Ascent Soccer’s international Rose Kadzere signs for France’s top women’s league side Montpellier HSC
Ascent Soccer midfielder and two-time Malawi Player of the Year award winner, Rose Kadzere, has has been signed for France’s top women’s league side, Montpellier HSC on a three-year deal.
According to Ascent Soccer’s media platform, https://ascentsoccer.org/read-our-news/2024/10/3/18-year-old-ascent-soccer-standout-moves-to-french-premiere-ligue-side-montpellier-hsc?ss_source=sscampaigns&ss_campaign_id=66feecb7fd23dd6ecd628498&ss_email_id=66fef7d33184574fcfaf54b3&ss_campaign_name=Rose+signs+in+France%21&ss_campaign_sent_date=2024-10-03T20%3A00%3A43Z, the 18-year-old full-time academy player with Ascent Soccer since 2018, becomes Malawi’s first ever player (male or female) to make a direct professional football move to one of Europe’s top five leagues.
“Rose is a special footballer, who has made the most of her development opportunity on the pitch at Ascent Soccer,” the academy’s co-founder George Maguire is quoted as saying.
“This moment is a testament to Rose’s hardwork and dedication to the game, and she is paving the way for the emerging talent of Malawi and Ascent Soccer.”
Kadzere has made many strides in her football career that earned her a place in Malawi Scorchers, who made her debut for the national team at the 2022 COSAFA Women Championship.
She was also part of the triumphant squad of the COSAFA Women’s Championship 2023 squad in which she started in three of the four matches played — scoring one goal and assisting four.
Her performance at the COSAFA Women’s Championship 2023 earned her being nominated as the Female Emerging Talent Award at the inaugural COSAFA Awards — nominated alongside fellow Ascent Soccer player, Leticia Chinyamula, who won the award.
The two were nominated alongside Zambian Esther Banda based on their performances both at national and club level in the year 2023.
Kadzere also capped at the youth level with Malawi’s U17 & U20 squads and was the 2022 COSAFA U17 ‘Golden Boot’ award winner with eight goals in six games, while also being named in the Tournament XI.
On its media platform, Montpellier HSC president Laurent Nicollin was quoted as saying he was eager to welcome the first Malawian player in club history: “I am thrilled with Rose’s arrival — it is now up to her to bring her freshness to the field and we’re hopeful that Rose will deliver a lot to our attack.”
Montpellier HSC introduced her as their new number 99 and acknowledged Ascent Soccer as the anchor provider of players to Malawi’s youth national teams having nurtured seven teenage senior national team players, including four that featured in Malawi’s first-ever COSAFA Cup victory in South Africa.
In July, the Ascent Soccer U-16 girls became Malawi’s first full female squad (junior or senior) to ever play competitively in Europe, with Faith Chinzimu leading the way with nine goals in six games, versus the likes of Arsenal, Brighton, Bayern Munich and FC Nordsjaelland.
In May, the Ascent Soccer U-21 girls became the first youth team on the planet to qualify for an adult/senior Champions League when Malawi hosted the CAF Women’s Champions League-COSAFA qualifier.
Ascent Soccer qualified for the regional qualifiers after emerging champions of FAM Goshen Women Championship with an average age of just 17.5 years.
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