Sponsorship challenges hampers Five-A-side growth

LACK of sponsorship and regular competitive action have become the Achilles’ heel of the growth and development of Five-A-side football in the country.

According to Zifa Southern Region Five-A-side Association deputy secretary Prince Musipa, lack of sponsorship is the major stumbling block to the growth and development of the sport in the city and the country as a whole despite the country having the talent.

“Our major challenge is financial. Our desire now is to play host to international competitions. We have an exciting new crop of players that have displayed talent but our clubs struggle to participate in major tournaments due to financial constraints,” he said.

“Another letdown, not only in Bulawayo but in Zimbabwe as a whole, is the lack of serious competition. As soon as we have other provinces besides Bulawayo and Harare coming in as major players, we are certain to have the sport making strides towards its development. We also need to have more playing facilities in the different cities and towns.

In Bulawayo we only have one stadium in Gwabalanda suburb yet we want to promote the sport in the different parts of the city, said Musipa.

He said the association has opened registration for the 2018 league set to start in April.

The league had six teams in the 2017 season and these were Flying Stars, Nust, Cash Money, Bulawayo Artists, Fox and Amabhubesi.

Musipa said their aim is to register more teams to particpate in the league.

“We have opened registration for teams and the deadline is the end of March. We have pegged registration fees at $20 and hopefully more teams will register. We also want to engage and promote the girl child by having a women’s league,” said Musipa.

Worldwide Five-A-side football is played on a smaller field and mainly indoors. It is played between two teams of five players each, one of who is a goalkeeper, and unlimited substitutions are permitted. Five A-side football is played with a smaller ball that has less bounce compared to a regular football due to the surface of the field.

The surface, ball and rules create an emphasis on improvisation, creativity and technique as well as ball control and passing in small spaces. — @innocentskizoe