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Tadious Manyepo

Sports Reporter

DYNAMOS assistant coach Murape Murape has landed yet another huge post after his appointment as the  Primetime International Academy Head Of Recruitment For Zimbabwe and Africa.

The international nursery has just set up a branch in Zimbabwe which will work as a conveyor belt for Zimbabwean talent in particular and African youngsters in general to Europe.

Murape, who relinquished his post as the head coach for Real Betis Academy to be Herbert Maruwa’s deputy at Dynamos, will not leave his role at the Glamour Boys.

And the 2007 Soccer Star of the Year will get down to business today when he leads the academy in an international combine to be graced by acclaimed scouts at Alex Sports Club.

Over 500 young players between the ages of 14 and 21 years and drawn from different academies are expected to showcase themselves and stand a chance to be selected for further development in Europe.

Those who fail to make the grade during the international trial-outs will remain at Primetime Academy and get further mentoring from Murape.

The former Dynamos star expressed excitement after landing the post.

“This is such a tremendous opportunity for me and I am looking forward to doing everything I can to help identify, scout, recruit and help each player achieve their development goals and have a memorable experience. Together with Dexter Blackstock(academy director), Andre Boucaud and Primetime International Academy, I am very much confident that there will be many doors opened over the next months and years to come for the groups of elite players aspiring to play abroad,” he said.

“This program has been created to provide Zimbabwean and African youth football players with a solid pathway, real, authentic and expert development opportunities with top European professional football clubs, academies, colleges and high schools, for those aspiring to play abroad. For the first time ever and for a full academic year, the top youth football players will follow the methodology of the European player development programs that mirror how the professional clubs train their youth players. My passion is to help local and international student-athletes coming from all over the world reach their full potential through a global network of professional partner clubs.

“Every player has to fit the academy’s profile and philosophy. Simply being a good footballer does not equate to being a successful signing for the program. My strengths will be my organisational skills and the contacts I have built up over the years.

“ I have now been in the game for more than 30 years, hopefully, my abilities to spot the talents that are the right fit for the program to move it forward, in terms of what we actually need.

It isn’t a case of just getting good players, it has to be players that fit what we are looking for at this particular time. That has hopefully been my niche.”

Blackstock said Murape’s appointment followed a thorough evaluation of his capabilities.