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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ACTING Bulawayo City FC chairman Zenzo Moyo led a number of officials that attended the opening day of the Bulawayo-based Footballers Union of Zimbabwe (Fuz) training camp for out-of-contract players yesterday.
The five-day camp is being held at the Heath Streak Multi-Sports Centre in Suburbs and ends on Saturday.
Other club officials that attended include How Mine administrator Raeburn Ndebele and Highlanders’ development side coaches Melusi Sibanda and Gift Lunga Jr.
South Africa-based former Highlanders and national team midfielder Richard Choruma, who is now a scout, also watched the players going through their paces under the technical guidance of Dalubuhle Bhebhe, Joel Luphahla, Dazzy Kapenya, Peter “Oxo” Nkomo and Itai Kapini.
Speaking on the sidelines of the programme, Fuz vice-president Herbert Dick said he was impressed with the number of players that turned up for the programme and urged clubs in Bulawayo to take advantage of the training clinic.
“We had 47 out of the 55 participants that registered for this programme attending the opening day. This is not bad considering that this is the first time Bulawayo is hosting such an activity aimed at helping out-of-contract players get clubs. This is more of a players’ auction and it’s up to the clubs to take advantage of such a programme,” said Dick.
“I think the presence of Bulawayo City’s acting chairman, How Mine administrator, coaches from Highlanders and other First Division clubs, as well as scouts gives us confidence that what we’re doing is good for the game. There are a number of teams in the PSL from Bulawayo and we understand that most have already signed players, but I don’t think they lose anything if they come and watch some of the players at this programme. Who knows, they might discover talented players in the next four days,” he said.
A number of unheralded players from the First Division and Division Two Soccer Leagues are hoping to impress some of the coaches expected to attend the sessions.
Fuz president Desmond Maringwa said they’re bracing for a bigger turnout today.
“In the last programme we held in Harare last week, 40 players attended the first day and the number shot up to 90 on the second day. We hope players in Bulawayo come in their numbers because we will also be conducting some educational activities that might help their careers. We’ve done fitness and health already and tomorrow (today) we will have someone presenting on rules of the game. As the week progresses, we will also touch on player contracts as well as match fixing,” Maringwa said.
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