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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
UNITED States of America-based ex-Highlanders and national team captain Thulani “Biya” Ncube has set his sights on setting up weekly training camps for aspiring footballers next year with the hope of grooming future stars.
Ncube, who is in the country on his annual leave, held a day-long training session for boys and girls between the ages of 7-13 years at the Grassroot Soccer Fifa Centre in Gwabalanda on Friday.
Coaches from the Biya4 Academy took the 60 young footballers who registered for the training through their paces, with focus on dribbling, passing, shooting and ball control.
Happy with the turnout, Ncube, who was pleased that the participants learnt the values of teamwork, sportsmanship and improved their football skills, said they intend to hold more clinics next year.
“We registered 60 kids, more wanted to come but we had a small field and we had to do with the limited number. They were between the ages of 7 and 13 years.
“I always bring coaches from the USA but this time they didn’t come. So, next year we’re going to do one in March and try to do what we just did every Saturday next year but we still have to engage the venue people because this place is always booked,” said Ncube.
The former Bosso skipper who led Amahlolanyama to multi-championships at the turn of the millennium spoke about the need to have more girls playing football and other sporting activities.
“We’ve to emphasise that girls need to play football, they need the same opportunities as boys. Right now there are girls going overseas because of football scholarships and other sports scholarships. But to think that out of 60 participants we had just six girls, my plea to parents is that let’s allow girls to come and play because doing so takes them away from bad stuff,” Ncube said.
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Bongani Ndlovu