Herentals eye 60 academies

• Published date: 12 December 2022
• Publication title: The Sunday Mail

DESPITE boasting four teams across as many leagues, Herentals director Innocent Benza has sought to take his development thrust to more centres across the country's football regions.

This comes amid revelations that Benza wants to undertake an audacious project and set up 60 academies across the country using the Herentals Group of Schools as the conduit for those institutions.

With ZIFA failing to establish a national centre of football excellence, it has been left to individuals such as Farai Dhliwayo's Legends, Nigel Munyati's Aces Youth Academy, Real Betis, which is under Gerald Sibanda and Bheki Nyoni's BN Academy, to take the initiative to groom young Zimbabwean talent.

It emerged yesterday that Benza believes that through the Herentals schools dotted around the country, he could have academies that could provide learners with an opportunity to balance both their academic studies and honing their football skills.

The 51-year-old domestic Premiership's oldest player has an insatiable taste of football development. 'Our primary focus as the Herentals Group is on the development of Zimbabwe.

'And I can safely say that next year we will be increasing our professional teams from the current number of four to six, and more in 2024. We are doing this as part of playing a part in the development of football in Zimbabwe.

'We will be adding two more teams in the form of two extra Division Two teams, one in the Southern Region and Eastern Region,' said Benza.

Herentals have a Premiership side popularly known as the Students, a franchise each in the Northern Region Division One and Division Two, as well as a female outfit who ply their trade in the Women's Soccer League and a Northern Region Division One side and a Division Two...