The Sunday News
IGHLANDERS Football Club is set for a huge transformation as the club moves towards conforming to the Fifa’s Club Licensing regulations.
The changes, which are going to be tabled before members at the club’s annual general meeting set for Sunday, are not only meant to meet the world football governing body statutes, but will see the country’s oldest football institution transforming into a professional entity.
According advertisements prior to the AGM, constitutional reform will be on the agenda at the forthcoming gathering of the club’s bonafide members. The proposed changes were first mooted last October at a retreat attended by the current board and the executive together with former chairmen and secretary-generals.
After the meeting, board chair Mgcini Nkolomi announced the imminent changes saying they were aimed at fulfilling the Fifa regulations.
The proposed new structure will see the board being replaced by an honorary members body with the executive remaining intact although there would be no treasurer and secretary. The secretariat led by chief executive officer will be put in place.
Sources at the club, however, said they will use the constitutional reform process to ensure the new structure sustained the club while moving it forward in an environment where the football industry had undergone great metamorphosis.
There is a feeling the current structure came into being on the background of a semi-professional state of the game that enabled the club to thrive.
The current structure, which has been described as top-heavy, is set to be replaced by a configuration that is lean at the top but huge at the bottom with the CEO having under him, a technical manager, accounts manager, marketing manager, communications manager and security and logistics manager or supervisor. The two centres of power (board and executive) currently obtaining had resulted in conflicts between the two despite the constitution clearly separating their roles.
Meanwhile, Highlanders members have called on aspiring office bearers to come up with more creative ideas to take the club forward, instead of perpetuating the “begging bowl mentality’’ that has been the hallmark at Bosso in recent years.
In separate interviews several members said time was now ripe for exploiting the Highlanders brand into innovative ideas instead of persistently seeking donations, a scenario which they felt was not befitting a club of Bosso’s stature.
The members said they were worried that some candidates were already selling the “donor syndrome” dummy to the electorates instead of promising reliable, consistent and healthy revenue streams for the cash strapped club.
The Bulawayo-based club and the oldest football institution in the country will be holding elections on 7 February after next Sunday’s Annual General Meeting.
Bulawayo-based life member Nqaba Donga said the club needed people with ideas and not those promising to use their links to source money for the club.
He said while sponsorship was one of the hallmarks of sports funding, lack of security had always left the club in a lurch and unable to negotiate for favourable terms.
“Yes, we are glad BancABC came on board and they helped us a lot but we are now uncertain about whether they are there when the agreement expires. Again the club’s needs are huge and because of the country’s financial situation the sponsor has not been able to fund all our needs,’’ said Donga.
“We do not have to look at someone with money for the executive posts but we need a person with ideas to take us forward as a club in terms of securing a revenue source.”
Donga said Highlanders has built a big brand that can be utilised to create revenue, adding that once a product has the name Highlanders next to it, it was likely to move faster on the market.
Donga said the executive could negotiate for the club’s name to be attached to a product and then get a certain percentage of sales.
“I think we could get various streams of monthly income through branding products and the club gets a share of sales. We are talking about already existing products that would just be branded Highlanders and we are good to go. I do not think we should look for people to come in to donate but rather people with ideas to move the club forward,” he said.
Asked why he was not taking part in the elections to influence the club’s direction from within Donga said the club’s sub-committees should be open to members so they can also contribute without being either in the executive or board.
Mqondisi Malunga said since the club had registered its trademarks it was now easier to embark on income generating projects, dump the “donor dependency” syndrome and harness ideas that raise revenue for the club.
Widening the membership base was another avenue through which the club could raise cash and it was high time the Bosso membership came with benefits such as branded T-shirts, cups, caps, glasses and other such things which can be factored into the membership fee.
Harare-based Allen Moyo said time was nigh for the executive to come up with “innovative and creative” ideas.
He said while BancABC has played a crucial role in supporting the club, Bosso still struggled to secure signing on fees for incoming players hence the need for ingenious ways of raising cash.
His sentiments were echoed by Meluleki Moyo who added widening focus and linking up with European clubs was an aspect that has been overlooked.
