The Sunday Mail
Sports Reporter
DESPITE the country still being frozen out of the international football family owing to the suspension by FIFA, ZIFA’s technical director Wilson Mutekede wants the association to focus on development, particularly at grassroots level.
He believes Zimbabwe could use the current period to realign its development policies and ensure talent is nurtured across the country.
Academies, he says, could be placed into a tier system in line with their capacities, with youth community teams being assisted to identify and develop young players.
“Academies are there purely for development and I think we should abandon the route of tournaments with regards to academies, where we are saying let’s adopt a route of festivals; that’s where we get an opportunity to showcase and learn without the pressure of wanting to win a medal,” he said.
“The kids will then be just showing their skills and how much they have developed. But coaching itself is very necessary; bonding with players is very necessary.
“Of course, academies have different infrastructure and we will need to have a tier system where we can then grade them.”
ZIFA’s thrust, he said, was to ensure all development structures operate like the nurseries they ought to be.
“These institutions play a pivotal role in the development of players that grow up to be mega stars,’’ added Mutekede.
He also talked up issues of player safety and health, as well as the need for clubs and development institutions to have qualified medical personnel at training grounds.
“We want an environment where kids are taught the values and culture of an institution and know the issues that have to do with discipline, life skills, and we have to do a lot of peer education so that players are going to develop into wholesome human beings.
“We need to ask ourselves whether we have qualified medical practitioners to take care of any injuries that may occur.”
He also spoke against age cheating.
Junior football, Mutekede added, is a delicate stage that needs to be properly handled.
“Junior football is where we are saying this is the golden stage of learning, so we need to ask: Where are we in terms of the physiological? Where are we in terms of the tactical and technical skills introduction into tactics?”
He also indicated that more refresher courses would be lined up for referees, administrators and coaches as part of ZIFA’s drive to encourage continuous education.
