adminRay Bande Senior Sports Reporter
MUTARE City Rovers can have a longer life in the domestic top-flight league only if they seek, listen and implement ideas from various stakeholders in the eastern border city, says popular Mutare soccer personality, James Lunga Meya, popularly known as Hwetu.
Mutare City Rovers won the Eastern Region Division One 2015 league championship, but their Premiership promotion fate will soon be decided after deliberations by the Zifa Player Status Committee which is headed by former Central Region chairman Felton Kamambo.
However, in a wide-ranging interview on the promotion of Mutare City Rovers into the Castle Lager Premiership, Meya, who is based south of the mighty Limpopo River and is fondly referred to as Hwetu in local soccer circles, told this newspaper that being a community team, Mutare City Rovers must engage all relevant stakeholders in order to enhance community ownership of the club.
He said there was need for a number of initiatives that would make supporters feel like they were an important part of the club.
Hwetu had reservations about the makeup of the Mutare Cuity Rovers technical department, especially unconfirmed news that Ephraim Masakure has been roped in as assistant to Kenny ‘Bokande’ Kachara.
“First, I think I should congratulate them for gaining promotion although I am told there are still some issues with Masvingo United. I believe it is only a matter of time before it is resolved. In the same breadth, we need to applaud the mayor of Mutare and his team for the hard work throughout the season.
“Now that they have achieved what they were fighting for all these years, it is time for the executive, coaches and players to have unity of purpose. Being a community that we believe Mutare City Rovers are, they should now come up with initiatives to make sure that the community realises that is an important part of the team.
“The club leadership has a huge task ahead of them and there is really no time to rest. Financially, they need to explore ways of making the community contribute to the club. That could be done through the provision of membership cards or regalia. They need to create a brand that every person of Mutare would be proud to associate with.
“There is also need to make sure that when pre-season friendly matches and the league matches begin, the team has entertainment activities in the stadium that will lure crowds. In South Africa, some of the people that throng Kaizer Chiefs home matches are not really concerned about football, but the entertainment value they get through the atmosphere that the club leadership creates during their home matches.
“More importantly, City Rovers can have a longer life in the domestic top-flight league only if they seek, listen and implement ideas from various stakeholders. They should swallow their pride and go out in search of ideas that could make their team better. There is no way that people can help if they (Mutare City Rovers) are keeping their issues to themselves.“I should also hasten to say I do not have problems with giving Bokande (Kenny Kachara) a chance, but I am not sure whether Ephraim Masakure could be a befitting assistant to Bokande. The guy has been out of football for a long time now and it is always difficult for anyone to get back to a job after a long time.
“I think Taurai Makukutu can do a better job. We really do not want them to fight relegation from day one. They should learn from teams like Dongo that experiments can be costly,” said Hwetu.
The security and construction entrepreneur said there was need to form supporters’ leadership at branch level.
“We have football supporters in Chikanga, Dangamvura, Sakubva, Natview, Hobhouse, Fairbridge, Murambi and other suburbs. There is need for a coordinated approach to build a strong support base and that could be done by having supporters leadership at branch level within the suburbs they reside. There will also be an overall supporters’ leadership.
“There is also need to prioritise local talent. We have people like Sicho (Timothy Masachi). He is known for nurturing junior talent and Mutare City Rovers can utilise him and local junior football teams to scout for talent. After all, we have a lot of talented players here in Mutare. Successful teams have a tradition of junior football structures and Mutare City Rovers cannot be an exception.
‘It could also help the a lot if they have an advisory committee made up of authorities in football. This could be a committee of eight to 10 people with bonafide football knowledge.
“They can meet once a week, reviewing the team’s performances and making recommendations to the club executive. The advisory committee can also help in situations like hiring of new coaches and other related issues.
“There is no harm even in getting advice from Buffaloes. The guys have been in Premiership for four years and surely you cannot say they know nothing about Premiership football after spending such a period in the top flight league,” said Hwetu.
Online Reporter