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NewsDay

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Take women’s sport seriously

Opinion & Analysis
THE Mighty Warriors have broken the jinx by qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil next year.

THE Mighty Warriors have broken the jinx by qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil next year.

NewsDay Editorial

The ladies’ team will not only be the second group to compete at a global stage, but has also broken some stereotypes. Many congratulations to the Mighty Warriors. This is awesome news. The only other team to participate at the global showcase was the 1980 Zimbabwe women’s national field hockey team, which went on to win the gold medal in women’s field hockey at that year’s Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia.

By this crucial win, Zimbabweans ought to stand fully behind the national ladies’ team because since Independence all hopes of qualifying to global football events have been placed on the men’s teams.

Yet none of them have made it to the Olympics, and no football team has qualified for a world tournament. The best football has achieved was qualification to the African Cup of Nations in the 2004 and 2006 editions.

The national Under-23 men’s team qualified for the African Games, but never made it to any tournament beyond continental borders. It must be pointed out that so much has been invested and more lucrative deals have been struck for the men’s teams — Warriors and Young Warriors –but nothing has come out of it all.

Zifa has been struggling to offer financial support and the Mighty Warriors have been sacrificed in favour of the men’s teams.

Sunday’s win therefore provides strong reasons for providing resources to all teams — including the ladies’. There is need for a paradigm shift by Zifa not to prioritise only men’s teams, but also ladies.

It is regrettable the team that did Zimbabwe proud on Sunday by booking the ticket to the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Olympics, is the same group of players that Zifa once fed with kapenta and vegetables.

These are the girls that would leave their homes and camp at the Zifa Village even before the facility was fully furnished while the men’s team camped at hotels. Suffice to say, the girls also often travelled by road to some of the countries in Southern Africa particularly to Zambia, South Africa and Lesotho to do duty for the country.

We are aware that this campaign was almost aborted when the Mighty Warriors failed to travel to Ivory Coast for the first leg of their qualifying tie due to a financial squeeze. Fifa awarded Ivory Coast the match with a 3-0 result leaving Zimbabwe with what seemed to be an unrealistic mission to accomplish.

Ironically, Zimbabwe’s campaign gained a major boost when Ivory Coast pulled out as they too could not travel to Harare, leaving the Mighty Warriors with one final hurdle.

What makes the Mighty Warriors feat special is the fact that the Cameroonians are a tough footballing nation and this particular team that was defeated had participated at the Women’s World Cup.

Few would have given Zimbabwe any chance to beat a Cameroon side that had qualified for the African Women’s Championships, a tournament the Mighty Warriors have never graced. Against all odds the girls went to Cameroon, and returned home with an all-important away goal scored by Rudo Neshamba.

It can be argued that it was a match they could have easily won had it not been for the high temperatures in that country. No doubt the mission was a big one against such an experienced side but Zimbabwe, under the guidance of Shadreck Mlauzi kept a clean sheet to claim world headlines.

Clearly, the Mighty Warriors’ success is evidence why Zifa and government must invest in the game and give both the male and female teams equal opportunity.

The men’s Under-23 team had better preparations than the Mighty Warriors but it is the women’s team that will be representing the country in Rio next year.

There is no better example why Zifa and government must take women’s sport seriously.