BY MBONGENI NDLELA
MBABANE – Pick n’ Pay supported the launch of the Under 15 (U-15) Football Development Programme with E870,000. This was during an event hosted by the Eswatini Football Association and the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs.
The U-15 Football Development Programme, by the Eswatini Football Association and Pick n’ Pay, is open for both boys and girls in football. The programme will be implemented across all of Eswatini’s four regions.
The Programme was launched by the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Harries Bulunga. Speaking about the Programme, the Minister said “This Programme is exactly what our football has been crying out for. It speaks directly to the need for football to create a properly coordinated platform to discover and nurture talent among younger age groups countrywide.”
He added “The standout feature of this programme is its equal focus on both girls and boys, ensuring that, for once, our girls are not left behind in sports development. From today onwards, we are taking the girl child with us in football. I wish to urge all of us to support the participation of our girls in football. We all have a responsibility of affording our young girls a fair opportunity at realising any potential they may have in football. Let us all support them.”
The Eswatini Football Association echoed the Minister’s sentiments. Speaking on behalf of the Association, its President Peter Simelane said “The ages of 12 to 14 in age-based training are referred to as the golden ages of the development of a football player. Skills that have been learnt at this stage are never forgotten, hence the drive to address this critical age category.”
Pick ’n Pay Retail Executive Nuno Xavier expressed the reasons why the company got involved in the Programme. “We note that the implementation of this project will reduce a huge gap within the football growth structure of the EFA, especially when it comes to player development”, said Xavier.
Minister Bulunga made sure to remind the sports that “It is our goal as a Ministry to create an enabling environment for these young people & others to find sustainable, decent livelihoods through sport. We remain fully committed to this mandate.”
