Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
GREEN Bloods Football Academy, formerly CAPS United Juniors are today expected to travel to Bulawayo where they will take part in the inaugural edition of the Annual Soccer Festival.
To be hosted by Young Flying Sports Academy at White City Stadium, the tournament runs under the banner “Destined for Greatness.”
The festival runs between Friday and Saturday, bringing together nine local academies drawn from the host town, Harare, Binga, Dete and Zvishavane to compete in Under 11 and Under 15 categories.
Green Bloods founder and administrator, Ashleigh Jere said a group of 23 players will do duty in Bulawayo with the U-11s meant to play in a 7-aside format.
With the academy proving to be a dominant force around Harare, Jere is confident that they will bring home some gold medals from the Bulawayo contests.
“We have participated in many tournaments in Harare and we have been doing well so I feel that this opportunity to go and play outside the capital will be more beneficial in terms of giving exposure and motivation to the kids,” she said.
“Since April, we have won five trophies in the various tournaments we have participated in and around Harare so now it is time to face broader competition.
“I believe participating at such platforms will sharpen our kids on and off the pitch because we are also looking at creating relations and culture exchange.”
Currently, the academy has more than 70 registered players of ages between 5-17.
Head coach Shepherd Mandishona is satisfied with his teams’ preparations citing that the tournament is of paramount importance for the academy.
“Since April, we have made a lot of progress and now you can see that we have a good pool of players in terms of technical abilities,” said Mandishona.
“At this tournament, we basically want to see where we are tactically because the players will be under a different environment, playing new opponents.
“We will also evaluate our mental strength because I have also noted in some of our games that they are still not yet used to having match officials.
“The tournament will give them the exposure to see how much we have gone in those aspects.
“As for the Under-15s, we will also look at working on the system that we want to be identified with which suits our players’ capabilities as well as identify each player’s strengths.” Green Bloods forward, Ian Jere, will also capitalise on the tournament to sharpen his skills ahead of his adventure in Dubai next week.
The 11-year-old was selected to be part of Team Zimbabwe which is scheduled to travel for a tour in Dubai on Sunday.
In Dubai, Zimbabwe will showcase their talent from December 10-13 in matches against PSG, Star Academy and Barcelona Dubai. “I am very excited to be taking part in such a tour, I feel it is a good opportunity for me to explore,” said Ian.
“I will also get to experience how it feels to play with opponents from other countries and as well learn as much as I can to improve my game.”
