adminRicky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
JUNIOR development took centre stage at a Zifa Bulawayo Metropolitan Province interaction meeting held recently at the Southern Region office in the City of Kings.
It brought about the question, “Where do promising youngsters end at?”
Football administrators and coaches expressed worry at their meeting on Friday last week that a significant number of the players that turned out for junior national teams have, over the years, disappeared with a few managing to break into mainstream soccer action.
In 2010, Highlanders head of development Dumaza Dube was the national team coach for the Under-15 boys’ team that participated in the Singapore Youth Olympics and only a few players from his squad have gone to break into professional leagues.
From that squad, striker Mgcini Sibanda now registered with Highlanders under the five Premiership juniors’ slot, Hwange’s Pritchard Mphele, Donovan Bernard a goalkeeper who is a product of Aces Youth Academy and now turning out for How Mine have managed to break into the Premiership.
Former Highlanders juniors striker Ackim Mpofu who was part of Dube’s national team squad is on a football scholarship in the United States of America.
Some of their peers who they went with to Asia are finding it hard to break into topflight soccer action while others have been totally lost to football.
Just what is wrong with Zimbabwe’s tracking system of junior players?
“The problem with Zimbabwe is that there is serious lack of continuity in as far as junior development is concerned. We tend to assemble squads but don’t build teams. For example, we assembled a squad for Singapore but immediately after the Youth Olympics we disbanded it and now we just communicate through social networks.
“What the football motherbody needs to do is to formulate a national development programme through which they can emulate what is happening in developed countries. I understand that resources might be a challenge, but it’s possible to run a successful programme with a limited budget. For example, we can have holiday training camps for our junior national teams at the Zifa Village and that way we will be able to keep track and nurture players that have been identified as brighter prospects for the senior national team,” said Dube.
The problem does not only affect national teams as regions also face similar challenges.
“If we had proper development plans we would have seen some of the players that we assembled for the 2010 Singapore Under-15 Youth Olympics making it for the Under-17s and 20 national teams up to today. Even at provinces, you have players excelling at the Zimbabwe National Youth Games and inter-provincial games but if you try to trace those gems, you don’t see them at all. That is wrong and it shows that somewhere somehow there is something that we as a nation are not doing right to develop talent,” he said.
Dube acknowledged that not all the players who come through junior ranks will develop and become members of the senior national team.
He also noted that staff turnover in junior teams’ technical teams also affects training of youngsters.
“The other problem is that we change coaches a lot especially at the junior levels. It’s okay to have changes in the senior national team but that should not be the case with the juniors. You need continuity, and look at South Africa, how long did Shakes Mashaba spend with their developmental sides? Now he has been promoted and because most of the players that passed through his hands it becomes easy for him to deliver,” said Dube.
New West FC benefactor and Zifa Southern Region board member Tumediso Mokoena also raised the issue of having qualified junior coaches taking charge of the provincial teams.
“I believe that the best way for Bulawayo to do well at national competitions is to have coaches with vast experience with the juniors. We need to have people who understand these youngsters. Coaching juniors is not the same as mentoring mature players, you need someone the kids can relate to and who knows about the kids that he coaches. Even as you go to the junior national teams, there is a need to have people who understand the principles of development and know how to follow a programme drawn to develop and nurture talent,” Mokoena said.
Mkhululi Mthunzi, responsible for the junior league desk in Bulawayo, said Premiership clubs are using “best before” players, those that are way past their peak.
“The problem is that in the junior league teams work hard to nurture talent but Premiership teams take these players that are good and bench them. Very few clubs have that belief in young talent and prefer to use veteran players over up-and-coming talent.
“I would like to praise Bantu Rovers who have shown faith in juniors and I believe they are doing well in terms of giving youngsters a platform to shine,” said Mthunzi.
Lucky Ndlela, a defensive midfielder and rightback Fortune Sibanda who were part of the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympics squad, 17-year-old striker Bukhosi “Zakhu” Sibanda and national Under-20 central defender Teenage Hadebe are some of the juniors Bantu Rovers have given a Premiership run.
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