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Bruce Chikuni
FOR a community that has largely been fed in a dosage of Division One football this year, a clash between Real Betis Academy and PW Academy gave the Norton fans a reason to feel good watching some of the budding talent in the game. Hosts PW ended on a 1-2 receiving end at Ngoni stadium in Norton.
Real Betis got their goals from Langton Chipunza and Wonder Bararira while Tinotenda Murwira was on target for PW.
The Norton football enthusiasts have been watching a lot of Division One football courtesy of Lloyd Mutasa’s MWOS.
With Division action put on temporary hold, Mutasa who has a knack of identifying talent watched yesterday’s game together with his backroom staff.
South African-based football agent, Mike Ngobeni who has huge interests in Zimbabwean talent was also at Ngoni where one of Real Betis director Gerald SIbanda used the occasion to call on academies in the country to unite in their quest to develop the game.
Ngobeni has handled the affairs of such players like reigning Soccer Star of the Year Walter Musona when he was on the books of Polokwane City.
He also assisted the pair of Edmore Chirambadare and Mitchell Katsvairo to secure deals to play for Kaizer Chiefs.
SuperSport United defender, Ronald Pfumbidzai, is also on Ngobeni’s books.
Ngobeni insisted that the South African Premiership clubs were still interested in Zimbabwean players despite the numbers of locals plying their trade in the Supa Disk declining.
“I really need to commend what these two academies are doing for Zimbabwean football because there is a general belief that grassroots football is dead and it cheers me up to see what Real Betis and PW Academy are doing.
“I’m quite pleased with what I saw today, there is huge talent in the country, I think we also now need to see local coaches embracing youngsters,” Ngobeni said.
“That’s the only way we can unlock the next stage if we want these youngsters to make it in Europe.
“The readmission of the Warriors to play international football has also ignited interest from several clubs in South Africa because they believe in Zimbabwean talent.
“I think these academies are doing everything right for us to get to the point where we can have at least three players at every club in South Africa as we used to do,” said Ngobeni.
Sibanda added that his passion is to share the exposure they get during their Europe tours with local academies.
He said local academies needed to embrace each other as the responsibility of developing talent was a shared duty.
“We were very happy to be in Norton to appreciate the good work to being done by PW.
“It’s also important for our academy that we are moving around the country’s provinces to showcase our brand of football,” Sibanda said.
“These tours give us the chance to mend our relationships with other academies and we also get the chance to widen our nets in scouting.
“We need to be more positive, we need to build synergies as academies, we are the institutions which are nurturing the future of Zimbabwean football.
“The exposure we get in our European tours should not only profit this project but other academies in the country and this can only be achieved if we join forces to help these youngsters,” he said.
PW director, Tatenda Wadyajena was also thrilled by the turnout of the Norton residents.
He said such initiatives need the full backing of the communities in order to achieve intended targets.
“This was by a distance the best game that we have played so far because it really gave our recruits the chance to play against one of the finest developmental team in the country.
“The boys were really motivated to play this game and it also gave us the picture of where we are at the moment.
“There was a lot of positives to take from this match and the crowd even made this fixture more entertaining and this is the environment which we want for these boys.
“The score line also shows that we are not really far from where we want to be and it feels good to have the support of this community.
“Helping these youngsters to reach their potential is the only way we can repay this town,” said Wadyajena.
Online Reporter