Kenophobia and the fall of junior football

KENOPHOBIA is described as the fear of vast or open spaces.

It seems this phobia has taken root in many of our cities and towns. The mere sight of an open space triggers a frenzy of buildings. It is as if the open spaces are posing a threat to life.

The decline in wide open spaces, where children are supposed to play and explore their skills, is a factor in the decline of our youth sporting skills.

Elderly people in Chitungwiza will speak fondly of how the legendary Wieslaw Grabowski would spend time watching young people kick a ball around on the pitches of

Zengeza, Seke and other places. From these observations, he was able to build the foundation of the Darryn T team that won the Castle Cup (Zimbabwe’s national knockout trophy) in 1992 by beating an experienced CAPS United 4-0 in the final.

Grabowski came in and put his wider global experience to use by tapping into the skills on the fabled “dusty pitches” and coming up with a structured system.

This system received some backing from a local textile industry and grew into a formidable outfit, whose players still mark the local football landscape. Some have graduated into coaches and managers.

Two of the players in that team (Lloyd Chitembwe with CAPS United and Norman Mapeza with FC Platinum and Monomotapa) have won league championships as coaches.

Another one, Alois Bunjira, is a respected analyst and is best known as a CAPS United legend. Strange how the team annihilated in Darryn T’s finest moment became the team where the players became legends.

Before Grabowski arrived in Zimbabwe in 1985, there were fabled local coaches who would spend their days training young players, sharpening their skills.

They did this voluntarily and got satisfaction from the growth of the young players. They included Bla Luvhe in the Warren Park area.

The youngsters respected and looked up to the coaches for guidance.

There was little risk of abuse and other challenges as the youngsters would meet the coach on the field, play and then go their separate ways.

It was possible then because in each neighbourhood there was certain to be a central point with a football field and a netball court. In time, some enterprising individuals and corporates built basketball courts and all weather tennis courts.

The dusty grounds would not only host young people honing their skills but also developing life skills in negotiations (making peace with the owner of the ball), politics (getting parents to allow them to leave the house to go and play) and on crime and punishment (being smacked for leaving home without permission).

Those learning spaces are nowhere to be found now. A boom in the number of people looking for residential land and lack of clarity on town planning issues have led to the fields being overrun.

Corrupt council officials have pegged these learning spaces into residential stands and the former centre circle is now someone’s lounge.

The short-term effect is that there are no open spaces available for young people to play on. The long-term effect is what happens when young people are restricted to playing indoors or on street corners as these are the available spaces now. Football is inevitably the biggest loser in this situation. For some sports, there is a system of managing talent once a child shows sufficient interest and aptitude.

Local junior football structures used the old grounds and the famous old “area zones” for their matches.

These were the lower divisions from where clubs would sometimes spring major surprises in the Castle Cup. The tournament brought together social football teams and teams from the lower divisions.

The most common reason given for the decline in local football junior development is the state of the economy.

However, the growth of junior teams funded by individuals like Desmond Ali’s Ali Sundowns, Mike Madoda and Barry Manandi’s Golden Eagles, The Benza brothers’ Herentals, Bulawayo Chiefs and Mutare’s Majesa show that there is an appetite for the game’s growth.

Former players like Willard Katsande and Marvellous Nakamba are bringing in support for junior football by organising tournaments.

The missing link would now be a coordinated league system and the facilities on which to play the game.

It is time to get back to the open spaces and get the young people out on the field. Individuals have shown that it is possible. Now it is time to bring in the corporates, facilities and structural support.

The absence from international football presents a great opportunity to reconfigure the national sport and get it running from the ground up.

There is need to get some grounds back for the sport.