Gateway to host schools championships

GATEWAY High School in Harare will play host to the CAF African Schools Football Championship Cosafa Qualifiers which get underway on December 14-16.

The draw for the tournament is still to be conducted but Zifa revealed the venue for the tournament on their social media handles.

The competition will involve Under-15 boys and girls’ teams from 10 Cosafa countries and will act as a qualifier for the continental finals in 2024.

The participating teams include Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia, and hosts Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe did not participate last year, so this will be their debut appearance and they are hoping to feature the best of their schools’ talent.

According to Cosafa change to the regulations, this year allows countries to enter the best of the footballers on display at their national qualifiers, rather than a single winning school, as happened in 2022.

Meanwhile, Eswatini are eager to show the progress made by the Fifa Talent Development Scheme (TDS) in the country when they make their debut at the tournament to be hosted by Zimbabwe.

The TDS was introduced in Eswatini this year to help identify young footballers and set them on a sustainable development pathway to a career in the game.

Although it has a long-term plan, it will be interesting to see what immediate results have been gained. —@innocentskizoe