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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
ZIFA have said there is going to be a turnaround in junior development after they entered the national Under-17 and Under-20 teams for the World Youth Championships.

Speaking during a meeting with Sport and Recreation Minister Makhosini Hlongwane at ZIFA House in Harare, ZIFA board member in charge of development, Edzai Kasinauyo, said they are still assessing their position in terms of junior development.

“Since we took office we are just taking stock of where exactly we are in terms of our teams where we look to make sure that we need to have national teams starting from Under-13, Under-15, Under -17, Under-23 and then we have our senior team.

“Looking at all that I think it takes a little bit of time to really understand exactly, in terms of talent, where we are and what things we need to do in order to make sure that we implement the right plan in order for us to achieve this.

“When you look at our national team, it’s built through junior development.

“We have also entered the Under-17 World championships.

“We have also entered the Under-20 Championships which will also help us to develop our youngsters because we also want them to compete with others.

“By the time you get to the national team you need that experience of junior national teams. So going forward this year we will be also participating in the Under-17 tournament and then the Under-20 tournament,” Kasinauyo said.

Kasinauyo conceded that there isn’t much happening at the moment at junior level.

“For us to be among the best we have to be realistic with what is available on the ground. So within a month or two we should be coming up with a national plan which is to do with our junior development starting from Under-13 to the senior national team,” Kasinauyo said.

ZIFA president Philip Chiyangwa said they have applied to FIFA for funding towards junior development.

“We engaged FIFA and we have applied for funds for junior football Under-17, Under-23 and for the CAF competitions.

“So that response, like I said, if you massage these people like we are doing right now you might get a good response and they fund those projects,” Chiyangwa said.

Speaking on the sprouting of unregistered academies with some of them just out to make money throughout the country,y Chiyangwa said they are working on ensuring that PSL clubs have academies.

“On academies, I want to say two things, any PSL club that is registered with ZIFA will be asked to have an academy.

“That is where they train those that rise within their ranks and for us to license them we will be appointing a committee that will go and investigate each and every club.”