Former Zambia international winger Clifford Mulenga has questioned whether the country has a clear long-term strategy for developing young footballers, arguing that youth national teams risk becoming little more than tournament projects.
Mulenga, who previously served as a Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) Youth Development Officer, says Zambia needs greater continuity in the way its youth teams and coaches are managed.
His comments come amid a system in which several coaches of senior Premier League clubs have also been handed responsibility for youth national teams.
“I honestly struggle to understand the logic behind having three to four head coaches of different Premier League teams also serving as coaches of youth national teams,” Mulenga said.
“And before someone misunderstands me, this is not about whether these coaches are good coaches. It is about the structure, the vision and the continuity.”
Mulenga believes youth national teams should form part of a clearly defined pathway, rather than being assembled primarily when regional or continental competitions approach.
“The U17 should be developing players for the U20. The U20 should be preparing players for the U23 and senior national team,” he said.
“There has to be a recognisable football philosophy, a coaching pathway and a technical continuity.”
He also questioned whether enough opportunities are being given to grassroots coaches who work with young players over several years.
“When will the grassroots coaches who spend years managing these youth players get an opportunity to experience their work at national and international team level?” he asked.
Mulenga argues that repeatedly turning to coaches already in charge of top-flight clubs could limit the development of a specialist national youth coaching structure.
“If our best solution for every youth national team is to take a sitting head coach from a senior club, what does that say about the development of our own national youth coaching ecosystem?” he said.
“Are we developing coaches? Are we developing players? Are we developing a football identity? Or are we simply trying to win the next tournament?”
From teenage prospect to international footballer
Mulenga’s views carry particular weight given his own journey through Zambia’s youth system.
He emerged on the international scene at the 2005 COSAFA Under-20 Championship, where his performances alongside Rainford Kalaba attracted attention.
The pair, together with Felix Katongo, were subsequently drafted into the senior Chipolopolo setup.
Mulenga went on to win the CAF Young Player of the Year award in 2007, marking him out as one of the continent’s promising young talents at the time.
While Kalaba and Katongo established themselves as important members of Zambia’s golden generation that competed at the 2008, 2010 and 2012 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, Mulenga’s senior international career was more limited.
His last involvement with the national team came in 2012.
At club level, Mulenga spent much of his career in South Africa, representing the likes of University of Pretoria, Mpumalanga Black Aces, Bloemfontein Celtic, Ajax Cape Town, SuperSport United, Moroka Swallows, Mbombela United and Jomo Cosmos.
He later returned to Zambia, playing for ZESCO United before finishing his playing career with Forest Rangers at the end of the 2022/23 season.
Mulenga retired from active football in 2023 after a career spanning nearly two decades and more than a dozen clubs.
‘Winning a tournament is an event’
The former winger believes Zambia’s focus needs to move beyond short-term results at youth level.
“A national youth team should not exist simply because CAF or COSAFA has put a tournament on the calendar,” he said.
“Instead, we sometimes seem to treat youth national teams like temporary assignments: appoint a coach, prepare for a tournament, compete, disband and start again.
“Where is the long-term plan?”
For Mulenga, the bigger question is not necessarily who is appointed to coach a particular age-group team, but why they have been appointed and what role they play in a wider development structure.
“Why is this person coaching the team? What is the objective? Where is this player supposed to be in five years? And who is responsible for getting him there?” he asked.
“That, for me, is the real chronicle.
“What exactly are we building?”
His comments come at a time when Zambia continues to search for a sustainable pathway capable of consistently producing players for the senior national team.
For Mulenga, success at youth level should ultimately be measured not only by trophies, but by how many players and coaches emerge from the system and successfully progress to the next stage.
“Winning a youth tournament is an event,” he said.
“Developing a generation of footballers is a system, and perhaps that is the conversation Zambian football needs to have.”
