Nine years have now passed since a gallant national U-17 football team competed at the 2011 Fifa U-17 World Cup in Mexico; an achievement that has never been replicated by any nation in the East African region. Today, as the country continues with its footballing endeavors, the youth team has never been the same. A fortnight ago, this year’s Cecafa U-17 Cup tournament was held in Rwanda, from December 13 to 22, and the home side were among the first teams to be knocked out of the competition after only picking up one point from two group matches. This abysmal performance, according to fans and people acquainted with the game who talked to Weekend Sport, can be blamed on a number of factors such as poor preparation and lack of football development policy. Felix Gakuba, a veteran sports journalist, says that the issue of poor performance for Rwanda’s U-17 team in Cecafa was a result of lack of proper youth football development policy, which should be set by the Rwanda football governing body (Ferwafa). “We don’t have competitions for youths from schools and football academies where players are supposed to sharpen their talent. This is the main challenge, and as long as it continues like this, such poor performance is what we will always get,” he said. He urged that what should be done to address this issue is to set a long-term structure by involving the right people with the technical know-how to organise competitions from primary to secondary schools. “Clubs in Rwanda premier league must have junior teams and the federation should organise competitions for these teams, this will help national team coaches to select competitive players and if is done well the future will be bright. If this is done well, it will even yield positive results for the senior national team in the long run.” Geoffrey Asiimwe, a football follower and former sports journalist, said the Amavubi U-17 side’s recent shambolic display is a clear reflection of how impromptu and malnourished our football policy implementation and framework are. The Ministry of Sports owes Rwandans an explanation because, this (sports) is the only sector in the country that is always on a downward slope. “It should be remembered that the Amavubi U-17 team that featured in this competition was put together just a few weeks before the competition by Coach Yves Rwasamanzi who was also appointed to take charge of the team just for this competition. How would we expect results from such a team? It is unfortunate that, for nearly a decade now, both Ferwafa and the sports ministry always talk about prioritizing grassroots football development yet they have completely failed to establish an appropriate and sustainable structure for it,” he said. He also lashed at the inconsistent inter-schools and university championships, and the halting of scholarships that were usually offered to talented athletes. “Clearly, there is no incentive for our young talents to leverage. We have consistently failed to prepare and always expect good results. There is need for a complete paradigm shift at Ferwafa, there must be youth competitions and leagues for on a sustained regular basis.” Theoneste Nisingizwe, a sports analyst, noted that, in Rwanda, there is no realistic football system (with infrastructure and qualified coaches in talent development) and structure for national teams (under different age brackets) so that a child grows up knowing the stages they will go through to reach the senior team. In other advanced footballing nations, it is very rare that one can make it to the senior team without prior appearance in the youth ranks. “I don’t blame the players for the [poor] performance in Cecafa, they wouldn’t have done much for such a rushed last-minute assembling of the team. Football is not a gambling game, you need to prepare and invest to succeed.”
