Maria Chiguvari
The Herentals Group of Schools continues to lead in grassroots sports development, bringing together more than 50 primary and secondary schools from across Zimbabwe for its 16th edition of the Principal’s Trophy.
The two-day which was held at Churchill Boys High School, Harare, featured competition in various age groups, including Under-9, Under-11, and Under-13 for primary schools and Under-15, Under-17, and Under-20 for secondary schools, aims to identify and nurture young talent.
The event featured a mix of all ball games activities which included basketball, netball, tennis, and soccer tournaments, just to mention a few, for all age groups.
Owned by Professor Innocent Benza, Herentals runs several academies and top-flight teams in both men’s and women’s leagues.
In an interview with the regional manager Zeb Muronzi, the event reflects the institution’s philosophy of nurturing both academic and sporting talent.
“So we are saying basically we have rental schools for centers across the nation that are gathered here for what we call our national pre-course trophy.
“This time around, it’s for ball games, that is soccer. Als,o we have basketball, we have tennis, we have volleyball, and so on.
“This is a very important tournament on our calendar. We hold this tournament in high regard. Because this tournament is actually part of the broader ecosystem that we have. There is a rental group of schools and colleges.
“As you may know, we have so many professional football teams. We have a team playing in the Premier League. We have a team in Division 2, not just one, we have many.
“We have about six, seven of them. We also have a team, a ladies team that is in the Premier League.
“So the idea here is to identify talent. When you’ve identified the talent, then we also have the means of actually making the talent.
“So those kids that are identified from this tournament, they are going to be taken aboard in the academy system. And if they do go in the academy system, they will have a chance to maybe graduate to Division 2. From Division 2, they can go to even Division 1 and all the way to the Premier League,” he said.
Muronzi highlighted the tournament’s role in combating drug and substance abuse.
“Some of these kids do drugs because they have nothing to occupy them. Some of them just go to school and after school, they have nothing to do.
“So, we want to make sure that we keep these kids occupied.”
He also mentioned that their women’s team is set to compete in the Caf Women’s Champions League.
