The ManicaPost
Ray Bande : Senior Sports Reporter
AN ambitious project meant to ultimately bring top-flight football to the farming town of Chipinge by the end of 2018 is underway and kicks off with the holding of a potentially exciting Chipinge Community Cup on October 1.Running under the auspices of Chipinge Development Initiative Trust, the brainchild of Harare-based banker, Simbarashe Mwaingeni, the Chipinge Cup will see a total of 12 teams from Chipinge Central partaking in a football tournament.
The event will be held at Gaza Stadium.
In an interview, Mwaingeni said the initiative would involve teams in Chipinge Central Constituency, but would also incorporate teams from the other three constituencies under Chipinge District in its second edition.
The Chipinge-born banker said the project would also incorporate other sporting disciplines especially long distance running in future.
“Lack of sporting activities and depleting recreational activities as well as continued lack of support to harness talent in Chipinge has motivated me as well as my partners to come up with this idea.
“The Chipinge Community Cup 2016 is the inaugural edition of annual event that we hope to select the best 11 players and best coach after the event. We will work at giving them exposure at the highest level of the game in the country.
“This will go a long way in making them prepared for eventual competition for a place in Premiership football. In fact, we want to see Chipinge having its own viable Premiership team by the end of 2017. Other small towns now have Premiership football teams, why not Chipinge?
“I grew up in Chipinge’s sprawling high-density suburb of Gaza and I dream of a better Chipinge. To this end, I have sought partnership with other progressive elements with the development of Chipinge at heart so that we have a number of developmental projects for the area.
“For starters, we are focusing on Chipinge Central, but we hope to expand to other parts of Chipinge as we go forward,” said Mwaingeni in a telephone interview from his Harare base this week.
Apart from medals and trophies, the inaugural Chipinge Community Cup will see individual award to best performers that include goalkeeper of the tournament, top goal scorer, upcoming or most promising player, coach of the tournament, player of the tournament and a life time award for a Chipinge soccer icon.
Prize money for winners is yet to be disclosed.
