daniel chigunwe
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
The HERENTALS Group of Colleges and Schools have embarked on a charm offensive as they bid to improve grassroots football holistically across the country.
The private institution owns nine professional football teams, including a vibrant academy that caters to both boys and girls, with their learners mostly part of the nursery.
With close to 70 primary and secondary centres, the entity has always seen their athletes competing for supremacy amongst themselves in different sporting activities, including football.
While that has worked well, especially with football played throughout the year, the group have decided to join both the National Association of Primary Heads and the National Association of Secondary Heads to improve their game at the grassroots level and possibly effectively implement the all-round football calendar nationally.
Herentals Group chief operating officer, who is also chairman of their Premiership club, Tafadzwa Benza, said his institution has put all the modalities in place and will be able to join both NAPH and NASH this year.
Benza is one of the favourites to secure a seat on the ZIFA executive committee at this Saturday’s elections in Harare.
His pragmatic approach to the game has reportedly won him the admiration of many in the national game.
Benza always advocated for football to be played for the entire year rather than restrict the game to only the school’s second term, and he believes it would be easy to do so with his institution being part of the key decision-making bodies.
“We are a group of schools and colleges, and our love for football development is well documented. We also ensure that other sports codes and traditional games are well catered for.
“This is the reason why we have always let every sport, including football, go on throughout the year rather than limiting them to single terms.
“Those good at football and other sports can have sufficient time to develop their potential, and at the end of the day, we will surely have really complete athletes,” said Benza.
“This is why it’s important for us to join the two esteemed organisations, NAPH and NASH, that is. There are so many pros to working with them.
“In fact, we have always wanted to be part of this big family where we can contribute to the formulation of developmental policies, especially those to do with the growth of football in this country.
“We have done all the groundwork, and we are good to go. We will be joining NAPH and NASH as soon as possible.
“We believe that by becoming part of the big community, we will also be able to learn so much, and we will be able to contribute positively as well concerning the development of the game in this country.”
Benza said developing football should be a deliberate plan put on the ground by the stakeholders, with NAPH and NASH playing key roles.
“Football starts from the foot going up. The game is never an accidental phenomenon. It is a deliberate process put on the ground by the stakeholders. That is why we are always saying we have a lot of talent going down the drain every year because we don’t really do enough to ensure we harness the potential,” added Benza.
“It all starts from the grassroots, where we should make huge efforts to catch them young. And it is ideally NAPH and NASH who have the greatest means and opportunity to do so if you look at it.
“It is always important to deal with these two because they form the foundational basis on which we can build a competitive nation in football just like in all other sectors.”
Benza’s vision is anchored on development, inclusivity, synergies, infrastructure development, and capacity building.
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