Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
ZIFA has embarked on a nationwide rural constituency grassroots outreach programme aimed at tapping into the suppressed rural talent.
Chibuwe in Manicaland province was the first rural constituency where Zifa started this outreach, with the association’s technical director Wilson Mutekede handing over football equipment.
“The Zifa rural constituency grassroots programme is targeting the rural areas only. Basically, what we are doing is that we are travelling across rural areas in the country donating football equipment. It is our conviction as Zifa that rural areas are places that have remained neglected in terms of talent identification and football development,” said Zifa communications officer Xolisani Gwesela.
He said rural communities have over the years been overlooked in development programmes, something that is about to change.
“In the past, only urban communities have been benefiting from our programmes, hence we have decided to go rural this time around. We want to ensure that football spreads to the rural areas. We want these places to produce the next Nakamba and the next Neymar,” said Gwesela.
“We want competitions in these rural communities to be modeled along modern football trends. Our conviction as Zifa is that there is a lot of talent in the rural areas and we want to tap into it through this programme.
“We want these clubs to register within the Zifa system so that the players they produce can be transferred to other leagues and the clubs benefit. We also want to train referees and coaches so that we have a full football portfolio in these communities.”
Zifa says the commencement of provincial junior leagues tops its priority when the Covid-19 induced situation in the country improves.
The association was set to launch Junior Football Leagues across the country last year as part of its efforts to ramp up development of the game, but were halted by the suspension of all sporting activity when the initial lockdown was imposed in March last year.
It was set to launch Under-15 leagues that would be under every provincial structure.
There has been no juniors’ football in over a year, raising concerns that the country will lose a lot of talent, as promising players dump the game for other alternatives. Zifa, however, insists that plans to establish provincial leagues are still on course.
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