dyton mupawaenda
Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter
Zimbabwe’s FIFA Forward Programme country manager Kudzai Chitima says the African Schools Football Championship — COSAFA Qualifier — which was hosted by Zimbabwe at the weekend was an overwhelming success.
The 10-team tournament, which featured both boys’ and girls’ teams, was held over three days at Gateway High School in Harare. South Africa emerged winners of the tournament in both categories which carried separate US$100 000 prize money. Both will advance to the continental finals to be played next year.
Zimbabwe were bronze medalists in the boys’ category while the girls’ failed to make it past the group stage.
“This was our first time hosting an Under-15 football tournament of this kind,” said Chitima.
The first edition was held in Malawi last year but Zimbabwe could not be part of the inaugural edition because of a FIFA ban.
“To be able to be the best you must train and play with the best. So we are happy with the opportunities afforded to our schools’ teams. The competition was worthwhile.
“We believe the children were afforded a lot of exposure during the tournament and this will give us a whole different dimension in terms of player profiling.
“We also got a bronze medal and we are looking forward to ploughing some of the prize money back into schools’ football so that we reach out to as many talented youngsters as possible.
“We need to see improvement in the next edition in both boys’ and girls’ competitions.
“This year we had a bit of a challenge in the selection process because we were just coming out of the FIFA ban and didn’t have enough time to move around.
“Other countries did their selections from the beginning of the year, in January. We should do the same next year so that we incorporate all the players that deserve a chance to be seen at all levels in the schools’ tournaments.”
The Zimbabwe girls’ team found the going tough and finished fourth in the five-team pool. The boys recovered from a slow start after losing the opening match to Malawi and then winning the rest of the matches to finish off the campaign as number three team.
The Norman Taruvinga-coached side were also awarded the Fair Play team of the tournament while star forward El Shaddai Sadomba was the top goal scorer with six goals to his name.
Captain Tadiwa Chakuchichi was also outstanding. Chitima said ZIFA has started working on creating a database for the schools footballers.
“This age group is key. It’s not every day that you get to hear of national Under-15 football competitions. But the worrying thing is that some that were 15 year-olds this year will not be eligible next year but there is need to keep record of these players.
“Not only those that played at this tournament, but others as well who are equally talented but may not have been part of this group at Gateway.
“As long as we don’t have a clear development pathway and transition model we may continue to encounter the challenges where we lose talent along the way.
“After four to five years we should be able to track these boys and girls. We need to have a database and we have started the process,” said Chitima.
He also said the event left strong footprints and a legacy for Zimbabwe.
“We conducted ancillary programmes as part of the capitation of stakeholders. For instance, there was a CAF D License conducted by a Namibian instructor.
“This was aimed at capacitating teachers who are the people who spend most of the time with these kids in school but most of them do not have any form of paperwork. Now I believe we have given some of our schools coaches somewhere to start from.
“We also had workshops for junior referees, young journalists, emergency medical services and a workshop on safeguarding because we believe minors in sport need to be protected from abuse.
“So we believe it was a very good initiative from both CAF and COSAFA.”
Online Reporter