Set up by community leader Mandla Manyathela, the club, popularly known as “Iziqholo ze Zhwane”, was established to develop the community, bring the game to the people at a premiership level and fight crime. But all that could be lost if their calls for financial aid continue to fall on deaf ears.
“We are concerned that all this talent assembled so far could soon be wasted if this club is forced to fold,” said chairman, Mlamuli Phiri. “There is a lot of talent in Tsholotsho but without financial backing, we will not go anywhere. We had embarked on talent identification and nurturing initiatives, but our efforts are frustrated by lack of funds. We need well-wishers to come in and help us live our dream of having a PSL team in this area. We came all the way from the social soccer league and it has been too gruelling a journey for us to close shop now without realising our ultimate dream.”
Phiri said the lack of sponsorship had also affected their capacity to upgrade training facilities and establish proper offices for the club, which enjoys a lot of support from the community.
“We play our matches at Tsholotsho Stadium, which doesn’t have lawn and is very bad. We also need a proper clubhouse to setup offices from which our everyday administration would be carried out. We also need training materials and equipment like bibs, kits, balls cones and a video camera to capture all our matches for reviews which helps a lot in our quest to the PSL,” he said.
“I will fight till this team is promoted to the PSL. We have produced a lot of talent like Joel Luphahla, Mlungisi and Melusi Ndebele, Siza Khoza and Pascal Manhanga, who now plays for the Zimbabwe national team. It is former stars’ duty to make sure that talent development does not die a natural death and they should always try and convince business people to invest in young talent.”
Post published in: Football