Women’s soccer kicks off in June

Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Women’s Soccer Super League is now set to kick off in mid June after the final round of the African Championship qualifiers in which the Mighty Warriors will face neighbours Zambia. The resolution was passed during a meeting held on Saturday and attended by the newly elected women’s football board led by Mirriam Sibanda and 12 of the 16 Super League clubs’ representatives. The other board members are vice-chairperson Elizabeth Langa, board members Trust Kwembeya, Cecilia Gambe, Ben Mamoche and Edwin Magosvongwe.

Zimbabwean women, under Rosemary Mugadza, will face Zambia on the weekend of May 23-25 with the return leg set for the weekend of June 6-8.

Seven teams from the qualifiers will join hosts Namibia for the final tournament from October 11-24, which serves as a qualifier for the 2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Canada.

“The clubs agreed to resume playing the national Super League in mid June after our last match against Zambia. They said they are prepared to play with or without sponsorship,” said Sibanda.

She said the clubs were unanimous in coming up with the resolution as they felt doing nothing was not going to bring sponsors.
Said Sibanda: “The meeting agreed that if we play, sponsors might come on board instead of us just sitting because there is no sponsorship. We are serious women who are serious about football hence this bold resolution.”

She said the clubs also mandated her board to approach the Zifa secretariat as well as the referees’ committee to try and lobby for a reduction of player registration and match officials’ fees as a way of capacitating the girl child.

“We sincerely believe that if the two bodies see and appreciate our plight, they will be able to lend us an ear and reduce the fees to a reasonable level,” said the women’s football boss.

The clubs are said to have agreed to accept any kind of sponsorship with a particular bias towards providing transport to and from matches for the teams.

The sport has been in the doldrums in the last 12 months with the previous board concentrating more on the national team at the expense of national and regional leagues.