Jadel Football Academy tourney hailed

Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter

IT’S a signature moment for junior football development.

Phenomenal.

Prince Edward School was a hive of activity yesterday with 10 academies battling it out in the Jadel Football Academy Invitational Cup tournament. The Under-17 event was organised by Jadel Football Academy whose team went on to play in the final against Power 11 Academy.

Hordes of scouts, including Zimbabwe’s leading performance analyst Kudzai Chitima, converged at the venue where they short-listed a number of youngsters for further professional development.

Chitima was full of praise for the tournament organisers fronted by Jadel Football Academy founder Walter “Ringers” Musanhu, who is based in Beijing, China.

“Look, this is the way to go. Junior development is what is dragging our football backwards as a nation.

“It’s always encouraging to have such academies coming in to stage tournaments of this magnitude,” said Chitima.

“Football is science and the modern trends involve scouting players from a junior level.

“This is how you get to identify potential which can be nurtured into reality.

“From merely looking at these youngsters play, you can see we are not far off as a country. We have the talent.

“What’s important now is to follow up on the talent and try to develop it further.

“We have so many youngsters who are talented across the country. “The difference is only that they don’t get the exposure they need at the right time. “It is tournaments such as this one that can help them get the right exposure where they can correct their flaws going forward.

“So I think Walter Musanhu is doing a fantastic job in bringing a tournament of this size.”

Harare businessman Desmond “The Village Pope” Ali, whose Ali Sundowns was also part of the fiesta, said the essence of the tournament was development.

“Tournaments like this are always welcome for this age-group. What we don’t condone is age-cheating.

“People should be in these tournaments for development, not for victory. If we can have two players coming out of this tournament making it big in international football, that’s the way and we should be happy,” said Ali.

“I am happy with the way this tournament is organised. Development is key for this age-group. “Jadel Academy, through their owner Walter Musanhu, are doing very well and this is a very good job.

“It is an encouraging development to see participants coming all the way from Hwange just to play in this tournament.

“The inclusivity is very encouraging as well and I can say this is one of the best tournaments in this regard.

“Footballers need a platform to showcase themselves from a young age and that way, we can help our country in terms of nurturing talent. “We need more and more of these tournaments across the country.”

Power 11 director, Tapiwa Ndewere, whose team has produced several youngsters who are playing in developmental leagues in South Africa, also saluted Jadel Football Academy.

“I would like to hail this initiative from Jadel Football Academy. It’s indeed a great honour for us to have taken part in a tournament like this.

“We need more like this to give our kids a chance to participate in a competitive environment,” said Ndewere.

“Development starts from this and the youngsters can grow in terms of confidence”.

Speaking from his base in Beijing, China, yesterday Musanhu expressed satisfaction over the manner everything unfolded.

“I am very happy with this tournament more so after we managed to bring some teams from as far as Hwange,” said Musanhu.

“We are glad as a team to have managed to have put together a tournament like this.

“Remember we have not been able to hold it in the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, having held the inaugural edition in 2019.

“And to have a good one this time around speaks volumes of what we can achieve as a country,” Musanhu said.