing my family, seeing my old friends that I left when I was a kid, my grandma… when I grew up she was literally my mom,” Murasiranwa said. “[I was] seeing her, and then seeing my late grandma’s grave, my late older brother’s grave too… that was beautiful. “Just being able to see nice scenery was beautiful, and it was also summer there, so I had to escape Canada for a bit, it was wonderful.” One of the highlights of his trip, as scary as it was at the time, was running away from a bull. A cousin dared him to get close to it, while standing from a distance and recording on his phone. “He was telling me ‘Trust me, it’s the best thing in the world, just try to feel it up, just rub it, he won’t do anything’,” Murasiranwa recalled with a smile. “I went close and then said ‘Wait… why is it coming?’ and I wasn’t going to just stand here so I ran away and he was laughing.” It was a trip a decade in the making, with memories that will last a lifetime. “Last time I visited I was still young. I can barely remember, but when I was there it was like I wasn’t gone for that long.”