The Sunday Mail
Sports Reporter
DESPITE boasting four teams across as many leagues, Herentals director Innocent Benza has sought to take his development thrust to more centres across the country’s football regions.
This comes amid revelations that Benza wants to undertake an audacious project and set up 60 academies across the country using the Herentals Group of Schools as the conduit for those institutions.
With ZIFA failing to establish a national centre of football excellence, it has been left to individuals such as Farai Dhliwayo’s Legends, Nigel Munyati’s Aces Youth Academy, Real Betis, which is under Gerald Sibanda and Bheki Nyoni’s BN Academy, to take the initiative to groom young Zimbabwean talent.
It emerged yesterday that Benza believes that through the Herentals schools dotted around the country, he could have academies that could provide learners with an opportunity to balance both their academic studies and honing their football skills.
The 51-year-old domestic Premiership’s oldest player has an insatiable taste of football development. “Our primary focus as the Herentals Group is on the development of Zimbabwe.
“And I can safely say that next year we will be increasing our professional teams from the current number of four to six, and more in 2024. We are doing this as part of playing a part in the development of football in Zimbabwe.
“We will be adding two more teams in the form of two extra Division Two teams, one in the Southern Region and Eastern Region,” said Benza.
Herentals have a Premiership side popularly known as the Students, a franchise each in the Northern Region Division One and Division Two, as well as a female outfit who ply their trade in the Women’s Soccer League and a Northern Region Division One side and a Division Two side.
“The year started with the introduction of our Division Two side, whose mandate is to allow and give young talent an opportunity to play and learn the Herentals way.
“Our vision is now to amplify the efforts already being made to have each of our 50 plus learning centres into well-run academies.
“In order to achieve that, each centre is to have a football coach trained to a minimum of CAF D licence and also have key partnerships to allow the smooth running of the academies,” said Benza.
Benza noted that football development in the country is riddled with various challenges but insisted his institution is ready to weather the storm.
“We have a vision. Our institution is vision-driven and in our bid to achieve our goals we won’t be stalled by financial resources or other hiccups.
“There might be temporary setbacks but once there is a vision there will be a way,” he said.
Benza added that they drew a lot of inspiration from the fact that Herentals started off as a social project, was now bearing fruit as seen by their Premiership side’s fine run in the Chibuku Super Cup and the league championship marathon.
“We have gone through a lot; it has not been an easy journey for us but God has always been there for us.
“The year 2022 has been a very successful year for us as a group, our Premiership side finished eighth and were runners-up in the Chibuku Super Cup, with our ladies’ team being crowned champions in the ZWSL, while our lower league teams finished second in their respective leagues,” said Benza.
