Bravo give tips on Malawi football development
Former Eagle Beaks coach, Bravo Stain Chiperesa, says the solution to miserable show of Malawi in football on the African continent lies in primary schools.
Chiperesa was speaking to Peter Fote on Matindi Television, in a programme called “Ili Pa Minga MTV Sport”, sponsored by Premier Bet.
Fote brought Chiperesa into the programme to provide a platform for him to make a contribution on what could be the way forward in bringing the lost glory of Malawi as a footballing nation.
Chiperesa, who is an Officer In-Charge of Zalewa Road Block in the Malawi Police Service, is a holder of CAF A coaching license. He was behind the formation of a football team that used to be called Eagle Beaks at Police Headquarters in Area 30 in Lilongwe in the year 2000.
According to Chiperesa, the team comprised of small boys coming from homes of police officers at Nankhaka popularly referred to as “ana a mulaini” in the vernacular.
The team went through the ranks of Division Two to Division One and then the second tier league in the central region. Twice the team qualified for promotion into the country’s top flight league but the Malawi Police Service could not approve funds for the team to compete at such a higher level. When it qualified for the third consecutive time, the Inspector General at that time had no choice but to allow the team to play in the super league.
When Chiperesa was promoted and transferred to Kanengo and later Mzimba, he left the team under the tutelage of his assistant coach then, Declerk Msakakuona. The team was later incorporated into what is now famously known as Blue Eagles.
With this legacy behind him, is he satisfied with the current form of football in the country? If not, what is the solution? These are some of the questions that Peter Fote in his popular serious and jovial mood asked Chiperesa.
“I am not satisfied at all. Football standards in our country have dwindled miserably. But I have a solution. The solution is developing football from the grass root. Now, mind you, you cannot talk about grass root football without fully involving primary schools and their teachers. This is where we have missed the whole puzzle,” explained the confident Chiperesa.
“Primary schools should be divided into zones and should compete at zonal level and finally form a zonal select which would compete with other zonal select sides at district level. From there, district select teams should compete at regional level ending up with regional primary school teams competing at national level. For me, the Presidential Initiative on Sports should solely be for primary schools. That way, Malawi will come back on the continental map in the years to come as far as football is concerned,” added Chiperesa.
Chiperesa further revealed that he has been writing to FAM, Ministry of Education as well as the Sports Ministry to sell his phenomenon but nothing has happened to that effect. He said he was not looking for a coaching job as he is comfortable as a senior police officer but feels obliged to give advice on what should be done to revive the glory in Malawi’s football.
Similar sentiments were also expressed by legend Peterkins Kayira when he was talking to MBC’s Steve Liwewe Banda in a television programme called “Sports Insight”.
They were also recently echoed by the current FAM General Secretary, Alfred Gift Gunda, last Friday during a workshop of sports journalists belonging to the Sports Writers Association of Malawi (SWAM).
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