Chawada Kachidza, the wife to former Warriors coach Reinhard Fabisch, has said the construction of a professional football academy to honour her late husband will commence early next year.
Addressing the media after she watched a friendly match between the Zimbabwe national women soccer team, the Mighty Warriors, and Bundesliga women team HSV Hamburger which ended 2-2, Chawada said plans were at an advanced stage.
The school will be built 50km outside Harare near Goromonzi, a property which was bought by Fabisch in 1999 with the sole idea to turn it into a school of excellence that would nurture young talent. The school was launched late last year with the help of then German ambassador to Zimbabwe Albrect Conze.
“At the end of the year we will do another fundraising dinner, a lot of people from this end and back home are very interested in this project and have been very supportive. We need to move fast. I’m coming down to do the first intake for the boys who will be incorporated at Prince Edward School. I will come to Zimbabwe with a good friend of my husband who has worked extensively in Africa. He has worked with kids in the past and is a professional who has a good eye for talent,” said Chawada.
Chawada’s 12-year-old son Jonah has been admitted at HSV Hamburger’s academy and will start training with the club in September.
Fabisch, easily the most celebrated coach in Zimbabwe’s national side, was in charge of the Warriors between 1992 and 1995. He succumbed to cancer in 2008.
His “Dream Team” galvanised the patriotic fervour of the nation, although success eluded him.
The team included great stars like Bruce Grobbelaar, Peter Ndlovu, Ephraim Chawanda, Francis Shonhayi (the late), Benjamin Konjera (the late), Adam Ndlovu, Rahman Gumbo, John Phiri, Paul Gundani, Agent Sawu and Henry McKop.
