Women Super League increases to 24 teams

THE Zimbabwe Women Super League has expanded to a whopping 24 teams following the inclusion of teams that had snubbed calls to be part of the national set-up.

Seven teams that had rejected overtures by the ZWSL to join them at the beginning to form the national league have capitulated and agreed to come onboard. The teams led by Black Rhinos had dug in and formed a parallel league but they recently wrote to the ZWSL executive expressing interest in joining the league.

In the correspondence, the clubs revealed they had been engaged in discussions which led them to set aside their differences and agree to be part of the ZWSL for the progress of the game. The seven teams include ZRP Morris, Midlands State University, Black Rhinos, Auckland, Weerams, Herentials and ZRP Harare.

ZWSL vice chairperson, Samukeliso Silengane confirmed receiving the letter from Jerry Gumbo who is an official at Auckland, who wrote the letter on behalf of the clubs. She said as an executive they agreed the best way to proceed was to incorporate the sides and expand the league. Silengane said they did not see the need to punish them as they sought a solution that would unite clubs and benefit the girl child.

“When two elephants fight the grass is the one that suffers and in this case the footballers were being inconvenienced and we felt we could not continue like that. Our aim is to ensure football is played and that was the driving force behind our decision to admit them into our league. Players who were part of the parallel league risked being sidelined from the national team, a scenario we did not want to see prevail. They told us they are ready to meet our requirements in terms of affiliation something we greatly welcomed,” she said.

Questioned on the logic of having a 24-team league and how nightmarish it would be running such a big league, Silengane said they are ready to work overtime to ensure they pull through.

She said there would be midweek fixtures to ensure the new teams catch up starting, possibly, this week.

Silengane said they have also asked Highlanders Royals to join them to make it 24 teams as they already have a 16-team league.

However, sources at Highlanders said the side is content playing at regional level and would consider the national league in the future.

She said the ZWSL executive is busy prowling for sponsorship to ensure teams get prizes at the end of the year. Silengane said they would be engaging Zifa to ensure the incoming teams receive kits and transport subsidies as is happening with teams in the league.