Coach Toni has signed out…
Majaliwa Antoine, “Toni”, simply known as “Coach”, was an icon of Cercle Sportif de Kigali. A legend of the eighties and Rwanda’s Tennis champion for over a decade. By the time I met him, I was 12 years old, in my first year of secondary school at Lycée de Kigali. I spent my evenings and weekends playing tennis and ping-pong at Cercle. He took me under his wing,like he did all youngsters willing to learn the sport…
He still had some backhands and smashes in him. I remember a match he’d played about twenty years ago, against Kibwana Djuma, a.k.a “Jimmy”, in the quarter-final of a Rwanda Open, only to exhaust the young Jimmy, 10 years his junior, with drop shots and lobs. He lost in the semi-final though, against the younger reigning champion, Rutikanga Sylvain, who played a modern style of tennis, using spin backhands and powerful forehands, in what was possibly Toni’s last tennis tournament, before he shifted his career to coaching children football.
“Look ‘Cherry’ I’ve been accredited by FIFA!” he brandished his new badge with excitement, the first time he saw me, a few years after I had left the club to go to university. As a kid I used to be called Thierry; he pronounced it “Cherry”. We sat down and he explained to me his new profession as football coach, his projects of developing the sport. He was always positive, full of life, like a true sportsman…
Coach Toni was a professional. Never had a drop of alcohol in his life, always the first to arrive at Cercle in the morning, and the last to leave in the evening. Making sure all the balls, all the racquets are safely stored, and his notes ready for tomorrow’s practice. He read the sport’s rules, he coached by the book, he was strict, but always smiling, children loved him, we all loved him!
He was respected by all, young and old. Tennis players never forgot him, those who’ve migrated to Europe and America, always brought him a jersey, a pair of sneakers whenever they came home to visit. He’d be elated by the gesture, showing it off to us: “Look, my son has returned, he brought me a gift!”, he’d say… Coach didn’t earn much, but he could never ask you for money. He was dignified like that. He was an honourable man.
Coach Toni is personally responsible for the development of many tennis and football players Rwanda has had. After over four decades of coaching tennis, he went on to coach many of the under-17 footballers who are professionals today. He coached all, rich kids and poor kids, you only paid if you could afford it, he had a passion for sports and for young people, he didn’t do it for the money.
Coach was an accomplished sportsman, inside-out. He could stand for hours in a position, as though leaning back, observing younger players train. He didn’t speak much, he watched, observed, no bad movement escaped his gaze. He’d correct you by executing the movement without a racket: “Voila, on fait comme ça”. He spoke French, probably his distant Congolese background. No one knew his age, Coach was ageless.
Coach Toni was the embodiment of generosity, abnegation, and dedication. He loved to teach sports to young people, he did it with love, he did it silently, and he did it relentlessly. He never took a means of transport. In the evening after the lights went off, and the courts were closed, he’d wear his jacket, don his backpack, and walk home to Gitega in Nyamirambo, where he lived with his beautiful wife and children, now grown, some married.
Of late I’d asked after him, they told me he didn’t coach anymore. He had been ill for a while. But you know, such is the life of a sports coach in Rwanda; no health insurance, nor retirement pension, it breaks my heart…
I will miss him. Dearly. Cercle will never be the same without him. The great coach passed away last week, and tonight, I wanted to thank this beautiful man for all the love he gave us, for raising fit young men and women, fit to serve Rwanda, the country he adopted, and uplifted. We are forever grateful.
Merci Coach Toni, que votre Âme repose en paix.