Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sports Hub
WHEN Mpopoma Sports Academy stepped into the Zimbabwe Women’s Premier Soccer League, Bulawayo celebrated.
For once, the girl child was being given a platform to showcase her talent, to build a legacy of women in sport drawn from the same fields that once shaped footballers like
Ephraim Chawanda, Rahman Gumbo, Nehemiah Dube, Josiah Nxumalo, Alexander Maseko, Dobi Tawi, Thamsanqa ‘Nhloko’ Dube, Junior Makunike, Reason Sibanda, Reward Muza and the late Joshua Mhizha.
The new team in the women’s elite league, nicknamed Mposa, even defied expectations in their debut season, climbing to sixth on the log.
It looked like the city had found its next big football story. But that dream is quickly unravelling.
Club director James Rugwevera admits the project is collapsing under the weight of financial strain. “It’s time to admit that Mposa is no more. I had intended not to play in the Premiership after failing to secure funding by December 31, which had been our target,” he said.
At the start of the year, Rugwevera considered pulling out altogether.
He says he was persuaded to hold on by individuals, some eyeing Zifa positions, who pledged financial support. None of those promises materialised.
“A man seeking political office will promise all,” Rugwevera said, frustration clear in his voice.
Nine months later, Mposa is drowning. The club cannot pay for ground hire, referees, or travel to away fixtures. Family resources have been stretched thin, and Rugwevera says he is now clashing with his children over money spent on the club.
“I’m up in arms with my kids over monies that have been used in the football project. I have reached a stage where the team has to disband,” he admitted. The collapse has been visible on the pitch. Last month Mposa forfeited a match against Black Rhinos after failing to travel. Last week they were walked over again, this time by Chapungu.
“We had a game against Chapungu last Saturday, but we couldn’t make it because we had no money. Besides that, five of our players were at the National Association of Secondary School Heads,” said Rugwevera.
The absence cut deep. “That was a painful thing for us as a club. But today we have to say the most painful thing, that we have to bow out,” he said.
For Rugwevera, the loss is about more than points on the table. “In eight years of Mposa’s existence we had achieved so much for the girl child and youths, taking them off the streets and fighting drug and substance abuse. Sad to throw them to the streets,” he said.
He believes women’s football requires serious investment, not empty words. “We had many people promising to support us in the Zimbabwe Women’s Premiership but hey, people just promised and disappeared. We are down and out.”
The club director also hit out at the lack of backing from Bulawayo, saying most of the support came from Harare.
“Bulawayo must rise for its own,” he challenged.
The collapse of Mposa will leave Highlanders Royals as the only team in the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League from the three Matabeleland Provinces.
Queen Lozikeyi and Barrow Street have also found the going tough previously yet Bulawayo is the same city that used to be the centre of women’s soccer excellence with clubs like Highlanders Royals, New Orleans and Inline Academy dominating the national scene before the advent of the Premier League.
What the Mposa Academy had revealed is that were Zifa to be strict on club licensing, football in the country, especially at semi-professional and professional levels would grind to a halt.
Many clubs would fail to produce stadia lease agreements and financial guarantees that they have enough to last the race.
