Story by Anashe Murombedzi
THE Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) is set to revamp its junior development structures after appointing a new technical director.
Zimbabwe’s national football teams have been struggling to make an impact on the global stage, with the under-17 team performing dismally at the just-ended AFCON COSAFA qualifiers, where they were eliminated in the group stage on home soil.
The Young Warriors are not alone, as the story is the same for other national teams from the youth ranks to the senior level.
ZIFA is, however, working on changing the way the country conducts football business after appointing respected technical expert, Burundi national Dominique Niyonzima, as the new technical director.
Niyonzima takes over from Jethro Hunidzarira who was fired after failing to meet expectations following a skills audit.
The new technical director has vast experience, having worked as a FIFA Technical consultant for West & East Africa for the past seven years.
The 62-year-old, who is also a former CAF deputy technical director, trained a number of Zimbabwean coaches, including Kalisto Pasuwa, Norman Mapeza, the late Barry Daka, Lloyd Mutasa, Lizwe Sweswe, Newsome Mutema and Herbert Maruwa among others.
Niyonzima is in Zimbabwe on a one-year contract to help set up proper structures before the country appoints a new technical director.
He comes to Zimbabwe on a direct FIFA recommendation after ZIFA submitted the skills audit results to the World Football governing body.
One of the key areas of focus is grassroots development.
“We’ll introduce a talent identification online platform for scouting. We’ll train scouters from all provinces and districts, who can use their mobile phones or computers to submit details of talented players. This will help us build a database of talented players and identify those who can represent our national teams,” said Niyonzima
ZIFA is planning to launch a youth competition in the Under-13, 15, 17, and 20 categories for boys and girls.
The youth competition will start at the district level, with the winners progressing to the provincial and national stages.
The competitions will act as scouting and talent development programmes for the country at a time when ZIFA has submitted a Women’s Football Strategy to FIFA for approval.
Other key initiatives include engaging schools, introducing refresher courses for qualified coaches, and running CAF C and B courses.
