Lovemore Dube
ZIFA Assembly member Ndodana Masuku is excited that their Area Zone initiative in Hwange District is making a positive impact on animal conservation efforts and giving youngsters a chance to consider professional careers.
This is after one of their star products Enock Moyo broke into the Warriors last year barely 12 months after making his professional debut at Bikita Minerals.
Moyo was until January last year a member of Chapungu a team from an area called Dingane near Dete in Hwange District on the edges of the giant Hwange National Park.
Chapungu is among 19 other teams playing in what is known as the Rhino Champions League, a soccer competition organized since 2016 to fight poaching in the district’s south/eastern tip.
“All has gone well. We are happy with the league’s impact in the district where over 500 youths are being kept away from social ills by engaging in soccer. It is training and being taught about animal conservation and with training during the week at various football pitches, it means these youths are tired after practice and want to go home and rest,” said Masuku, the league’s chief executive officer.
The football league concept is being run in three countries and has so far proved a hit with plans beginning this year to have an international tournament involving best teams from member countries.
Masuku said having a player being identified for Premiership football by Bikita was a big achievement. He said Moyo’s success had inspired several rural boys into realising that soccer offers a career opportunity that can take them far.
“It is pleasing to see one of our own flying outside the country to represent Zimbabwe from our humble league. So many boys are now playing football with a purpose and it is a good endorsement for the Rhinos Champions League to have a player in the national team,” said Masuku.
He said there is so much talent out there in the rural areas needing to play in an organised event and be identified.
“There is so much talent, after Bikita Minerals identified Moyo, they asked if there were other good players and we recommended Andile Lunga, another gem who plays for Honeybadgers, may be the boy did not like the cultural switch, he returned home. Area Zones should be considered a vital part of the football ecosystem in our country,” said Masuku whose Rhino League and Bulawayo Amateur Football Association are the most active in the Southern Region.
Masuku disclosed that another Player Peace Mwanza is at Central Region League side Tongogara.
