In this week’s edition of the Youth Forum, where VOA talks to young people of Zimbabwean origin, who are excelling in various areas in their communities, VOA’s own Jonga Kandemiiri’s daughter, Tariro, has made exceptional waves in sports commentary and development in the rare specialty sport of lacrosse, in the United States.
Following in her father’s undisputed golden news voice and media detail, she has become a force to reckon with at national and international level. VOA’s Evans Zininga becomes a fly on the wall, on Tari’s life journey and love of the game, the camera, and the future!
Tariro Kandemiri was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, and emigrated to the United States in 2004 with her family. At Springbrook High School in Montgomery County, Maryland, Tari , as she is affectionately known, picked up her first lacrosse stick and fell in love with the game.
During her sophomore year of high school, Tari started Twitter and Instagram accounts, @OfficialLaxGirl to document her love for the sport. This allowed Tari to connect with other eager lacrosse fans, strengthening her connections within the lacrosse community.
Eventually, Tari's social media pages blew up as people enjoyed her fresh and exciting perspective of the game, and vibrant personality. Tari, now signed as an athlete with Nike Lacrosse, has a show, 'Sound On with Tari and Amari' with ESPN, and is on the Board of Directors of the Tewaaraton Foundation.
Community service is of utmost importance to Tari, and she serves as a Lead Clinician for the USA Lacrosse Sankofa Lacrosse Clinic Series.
Tari says, "I also volunteer with a magnitude of organizations in the lacrosse community, including Harlem Lacrosse and Bronx Lacrosse to name a few”.
Tari's passion for community service started early when she started coaching in High School for the Rosemary Lacrosse children's lacrosse program.
Tari writes and does commentary for a variety of media organizations for the sport, including Inside Lacrosse Magazine, and has also created content for the Premier Lacrosse League and National Lacrosse league.
She has provided commentary for World Lacrosse events, most recently the Women's World Championships, and is a pioneer in calling the Sixes Olympic format of lacrosse for men and women. She is also currently a Digital Media Reporter for Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse, the only professional women's lacrosse league in the world.
Tari says, “I have traveled and played around the world, most recently playing in Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Italy, and I am excited to someday, bring lacrosse to my beloved Zimbabwe.”
In her fulltime role, Tari works in Management Consulting helping companies use emerging technologies to make smart business decisions.
Having studied Computer Science and Business, Tari enjoys working within the technology realm and is the founder of her own company, hamabeauty.com, a site that uses data science to recommend beauty and skincare products to consumers.
