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The move by Highlanders Football to register an academy is a commendable one.

Highlanders’ chairman Johnfat Sibanda informed members during last Sunday’s Annual General Meeting that they were now waiting for a certificate to operate a football academy having already registered one with the Zimbabwe Football Association.

The move is, according to the Bosso chairman, meant to generate more revenue from player sales.

Bosso seeks to move away from just having junior teams but an academy that will produce players that the club will promote to the senior team and sell abroad.

In terms of the Highlanders plan, players will be registered to the academy at a young age and have their development monitored.

We have always wondered why a big club like Highlanders still does not operate an academy.

The biggest football clubs in the world are successful because they operate academies.

One perfect example is the Manchester United Academy which has produced well-known players such as Mason Greenwood, Paul Pogba, Phil Neville, Gary Neville, Marcus Rashford, George Best, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Sir Bobby Charlton.

Most of these players have helped the Red Devils win trophies over the years.

Manchester United is one of the most successful English clubs of all time because the club puts faith in its academy players.

Rashford has been behind the Red Devils’ resurgence which has seen them making steady progress since the World Cup break.

Manchester United happen to be one of the clubs that the Highlanders leadership visited on their tour of Europe last year, which was made possible by Bosso’s main sponsors, Sakunda Holdings.

The trip was meant to open the Highlanders hierarchy to modern-day trends of running football and it seems they did learn something from that excursion.

Sibanda did inform the Bosso members that the biggest takeaway from the trip to Europe was how clubs in that part of the world take academies seriously and how they generate revenue from the sale of academy players.

Setting up an academy will allow Highlanders to teach players from a young age the club’s culture, brand of football and what it means to fight for that badge.

Some of the problems that Highlanders are facing stem from not having an academy.

Running their own academy will ensure that Highlanders have a constant supply of players for the first team.

The club can also sell these academy products and earn much-needed revenue.

Highlanders did not benefit much from grooming the likes of Marvelous Nakamba, Teenage Hadebe, Kudakwashe Mahachi, the Moyo twins, Kevin and Elvis despite these players having spent time at the club during their formative years during which they were mentored by the club’s coaches.

It all comes down to having proper documentation and Bosso having their own academy means appropriate records will be kept for all players that come through so that their movements are tracked.

The Highlanders academy initiative has been mentioned before during the club’s AGM and we hope that this time around it comes to fruition.

It is the way to go for Highlanders and we believe that Dynamos and Caps United, the other traditional giants of Zimbabwean football should consider having this structure.

The fact that Spanish club Real Betis have established an academy in Zimbabwe, which was opened in 2020 shows how serious the club is and this should serve as a motivator for local clubs.