Football Gala set for Epworth

AFTER having produced a new World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Africa lightweight champion in Peter Pambeni in August this year, Epworth, a sprawling settlement in south-eastern Harare, will today once again come under the spotlight when it hosts the annual Mwalimu Kumbula Soccer Tournament.

Residents of Epworth are still basking in glory after one of their sons Pambeni became new World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Africa lightweight champion after upsetting, by a unanimous decision, Namibian opponent Albinius “Danny Boy” Felesianu in his own backyard at the Ramatex in Windhoek during the second week of August. In fact, Epworth has over the years produced a number of fine boxers and footballers, who include CAPS United’s midfielder Ronald “Rooney” Chitiyo.

And today, Epworth’s football fans are in for a treat when they converge at Kubatana Primary School for the finals of this year’s edition of the Mwalimu Kumbula Soccer Tournament. The finals are set to start at 9am.

The tournament is the brainchild of one of Epworth’s most illustrious sons — Musekiwa Kumbula — who named it after his son Mwalimu when he discovered the passion he had for football and felt the urge to uplift the community by giving opportunities to young, talented footballers there. The tournament was inaugurated in 2015 with less than 20 junior and senior teams taking part, but for the past three years, the event is far much bigger and better as more than 40 sides are now taking part in the knock-out stages. Preliminary rounds of this tournament were held during the course of last month and six teams qualified for the finals in three different categories - Under-13, 15 and 17.

This year’s finals will see Epworth Athletic taking on Epworth Pirates in the Under-13 age-group while the Under-15s final will see Saints locking horns with Epworth Pirates.

The last match of the day will see Saints tackling Epworth Pirates in the Under-17 final.

Musekiwa Kumbula, the major sponsor of this tournament, yesterday said all the participating teams were ready and the event was expected to kick-off as planned. “The event is only for the teams that have qualified for the finals and they have shown some great talent during the preliminary rounds during the previous month. “As usual, we have invited many prominent guests, including ZIFA representatives, Epworth Local Board members, Member of Parliament for Epworth and a number of local football legends and we are likely to witness some young footballers performing to the best of their abilities,” he said.

Musekiwa Kumbula said there were going to give out prizes to both the winning teams and individuals. The prizes include football kits, training bibs, trophies for first position winners, footballs for all teams that participated, medals and shields for individuals.

This tournament is meant to help identify talented football players from Epworth.