Chronicle Editor
Noel Munzabwa, Sports Correspondent
BOTSWANA Under-17 ladies coach Tapaphiwa Tracy Gaebolae has emphasised the importance of staged development of junior national teams for optimum levels to be reached.
In an interview soon after her lasses blew away Zimbabwe’s Young Mighty Warriors 7-0 on aggregate in the 2020 Fifa Women’s Under-17 World Cup qualifiers at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday, Gaebolae said her girls were now fluid because of a lengthy union.
“Staged development of junior national team players is key to success and we cannot overestimate that. You take them through the various stages of development until they become a complete player understanding the tenets of expectations even lifestyle and food,” said Gaebolae.
“I have been with these young girls since 2010, developing them from individuals into a team and this lengthy union has helped us a great deal. We have gone to the regional tournaments together. We participated in the Cosafa Under-17 tournament together.
“In the absence of our Under-20 team, which had been promoted to the senior team, these young girls took part in the Cosafa Under-20, something that has helped them understand what is expected of them in a competition,” she said.
She said it was a matter of time before the Zimbabwe Young Mighty Warriors gelled into a formidable side provided they are kept together and made feeder platforms for senior teams.
Despite the heavy defeat, some Zimbabwe players impressed Mighty Warriors coach Sithethelelwe Sibanda, who welcomed the creation of the Under-17 team and participation in such tournaments.
“For the first we now have an Under-17 team and for it to participate in such a tournament is good for progress and creates a feeder into the upper levels, which is an improvement from a scenario where we had players earning their first national team caps with the Mighty Warriors,” said Sibanda.
“Now we have players like Praynence (Zvawanda), Thando (Sibanda) and Melody (Chikore) because of the platform we now have for us to identify more such players, develop and monitor them and introduce them to senior levels at the appropriate time,” she said.
Neutrals called on football authorities to ensure coaches are always in place given the glaring omission that there was no coach when the nation had perfect player identification tournaments such as the NASH tournaments and National Youth Games. – @NoelMunzabwa
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu