LAST year’s winners of the COPA Coca-Cola boys section, Rujeko will face off against champions of Midlands and Masvingo at this year’s national finals of the revamped football tournament to be staged in Bindura in July.

At the draw conducted by the National Association of Secondary Heads (NASH), Head in Charge of Football Albert Mucheka at Rujeko High School on Wednesday, the Hardware Chatora coached boys from Headlands will clash with the teams that will come out as the best sides from Midlands and Masvingo during the provincial finals to be played on 7 July.

Rujeko, drawn in Group D must brace themselves to face the likes of Pamushana and Dewure at the national event. In 2015, Rujeko were beaten 4-3 on penalties in the final by Dewure in Bulawayo, but in 2016 they negotiated their way past Pamushana enroute to being crowned champions in Gwanda, where they saw off Chihnoyi on penalties. 

In Group A, the provincial winner from Mashonaland Central will face off against champions of Mashonaland West and Harare. Bulawayo, Mashonaland East and Manicaland make up Group B while the host school for the boys, Chipindura were drawn with Matabeleland North and South champions.

Because of the success of Rujeko last year and the fact that they are the host province for the national finals, Mashonaland Central will have three boys teams in the nationwide event which runs from 20 to 23 July.

For the girls, four times in a row champions Chidyamakono are in Group B together with the provincial winners of Manicaland and Midlands. Host school, Hermain Gmeiner were placed in Group C with the champions of Mashonaland East and Matabeleland South.

The best schools from Masvingo, Bulawayo and Harare were put in Group A while Group D is made up of the teams that will emerge as champions of Mashonaland Central, Matabeleland North and Mashonaland West.

Changes to the tournament age groups will see those aged Under-15 for the whole of 2017 competing in this year’s COPA Coca-Cola. Prior to that modification, boys Under-16 and girls Under-17 took part in the competition which started as an Under-20 event in 1989 for boys and in 2011 for females. The further amendment came about because of the sponsors’ desire to bankroll an age group which is recognised by FIFA.

Speaking at the official launch, Moses Gambiza, the Delta Beverages General Manager Sparkling Beverages General Manager said as the Coca-Cola system in Zimbabwe, they will continue to bankroll the country’s most prestigious and longest running tournament. He said the competition has given them as sponsors a sense of pride over the years and they hope that this year’s tournament will further the careers of the participants.

“As you would know by now, this is Zimbabwe’s most prestigious and longest running soccer tournament, now in its 29th edition for the boys and seventh edition for the girls. We intend to continue sponsoring this event. This NASH organised football tournament has made a mark in the lives of thousands of secondary schools pupils, their families and communities  throughout Zimbabwe over the years,’’ said Gambiza.

National Association of Secondary Heads president, Johnson Madhuku said they were grateful to the sponsors for sticking with them during tough economic times in the country. He challenged those he works with to put in place mechanisms to monitor the progress of players who have come through COPA Coca-Cola.

“We are indebted to our sponsors for sticking with us during such difficult times. We are very much aware and cognisant of the fact that this is a massive, huge sponsorship package indeed that runs from cluster level up to national for all our schools in the country. Some of our star players are also taken abroad for further skills training, exposure and development and as NASH, I urge my colleagues to ensure that we have a database of such players and a tracking system to monitor the fruits of such sterling work by our sponsors,’’ said Madhuku.

Lloyd Mudiwa, the Mashonaland East Provincial Education Director, who was the Guest of Honour, expressed his delight at the fact that Rujeko managed to win the tournament last year after they finished as runners up in 2015. Mudiwa went on inform the guests that his province is the best in ball games as shown by the number of national titles held by schools from Mashonaland Central.

“The other nine provinces you can excel in other areas like athletics but when it comes to ball games, we are the cream of the nation. From COPA Coca-Cola, great soccer players have emerged, I am referring to the likes of Peter Ndlovu, Biggie Zuze and the late Benjamin Nkonjera. To date many soccer players are earning a living because of soccer,’’ said Mudiwa.

Former footballers, Biggie Zuze, Costa Maradzike as well as Kingstone Rinemota who hail from Mashonaland Central and have all turned to coaching after retiring from the game.

Wednesday's official launch was also graced by Chief Negomo, Member of Parliament for Mazowe South, Fortune Chasi, NASH national as well as provincial leadership, representatives of the sponsors, Coca-Cola, the beverage company’s bottling partners in Zimbabwe, Delta Beverages and Mutare Bottling Company.

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