EVERY second term of the school calendar is important for the pupils. Despite the chilly weather in winter, the ball games provide the warmth for the players and their colleagues.
Ball games are the most popular sporting activity followed in secondary and high schools.
Primary schools too are part of the jamboree.
It’s that time of the year when the popular COPA Coca-Cola Soccer tournament roars into life.
The COPA Coca-Cola calendar was made public last week at a media workshop in Kwekwe with the launch slated for Rujeko High School in Glendale on May 24.
The zonal competitions will begin on May 26 across the country.
The district competitions will take place on June 9, while the provincials to choose the provincial representatives are slated for July 7.
The national finals are pencilled for July 21 and 22 in Bindura.
The boys Under-16 defending champions will not play at their school in Glendale but at Chipindura High School while the Girls will be at Hermann Gmeiner.
A number of changes have been roped into this year’s competition with a revised age group in the boys category.
This year will see the boys age-group reduced to 15 from 16 in the previous years.
That will make the tournament target the younger ages.
After the national finals, a dream team of 20 players will be selected. The players will then travel to South Africa where they will meet other teens from other nations on the continent.
A World Cup puts the icing on the COPA Coca-Cola tournament that starts from the zonal competitions.
A five-aside tournament is in the pipeline as the tournament organisers seek to bring more teams to participate.
This year, the 11-aside will be played but out of the Dream Team will come a select for the five-aside.
Addressing journalists at a media workshop in Kwekwe last week, Vee Chibanda, the Coca-Cola market activation manager said they hope the tournament continues to grow each year while producing future stars.
“It’s an honour to be part of this big tournament; working with NASH, we hope that it will continue to grow,” she said.
“We envision having more stars coming out of this tournament and we would like to see it grow bigger and better.
“This year, some of our best players will get a chance to participate at the Under-15 Five-aside World Cup.
“It’s an international tournament where different countries will come together with different teams and the best team will get a trophy.
“Over the years, we have been sending a few of our top players from COPA Coca-Cola to international events but this World Cup means we are sending a bigger team.
“Our competition will remain a normal 11-aside event and we will choose the best players from COPA Coca-Cola to represent us.”
However, Five-aside football is not so common in Zimbabwe.
Its popularity might grow if introduced at grassroots level.
Five-aside football is a variation of association football in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper).
Other differences include a smaller pitch, smaller nets and reduced game duration.
Matches are played indoors, or outdoors on Astroturf or artificial grass pitches that may be enclosed within a barrier or ‘cage’ to prevent the ball from leaving the playing area in order to keep the game flowing.