The Sunday News
Sisa Sihwa, Sports Reporter
THE Tiger Academy — a cricket academy in Bulawayo gave junior cricket youngsters an opportunity to nurture their talent when it recruited 22 players last week from 4 primary schools battling in a tournament held at Magwegwe Primary school.
The four schools that the youngsters were selected from are Insukamini, Ingwegwe, Mazwi and Magwegwe primary school.
The chief executive officer of Tiger Cricket Academy Tawanda Muchechete said: “the main aim is to develop them at junior level, that’s the reason we located talent from youngsters still at primary school level to train at the academy.”
The Academy, which trains at Magwegwe Primary school, was founded in 2012 by Tawanda Muchechete with the aim to target children in the high density areas, who are interested in the sport.
The academy has not produced any cricket players that have went on to play in the national team since its establishment, but it hopes in future to groom and nurture talent that will be able to be selected in the national team, as it is its mission.
Muchechete in an interview told the Sunday News that the sole aim of the project was to reach children in the high density suburbs, who consider cricket a sport for the wealthy and privileged.
He said: “I realised many cricket academies are located in town were children from the high density suburbs side cannot afford join the academies.
This academy is convenient to many children and youth in the surrounding suburbs as it can easily be accessed.”
Currently, the academy trains under 14, 16, 17,1,19 boys team and also has an open age group girls team as well, which is currently playing at district level.
Muchechete extended his gratitude to Edgars who were behind the sponsoring of the tournament.
