Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
THE Real Betis Academy in Zimbabwe hit the ground running in Bulawayo with 25 youngsters taking part in its inaugural training camp on Saturday morning.
Since its launch in 2020, the Betis Academy in Zimbabwe has been holding training sessions in Harare, but it always had plans to hold sessions in other parts of the country.
The academy’s Bulawayo-based coaches, Johannes Ngodzo and Gift Lunga (Junior), who were responsible for selecting the budding stars in the city, were joined by Murape Murape and Tichaona Diya at the camp held at Barbourfields Stadium’s B Ground.
Legends Madinda Ndlovu and Ali ‘Baba’ Dube watched proceedings from the sidelines while Bulawayo mayor Solomon Mguni also graced the occasion. “We are quite excited to be hosting Real Betis Academy and we welcome them to the city of Bulawayo.
“We hope this partnership will stay for a long time and be extended to even our schools so that talent there is not lost.
“We want to see young talent being nurtured at our schools. We are ready to avail facilities and ensure that they are comfortable in terms of growing this partnership,” said Councillor Mguni.
Doves Holdings are the regional partner to the Laliga side and its general marketing manager Joel Gombera was impressed with the talent on display.
“We started this programme in Harare and as of now there are many teams that are based in Harare. We have now started our expansion project, which is the reason we are in Bulawayo. The idea behind this project is to promote sporting excellence in Zimbabwe,” said Gombera.
“One of the challenges we noticed in the country was the lack of a junior pipeline. When we were growing up, there was a lot of junior football, especially here in Bulawayo. A lot of legends we celebrate today came through junior structures.
“We now want to create a pipeline to produce players for the national teams. As a country we need to invest in development football.
As Doves we want to help in identifying talent from all the provinces. The project will also help take these young boys off the streets,” he said.
Real Betis Zimbabwe president, Gerald Sibanda, whose sports agency Athletes Sphere Management secured the deal to be the Spanish club’s first academy in Africa, said they are excited by the launch, which will be followed by recruitment of more players next week. — @innocentskizoe
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu