The Sunday News
Sports Reporter
UNITED Arab Emirates-based former Highlanders and Warriors defender Noel Kaseke will at the end of the month hold a 12-day football camp for junior footballers at Thorngrove in Bulawayo.
Kaseke will join hands with United States-based Zimbabwean football coach, Zenzo Ndlovu, in a junior coaching fiesta that has targeted 100 kids from Thorngrove and surrounding areas. Kaseke said in an interview during the week that they were seeking partners to host the event.
“We are asking for companies, organisations and individuals to come and join us in this initiative. We want to provide these kids with breakfast and lunch so we are asking for partners who can chip in with donations so that we can feed these boys. It won’t be nice to keep the boys coming to camp every day to spend the whole day hungry. We are looking for items like bread, rice, meat or chicken, cooking oil, milk, Mazoe and water. Organisations who want to partner us will be free to use the event to market their own services and products through fliers or any other advertising initiatives they have in mind,” he said.
Kaseke said apart from football coaching, there will be classes for life skills. In addition, match balls and other equipment used in the coaching clinic will be donated to locals.
“Kids have to be taught from an early age what they have to do in order to be professional footballers. They should know how to take care of themselves on and off the pitch. It’s only about running and kicking the ball, it’s also about how you balance your time between practice and school work, how you behave in the community as well because in the long run, we should be able to mold role models for future generations,” he said.
The event will run from 30 June to 12 July and plans are underway to make it an annual event, with venues set to move from one area to another.
“Zenzo started this initiative in 2006 and he had about 250 kids the last time he was here. Now we want to expand and hold it annually. I joined him because I am also involved in a similar initiative with kids from Queen Elizabeth and Emthunzini Wethemba, some of whom are orphans and under privileged. Resources permitting we want to expand to other towns and cities in future,” he said.
