Invest more, women football skyrockets

AS the country’s women football continues to scale up, time is here for investors and sponsors to switch their focus on adding power to them as it is doing a brilliant performance in the global level competitions.

Of late, Tanzania has been represented well by women teams beyond the borders, which is an indication that women’s football can develop further if it gets adequate investment to boost the welfare of players and make them feel proud whenever they represent their country.

The number of women players who are embracing this beautiful game keep on increasing as they are aware that they are not trading there for fun but rather, are working just like other ordinary people hence in the end, they expect to generate something meaningful to manage their own lives.

Here is when we call for investors and sponsors to come aboard and extend a helping hand to spearhead the success of women’s football.

It is good to see that the Serengeti Lite Women’s Premier League (SLWPL) is still active and plays a big role in sharpening skills of players with some of them being picked to join senior women’s football teams like Twiga Stars and Serengeti Girls to mention a few where they begin to fight for the colours of the nation.

Without doubt, SLWPL requires heavy investment to make the league more competitive and do away with a syndrome of seeing it dominated by few clubs in the name of Simba Queens and Yanga Princess.

These two clubs have big financial muscles to the extent that they cross the boundaries in search of foreign-based players to be injected in their respective squads and assist them in achieving the set up targets.

Because of this, the teams’ superiority is maintained season after season while those with minor financial capabilities continue to struggle in making it to the top and fight for the championship but this setback could be a thing of the past only if sponsors can be looped in.

However, it is the responsibility of the clubs themselves to go out and find their own sponsors without depending entirely on the proceeds distributed by the title sponsors alone, which is not enough to cater for numerous bills encountered by teams.

For instance, both Simba Queens and Yanga Princes do have private sponsors aside from the league’s official financers, hence the two clubs are destined to pay their players well and have good accommodation which to a great deal helps players to showcase distinctive performance as they are treated well. As such, marketing departments of clubs should go the extra mile identifying potential sponsors and investors who can help the teams meet their desired targets.

A good example is seen in the men’s NBC Premier League where many teams have their own private sponsors which is a remarkable thing because the same leaf should be borrowed by SLWPL envoys in order to create balance in the league.

Yes, there are a lot of things to be done to improve the status of women’s football before one can stand tall and announce to the entire globe that everything is in its right place…. though things seem to be heading to the right path. Just recently, Simba Queens have revealed the success story in the international assignments after reaching the semifinal stage of CAF Women’s Champions League for the first time in club’s and country’s history.

Definitely, this is exactly what Tanzanians want to see because there is no other perfect moment to witness success other than now, the desire and hunger to succeed should be planted among athletes so that whenever they are deployed for international assignments, they should always execute their tasks with lungs out.

Stepping into the last four of the CAF Women’s Champions League (CAF WCL) for the maiden appearance should not be undervalued meaning that in order for them to achieve success, in the next edition, they have to reach in the finals since anything aside from that will be deemed failure. With massive investment enjoyed at the Msimbazi Queens, there is no doubt that in the next contest, they will dance their way to the finishing line and probably snatch the glittering CAF Women Champions League from the current champions AS FAR of Morocco who extinguished the then defending champions, Mamelodi Sundowns.

But this should be a challenge to other clubs like Yanga Princes, JKT Queens and others to also embrace the ‘hunger success spirit’ so that they too cross the boundaries to represent the country in the foreign land.

To tell the whole truth, the country’s women football is heading towards a bright future and this is going to be cemented further when potential investors and sponsors come aboard to bankroll the development of this sector.

With this trend, people will not hesitate to extend a helping hand and promote women football so that it can also cherish success stories just like the male’s football.