Plans afoot to revive women soccer

Fungai Munyoro
THE Manicaland women soccer executive is working tirelessly to revive the Division Two women soccer league which had died a natural death.

The executive, which was elected in March this year and will be in office for four years, is made up of chairperson Annah Kawera, Memory Chirara (vice), Stephan Masina (secretary), Sailas Chawira (fixtures secretary), Norman Nyaude (development board member) and Hardson Gambinga (treasurer).

In an interview, fixtures secretary Sailas Chawira said their aim was to have a viable women soccer league in the province. He said they were looking forward to the development of women football from grassroots.

“Manicaland Province is not considered as a powerhouse in football because of poor developmental programmes, so as a board we have planned to develop women football from grassroots. We have drafted a letter to all schools via the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture highlighting our aim and plans and this will help us to develop women soccer in our province. Division Two is not new, but we want to improve from the previous way of running women soccer,’’ said Chawira.

Chawira said they were targeting teams from institutions of higher learning, schools, both secondary and primary, to form the core of the Division Two League.

“The door is also open to any individuals who want their clubs to join the league,’’ he said.

So far about nine schools have confirmed their participation in the 2015 league, mainly Mutare Girls’ High, St David’s Bonda High, Vengere and Sakubva High.

Clubs that have confirmed include Super Tigers and CCK Queens Sports Academy form Checheche in Chipinge South.

Women soccer lacks sponsorship and it’s one of the challenges that the Manicaland Province is facing.

“As a province we are facing financial problems and we are appealing to anyone who can sponsor our league to come on board. Sponsors only look at men soccer, but the girl child is left out. They forget that both have to survive through soccer. There are a lot of cup games for men, for example, Mbada, Chibuku, NetOne and many more, but there is nothing much for the girl child. I think women soccer must also be considered,” he lamented.