APR’s home grown solution starting to pay off

THE 2013/14 Turbo King Football League season could be the season for Rwanda’s most successful club APR FC to reap the fruits of their home-grown solution since deciding to do away their long-standing reliance on foreign players last year. After the weekend Rwanda’s version of ‘El Clasico’ in which the army side pitted their biggest rivals Rayon Sports 1-0 courtesy of Charles Tibingana Mwesigye’s sweet left-footed half volley inside the 18-yard box, it’s not too hard to put you money on APR winning a record extending 14th league title.The youthful side showed that they are slowly maturing into a strong unit following the club management’s decision to start using only Rwandan players in a bid to find replacements for the likes of Jimmy Gatete and Olivier Karekezi. Against Rayon Sports, APR players’ disciplined committed and determination to the cause, led to frustration by their opponents as the latter inflicted sweet revenge for last season’s 4-0 defeat.From Michel Rusheshangonga, Emery Bayisenge, Charles Tibingana, Andrew Buteera coupled with the experience of Jean-Claude Ndoli, Tumaine Ntamuhanga, Jean-Claude Iranzi, Albert Ngabo, and Jean Baptiste Mugiraneza, APR FC will be a strong side to break this season.The former champions are second on the table with 17 points, four points behind leaders AS Kigali, who have also employed the same policy of using only Rwandan players. As things stand, Amavubi Stars coach Eric Nshimiyimana and his assistant Jean Baptiste Kayiranga could face select headache for the team to feature in the Cecafa Challenge Cup in Nairobi later this month. APR starting line-up alone should be good enough to make it direct into the first 11 of Nshimiyimana’s Amavubi team. So you add skipper Haruna Niyonzima, who is just been named the Best Player of the season in the Tanzanian league plus a few additions from other local clubs, this could be Rwanda’s chances to win a second regional title. With the right conditions and exposure, not forgetting the club’s sound management on and off the field, APR will not take years to reap the benefits of their decision, which at first sounded radical in a way.It is just a matter of time before APR, AS Kigali and Police FC’s policy proves it was and, and still is the best one to help take Rwandan football to another level. If the steady progress that the APR team is making, we could, in the next three to four year, see them start doing well in continental competitions.Last season, they lost 4-0 to arc rivals and eventual league winners Rayon Sports before crashing out of the 2013 Peace Cup in the semi-final at the hands of AS Kigali, who went on to win the annual knockout competition.APR also finished runner-ups to Vital’O of Burundi in the Cecafa Kagame Cup held in Darfur, Sudan to endure one of the worst seasons their 20-year history. Other local clubs, most especially Rayon Sports and SC Kiyovu should learn that quick fixation has been the country’s biggest problem to football growth. A strong house can’t be built on a weak foundation. If all Turbo King Football League clubs would take a similar approach to achieving long term success the way of APR, AS Kigali and Police, believe me, Rwandan football would be the envy of everyone in the region and beyond sooner rather than later. Youth development should be the fundamental part of our coaching ethos and this philosophy can lead our teams to success, a thriving national league and national team.