Sun, 27 Aug 2017 12:14:49 +0000
By MICHAEL MIYOBA
FAZ has reaffirmed its commitment to improving the standards of women football in Zambia.
Speaking in an interview with journalists in Lusaka, FAZ executive committee member in charge of women football Brenda Kunda said the association had set up a number of rogrammes aimed at developing the levels of women’s football.
Kunda said the FAZ was considering coming up with a women’s league that will feature teams from all parts of Zambia.
“Women’s football hasn’t been doing well in Zambia but there are various programmes that the association is putting in place to improve the standards of women football in our country. We are starting with youth football development,
“When we took over, we noticed that women’s football was only in Lusaka and the Copperbelt but what we are trying to do right now is to see how we can encourage women in other provinces to get involved. We are delighted to note that in Central Province we have an Armature league now and we look forward to seeing a situation where amateur team in other provinces join the women’s league,” Kunda said.
The Zambia national women’s soccer team was scheduled to participate at this year’s Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Womens Championship which kicks off next month in Bulawayo.
The Shepolopolo have been drawn in group A together with Zimbabwe, Malawi and Madagascar.
Team head coach Albert Kachinga says the Shepolopolo were not afraid of facing tournaments hosts Zimbabwe at COSAFA Women’s championship.
Kachinga said in an interview after a morning training session at Edwin Imboela Stadium in Lusaka that the Shepolopolo will not underrate Zimbabwe.
“The chances are 50/50, but with adequate preparations and with a good mind-set we can beat them. We have played Zimbabwe on several occasions bfore. We have lost and we also won some games,
“There are no easy games in football. There is no team which can underrate the other. We will work hard to pull through. All the teams in our group are good because if they were not good, they wouldn’t have qualified for the tournament,” Kachinga said.
The Shepolopolo will start the campaign with a clash against neighbors Malawi on September 13 at Barbour Fields Stadium and two days later they will take on hosts Zimbabwe’s Mighty Warriors at the same venue.
Zambia will then conclude the preliminary round stage on September 7th with a clash against Madagascar.
