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Omega Sibanda

Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
THE Zifa Bulawayo Province junior league is set to launch the Under-10 and 12 football leagues on March 3 as part of their efforts to create a vibrant junior policy in the city.

The association has divided Bulawayo into football districts which will see teams from various areas in the city involved in the initiative. A total of 20 teams are expected to take part in the new league.

The launch is pencilled for Raylton Sports Club with Zifa vice president Omega Sibanda set to be guest of honour at the ceremony. Four teams have been identified to play on the day of the launch namely Flying Stars Academy, Mountain Climbers, FMSA and Bantu Rovers.

Mkhululi Mthunzi, responsible for the junior league desk in Bulawayo, said preparations for the launch were well in place.

“The first thing we did was to train the junior coaches. The grassroots coaching course was conducted by Zifa technical director Wilson Mutekede and Gibson Homela in January. It is important to equip the coaches with the right knowledge so that they know how to handle these kids because any mistake in handling them might result in the youngsters hating football all their lives. It was critical to empower junior coaches so that they produce quality players,” he said.

Mthunzi said Premiership clubs should place their trust in the young players.

“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. Last year we saw a number young boys from teams like Bulawayo City which is very good,” said Mthunzi.

He also urged parents to support their soccer playing children as they aim to improve the junior structures in the city.

Bulawayo Province is the only area with organised association junior football under the support of the Zifa Bulawayo Province Junior League where over 2,520 children between the ages of 12-18 years play football from March to December every weekend.

For a long time Bulawayo has been the hub of junior football in Zimbabwe. It is in Bulawayo where legendary footballers like the Ndlovu brothers, Madinda, Peter and Adam, Bruce Grobbelaar, Benjani Mwaruwari, Benjamin Nkonjera, Agent Sawu, Henry Mckop and a host of other talented players played their junior football and went on to become successful in their football careers.