By Llywellenie Mpasa:
Football Association of Malawi (Fam) has signed a five-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malawi Schools Sports Association (Massa) aimed at reintroducing structured youth football development programmes in schools.
The signing ceremony took place at Mpira Village, Chiwembe Township, in Blantyre Wednesday.
Fam President Fleetwood Haiya said the partnership was aimed at strengthening grassroots football by providing technical support to school programmes, ensuring a structured pathway for young players.
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“Schools are an essential foundation for football development and, through this partnership, we aim to enhance the quality of school football by offering technical support to Massa,” Haiya said.
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According to Haiya, through the partnership, Fam would provide technical support and other necessary resources to improve football development in schools.
“This collaboration will ensure that we have a structured approach to nurturing young footballers and identifying talent at an early stage,” he said.
The partnership is expected to create a structured scouting and development system that will help in identifying and grooming young footballers who can later play for clubs and national teams.
Taking his turn, Massa President Blackson Malamula said the programme would bear fruit.
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“One of the key benefits of this agreement is the provision of actual student data to ensure transparency and curb age cheating in football,” Malamula said.
Malamula said the partnership would significantly aid in scouting young talent for the national teams, giving promising players an opportunity to be identified and nurtured by professional coaches.
Through the partnership, Massa will, among other things, monitor players during the school calendar season and identify cluster schools where identified talent for school of excellence can be placed.
