Sinokubonga Nkala
Lovemore Dube, [email protected]
EAGLE Life Church FC, Mawabeni, Black Rock, Golden Lions, Gwanda Pirates and National University of Science and Technology (NUST) will be playing Division One football next year.
Bishop Blessing Chiza, whose Eagle Life topped the Zifa Bulawayo Division Two League, believes his team will play in the Premiership soon as part of a prophecy that prompted him to start a team at his church Eagle Life.
NUST finished second to grab the final slot for the Southern Region Division One.
Golden Lions won the Matabeleland North Division Two B League, featuring clubs around Victoria Falls, while Black Rock won the Hwange promotional division.
In Matabeleland South, Gwanda Pirates finished top of the standings with Mawabeni coming second.
Eagle Life started slowly and eventually got into the groove under veteran coach Philani Mabhena.
In an interview, Chiza said his involvement with the club came after a prophecy in 2011. While he likes football, he said his involvement was a fulfilment and that the team will go all the way to the Premier Soccer League.
He said he is happy that he has been able to transform the lives of youths through football, and used the Bible to fight drug and substance abuse.
The club joined the Bulawayo Christian League in 2013 and a few years later tried the social league ranks.
“We saw that we had a lot of youngsters joining us and the church, and then we decided to form a club that can keep them occupied and away from social evils,” said Chiza.
He said with corporate funding he believes the youngsters can go far, as they have a good technical team led by Mabhena.
Bishop Chiza said he is happy marrying the spiritual world and sport, something he had done before with Highlanders over a decade ago and they came close to the championship.
Mpumelelo Nkomazana of Mawabeni said they had worked hard to be where they are today. He said they would pull all the strings to mobilise resources to compete.
“We have worked hard to be where we are. We are prepared to play in Division One; the players gave it their all and the community was behind us in the campaign,” said Nkomazana.
Mawabeni and Gwanda Pirates will play in the Central Soccer League.
