Maningi brace for Women’s Super League football

AMBITIOUS Northern Region Division One women’s football club, Maningi Juniors, will be playing in the Super League this season after the Assembly ratified their promotion.

Maningi finished in third position in the Northern Region Division One.

But they were invited to play in the topflight league after champions Black Rhinos Juniors and second-placed Auckland rejected the offer. The army advised the league that they were not in a position to play in the Premiership since they already have a team - Black Rhinos Queens - in the top-flight. According to the Northern Region chairman, Peter Gonyora, the invite was then extended to Auckland. But the Bindura-based side could not confirm their participation without sponsorship guarantees, leaving the board with no option but to turn to the third-placed team.

“Black Rhinos Juniors won the league and the board wrote to them but they responded that they were not in a position to have two teams in the Super League.

“We then wrote a letter to Auckland indicating that we wanted to promote them into the Super League but they said ‘we are seeking sponsorship first and we cannot confirm without a sponsor’.

“But they didn’t respond to us and there was no written confirmation until a week before the We then wrote to Maningi Juniors who said they were ready to play in the league.

“When we held our Annual General Meeting, the Assembly said football must go on and they promoted Maningi and ratified the decision,” said Gonyora.

Maningi will join the other three teams from the other regions that have been promoted into the Super League.

Herentals Queens won the Super League last year, ending the dominance of Black Rhinos Queens.

Maningi are owned by Gladman Dimbiri, who is based in the United Kingdom and juggles with overseeing his football project back home. Dimbiri is passionate about women’s football and junior football development. Over the years, he has assisted players to secure football scholarships to study overseas and play football.

Some of the players that are abroad are Beata Diana Chako, Vanessa Mateko, Mitchel Nyakatsapa and Natasha Ndowa.

Dimbiri’s vision is to have more girls playing overseas and exposing them to modern football.

The promotion of Maningi will put the club in a position to give exposure to many talented players. The club’s promotion will also enhance the league brand as more teams appreciate that football is now business. Meanwhile, the Northern Region has promoted two teams into Division One.

During their annual indaba last weekend, the Northern Region also promoted Sunshine Queens from Mashonaland West league and Shamva Queens from Mashonaland Central. Gonyora said the assembly also decided against demoting Cyclone Queens since the Harare league was not operational and there was no team to promote. The Northern Region league is expected to start on March 25 with 12 teams.