Zulu out to develop soccer

That is the thought that drove Philip Zulu to start a project of nurturing Zimbabwean talent for professional football clubs in the United Kingdom.

“My passion for football began in 1976, after I watched the Pepsi film of the great Brazilian national teams that won the FIFA World Cups of 1958, 1962 and 1970,” said Zulu.

“I was still a student at Rusvingo primary school in Highfield, Harare and I immediately gave myself the task of trying to help Zimbabwe emulate the talented ‘Samba Kings’ who have always taken the world by storm. I immediately became active in football and it came as no surprise for many when I later played for Black Aces.”

When a knee injury put paid to Zulu’s career on the pitch, he decided to push his dream from the management side.

“It took some time for me to accept that I would not play soccer again because it had always been my biggest passion, but that did not kill my ambition,” he explained.

“The injury temporarily drifted me away from being a player to being one of those armchair enthusiasts who occasionally watched certain local and foreign teams on television, but my lasting passion and ambition would not allow me to stay out of the game for any long.”

Zulu quickly found himself surrounded by a group young players in Highfields’ Zimbabwe grounds, who included Tapuwa Kapini, Colen Mahlangu, Tapera Madzima, Morris Kudadirwa, Paul Guzha and many others from Black Aces, who used to come and train with him as a social group.

Some of those have become big name players, especially Kapini, who helped Bulawayo giants, Highlanders, to three championships and has been the national team’s first choice goalkeeper for some time.

“Desire Mbidzo, a very close mate suggested that I should take coaching seriously because he felt that I had a different approach to the game, which he felt was good to most developing players. My argument was very simple. Since I did not make it at the highest level, it was not at easy task trying to coach some of the players, who seemed to have more respect for former big-name players.

“On the other hand, the decline in our football became evident and for people who really had the passion and so, my determination grew even stronger.”

His passion has seen Zulu become one of the grassroots football developers in the United Kingdom, where he is now based.

“When I left Zimbabwe in 2002, I suddenly found myself attracted to the game again, especially after I had watched the FIFA World Cup games in South Korea and Japan,” he added.

“I inquired about some coaching qualifications online and registered with the local football county in West Yorkshire. I attended my first coaching course in 2003 and have continued to update my skills to remain relevant and develop as a coach.”

He is now pursuing his Level 3 youth module and Uefa ‘B’ licences, which he hopes to complete early next year. He has also been heavily involved in coaching in the European country.

“In 2004, I was approached by some Zimbabwean men who wanted me to coach their team, Ekhaya FC, which played in the local county Saturday league. I only coached them for a year and left to form a more youth-driven group, Super Eagles FC.

“The major reasons were my desire and passion to work with young players and my continuous professional development in terms of coaching courses. I wanted to belong to a group that allowed my ego to be fulfilled in a dynamic way in terms of designing my own coaching material and establishing my own philosophy of how to play good football in a very creative way.”

With his unique way of coaching, he was suddenly swamped by many young players who had heard about his program and in 2006, his team reached the final of the local Parkfield Suite Cup. That was the team’s first year in the Red Triangle.

“Our success grew overnight and scouting roles with professional clubs opened up. Since we started this program, we have seen more of our young players sign with some professional academies, where most have graduated into professional football,” added Zulu.

“In 2008, I joined Clapton FC, a semi-professional team in East London. They play under the Essex League. I worked as their assistant manager and did a lot of coaching in the juniour ranks.”

There have also been setbacks along the way.

“When Zifa searched for a national coach, I applied out of my passion and love for the game, but I did not get the job, most probably because I was largely an unknown quantity to the powers that be. I had proposed a three-year development plan for junior football, starting with the 10 to14-year-olds by selecting the best players in those age groups.

“I also intended to put in place a number of coaching programs to help develop the players’ passing,

movement, agility, athleticism, basic techniques, creativity and skill through futsal (indoor). Looking back with sadness, I feel tortured by the current situation that has consumed our once promising national team that has lost all its bearings.

“The state of our game needs a new approach that goes back to the grassroots and puts more emphasis on junior development programs that teach the basics of modern football.”

Three years ago, Zulu started a futsal program for juniors and the response he has received has been impressive.

“Towards the end of last year, four young players who were our key players in the Under-11 age group joined a local academy and are still attached there. Everything looks increasingly positive for them to be retained this season for proper academy football,” said the soccer entrepreneur.

“Some parents have also been inspired to emulate me. We also work with a Zimbabwean local trader who helps out voluntarily on administration, recruitment and marketing of the organisation to the wider public.

“We now have a full complement of Under-8, Under-10, Under-12, Under-14 and Under-16 teams that participate in futsal and some of our players have been invited for trials with a top professional academy in August this year.

“Out of the 12 players expected to attend these trials, seven aged 9-14years have Zimbabwean parents and I was extremely excited about this development. The number of Zimbabwean players getting opportunities for professional football here keeps rising and we already have eight at the moment through our extensive programs at grassroots levels and their achievements have literally overwhelmed our expectations because we never thought that our presence could change anything so fast.

“We set this program to offer valuable coaching to our kids and the local community, help aspiring coaches to get more coaching hours and generate more interest from our youths who might not have envisaged such football careers.”

Zulu wants to return home one day and help uplift the standards of football through his diverse coaching programs.”