Darlington Kanyongo
ZVISHAVANE – A school teacher who is passionate about football is committing his personal resources and time to grooming new talent among a host of school children who show potential in the beautiful game.
Greatman Nyoni, a teacher at Lundi Primary School in the Mapanzure area some 47km from Zvishavane town, has established the Great Stars Academy as a means of accomplishing his mission.
The football academy is registered with Zifa and is on position three with two games in hand despite being the only rural team in the Zvishavane Grassroots League (Under 15).
The club runs with the benefaction of mining business person Alfred Tavatya.
As head coach of the academy, Nyoni says his work is to nurture young talent and provide young soccer players with a place at which they can fully explore their capabilities.
“When I started the club, I had observed that here in Mapanzure, there are many children who are talented. These children however face challenges in having their talents identified by people who can help them. Most talent identification programmes are only rooted in urban areas, while rural areas like ours have little or nothing,” Nyoni said.
Team captain, Brighton Dembo told TellZim News that the club had helped him and his colleagues to fully bring out the talent they have.
“Now that we are registered with the team, we have a place at which to practice unlike in the past when we didn’t have a chance to showcase what we are made of,” said Dembo.
Other teams in the Zvishavane Grassroots League are Falcon FC, Shabani Mine FC Under 15, Future Generation FC, Kandodo Stars FC, and Bethany FC.local
