daniel chigunwe
Veronica Gwaze
Sports Reporter
The Zimbabwe Football Association is gearing to host an inaugural National Tournament, which is meant to bring together junior female footballers from across the country to showcase their talent.
The tournament is pencilled in for Harare, between July 8 to 16.
ZIFA said the tourney will be a trial camp for the selection of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) and Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) qualifiers provisional national teams.
The two teams will then hold periodic camps in preparation for the two prestigious tournaments, which will be held later in the year, while the national tournaments will be held annually.
“This tournament will comprise six teams, which will be made up of two select teams from the Zimbabwe Women Soccer League and four from regional leagues,” said ZIFA.
Each select team will be expected to be made up of their best 17 players, predominantly Under-20s.
They are also required to provide a select seven-member technical team to support their squad.
Further, each team should have two other members who will be part of the tournament’s scouting panel.
Teams will also be responsible for their transport and other expenses for the tournament.
To accommodate the tournament, all league games that were scheduled for the particular weekend will be suspended.
“This tournament offers a unique opportunity for players to demonstrate their abilities on a national stage, to be selected for the provisional national team squad,” ZIFA said.
“Talent is there across provinces and what they need is the platform to showcase what they have, and this is exactly what we want to give them.”
The periodic camps will pave the way for the young girls’ mentorship towards the improvement of their football skills.
It comes to complement the National Foods School of Excellence project, which has in the recent past developed into the national women’s team feeder channel.
These projects will pave the way for consistent talent feeding into the Mighty Warriors, as Zimbabwe aims to retain its spot as a regional women’s football powerhouse.
“We are confident that the talent and dedication of these young players will give us the type of national team that we intend to build,” added ZIFA.
The camps will also equip the female footballers with information relating to the dangers of early marriage, early sexual indulgence, and drug and substance abuse.
Online Reporter