ZIFA SET FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Source: The Herald – Breaking news.

 From left to right, Kyros Sports Director Nyasha Muchochomi, ZIFA president Nqobile Magwizi and PD House Business Development Director for Southern Africa Martin Mukaro at the signing ceremony of the MOUs in Harare yesterday. — Pic: Kudakwashe Hunda

Eddie Chikamhi, Zimpapers Sports Hub

ZIMBABWEAN football is set for a major digital transformation as well as enhancing its grassroots development blueprint following the signing of two key strategic partnerships between ZIFA and local brands in Harare yesterday.

ZIFA president Nqobile Magwizi believes the MOUs with Kyros Sports and PD House will be critical in the pathway they are taking towards resuscitating domestic football in the digital era.

The association is looking to ramp up its schools’ football development drive through their partnership with Kyros Sport, who has made significant contributions in disciplines such as rugby, athletics, and swimming.

PD House, a leading web development company, has also been roped in to transform the association’s website to international standards, making ZIFA more accessible and engaging and, at the same time, unlocking new revenue streams through various technological innovations.

“This is one of many partnership deals we hope to be signing as we go into the future as we go towards transforming our football,” said Magwizi.

“One of the critical aspects of building sport is making sure that it’s well resourced.

“Resourcing sports, and football in particular, does not only require people that are going to bring in money, but it also requires creating environments or ecosystems that will generate the revenues we need to make football move forward.

“So, a lot of the engagements we’ve been doing are aimed at generating capacity in all spheres of our thrust as an association to build the sport.”

The new ZIFA president reckoned the association stands to derive financial spin-offs from the partnerships.

“I think the beauty about the agreements that we are getting into is that ZIFA is not laying out a single cent, but we are going to stand to benefit from these relationships financially.

“Of course, there is a lot of work that has to go in first in establishing the projects, and hence we have these partners who are able, who are going to be working with us to ensure that these projects are established, and then they can start also generating revenue, which we very much need for the growth of our football in Zimbabwe. So, we are very excited,” said Magwizi.

Kyros Sports, a local sports marketing, talent identification, and management company, will be working with schools to create a clear pathway for the next generation of football stars.

The company’s director, Nyasha Muchochomi, said they employ modern talent identification processes, training, and nurturing methods through the use of advanced technology tools. They have a strong team on the ground and have previously worked with the Zimbabwe Rugby Union, the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe, and swimmer Donata Katai to prepare her for her Olympic experience.

“We’ve done quite a lot in sports management and creating systems. I think where our strength lies is in creating structures and systems that develop talent, and in terms of youth development, we’ve done that with different associations in Zimbabwe and also internationally.

“We’ve seen great success, and I think some of you are also privileged to some of our other myriad activities, not just in media marketing and identifying talent and highlighting on a platform, which PD House is also going to be part of in terms of creating a platform where we promote Zimbabwe to the rest of the world.

“So, we are excited to have this partnership and create value for Zimbabwe and football,” said Muchochomi.

ZIFA board member Technical Development Tafadzwa Benza was optimistic about their marriage with Kyros Sport, who they also hope will assist the national teams in embracing artificial intelligence and other digital technologies in the future.

“They’ve got programs that will help in capacitating our schools to have the right training programs so that we can start having clear pathways for junior football development.

“That is something that is very critical and something that we’re excited to partner with them on,” said Benza.

PD House Business Development Manager Martin Mukaro said his company was more interested in the technological side of football business.

“We are more into enterprise resource planning. That’s what PD House does. But out of that, we are then able to do all sorts of things, such as websites, apps, and any other technology platform that you can think of.

“Everything is actually being developed in-house. We have a team that is actually based overseas that actually undertakes all these apps.

“For example, here in Zimbabwe for the past three years we’ve been working with Zimpapers. I don’t know if any of you have come across the Zimpapers app. “It was actually developed by PD House, and there are a lot of developments that are being worked on in the Zimpapers app where, to a large extent, it will assist in terms of developing things like e-commerce.

“So, it’s the same thing that we are looking at ZIFA and saying to them there’s a lot of opportunities that can actually be created, particularly in terms of e-commerce, ticket sales, and reaching different markets all over the world.

“The moment you go on the technology side, you are no longer just limited to broadcasting or to talking to Zimbabweans in Zimbabwe alone.

“But all of a sudden now you can reach out to literally everyone around the world. So, to a large extent, we are actually going to be developing the apps and the website and then we’re going to be working with people like you, the media, to make sure that there is enough information that is being disseminated to the different people around Zimbabwe as well,” said Mukaro.