admin
Sports Reporter
TEENAGE striking sensation Douglas Mapfumo last week achieved a rare feat by local footballers when he was snapped up by top South African Premiership outfit Bidvest Wits despite not having featured in the domestic top-flight.
Mapfumo, who hogged the limelight when leading the attacking line of Legends Academy in the Under-21 Challenge Football League (CFL), had been on a trial stint at Wits and impressed the Premiership side’s coach Gavin Hunt and his technical crew, who have since taken him on board.
The 19-year-old rangy forward had ironically endured an unhappy stint at CAPS United, where he was deemed excess baggage after having been loaned to the local Premiership giants. But last Wednesday, Mapfumo had his coaches, management team, family, friends and Legends Academy teammates joining him in celebrating a dream move after Wits added him on their books.
He will join countrymen Terrence Dzvukamanja, McClive Phiri and Farai Madhanhanga on the former South African champions’ register.
What makes Mapfumo’s move special is that just like Warriors skipper Knowledge Musona before him, the gangly striker has burst into the ABSA Premiership without having tasted action in the domestic elite league.
In fact, Musona played in the Northern Region Division One with Aces Youth Academy before being signed by Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs in 2009 along with defenders Thomas Sweswe and Zhaimu Jambo, who had arrived from Dynamos and Gunners, respectively.
Although local scouts, who have a tendency of preferring older and “more experienced players’’, overlooked Mapfumo, he showed his class when powering Legends to dominance in the CFL Under-21 league, which was a grouping of some academies in Harare.
Mapfumo played five games in that league and scored 10 goals, and by the time the CFL season was coming to an end, his coaches, who include Johannes Chikaola and Josephat Rwafa, had reckoned that the young forward was ripe for a more challenging environment.
Legends Academy director of coaching Farai Dhliwayo confirmed the Wits deal via a statement.
Dhliwayo is also confident that Mapfumo’s move could signal the start of more Legends talent being churned out to leagues outside Zimbabwe.
Legends currently have some players loaned out to some of the country’s Division One clubs.
“Young Legends Football Academy player, Douglas Tinashe Mapfumo, has been signed by South African ABSA Premier League giants Bidvest Wits FC. The 19-year-old player successfully navigated through a gruelling two-week trial period within which more senior and experienced Zimbabwean Premier Soccer League players failed to make the cut. “As a youth squad player, Douglas will not be expected to immediately impact the first team, he will have to continue to work hard to eventually earn a starting berth,’’ Dhliwayo said.
Dhliwayo said he was also thrilled that Wits were looking to be patient with Mapfumo as he settles down at the Johannesburg outfit.
“Worldwide football is getting younger and starting to focus on exceptionally talented teenage players. “This can be seen by the rise of players like Haaland Jadon Sancho and Joao Felix.
“Zimbabwe Premier league clubs seemingly value old, experienced players over youth, but fortunately, football is a global game and there are boundless markets for talented young players. “This has been a long journey. We have been training Douglas since he was 14 and through hard work and perseverance, he has made it. As a football academy that develops talent, we are over the moon with this development and it just reinforces our belief that it is possible for players to make it to the top at a young age, if they are focused on their goals and dedicated to training.
“Often there is a false belief that talent is enough but we have come to find that a player must be complete technically, physically and mentally. Douglas’ success has not only opened the doors and motivated many of his academy teammates, but it has also inspired us coaches to double our efforts, continuously improve our training and produce more quality players,’’ Dhliwayo said.
Legends is an academy that specialises in producing physically fit, mentally strong and technically capable young Zimbabwean players aged between six and 19 years old.
The institution uses a regime that mixes both European and African training methods, which is run throughout the year, while at the same time allowing the young players to continue with academic studies at their respective schools.
Online Reporter