Makepekepe go back to basics – Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

PASSING ON THE BATON . . . Veteran CAPS United midfielder Devon Chafa (left) poses with a group of young players during the club’s youth training camp which ended at Standard Chartered Sports Club yesterday.

Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter

GIANTS CAPS United are going back to basics as they seek to invest in the future success of their club by setting up vibrant junior structures as well as a women’s football side as part of fulfilling the FIFA Club Licensing requirements.

Makepekepe got the ball rolling this week when they held a five-day training camp for boys and girls.

Speaking on the sidelines of the training camp, which ended in Harare yesterday, the Green Machine president Farai Jere said the Harare giants have taken a deliberate turn towards junior development.

“This has always been in our plans. An organisation without youth is dead because the youth is the future of any organisation.

“If you see an organisation without a youth structure, then there is a huge problem. So, this (the setting up of vibrant youth structures) is exactly what we want to do,” said Jere.

The Green Machine this week welcomed scores of young players that paid $40 to be part of the programme.

The participants, between the ages of seven and 14 years, went through intense training drills and conditioning sessions led by Makepekepe head coach Lloyd Chitembwe and club legend Alois Bunjira.

The programme is expected to culminate in the formation of a CAPS United Academy. The giants have not had a nursery for the past decade and have of late been criticised for recycling old horses and earning themselves a derogatory moniker “old people’s home.”

“We started with a programme whereby we brought in the head coach and his technical team to run this five-day programme and we have been motivated by this happening in every country. You look at the UK; every club is doing these programmes.

“Even in South Africa they are doing these camps where you bring in players from different clubs. It’s very exciting and interesting. So, we want to use this now as a springboard for our junior system because after this we are now going to come up with our CAPS United Academy.

“It may come with a different name, which we will come up with. But this is the initiative, this is the motivation to do what everyone in the world is doing and these things are doable. You can actually see the response because of the CAPS United brand.

“Look at the attendance in different age groups, it’s quite overwhelming. All these things are like that because of the CAPS United brand.

“So, we now want to build the future of this club around the juniors.

“We want to bring up players with a CAPS united identification, green blood so they say. This is what we are trying to do, and this is the motivation to come up with this programme.”

Jere, who is also the chairman of the Premier Soccer League, said they were looking to comply with the CAF and FIFA Club Licensing regulations by setting up junior football and women’s football structures.

“We already made an announcement in our plans and it’s also part of the Club Licensing requirements.

“Every PSL club should have a women’s team and we are busy with the board to come up with different names for our ladies’ football team.

“That team, we realise that it’s going to happen much faster than the academy. We are going top-flight an advert to invite all the very good players around who want to play for CAPS United.

“There are some nitty-gritties that we are tying up so that we can make an announcement. Once all the paperwork is done then we will come up with our ladies’ team to compete in the Women’s Super League.

“This is going to unlock a lot of value for our club as well,” said Jere.

CAPS United are set to host Hwange at Rufaro tomorrow. The giants will be looking to bounce back from the 0-2 defeat they suffered at Highlanders last week.

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