adminprovince, in particular, and the country in general.
Once the home of big teams like Mhangura and Rio Tinto, Mashonaland West now doesn’t have a team in the Premiership and Guzah wants to change all that.
Yesterday, Guzah, who is also the national president of the Affirmative Action Group, spelt out his strategy for capacity building in the game in the province.
“For many years, the soccer community has decried the general constraints that have affected soccer, which have prevented the game from reaching the full potential of its development impact,” said Guzah in his strategic paper.
“While sponsorship and basic support are crucial for the success of the game, even more crucial is the creation of sustainable capacity which will drive the development of the game to very high levels of development and build internal capacity to drive its growth.
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“AS AAG president, I do hereby create an ample opportunity for the soccer community to benefit from the different empowerment programmes which are currently underway.
“In order for this to happen, we need to start thinking together with a view to make soccer into not only a sport but a business and a lifestyle.
“It is very unfortunate that due to the legacy of our education system, sport has always occupied a relatively subordinate status compared to the mainstream professions that are built of the foundation of academic training. This is unlike other countries where sports academies are established to give the players both intensive training in sport and also to endow them with other skills which form generalised competencies which the sports people can harness and benefit beyond the football pitch.”
Guzah said he had helped artists, who had suffered a similar problem to local footballers, where they don’t get a true value of their talents.
“Soccer and indeed all sports, by their physical nature, rely much on the virility of the sportsperson’s physical health,” said Guzah.
“Given that humans mostly go through a gradual process of decline in their physical body, the condition sets limits to their sports careers and it is important to have a sense of cycle management to a sports career.
“One has to have a keen understanding of the peak and low levels and develop strategies to benefit much from the peaks and shield themselves from the stresses of the lows.
“This will be to prevent unfortunate situations of superstars who do not invest in good time before their sports careers wear off. If some of our players who have been to Europe had business training, they would have managed to produce much value from their opportunities.”
Guzah said domestic football has to be converted into an industry that pays its players well and helps them earn a decent living, purely concentrating on the game, than dividing their focus by moonlighting in other cash-generating activities.
“The chief reason why our players cannot make a living out of soccer is that they have to divide their attention between the sport and other livelihood strategies to sustain their living,” said Guzah.
“In order to generate livelihood security, self esteem and confidence, I am opening up a learning opportunity through Sports `Based Learning Opportunities and the scholarships shall give heavy subsidies for education of every soccer player to attain academic qualifications through correspondence from certificate, diploma to degree levels.
“The scholarships will be directed towards players who will learn at different educational institutions which I shall partner in this regard.
“I shall make sure that soccer players receive training in regular business management techniques and also provide specific sports-related training both of which should form a solid background for the sustainable development of soccer.”
Guzah said there were rich pickings, which could be derived from the game, if things were done right.
“My mission is to bring to Zifa empowerment in soccer which also encompasses intellectual and business development,” said Guzah.
“Soccer can be converted into a multi-million dollar industry, bringing many jobs to the people, creating business for other industries like advertising, transport and logistics, catering and security, among others.
“This will make major contributions to the development of the country. I want to emphasise that this vision is not an event but a process, which requires collaboration, mutual understanding and a spirit of teamwork, looking at solutions and not pointing out difficulties, searching our souls for what we can bring to the sport.”
Online Reporter