Invest in grassroot football – Roscher
Roscher Youth Development Centre, a nongovernmental organisation based in Rumphi, has appealed to stakeholders in the country’s soccer to invest in capacity building of personnel that are involved in grass-root soccer.
Participants in the soccer coaching clinic held in Rumphi District.-Pic-by-Joel-Chirwa.
Executive Director of the organisation, Moir Walita, made the appeal during the week-end coaching clinic for thirty grass root soccer referees drawn from the district (Rumphi).
Roscher Youth Development Centre organized the coaching clinic with financial assistance from a German based organization- Support Malawi Heidelberg E.V.
Walita lamented that Malawi grass-root football receives little attention from major stakeholders in the country’s soccer, in spite of its significant contribution to topflight clubs in the country.
“When Malawi National Soccer Team plays in international tournaments, our high expectations always end in disappointments.
“When it is time to look for solutions, we only treat the symptoms, ignoring the root cause,” observed Walita.
He, therefore, proposed that in addition to sponsoring tournaments, stakeholders in the sport should also take interest in building the capacity of personnel that work with grass-root talent, like teachers in primary and secondary schools, and those that work with community football teams.
According to Walita, grass root referees and coaches lack essential knowledge in the rules of soccer, which he said sometimes breeds violence at soccer venues.
“What we need to know as a country is that we do not do well in international tournaments because we do not do enough to develop the sport from grass-root level.
“Most of those handling raw talent have shallow knowledge of the sport. They only know that soccer starts from the centre circle,” said the Roscher Youth Development Centre Director.
He said grass root soccer lacks essential knowledge in how to polish up the raw talent they handle into diamond.
Tobias Chapweteka Mwale, Chairperson of Rumphi District Sports Committee and a representative of Football Association of Malawi (FAM) regional committee, concurred with Walita’s sentiments.
He said violence and hooliganism in most districts and community soccer games emanate from insufficient knowledge of rules by the officiating personnel.
“People go to soccer venues to get entertained and build friendships. Like any other sport, we expect to have winners and losers. You should put into practice what you have learnt here.
Most incidences of violence are caused by you referees who, in line of your duty, fail to strictly adhere to the rules of the game,” said Mwale.
The coaching clinic, whose instructor was former Malawi FIFA referee Kalyoto Ngosi, aimed at equipping grass-root referees with advanced knowledge of football. –Mana
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Select a good team of young boys with good talent to participate in Northern region football competition. Don’t look at our fake national team which fails to qualify for any competition.