Ferwafa, MINISPOC should task clubs to invest in youth

If you take a deep analysis of sports development and particularly football; you realize that the strength and potential of the club to perform well consistently requires a good youth foundation. Football management is not always about buying the best players; it can also be about identifying and developing the potential of young players for the future of the club. For the case of Rwanda, Ferwafa and MINISPOC are top regulators in the country and therefore should oversee the solution to improve the standard of football in the country and seek long-term solutions. One of the most urgent and possible strategy is to instruct all first division football clubs to create academies right from the age category of 10 years before they are licensed to play in the national league. This licensing system works well in developed countries and does not require a lot of resources but commitment. Football clubs should work hard for their exisistence and contribute to the overall sport development. Teams like Rayon Sports and Police FC should not only look at representing Rwanda in CAF competitions next year but instead give assurance to the future generation. A few years ago, the junior league was started in Rwanda and clubs were tasked to pick players under the age category of 15 years for representation but it died a sudden death. The clubs and players later became demoralized and the junior football system in clubs disappeared. If you look at the tradition of most of Germany clubs or even in other places like Spain, USA, Japan and South Africa; most teams have a spine of home grown players. It is through this system that symbolizes the power house and culture of the teams. For clubs to succeed in youth programs, it must possess a good scouting network. Clubs should always have a scout manager charged with recruitment of the elite and young players. Normally in areas of youth ranks with high attribute for sporting potential; scouting is the best way to find the best players within modern football. Another option for the football governing bodies is to install a kid’s league that attracts young players’ right from the age category of 8-10 years and 11-12 years. Such teams could be owned by individuals and then scouts are there to spot the brightest in the competition for advanced development. But lack of integrity in most of the football clubs in Rwanda forces them to wait to ‘steal’ elite young stars from the development centers around the country. Youth soccer academies in clubs might sound a bit obvious but it does count on the quality and quantity of players that you get through into the senior team. If the team is a side with little money to spend in the transfer market, producing your own talent could be a real winner for it and minimize expenditures on new players every season. There is a possibility that clubs can cash in on investments made. However, the quality of players developed from the club greatly depends on the technical team working with the youngsters. When the team wants to look at feeder sides, it tends to look for clubs that have quality training programs and coaches as on the other hand try to sort loan approaches for its young players. For Example Manchester United loaned out Tom Cleverly to Wigan athletic and he returned to Old Trafford as a first team player. Cleverly re-joined United at a time when the club was in-need of a central midfield and the young Englishman did the job and saved the club money.