For Zimbabwe to regionalize Division 1 soccer was one of soccer unwise, primitive, backward and silly decision ever to happen during our lifetime.
Zimbabwe soccer was on a steady progress since 1980 until we introduced these none competitive regional Division 1.The National First Division was a highly competitive league.
The National First Division was a conveyor belt of well groomed players for Super league as it was known then. Moses Chunga, Gwekwerere , Shacky Tauro, Joel Shambo, Stan Ndunduma, Stix Mtizwa all came straight from Division 1 and lit the super league.
Caps United came straight from Division 1 in 1980 and went on to dominate the Super League. Caps United never bothered themselves to go into a spending spree as their Division 1 players were capable to stand the heat of Super League. This isn’t the case of all these regional Division 1 teams which qualify for Premier league today. They discard nearly all the players who qualified them to Premier league…a clear testimony that Regional Division 1 players are not Premier league material.
When our Division 1 was competitive it had direct impact on Super league. Since the introduction of this primitive backward Regional Division 1 competition, our Premier league teams and national teams have declined drastically.
Dynamos reached the African competition finals. Highlanders, Mwana Africa, Monomutapa, Caps etc all were doing well in African competitions. The whole picture changed immediately after we had introduced the less competitive regional Division 1.The feeder leagues were more of Boozers leagues.
Since the introduction of regional Division 1 we lost in exporting quality players. All soccer players whom we exported to South Africa were either to Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates or Sundowns. This was because our players were well groomed through a very competitive national soccer structured leagues. The introduction of these politically motivated regional Division 1 saw our so called stars failing in South African lesser glamorous clubs. One example was Walter Musona who was soccer star in our league but failed in the SA league. There are many who were offloaded.
The soccer players who are shining in South Africa were exported during the era of reason… National First Division. Our players exported to Europe had to go through SA clubs. During National First Division era when the Super league or Premier league was competitive we exported our players directly to Europe.
It is very true that our economy is very bad. Many clubs will not be able to sustain National First Division which will require long distance travelling, accommodation and other expenses. Sport development is expensive. Can we compromise national soccer development because certain clubs won’t be able to compete? Can we compromise national soccer to accommodate certain teams? Can we compromise quality because we want to achieve provincial club distribution?
We want Zimbabwe to be a power house of African soccer. Isn’t it correct to have a team with capacity to compete in National First Division rather than having distribution of teams. In Pacific Eastern Region Division 1 Soccer League can we claim Hunters will be in Premier league through merit? Merit of playing in a league which other teams failed to fulfill fixtures, withdrew from the league etc? This is killing soccer. We want fierce competition at National First Division rather than these kindergarten, child play, Boozers leagues. Those who still believe these regional Division 1 leagues can develop Zimbabweans soccer must be given room to have regional Boozers leagues. Zimbabweans need competitive leagues.
The ideal structure for Zimbabweans soccer is to have÷
1)one Premier league
2) one National First Division
3)Two Division 2 namely Northern and Southern
4)10 Division 3 that is one for each Province
5)7 Division 4 one for each District in the province
It should never be a stroll in the park to qualify for Premier league. There should be fierce competition to qualify/ promoted into each of the above league.
These are my personal views after having experienced and studied Zimbabwean soccer since 1989. I have enjoyed watching Zimbabwean soccer develop in the early 1980s and its decline in the 2000s. The major cause of our soccer decline has been mainly administration, poor soccer decisions, political interference, lack of investment, and government lack of priority in soccer and school soccer destruction.
🇿🇼🤚🏿🇿🇼 Patriotic Papa JC speaks when things are not good for citizens who want better change in Zimbabwe
