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Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
CHAMPIONS FC Platinum are strengthening their football structures and have turned to vastly experienced coach Alexio Sigion to lead their development side.
Sigion will be in charge of the FC Platinum Under-19 side, which has acted as a conveyor belt for the senior team at a time most of the Premier Soccer League sides have been experiencing stagnation in terms of development of players.
Of late, clubs including giants Dynamos and CAPS United have been relying mostly on buying players that have tended to struggle to fit into their philosophy and system of play.
FC Platinum general manager Denzil Mkandla yesterday said the Zvishavane club was excited by the arrival of Sigion, who has coaching experience with both development and topflight football.
Sigion has coached FC Platinum’s rivals Shabanie Mine during their time in the topflight league and has been involved with Ngezi Platinum Stars as head of their Under-19 technical team as well as being part of Rodwell Dhlakama and Takesure Chiragwi’s backroom staff in the senior side.
He will replace one of the long-serving FC Platinum sons Moses Mwafulirwa, who becomes the assistant coach of the FC Platinum Under-19 team.
The platinum miners’ general manager Mkandkla yesterday said they were confident Sigion’s experience both with development and at the top level will help bridge the gap with Norman Mapeza’s championship winning side.
“He has coached in different teams and most notably in the Premier Soccer League as well, he has coached Shabanie Mine,” said Mkandla.
“The reason we decided to engage him to come and train our juniors is that he is very experienced. We are also looking at incorporating our Under-19 players into the senior team and we think he is a good fit for that; for our long term strategy which seeks to ensure that we are producing players that are ready for the top level competition and the Premier Soccer League.
“So we are happy to have him and we think he will add so much value to what we are trying to do and we look forward to a very good season with him taking charge of our Under-19 team,” said Mkandla. The platinum miners’ development side competes in the ZIFA Central Region Division One league.
The side has produced 20-year-old striker Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya who scored 10 goals in his debut Premiership season for FC Platinum on the road to winning their fourth consecutive title last year.
The other products of the platinum miners’ development academy who are now key members of the senior team include Hagazio Magaya (22), Panashe Mutimbanyoka (21), Kelvin Mangiza (21) and Oscar Bhebhe (20).
The Zvishavane-based club is living up to its reputation as one of the fastest emerging forces on the domestic football scene and in their growth, they have seen wisdom in investing in young players.
Their aim is to dominate the domestic football competitions for some years to come, as well as to establish themselves on the continent.
Sigion said he was looking forward to the new challenge and is hoping to use his expertise to transform the platinum miners.
The former Dzivaresekwa Academy coach was among the last batch of the recipients of the CAF A License conducted by South African CAF instructor and assessor Frans Mogashoa in 2017.
Previously he had graduated from a FIFA Youth Football course conducted by FIFA Instructor Roy Millar from Northern Ireland in 2016. Sigion was also part of the recent Electronic Performance & Tracking Systems (EPTS) seminar that attracted participants from Zimbabwe and Malawi.
“It’s a great opportunity to be working under the colours of FC Platinum who are four-time champions of the past seasons,” he said.
“To be in a club where there is a philosophy, it’s an honour for a coach because it’s just walking into a philosophy that is already there and then adding one or two things from the experience that I got from developing juniors.”
FC Platinum are currently pre-occupied with their pre-season preparations and their senior team is expected to get the ball rolling in the coming Premiership season when they defend the Castle Challenge Cup against Bulawayo Chiefs at Mandava on March 11.
Online Reporter