BULAWAYOs OWN FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT HUB

Clive Thabo Dube and Natalie Nyathi
Zim GBC News Reporters

FOOTBALL development in schools leads to early discovery of talent and football skills of the younger generation which can be harnessed as well nurtured at grassroots level.

Mzilikazi High School, one of the famous school in Bulawayo has been responsible for forking out a number of exceptional and pomp players.

Past and present football starlets produced by the school include, legendary Peter ‘Nsukuzonke’ Ndlovu and his late brother Adam, Cleopas Dlodlo, the late Benjamin Nkonjera, Andrew Mbeba, Kudakwashe Mahachi, Shadreck Nyahwa, Prince Ndlovu and George Chigova.

Most went on to ply their trade in the country’s and foreign lands’ topflight premier leagues.

The school’s football team which is currently managed by Ncube Khonzani, since 2015 has accumulated a number of trophies which include the Chevrolet Tournament U-20 (2015 & 2016) the NASH tournaments (2015), Arenel Tournament (2017 and 2019), Kudakwashe Mahachi Tournament (2019). Last year, the school was crowned NASH champions for the U-17 and U- 20 age groups respectively.

“Development wise, as the school we are really up there. I can safely say we managed to achieve a lot in terms of development. If you check right now in the Premier League (PSL), some of the top players went through our hands here. We have managed to develop a few players and we have seen these boys go all the way to make it at senior level.” Said Ncube.

He further implored the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) and ZIFA to come up with a strategy to work with the Ministry of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Education to make a full year football calendar. As well as introduce football related subjects in the school’s curriculum.

He also said these football programmes should not distract from teaching or classroom time at the school.

“The youngsters come when they are off session (not in class) to attend training. We make sure that those who are in session do not come for training.”

Developing young players into world-class- players demands funding to procure training equipment and other necessary resources essential for coaches and individuals at grassroots level to finish the quest of development. It is critically important for any sports programme to have financial muscle which will boost the development initiatives.

FIFA and UNESCO run the Football for Schools (F4S) programme to make football more accessible to both girls and boys at school level.

Some of the African countries which have benefited from the FIFA development programme include Ghana, Ivory Coast, Rwanda and Djibouti. Had Zimbabwe continued being a FIFA member, the country stood a chance of benefiting as well.

Zimbabwe is a football obsessed country, but with the FIFA ban imposed on ZIFA, the progress of football development in the country has suffered a major blow. The football development side is now failing to pull its entire weight towards youth development and the young generation is missing out major opportunities.

The country was last year suspended by FIFA over government interference in football matters. Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) suspended ZIFA board members and its president, Felton Kamambo.

According to Ncube, this ban has further affected the Southern Region football community which has no official sponsor.

“Financial wise, the FIFA ban is really affecting grassroots development. The issue of FIFA funding into these development programmes becomes a challenge because back then, they used to be a development programme budget where FiFA would allocate funds for academies and schools (schools of excellence). So now with the ban, it means the academies will no longer receive the funding from the football’s motherbody. This is a negative impact on our football development.” Said Ncube who is also Ratalang Football Club assistant coach.

Due to the ban, the country has since been stripped of all FIFA benefits which include developmental grants. The revelations where made at the electoral FIFA congress held in Kigali, Rwanda earlier this month.

At the congress, FIFA president Gianni Infantino promised the 211 countries part of FIFA to disburse more funding into development and women football. Zimbabwe would have benefited immensely given the fact that football in the country depended on FIFA funding for survival.

Without the FIFA funding, academies, aspiring club’s and schools fail to procure training equipment, tools, kits and amongst essential resources required for the growth, sustainability and survival of the sport. Also the sports infrastructure (stadiums) has deteriorated due to poor maintenance.

For Zimbabwe to be readmitted, the football’s motherboard wants the SRC to reinstate Kamambo and his board. However the SRC led by Gerald Mlotshwa is flauntily ignorant to FIFA’s recommendation.

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