Vusumuzi Dube
Simba Jemwa, Sports Correspondent
A HWANGE-based girls football academy recently held an anti-child marriage, child pregnancy and drug abuse awareness tournament on November 27 in Makwandara Village in rural Hwange.
Young Sables Soccer Academy (YSSA) and their sponsors welcomed four girl’s teams that participated in the tournament namely Young Sables Soccer Academy (Makwandara), Tigers Football Club (Detema), Super Shooters (Nechilibi) and Eagles (Lupote).
The hosts won the round-robin tournament after garnering nine points from their three matches while Tigers finished joint second on four points along with shooters after both teams won one and drew one match. Eagles from Lupote were last, having lost three of their matches.
The tournament was held under the theme ‘No to early child marriages, child pregnancy and drug abuse’ and the main objective was to advocate for the end of child marriages, child pregnancies and drug abuse through sport.
The academy chose to commemorate the 16 days against Gender Based Violence through the tournament.
During the tournament, presentations were made by the Buwalo Mataliko Trust, Zimbabwe Republic Police (Victim Friendly Unit), a primary counselor from the Ministry of Health and Child Care, local councilors, Cover Link, Junior Councillors and Sabona Trust.
Meanwhile, on December 18 to 19 held a life skills workshop for the girls. The workshop was wholly supported by Painted Dog Conservation and Rhino Cup Champions League who are the main sponsors of the local soccer.
The workshop focused on identifying challenges faced by rural girls’ soccer players and how they can overcome those problems, etiquette and ethics of women soccer.
On the last day of the workshop, a tournament was held with three teams participating. Tigers from Detema won the tournament and walked away with a playing kit, with the other participating teams being awarded match balls.
The day was also marked by a successful clean-up campaign at Makwandara Clinic and local schools. Going forward, the clean-up will be conducted periodically to connect the girls with their environment on a voluntary basis. @RealSimbaJemwa
Bongani Ndlovu