Former ZRP coach invests in juniors for love of the game

But Tendai Nyathi chose a different career path, ditching the combat gear and boots and putting on a sports jersey. A promising coach in the days when he mentored the ZRP’s Morris Depot Division Two club, Nyathi is now one of the best juniors’ coaches in South Africa’s busiest city.

He hopes the skills, experience and contacts he gathers along the way will one day translate into a flame of football success in both his homeland and the Southern African region, which has lagged behind in continental club and national team competitions.

“I have always loved football and missing out on playing through an early career injury gave me the impetus to contribute through coaching,” said the 42-year-old.

“As a coach, I have done so many things I am proud of already, but the only time I would feel very happy would be when I have my own full-fledged academy back home – to identify, develop and produce football stars ripe for the international market.

“Southern Africa, especially Zimbabwe, has sat on the sidelines for far too long and it is high time we changed that. An intense grassroots development programme will be our only way out of this and that is the path I have set for myself.”

Credited for unveiling the talents of Z PSL stars like dribbling wizard Peter Kachirika and the free-scoring Sebastian Mutizirwa, both former Dynamos stars, Nyathi should surely know the way, and remember the feel-good effect of being an achiever.

In his current job as mentor of Sandton Park Academy’s junior sides, he has continued to produce a number of promising stars.

“I really enjoy working with future footballers from the whole of Africa who have come to enrol with the academy. It has a cosmopolitan outlook that depicts the unity we need to forge ahead in the sport. Only a well-coordinated junior policy can guarantee a sound future for our football, otherwise, we will be wasting our time,” added Nyathi.

“The biggest problem with most Southern African countries is that those with the facilities don’t want to use them, while those that want to use them do not have. If you look at the situation in Zimbabwe, there are many youths who would do better with half the facilities being shunned by South Africans, who have them in abundance.

“So, enrolling boys from other African countries at the academy has not only helped those who need the facilities, but also encouraged locals to work hard to be better footballers as well.”

His other diagnosis of the African problem was that some governments did not take sport seriously, resulting in lack of funding and neglect of training and playing facilities.

“Sports bodies need to invest more money and time in junior development for their countries to progress. I miss the days when almost every Zimbabwean PSL and Division One club had a vibrant junior policy that saw more than six stars from each of them progress to the senior sides every new season.

“Those were the days when our junior national teams like the Under-20s and Under-23s outperformed the senior national team. That laid foundation for the famed Dream Team and we must go back to those methods.”

Nyathi, who cut his junior coaching teeth with Alexandra Balfour Park, also helps out at Johannesburg Under-16 league side, Old Edwardians, who compete with Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs, and Moroka Swallows in that league.

In the long run, he wants to return to his homeland, where he hopes to establish an academy that will export talent.

“I am currently in the planning stages, but have many people and companies willing to help me in that regard,” said the Bulawayo-born coach.

A former Zimbabwean Republic Police officer, Nyathi played for Harare sides Black Mambas, Blackpool and Arcadia United, but bowed out due to a nagging knee injury in 1998. He draws his biggest inspiration from West African nations like Ivory Coast and Nigeria, who are very serious about youth development and dominate the number of African stars in Europe.