Kamanga Looks To U-15 National Team

Following the early closure of the 2019/2020 season Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) President Andrew Kamanga has turned his attention to the future of the game, among other matters.

“Our dream of playing at two World Cups and five Africa Cups in 10 years will only materialize if we invest in the future,” Kamanga notes.

“The last few days have been very exciting for anyone interested in the future of our game. We have been keeping an eye on the establishment of an under-15 national team. We have had a team of youth friendly coaches having a look at a number of promising young talents that we hope to incorporate in our under-15 national team. This program is being closely monitored by Chipolopolo coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic,” Kamanga writes on social media.

The under-15 national team is part of FAZ’s 10-year strategic plan that prioritises talent identification, development and management. 

According to Kamanga over 100 boys have been assembled for the Lusaka stream that are being screened by a dedicated team of coaches and talent scouts. They have been drawn from the under-14 and 16 leagues that started last year.

“Most of the boys have been on our watch list through the zonal leagues where they play weekly. Talent identification is not a one-off event but a continuous process that espouses development and management,” Kamanga explains.

The upcoming Croatia Invitational Tournament and an under-15 regional tournament planned by Cosafa through its partnership with the UEFA Assist program are expected to provide the selected squad with a chance to take to the field.

“Lusaka was zoned into four focal points that was meant to ease movements for academies during the season. We have hubs like Chelstone for teams in the Eastern bloc of the city like Munali, Chudleigh, Kaunda Square, Mtendere, Kalingalinga, Kamanga, Avondale and Chainama with Lusaka Central capturing teams within the catchment of Northmead, Rhodespark, Civic Centre, Garden, Chilulu, Thornpark while Kabwata caters for townships like Kamwala, Chawama, Chilenje, Chalala and Woodlands. Matero is the hub for the teams on the Northern end of the city,” Kamanga details.

“Similarly in the provinces, there has been a network of coaches that are working with the technical directorate to help identify talent. This is a follow up on the FIFA course recently held for youth coaches as we try to refine our program for youth development in line with our 10-year strategic plan. I have been assured that the program is wide enough not to miss out any prospective talents outside the line of rail,” he continues.

“As an executive committee, we have committed to tracking talent from a very tender age with our strategic plan incorporating eight year olds in the structure. In line with our 10-year strategic plan, we envisage that an eight-year old today will be turning eighteen at the saturation point of our plan. Our bottom-up approach has seen us insisting on youthful leagues that will run from under-eight to under-19.”

“Our decentralization program has birthed provincial leagues that are expected to run age-group leagues. The lower division leagues in the provinces will have an age cap to ensure that opportunities for promising young talents are created at the grassroots. The provincial leagues will be firmly tied to development through age-group competitions. We expect that the divisions will be categorized according to age-groups.” 

“Our selected boys will have their first test of international action at the Croatia Invitational Tournament that will draw participation from eight countries next month. Through our partnership with the Croatian Football Association we were able to draw this invitation which will be helpful to our young players in grooming them for future high pressure engagements. Our partners are also staking some coach education programs that we have received with both hands.”

“Additionally, Cosafa has announced that it is lining up an under-15 regional tournament through its partnership with the UEFA Assist program. That could add an incentive to our efforts to have a long standing national team of this age bracket. This could not have come at a better time than now. Clearly the opportunities for ambitious young men and women are immense in the game. On our part we shall continue to provide a platform to nurture talent and ensure that we build champions for tomorrow. Our dream of playing at two World Cups and five Africa Cups in 10 years will only materialize if we invest in the future.”