ZANACO on Thursday unveiled their sponsorship for a new grassroot soccer tournament.
Earlier in the year, Minister of Youth, Sport and Arts, Honourable Elvis Nkandu revealed that the Government had entered into an ‘agreement’ with Zanaco Bank to sponsor Under 17 Schools Cup competitions across the country.
The sponsorship was unveiled on Thursday at Sunset Stadium with the Minister of Youth, Sport and Arts as the Guest of honour.
The initiative will help capture young football talent under the age of 17 in all the districts.
Participants will be drawn from secondary schools.
ZANACO has pumped in K2 Million into the initiative aimed at promoting football across the ten provinces of Zambia.
In Statement on his Facebook page, Honourable Nkandu said the grassroots soccer tournament initiative is a true reflection of the government’s commitment to ensuring that the country provides recreational activities that foster talent identification and enable young people to explore their God-given potential in sporting activities.
BELOW IS THE FULL STATEMENT FROM THE MINISTER
ZANACO GRASSROOTS SOCCER TOURNAMENT IN SCHOOLS LAUNCHED
Today at the Sunset stadium here in Lusaka, we were greatly honoured to officiate at the unveiling of the ZANACO grassroots soccer tournament, a significant event aimed at identifying and nurturing young soccer talent across our country, particularly in local communities.
Sports plays a pivotal role in our society, not only in promoting physical well-being and healthy competition but can be used as a tool to deter the young generation from involving themselves in bad vices.
The ZANACO grassroots soccer tournament initiative is a true reflection of the government’s commitment to ensuring that the country provides recreational activities that foster talent identification and enable young people to explore their God-given potential in sporting activities which includes football.
In light of this, our government recognizes the transformative power of sports and its ability to contribute significantly to national development.
In our remarks, we registered our profound appreciation to ZANACO BANK PLC and other corporate institutions for undertaking this giant step of sponsoring a football tournament that will involve schools across the country.
We further stated that it has been always our Government’s desire to revive not only football but many other sports codes among schools with a view of identifying and creating a reservoir of talent that can participate even at regional, continental and international tournaments.
Hon. Elvis Nkandu, MP
Minister of Youth, Sport and Arts
We were counting on FAZ to champion this initiative, but their lack of engagement is a significant setback.