Zimbabwe has launched a national football future.

The BancABC Roots Impact Program creates a year-round, structured pathway from school fields to national teams, ensuring that talent is discovered, developed and delivered by design, not by chance. ZIFA President Nqobile Magwizi gave this speech at the Program launch:

“Ladies and Gentlemen,

There are moments in a nation’s football journey that may not grab headlines straight away, yet quietly shape the future. Today is one such moment.

Because the true measure of a football nation is not found only under floodlights and in packed stadiums. It is found on dusty school fields, community grounds and training pitches, where dreams are first formed and foundations are laid. That is where lasting football nations are built.

Today, through the launch of the BancABC Roots Impact Junior Leagues, Zimbabwe is making a clear statement of intent. We are saying that our future success will no longer be left to chance. It will be planned. It will be structured. And it will be sustained.

Allow me first to acknowledge the Honourable Deputy Minister of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Mrs Emily Jesaya. Honourable Minister, your presence here is a powerful signal of government’s continued support for football development in Zimbabwe. We are grateful for the guidance, encouragement and partnership of your Ministry as we work to rebuild the game with integrity and purpose.

I also wish to acknowledge the Sports and Recreation Commission for its oversight and collaboration, and to sincerely thank BancABC. Your decision to invest in grassroots football is not just corporate support. It is leadership. It is belief. It is a vote of confidence in a new direction for Zimbabwean football and in the systems that are being put in place by the current ZIFA Executive Committee.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

When this Executive Committee took office, we made a clear pledge. We said that we would rebuild Zimbabwean football from the base of the pyramid going up. We said that shortcuts would no longer define our thinking. We said that development would no longer be fragmented, seasonal or informal. The Roots Impact Junior Leagues are the clearest expression of that pledge.

This initiative represents a year round national development platform, not a once off tournament. It introduces nationally standardised competitions, proper governance, safeguarding systems and clear progression routes for our young players. For the first time, a child’s talent can be identified at school level and traced deliberately through community, district, provincial and national pathways. This is how serious football nations operate. And this is how Zimbabwe must operate if we are to change our fortunes.

The success that we all crave at elite level, with the Warriors and the Mighty Warriors, can only come if the foundation is strong. And if the foundation is strong, that success will not be fleeting. It will be sustained. You cannot build a winning national team on weak systems. You cannot qualify consistently for major tournaments on hope alone. You cannot challenge realistically for World Cup qualification if your talent pipeline is uncertain. That is why today matters.

The Roots Impact Junior Leagues create pathways that churn out talent, not by chance, but by design. They integrate both urban and rural players. They ensure that opportunity is not limited by geography or background. They bring structure where there was fragmentation and continuity where there was inconsistency.

Equally important is how this initiative dovetails with our Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. Through this partnership, schools become talent incubation centres. Our children will not only play more football, they will play better football. ZIFA will provide technical support, training and capacity building for teachers and school staff. This means improved coaching, better understanding of youth development, and a stronger link between education and sport. Football development is not separate from education. It is enhanced by it.

BancABC’s support enables this vision to move from paper to practice. It allows us to professionalise youth development, to introduce safeguards, to run transparent and auditable systems, and to build trust with parents, schools and communities. To BancABC, we say thank you for believing that grassroots football is not charity, but investment. Investment in people. Investment in communities. Investment in the future of Zimbabwe.

To our coaches and teachers, you are now custodians of a national mission. The responsibility you carry is enormous, but so is the opportunity.

To parents, trust the process. Your children are entering a system that values development, discipline and dignity.

And to our young players, this is your moment. The pathway is clearer than it has ever been. Talent will be seen. Effort will be rewarded. Dreams will be given structure.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

ZIFA’s long term ambition is clear. We want Zimbabwe to become a realistic and consistent challenger for World Cup qualification. Not through slogans, but through systems. Not through miracle runs, but through preparation. The journey to the World Cup does not start in qualifiers. It starts here. With children. With schools. With communities. With partners who believe that football can be a force for national renewal.

Today we launch more than a league. We launch a mindset. One Cup. One System. One Vision. Let us commit, collectively, to protect this vision, to fund it, to govern it properly, and to measure its success honestly. If we do, the rewards will come. Not just in trophies, but in pride, unity and opportunity for generations of Zimbabwean children.

Let us build the roots. And the nation will rise. I thank you.“

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