Online Reporter
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
MUTARE’S flagship junior football tournament, the Mai Hondo Youth Sport Trust Tournament, has separated the dates for the girls’ and boys’ competitions.
The organisers have also rebranded the girls’ event as the Ten Toes Mai Hondo Girls Tournament.
The changes follow a new partnership between Mai Hondo Youth Sport Trust and Ten Toes Africa, a non-profit organisation headed by former Motor Action and Warriors defender, Allan Johnson.
This year’s girls’ competition is now set for October 11, coinciding with the International Day of the Girl Child, an annual UN observance established in 2011 to recognise girls’ rights and the unique challenges they face globally.
The boys’ tournament remains scheduled for December 5 as originally planned.
Mai Hondo Youth Sport Trust chairperson, Blessing ‘Jah B’ Mutsaka, said splitting the dates will give the girls’ tournament its own focus.
“We have partnered Ten Toes Africa on the tournament. This has resulted in the splitting of the girls and boys’ competitions. The girls’ edition is now earmarked for October 11 on the International Day of the Girl Child.
“We also did this to amplify the girls’ edition so that it is not just a shadow of the boys’ tournament. Hosting it on the day of the girl child is also important for us in terms of linking girl child empowerment with the tournament. Their aim was to use sport as a way to promote youth development, so we are happy to be partnering a like-minded organisation for a good cause,” he said.
Eight teams will take part in the girls’ competition.
Most are from Mutare, with Maningi Academy from Harare and Chimboy Academy from Wengezi also invited.
The tournament returns to the calendar after a one-year sabbatical last year due to logistical challenges.
Mutsaka said this year’s edition will be limited mainly to Mutare-based teams.
“In terms of participation, we normally have national level participation but this time around we will mainly have local level participation and that means teams from Mutare only will be participating. This time we have limited it to Mutare only because we have other national tournaments for the junior level such as the BancABC Grassroots Impact Programme, hence helping the local teams to strengthen their teams. It also relates to the resources at hand. We have made that decision so that we do not incur accommodation, food or other logistical costs. We just had to cut the size of our garment to the cloth at hand,” he said.
