adminTakudzwa Chitsiga Sports Reporter
ZIFA Eastern Region Division One League sides, Grayham and Ruwa PRO-Group, are confident of doing well in the league this season. They managed to survive relegation by a whisker last season.
The Ruwa-based sides believe they can challenge for honours this campaign.
Grayham came into the league with high hopes of fighting for the championship title.
But, they found the going tough with Tenax winning the sole ticket after an intense battle with Buffaloes.
Gray Hama, the club owner, said they were ready for their second season in the league and were expecting to do well.
“We began our pre-season this week and we need to build a strong and competitive team,’’ the businessman said.
‘’We had some trials and there was a good turnout, giving the technical department a lot of choice.
‘’Last year, we had just got promoted and, so, it was a learning curve for us and we discovered that experience counts at such a high level.
“We began the campaign with young players and that turned against us as we ended up fighting relegation for the better part of the second leg.
‘’This year, we are making sure that we have prepared well and the players are ready to fight for a respectable position compared to what we did in our first year.’’
Ruwa PRO-Group chairman, Joseph Kampira, said they were targeting youthful players this season.
“We are now focusing on a junior policy and most of our players are Under-21 who will have a (long-term) future with the team,’’ he said.
‘’We have to focus on developing future players whom we will keep for the next two seasons before they challenge for the championship.
“Last year, we had some challenges, in as far as our budget is concerned, and to cut that, we have engaged some youngsters who are less demanding but talented.’’
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