Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
REAL Betis Academy Zimbabwe kick-started it’s girls’ project in Harare at the weekend.
The academy, which over the last few years has catered for the nurturing of young boys has this year decided to extend the gesture to girls in the country.
“I am very happy to see the formation of the girl’s teams. It’s a wonderful month worldwide, women’s month and we are delighted to finally have our first group of players working through our programme,” said the academy’s president Gerald Sibanda.
“The next few weeks more players will be joining us across different age groups and we look forward to seeing their development, we are motivated to improve and play our part in the development of grassroots women’s football.
“It’s a wonderful month worldwide, Women’s Month and we are delighted to finally have our first group of players working through our programme.
“The next few weeks more players will be joining us across different age groups and we look forward to seeing their development, we are motivated to improve and play our part in the development of grassroots women’s football,” he added.
This weekend saw the first training session for girls who are under the watch of former Mighty Warriors captain Rudo Neshamba.
Neshamba began her career at Inline Academy in Bulawayo before making her Mighty Warriors debut at the 2008 edition of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) Cup.
The highlight of her career came in 2016 when she was part of the Mighty Warriors squad which represented the country at the Rio Olympic Games.
Mighty Warriors captain Rudo Neshamba.
After a successful career in which she also featured for clubs in Zimbabwe and Botswana in addition to a stint in Israel, Neshamba now appears set to venture into full-time coaching, starting with the new role at Real Betis Academy. The 31-year-old Bulawayo-born forward also holds a Diploma in Journalism and Communications from the Christian College of Southern Africa (Ccosa).
With the support of its international business development department, Real Betis are pursuing a global education project through football.
e is not just to develop new playing talents but to provide access to good education and fight against marginalisation and social exclusion in different parts of the world. — @innocentskizoe
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