BULAWAYO - The Bulawayo Province Junior Football League’s (BPJL) development programs have received a shot in the arm with the donation of footballs by United Kingdom-based coach Bongani Mafu.

In his speech at a presentation ceremony that was held at the Bulawayo Zifa offices yesterday, Mafu said he bought the footballs in response to a plea by BPJL chairman Mkhululi Mthunzi.

“The junior league chairman told me that they had a challenge when it came to equipment which is why I decided to buy these balls and give them to the province,” Mafu said.

“It is not a chance that Harare has many players in the national team, it is because their academy system is better and as a province we should catch them young so that we develop our players properly.”

Mthunzi concurred with Mafu and said as a province they had restructured their coaching structures so that provincial age group teams began at under 8.

He said: “We are grateful that Mafu has responded to our cries for equipment and donated footballs to the province. There are structures that are already in place to ensure that our football improves and we believe that we must start at a tender age so that we can properly shape our players.”

Present at the presentation were the BPJL leadership, provincial coaches and the national junior league vice chairman Peter Dube.

Dube thanked Mafu for his contribution and urged other Zimbabweans in the diaspora to emulate the former Zimbabwe Saints and Gaborone United coach.

“All I can say is, if only we had ten more Mafus in the diaspora our football would grow in leaps and bounds,” Ncube said.

The footballs were bought locally and Mafu promised to provide more support in the future. - Sakheleni Nxumalo