Allen Khumalo, Sports Reporter
ZIFA Southern Region women’s soccer sides Street Set and New Orleans are set to take part in a tournament pencilled for Silonga Secondary School in Gwanda on February 4.
The tournament is being sponsored by Bulawayo businessman David Moyo and will also feature the Silonga Secondary School’s girls’ soccer team and a select side from Gwanda.
Moyo said the aim of the competition is to promote girls’ soccer in Matabeleland South.
“There are just a few women’s soccer teams in Gwanda so the aim is to promote the game outside Bulawayo. Gwanda is just a remote area without a women’s soccer league so I believe through this tournament we are going to make a difference in terms of promoting the women’s game. This will also give Bulawayo teams an opportunity to scout for talent as New Orleans once took players from that side,” said Moyo.
“Our organising committee is still working on the prizes that will be given to the winners and other participants. I believe there is a lot of hidden talent out there that needs to be identified and nurtured. Since Silonga is a known team in the area, people are going to come in numbers, which will make it easier for us to promote girls’ soccer,” he said.
The initiative was welcomed by Zifa Southern Region Women’s Soccer League chairperson Takundwa Chimundiya, who said this would go a long way in encouraging the girl child to take up the game.
“We are so glad that some people from the corporate world are coming forward to assist in the development of girls’ soccer in the region. Who knows, maybe one day they might sponsor our league, which has been lacking funding for the past years. Teams in our league don’t pay their players due to lack of sponsorship, which has always been the case with girls’ soccer in the country,” said Chimundiya.
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