Premiership rookies take the scientific route (FILE PIC) LEADING FROM THE FRONT . . . Yadah Stars owner Prophet Walter Magaya (centre), caught here training with his players, believes his club will shake the domestic Premiership this year
(FILE PIC) LEADING FROM THE FRONT . . . Yadah Stars owner Prophet Walter Magaya (centre), caught here training with his players, believes his club will shake the domestic Premiership this year

(FILE PIC) LEADING FROM THE FRONT . . . Yadah Stars owner Prophet Walter Magaya (centre), caught here training with his players, believes his club will shake the domestic Premiership this year

Sports Reporter—
HAVE you ever witnessed a training session on the domestic football scene that is filmed by a drone capturing every minute on the pitch, with the data to be analysed by the coaching staff long after the practice drills have ended? Well, brace yourself Zimbabwe, the domestic football landscape is being ripped apart by ambitious Premiership rookies who say they aren’t just coming to make up the numbers, but crucially, are also bringing in a scientific touch to everything they are doing.

A visit to a training session of Harare’s Premiership newboys, Yadah Stars, by The Herald this week, was quite an eye-opening exercise, a refreshing change from the norm where the players warm-up, do some regular practice drills and play against each other with the coach, now and again, bellowing instructions.

There is a scientific approach to everything and the events of the day have to be captured on camera, by a drone.

A number of local football clubs, especially Highlanders and FC Platinum, have for a long time employed specialist photographers who capture much of what happens during Match Day for the coaches to analyse where their players came short, where the tactics backfired or where the opponents were superior.

But, even these two giants don’t capture every minute of what is happening at their training grounds for the data to be used by the coaching staff, and other specialists, like fitness and nutritional experts, the medical team, which include the physiotherapists, the psychologists and other related backroom staff.

Yadah Stars say they are not coming into the domestic Premiership just to make up the numbers, but according to the club owner Prophet Walter Magaya, they are coming in to win the league championship and dominate the league for a long time to come.

Of course, that is easier said than done and can wait for another day, another month and, by the end the season in either November or December, it will be seen whether their bravado has been backed by substance or it was just cheap talk.

But, what you can’t fault them, at this stage, is their determination to make a difference. And the initial results look promising.

Milton Makopa, who appeared burdened by ballooning weight during his final days at Dynamos, has undergone a stunning transformation in the past few months he has been with the Premiership newboys and can barely wait for another dance in the top-flight league.

“It’s about ensuring that every player can be helped to be in the best possible shape and that means analysing every finer detail related to him, his fitness levels, looking at things like his diet, etc, and what can be changed to make him a better athlete,” an official at the club said.

“It’s all scientific and that is the way football has gone in developed countries and we are doing our best to try and ensure that we don’t get left far behind while the rest of the world march on in a different direction in terms of this game.

“We are confident that what we are doing here, in terms of professionalism, will be shown by the results on the pitch when the season gets underway.” Then, a few hours later, CAPS United ‘keeper Edmore Sibanda, who credits the spiritual healing from Magaya and the rigorous training schedule he underwent at the club two years ago for his resurgence, arrives at the training session.

He is in the company of his CAPS United teammate, Tafadzwa Rusike, who is still struggling with a groin strain, which limited his appearances in the Green Machine colours last year, although he says he is now getting much better.

“The prophet has been praying for my healing and I’m getting much better,” says Rusike. “I think this season I should play more games for my team.”

Meanwhile, the drone is still doing its business, flying overhead tomorrow, or the day after, the analysis will be conducted. And, for some who are hoping to break into this Yadah Stars team like Harare City’s Munyaradzi Diro-Nyenye, is looking for a new challenge at the newboys, it could be the difference in either getting a contract or not.

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