Young Zinnias Sports Club was established in the tumultuous year of 1976, during the school uprising, at the residence of the Floris family in Bridgetown, on the Cape Flats.
“At the time with all the unrest and rising juvenile delinquency, we just felt that we needed to do something to offer the youngsters an alternative,” said founding member and current life president Hadji Yasin Floris.
“The name is actually derived from the Zinnias Dominoes Club that existed in the area. Naturally, a number of the dominoes players also joined.”
He was elected the first chairperson of the club and the rest of the famed Malay choir family, the Floris clan, joined. With all these experienced campaigners on board, the choir was immediately competitive and quickly earned the respect and admiration of the Malay choir fraternity.
Zinnias have built up an enviable track record over the years.
After winning a few sectional competitions, they won the prestigious Top Eight competition for the first time in 1988. This feat was repeated in 2008 and 2009.
They also won the Silver Fez trophy, presented to the champion choir of the year, on three occasions, walking away with the honours in 2009, 2010 and 2015.
The legendary Allie Floris was the “moppie” (comic song) king of the 1980s and 1990s, winning the much-loved item for seven consecutive years.
Under the guidance of their coach and lead singer, current president Armien Vardien, Young Zinnias can also lay claim to the record of having won first prize for the Nederlandse Lied more than any other choir in the history of the Cape Malay Choir Board competitions. That is not to be scoffed at!
Zinnias have implemented a well-planned succession strategy and a number of younger members have been seconded at the executive level to take the choir into the future.
The number of younger members at rehearsals and on stage at the first sectional competition, held on Heritage Day, was heart-warming.
Vice-president Sheraan van Wyk said: “It was a very challenging year for us. It was not easy to revive the choir after the Covid-19 pandemic, but we have persevered and showed resilience to uphold our culture and heritage.
“Zinnias is a club with a rich history and we are proud of the contribution we have made to preserve our unique tradition. We are currently in a rebuilding phase to make Young Zinnias great again, financially as well as by growing the membership.
“We have devised a strategy to keep the younger members of the club busy in the off-season, teaching them to play instruments as well as having choral music classes to improve singing.”
The Young Zinnias “singpak” (choir) is in great demand at the popular Nederlandse evenings and show great sportsmanship by supporting functions held by other choirs.
A Nederlandse evening without their “singpak” is doomed to failure. Sadly, the 2022 competition did not go well for Zinnias. They were not at their best on the night of the competition and in the face of fierce competition from the other competing choirs, Zinnias did not fare well.
But Vardien said: “Although we did not win many trophies, we won the hearts of the audience. We were just grateful to be among our community again after such a sad period.
”Zinnias will rise again, we know what it is to be down, but we will fight back.”
The current executive committee is made up of Yasin Floris, Vardien van Wyk, Rushdien Booysen, Allie Floris, Moosa Maurice, Kashie Schroeder, Nishaat Khan, Nizaam Marley, Yusuf Hendricks, Riyaad Lackay, Rashaad Dollie and Desmond Martin.
Yasin paid tribute to one of the founder members who passed on recently, Moegamat Shafiek Hassiem, as one of the pillars of the club over the last 46 years, dearly missed by the choir.
He also thanked the families and supporters for their undying support throughout this trying period.
The Top Ten competition will take place on October 15 and Young Zinnias plan to redeem itself. Zinnias will be back!
* Nazeem Davids
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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