The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
YEARS back, teenagers used to play football in the streets of virtually all high density suburbs across the country.
Nicknames of yesteryear stars who lit up the domestic Premiership such as Stanley Ndunduma, Stix Mtizwa, Peter Ndlovu, Moses Chunga and Madinda Ndlovu among many others, were given to outstanding teenagers who did wonders in the street match venues.
With plastic home-made balls, stones as goalposts and the roadside as the boundary of a makeshift dusty pitch, the stage would be set for entertaining football matches on the streets and at times attracting the attention of adults in the hood.
With all the disagreements that occasionally erupted and the absence of match officials, this platform served as a crucial, yet unofficial feeder and training ground for competitive schools and junior club competition.
Their undying love for the game of football did not end there.
Sundays were something to look forward to as young men would take time to throng different Premiership or Division One match venues, not to watch the live matches from kick-off, but just to wait for the last 15 minutes of the match when gates would be opened for free entrance.
It was comically referred to as the time for children of ZIFA, or put simply in vernacular as nguva yevana veZIFA.
That was then!
To date, the younger generation of children born after the turn of the new millennium, widely referred to as Ama2000, have very limited time for street sporting activities, let alone interaction in community sports grounds.
With competing interests that range from indoor internet and social media activities, music and the rampant drug abuse, those born after the Year 2000 have lost interest in community sports activities in general and football in particular.
The ZIFA Restructuring Committee, which was at Chancellor Junior School in Mutare last week on Saturday for a fact finding mission ahead of its compilation of a comprehensive report on the state of football in the country to the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) deliberated on this matter.
Renowned global marketer, banker and communicator Joel Gombera, who is a member of the Restructuring Committee, told the gathering that: “It is time we think outside the box or time to kick the box away and start thinking freely and intensely on why the children born after 2000, the ones we call Ama2000 are no longer interested in the game of football.
“My son would rather spend the day on a PlayStation rather than go out and play football like I used to do.
“There is need to find a way to change the mindset and bring back these youngsters because they are the future of the game. Without them, we will continue recycling players and the standards of the game depreciate with time.”
In an interview, Chipinge-born and bred former Council Stars winger, Nuro Sithole, who is now part of Zimunya FC executive in Mutare, said: “First, we no longer have spaces that we had where youngsters could meet and play football. They have been turned into residential stands.
“We also no longer have coaches who have a passion to develop talent, the likes of the late Jimmy Malomo and Maxwell Chisakuwana among many others. We also had little expectation to be paid, but the current young generation will not come to the ground if there is nothing for their pockets.”
In a separate interview, Mutare player manager and MAJESA vice-chairperson, Donald ‘Azurrie’ Manhende said: “Back then we only had three entertaining activities in swimming, cinemas and football. So these days due to modern technology, a lot is considered as modes of entertainment.
“Also, our local successful players are rarely coming back to the community even when they are free to inspire the youngsters. If you look at Aston Villa’s Marvellous Nakamba and the way he is doing things definitely inspires ghetto youths, so almost every kid wants to play soccer through Nakamba’s visit to the ghettos.
“Because of that, they now believe that soccer is life. We no longer have children playing the homemade plastic ball as we no longer have recreational areas were we used to gather and play football. We also have to appreciate that football is now boring.
“Teams are now just focusing on getting the three points even out of nothing unlike long back when a passing game and skills display were the major priorities. Entry fee of US$3 to the stadia is too high, at least US$1 is fair.”
