The making of Dylan Nyakadzumbu: From Railton to the big dream

The first thing you notice about Dylan Nyakadzumbu is the calm.

For a 20-year-old centre back who has started every minute of Africa Mineral Ventures FC’s first seven games in the Pacific Storm Eastern Region Soccer League, there’s no panic in his play.

No wild lunges. Just quiet authority, clean tackles, and a voice that organizes the backline like a veteran.

Watch him closer and you see the journey. It’s written in the scars on his shins, the way he reads a striker’s run before it happens, and the gratitude in his words.

“Hard work and perseverance,” Dylan tells Fanzone. “And taking good advice from all the coaches who have moulded me. That’s my journey.”

Dylan’s story starts in 2011, far from the spotlight of Division One.

A boy in a dusty kit at Railton Sports Club, turning out for Friendly Academy while attending St Anne’s Primary School.

During those early days at Friendly Academy, he was residing in Dema and would travel every day from Dema to Harare for training.

No grand facilities. Just a ball, friends, and a dream that felt too big to say out loud.

“I was just a kid who loved football,” smiles Nyakadzumbu. “At Railton, we played for fun, but the coaches taught us discipline early. Keep your head down. Respect the game. Listen.”

That lesson followed him to St Anne’s Goto High School, and later to Goromonzi High School.

School football in Zimbabwe is where reputations are quietly built, and Dylan’s was growing.

Tall for his age, quick across the ground, and comfortable on the ball — he was a natural right back with a motor that didn’t quit.

But it was 2023 that changed everything. “Nobody gave us a chance,” Dylan says, eyes lighting up. “They thought we would bottle it at the end.”

The Proton Under 20 Schools Championship is where Zimbabwe’s best schoolboy talent collides.

Goromonzi High arrived as underdogs. They left as champions. And at the heart of it was Dylan Nyakadzumbu, marauding from right back, shutting down wingers twice his reputation and driving his team forward.

“That Proton triumph will always stay with me forever,” he says. “We were a team, not individuals. When people doubt you, and you prove them wrong together — that’s a feeling you can’t describe. It taught me that belief is everything.”

The trophy was more than silverware. It was a signal. Scouts were watching. And one club moved fast.

In 2024, former Castle Lager Premier Soccer League side Chegutu Pirates secured his signature.

For a teenager from Goromonzi, pulling on the famous strip of Zaire, as Chegutu Pirates are affectionately known, was surreal.

“My first dance with PSL action at Chegutu was an eye opener,” Dylan admits. “The speed, the physicality, the fans — everything was a step up. I had a decent time there. I learned what it takes to be a professional. Every day you fight for your spot.”

It was a harsh school. Chegutu battled, but Zaire were relegated at the end of the season.

Dylan went back down with them to the Northern Region Soccer League.

For many young players, that’s where the story stalls. Not for him.

“Relegation hurts. But it teaches you. I told myself, ‘This is not the end. It’s part of the process.’ Hard work and perseverance — that’s what I kept telling myself.”

Now, Dylan wears the orange, green and white of Africa Mineral Ventures FC in the Pacific Storm Eastern Region Soccer League.

And he’s not at right back anymore. The transition to centre back at AMV has been smooth, he says.

But smooth doesn’t mean easy. It means trust. Trust from the coaches who saw a leader in him. Trust from teammates who let him learn.

“I’m learning from much experienced guys in the squad like Blessing Sarupinda who have played at the top level,” Dylan explains. “Blessing talks to me every day. Positioning. When to step, when to drop. How to lead the line. At right back you’re running the channel. At centre back, you’re running the game.”

The numbers back him up. Seven games, seven starts. AMV have 10 points, sitting seventh with two wins, four draws, and only one loss. In a league as brutal as the ERSL — where GreenFuel, Tenax, and Buffaloes lurk — that’s foundation stuff. And Dylan’s been rock solid.

“Coach told me, ‘We need your brain, not just your legs.’ So I study. I watch videos. I ask questions. The coaches here at AMV have been amazing with advice. I take it all.”

Against Deportivo La Murambinda last week, he threw his body on the line twice in the last ten minutes to preserve a 1-1 draw.

No headlines. Just a young man doing his job.

Ask Dylan where this is all going and the calm breaks into a grin. The answer is immediate. “I hope to play for the Zimbabwean national team, the Warriors, one day,” he says. “Wearing that badge — that would be everything. To represent my country, my family, the people from Friendly Academy who watched me grow.”

And after that? “Maybe in the next five years move to one of the big leagues in Europe or South Africa. That’s the dream. But I know it only comes with hard work and perseverance. No shortcuts.”

He’s 20. He’s played PSL football. He’s been relegated and bounced back. He’s won under-20 silverware when nobody believed. And now he’s anchoring a defense in one of Zimbabwe’s toughest Division One leagues.

Guiding him through it all is personal manager Gilbert Sengwe, who helps Dylan stay focused on the football while mapping the next steps of his career.

Off the pitch, he’s still the boy from St Anne’s. Quiet. Respectful. Family first. He credits his parents and his first coaches at Friendly Academy for keeping him grounded. “When I go home, I’m just Dylan. Not a footballer. I help around. I talk to the kids at Friendly Academy. I tell them — it’s possible. If I can do it from here, you can.”

The Pacific Storm Eastern Region Soccer League is built on stories like Dylan’s.

Young men grinding. Second chances. Transitions. It’s not the PSL — not yet. But it’s where Warriors are made. Where centre backs are forged in battles at Garwe, Mucheke, and Lithium. AMV FC sit seventh, but they’ve lost once. That resilience has a name, and it’s wearing number 2 at the back.

“At AMV, we’re a family,” Dylan says. “We fight for each other. Four draws show we’re hard to beat. Now we need to turn those into wins. For the fans, for the club, for ourselves.”

This weekend, AMV face Chivhu FC at Garwe in the Munhumutapa Challenge Cup first round.

US$5 million is up for grabs this year. Every round pays. For Dylan, it’s another chance to test himself. “Cup football is different,” he says. “One mistake and you’re out. But that’s what I want — pressure. That’s how you grow.”

From Friendly Academy in 2011, travelling daily from Dema to Harare, to Proton glory in 2023, to Chegutu’s relegation heartbreak, to anchoring AMV’s backline in 2026 — Dylan Nyakadzumbu’s journey is still in its opening chapters.

Hard work. Perseverance. Good advice. And a dream that’s getting louder with every clean sheet.

“I’m not there yet,” he says, final as a last-minute clearance. “But I’m on the way.”