Online Reporter
Remember Deketeke
Herald Correspondent
ZIMBABWE Football Association (ZIFA) board member Mrs Kudzai Kadzombe has urged more women in the country to take advantage of educational and leadership opportunities available in sport.
She said this after graduating from a Football Management Executive Programme she was undertaking at the University of Cape Town.
The programme, which is designed to strengthen governance, leadership and professional administration in football, attracted about 350 applicants from across Africa, with only 30 candidates ultimately selected.
“There are a lot of educational programmes being offered through different organisations and many of them are actually free. Women should take advantage of these opportunities to capacitate themselves,” she said.
She noted that the programme had a relatively low number of female participants and encouraged more women in Zimbabwe to pursue leadership roles in sport administration.
Her achievement comes at a time when Zimbabwe and the global community are celebrating women’s contributions and leadership across different sectors.
She said the milestone should inspire more Zimbabwean women to pursue educational opportunities and leadership roles within sport administration.
“I realised that the percentage of women in the programme was quite low and I would really like to encourage more women in Zimbabwe to apply for these programmes and develop themselves,” she said.
She added that efforts are also being made locally to expand access to sports management education.
“As the Zimbabwe Football Association, we recently launched a partnership programme with FIFA, Chinhoyi University of Technology and Midlands State University to offer sports management programmes so that Zimbabweans can develop skills in sports administration,” she said.
She said bringing such programmes closer to home would make it easier for aspiring administrators, particularly women, to acquire the knowledge and expertise required to lead within the sports sector.
“As women, we must take advantage of these opportunities because they empower us with knowledge and leadership skills that can help transform sport in Zimbabwe,” she said.
