Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo-Zimpapers Sports Hub
WHEN Loveness Mukura raised her hand to become the first female ZIFA vice-president last year, she had a clear, and essentially, too-good-to-believe, vision to transform women’s football.
The women’s game had stagnated owing to years of neglect by previous administrations, with the league virtually running on a stop-start basis.
Now Mukura, with the help of her colleagues on the ZIFA executive committee, has been on a mission to spearhead the transformation of the women’s game.
As a female vice-president, she has naturally been tasked with the oversight role and to take leadership in crafting the Women’s Football Strategy, which has resulted in some gains already being witnessed.
One such epoch moment was realised yesterday as ZIFA launched an exclusive female CAF C Coaching licence course in Harare.
It’s a development that has never been seen before in this country and to make it even better, the initiative has both FIFA and CAF blessings.
“We are proud to officially launch this initiative,” said Mukura.
“This is a culmination of sleepless nights and restless days as we chart a new way in female football.
“We have 30 coaches undergoing the CAF C Coaching Course after we managed to have them undergo the CAF D Course last year.
“In the CAF D Course last year, we had 47 coaches, and that’s how we want to do things.
“For the female game to develop, we should start by training coaches and administrators.
“We can’t be putting the cart before the cow. We hope that this will help our game to grow in this country.
“We had to apply for this exclusiveness to the relevant authorities, and here we are. We are so grateful to have worked our way and to achieve a milestone like this.”
Only one female coach has a CAF A licence in Zimbabwe, with four having the CAF B badge.
There are 10 with CAF C licences, three of whom have since enrolled in the ongoing CAF B Course.
The group, which has enrolled for the CAF C, has a diverse background, including two former Mighty Warriors captains, Talent Mandaza and Onai Chingawo with another ex-Mighty Warriors star Lynette Mutokuto, also part of the crew.
“As ZIFA, we are excited to have this course, and the diversity in its composition is something we are so happy about,” added Mukura.
“We are very happy so to say the least. We will have a lot of interventions to serve the women’s game.
“We can talk and talk, but without helping the relevant people acquire relevant skills, we are just doomed.
“So, this is what we are trying to address because football can only be football with the right people in the right positions.”
Meanwhile, the CAF A Course is back in the country, almost a decade since the last one was held in 2017.
The first batch of students since 2017 will start lessons in the second week of August.
Speaking on the sidelines of a CAF inspection at the ongoing CAF B Course in Harare, ZIFA Technical Director Dominique Niyonzima revealed that the CAF A Course will be staged next month.
“Yes, I can confirm that the CAF A Course is back in the country after a lot of background work was done by ZIFA,” he said.
“The first class will be in by the second week of August. It’s a milestone that will help develop the standard of football in the country.”
The inspection, held at the halfway stage of the CAF B Course, was conducted by CAF representative Honour Chansa of Zambia, who expressed satisfaction in the manner in which ZIFA are conducting their business.
