The ManicaPost
Fungayi Munyoro Sports Correspondent
MANICALAND will finalise its district finals next week ahead of the 2017 Under-15 boys and Under-17 girls Copa Coca Cola provincial finals slated for July 7 at Nhedziwa Secondary School in Chimanimani District.
Chipinge District held its district finals on Monday, while Mutasa and Makoni districts have already staged their district finals. Chipinge District’s Gaza High girls are through to the provincial finals, while Takwirira will represent the boys. St Patrick’s girl’s team will represent Chimanimani District, while Biriiri boys will be the district representatives.
The remaining district finals will be played next week. National Association of School Heads Manicaland head in charge of football, Joseph Machuwaire, is oozing with confidence that his province will make a lasting impression in the 2017 Copa Coca Cola national finals slated for July 21-22 in Mashonaland Central.
Although teams that represented the province last year (Nyamauru High (girls) and Devuli (boys) were booted out in the group stages of the competition, Machuwaire, said both teams showed depth and character.
The Manicaland boys’ team is in Group B together with Bulawayo and Mashonaland East. The girls are placed in Group B with Midlands and defending champions, Chidyamakono. “We know that our girls are in the same group with the defending champions, but we are not in a panicking mood. It is just like any other football tournament and any team can qualify.
“We cannot use past records as a form of yardstick. Our major weaknesses have been to failure to prepare on time. Chances of making it to the finals are there. Adequate preparation is key,” he said. Machuwaire also pointed the need to have well trained coaches. “We have set our target this year to go beyond the quarterfinals. The main challenge that we had in previous years is lack of well trained coaches. Most of them were just school teachers.
“This time around we will allow schools to have qualified coaches from outside to assist them. We have also lined up some coaching clinics for teachers to be trained. We have discovered that most of our teachers lack the technical approach, so having qualified helpers will ease the job,” he said.
