Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
REVAMPING of training grounds at the Highlanders clubhouse is on course, with the landscaper re-planting lawn that was affected when the project was temporarily halted by the Covid-19 lockdown.
Lack of maintainance during the Covid-19 lockdown when grounds personnel were restricted to their homes affected the lawn that had been planted. The hired grounds specialists have started tendering the grass on the first field. They will move to the second field upon completion of the first field.
There are three standard size training grounds at the clubhouse.
Highlanders spokesperson Ronald Moyo said the project was now behind schedule and would not be completed within the next four months.
“Before the lockdown they had planted a quarter of the field, but due to lack of maintenance, the loan didn’t come out nicely. It had patches, so they’re redoing it,” said Moyo.
Bosso embarked on the process to rehabilitate the clubhouse in February, as part of plans to save substantial costs in training fees.
The grounds restoration project was initially expected to take four months when it started in February, but this timeline has been thrown off track by the lockdown.
Highlanders paid the full amount of $380 000 for restoration of its clubhouse training grounds being done by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) nursery and parks department.
After completion, one field will be reserved for first team use, with the junior teams using the other two fields for training sessions and home games.
Bosso want BCC to work with extra speed because they want the clubhouse grounds to be ready when they launch an academy.
The club wants to revive its junior policy by launching an academy that will be under a qualified coach.
Once they are done with the lawn, Highlanders will erect advertising boards around the clubhouse as part of revenue generation.
According to club sources, about 10 corporates have already pledged to use the Highlanders advertising billboards. — @ZililoR
Online Reporter