“There is no grief like the grief that does not speak.’’

WHAT do Merlin, Hunyani, Kango, Turnall, KB Davies, CSC, Red Seal, Kelshelmer, Cotton Printers, Supersonic, Corrugated, Piggot Maskew, and the NRZ, have in common?
Answer No 1: Some of these entities were well known for owning and bankrolling competitive football clubs that also played a pivotal role in producing players for the top flight clubs in Bulawayo.

Answer No 2: Most of them have either closed shop, are struggling or have relocated to Bambazonke.
Answer No 3: Some of them have stopped supporting football due to operational and viability problems.
Answer No 4: Some of the notable products of the lower division clubs they bankrolled include the likes of Alexander Maseko, Bigboy Ndlovu, Ernest Sibanda, Titus Majola, Tito Paketh, Alexander Phiri, Kenneth Mathe, to mention but a few.

And the closure and relocation of companies which were pivotal as much as useful in development of football under the ambits of their entities is one of the saddest things to happen to this part of the country.

The closure and relocation of companies to Harare means currently there are virtually no clubs owned by companies in this city where a handful are depended on the benevolence of a few individual owned entities.

The long and short of it is that Bulawayo was simply the numero uno of junior soccer development, unearthing raw talent and nurturing it. The city boasted of competitive lower division sides, which were a breeding ground not only for local premiership sides such as Highlanders but for clubs in HARARE.

Legend has it that Bulawayo was once the doyen of soccer development in this country and it was not a coincidence that some time in the 1990s the city was nicknamed the City of Football Kings, and rightfully so.

We can also for the umpteenth time mention that the success of any sporting discipline largely rests on a solid foundation at junior level, and that cannot be over-emphasised. And to ignore this stark reality becomes suicidal in the long run. And already clubs such as HIGHLANDERS are paying the price, big time.

It goes without saying that special attention must be given to juniors if any thoughts of making headway either on the local or international scene can be realised.

In fact, there is a need for more effort and more resources to be invested in the juniors than at any other level because that is the stage where talent can be nurtured to world class levels.

That is why we are mourning the closure of firms in Bulawayo, which were in the forefront of the realisation of that “dream.’’

The fact that Highlanders cannot get replacements of their ageing players, and equally that they have to, hitherto resort to a market full of recycled material is perhaps something of their own doing.

They are reaping the rewards of having discarded their once vibrant (for lack of a better word) junior policy. Period.
All successful football clubs or even nations focus on building from the grassroots so as to maintain stability and a regular inflow of talent to their senior team.

Then there is the current crop at the Bulawayo City Council, who have failed to follow in the footsteps of the predecessors both from pre-independence and post-independence.

The Bulawayo City Council has abdicated its moral responsibility by presiding over the decay of sports infrastructure at their once vibrant community youth centres. Schools, which also used to play a pivotal role in nurturing talent appear to be going along with the BCC’s disruptive rather than beneficial nature as they have also swallowed this “destructive’’ pill.

Remember Reinhard Fabisch’s Dream Team of yesteryear, of which most of the players from the team mainly the contingent from Bulawayo, honed their skills at those youth centres.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, once said: “There is no grief like the grief that does not speak.’’
It’s high time the council was challenged to have any interest in sport. It’s high time we equally challenged those in authority to stop this random closure of firms in Bulawayo.

Without taking anything away from those in charge of the junior league in Bulawayo, it’s an unmitigated fact that the city has managed to produce  few outstanding players, who have managed to not only win the National Youth Games title but have grabbed silver in as many years at the same games.

But clubs such as Highlanders should also be blamed for failing to tap in on such talent within their fingertips, at least by having a look at such talent. Sadly they haven’t.

Unfortunately, such talent have either gone on to rot at lower division sides, or found its way to other clubs from outside Bulawayo, including Harare, where they have gone on to shine.

Meanwhile, local clubs will have to contend with turning to recycled personnel in desperation.

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