Zimpapers Logo

Nkosilathi Sibanda, [email protected]

THE much-awaited National Association of Secondary School Heads (Nash) Proton-Surrey 20-and-under boys’ tournament kicks off today, with zonal matches setting the stage for one of the country’s biggest schools football contests.

The zonal competitions will pave way for the inter-districts set for September 29 and the national finals on October 6 and 7.

Mzilikazi High School will play host to the finals which will be played at the Barbourfields B Arena Grounds.

Hosting the finals came as an honour for the school that has earned a good reputation in schools’ sport over the years.

School teams competing in the city will converge at five venues according to the head in charge of football, Christopher Dube.

“Venues for the zonal games are Emganwini High School, Mandwande High, Sizane High, Pumula High and Northlea High.

“Schools will play in their zones and these are the venues we have settled for. Out of these competitions, we expect to come up with champions who will then proceed to the inter-district games next week. From there the provincial champion will emerge.

Dube told Zimpapers Sports Hub that they were ready for the zonal games and were encouraging schools to desist from age-cheating in order to give deserving players a chance to show their talent.

“As the Nash in Bulawayo we are confident that starting from today at the zonal stage, we are going to conduct the best tournament. 

“We urging schools in the province to guard against age-cheating. We need to give the tournament a clean sheet. Let the best schools win and we build a solid team that will go for gold,” said Dube.

The Bulawayo inter-district contests will be at Gifford High School.

Last year’s winners and defending champions were Goromonzi High School from Mashonaland East Province. 

Goromonzi beat Harare provincial champions Allan Wilson 1-0 in the final.