Inter-school games are key to football development in Rwanda

COMPETITION in youth football is at the forefront of the world’s most popular sport today. Success in youth football is currently considered as the topmost measure for team progress. Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) together with Fédération Rwandaise du Sport Scolaire (FRSS) need to work together to develop the inter-schools football competitions if the country is to unearth the next generation of future stars. The two institutions recently signed a five-year partnership where Ferwafa will help with technical support like training coaches and football clinics for young talented players. Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s until 2008, inter-school games were on a relatively high level and top flight clubs took advantage to scout for the most promising players in football. So many people from across the country paid much attention to the competitions and came in droves to watch the football matches. However, over the years, the competitions have lost steam hence the drop in the number of youth players coming in from the ranks. “We need to raise our level of football from the grassroots, especially in schools, we want football to become a business,” Olivier Mugabo Nizeyimana, president of Ferwafa said. “Our target with FRSS is to start from primary schools and have football competitions in the U-11 and raise to U-13, U-15, and U-17. We have to help the young generation to become stars,” He added Inter-school games have produced some of the country’s top football players. Some of the schools which have in the past produced good athletes and footballers are ASPEJ of Rwamagana, Group Scolaire de Gahini, Inyemeramihigo of Gisenyi, Mutenderi of Kibungo and among others. And if you compare the level of the inter-school competitions of that time with what we have today, the difference is like day and night. The teams are not as competitive as before but most importantly, the organization leaves so much to be desired. This is why the people managing sports in the country need to go back to the drawing board and find out where things are not going right as they used to ten years ago. Everyone must stand up and see if there’s something that can be done to have strong inter-school competitions at primary and secondary school levels, where the athletes are at their most promising stage and easier to develop. There is a need to revive and promote traditional sports and games. In countries where they know what it takes to compete at the highest level, ath-letes are prepared from a very young age and Rwanda must not be left behind. Our athletes are always not ready for the big tournaments because we have not prepared them well enough. If we did, it would help the national teams and we have to have continuity in everything that we do if the country is to be able to survive in this increasingly competitive world. The federation must start plans to promote sports within schools where the country will get more athletes for the future. They need to go down to the grassroots, starting in primary schools, and give youth the basics of whatever sport they may be interested in. It’s high time the Ministry of Sports together with the Rwanda National Olympic Committee devised a plan of having more national athletes picked from schools. These two institutions need to make sure that individual federations are promoting, developing, encour¬aging, and controlling all forms of sports in Rwandan schools. This would undoubtedly have a posi¬tive impact on the country’s showing in international competitions; it has worked for other countries, so there is no reason why it would fail for Rwanda.