Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
WITH no return of football in sight, lower division coaches say they have been hit the hardest by the increased period of inactivity.
As the country moved back into a strict lockdown at the beginning of the week following a continued surge in Covid-19 cases, the Sports and Recreation Commission suspended all sporting activities in the country subject to review on January 31.
Unlike Premier Soccer League sides that at least had resumed training before the recent ban, lower division football has been under suspension since March last year.
Lower division coaches have expressed fear that some players may quit the game they love due to frustration and the need to eke out a living.
Players have been forced to only jog as a way of keeping fit, but that alone could lead to boredom given that it’s now over a year of no football.
Psychologists have warned that fear and anxiety around Covid-19 could be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in some athletes, which could result in some even quitting sport.
While much focus has been placed on the well-being of players, nothing much has been said or done about coaches.
“Football coaches are in a serious crisis after the second lockdown, especially lower division coaches. Last year presented a dilemma for coaches after all activities were suspended for the entire season due to the coronavirus. It seems we are headed in that same path again,” said Morris Mukwiti, coach of Southern Region Division One side CIWU.
“Every coach had hoped for a return to the football field in 2021 as previously announced, but all is now in vain. We have no source of income and lower divisions being non-profit making leagues, everything has just gone down the drain.
“We have families to look after and are appealing to well-wishers, especially the business community, to bail us out by assisting with food hampers to rescue us and our families from hunger and poverty. As the situation stands, we have no idea when soccer will be allowed to resume,” said Mukwiti, who is also Zimbabwe National Soccer Coaches Association (Zisca) Bulawayo province secretary-general. — @innocentskizoe
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