FERWAFA chief outlines football development priorities

The president of Rwanda Football Association (FERWAFA), Vincent Nzamwita, has been in office since January 2014 and he rates his performance thus far at 50 per cent but says his ultimate goal is to see Rwandan football at a satisfying level where every Rwandan would be proud of. Last week, Times Sport reporter Peter Kamasa sat down with 46-year old former APR FC secretary general, where he took us through his plans of improving the Rwandan football and make it appeal to the local masses, who these days prefer watching European leagues in bars other than paying Rwf1000 to watch, say, an encounter between Amagaju and Marines FC. Excerpts: What is your plan for Rwandan football? Without doubt my focus is to help football primarily in the interest of our children. But how do we go about this? I have first to help our coaches get more courses because if we have good local coaches, we will ultimately have good footballers. But we still have a long way to go; we have the talent. You spot young talented players across this country, who can be turned into good footballers that can play in top leagues. We need to nurture as many young talented players as possible so that we have a large pool of players to pick from. Tell us about the projects you have to develop football... The projects are of two types; we need to have structures which will be sustainable enough to even outlive us, so that whoever comes just continues from where we have left. We want to make sure that our boys and girls continue to start playing football at an early age and this is where we will get the best players in the future. We therefore need to have an Under-15 league where many kids around the country can have a chance to play many competitive games at their age and level. But this will depend on the quality of coaches, which brings me to my earlier point of ensuring you have afforded enough training to as many coaches as possible, because these are the ones who will pass on the skills to the children. So from the Under 15, we shall select the Under 17 national team and onwards. We also have major plans for the second division which will be played in league zones in order to give a chance to many players in every corner of the country to play for their area teams—the same will apply to the women’s league. There is also the plan to grow financially, which comes with working with different partners (sponsors): We need to have financial stability for the first division and from there, a certain percentage will pumped into youth development projects. Last but very important is that we need to market our football as a brand. What has been your biggest challenge as and how have you been able to overcome it? It was tough to adapt in FERWAFA from the administrative level down to players, to change the way of thinking that we can go far from where we are today. But my biggest challenge has been the implementation of our strategic plan. The other challenge was with the media, I have had so many ‘fights’ with them in the past, but now we are working together very well because it’s only when we are working together that we shall be able to achieve our ultimate goal, which is to take our football to a satisfying level, where we all can be proud of it. And what has been your biggest achievement so far? For me the achievement has been the stability in development of our football, to have clear vision of our football, the good partnerships we have built with other federations in other parts of the world. These have been the biggest achievements that I can think of. How do you rate the development of Rwandan football at the moment visa-vie where you want it to be in the next four years? I can rate it at 50 per cent but I believe at the end of our term in 2017, we would have reached about 70 per cent because we are doing a lot of work behind closed doors, which may not be visible to everyone but with time, Rwandans will be able to see the fruits of our hard work. Do you think the federation is doing enough to develop local football? We are, though we still need to do more, we have the will and we are committed to develop many young players in the country, we have a good chance to achieve this because we have the support and goodwill from the government and other partners. There is still a long way to go to be where we want to be, but we shall continue giving our best and I am sure we will get good results in a not so distant future. What are some of the best and worst experiences during your tenure? In the beginning, my relationship with the media was very bad but now we are trying to understand each other and helping each other. Misunderstandings with some (journalists) will continue to exist but that will not deter us from doing what we were elected to do.While the best achievement I would say was Rwanda attaining its highest ever ranking at 68 in the world. Do you plan to seek re-election as FERWAFA president when the current term ends? I cannot talk about second term at this moment because we still have over two years on the first (term), for me, what I want is to build strong institution with capacity to continue developing our football for years even after I have left this office. How do you want to be remembered years after you have left office? Stability in our football, that’s what I want. For the last 20 years, every administration has been bringing its own changes in the way football is managed in the country only for the next one to come with its own roadmap. That has to change because we need to have one clear long-term roadmap of building our football. Secondly, having strong projects to attract sponsors, give our coaches as many training opportunities as possible, building good relationships with other football associations in Africa and Europe as well as FIFA and CAF. And I intend to make positive changes in the way our football is managed; we need to build strong leadership for the good of our game and our teams—that’s how I want to be remembered. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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FERWAFA chief outlines football development priorities