ZAKA District will play host to a landmark celebration of the girl child on October 24, when the LM Auctioneers Girls Soccer Festival kicks off at St Joseph High School in Jerera, a tournament designed to put marginalised rural schoolgirls firmly on the football map.
Businessman and Zimbabwe Women Premier Soccer League vice chairperson, Lewis Muzhara, a long-time champion of girls’ football through his company LM Auctioneers, is bankrolling the first-ever edition of a festival built entirely around Zaka’s own schools. Eight teams, St Joseph, Mutsambwa, Magara, Rudhanda, Mutimwi, Chimbwembwe, Maningi Youth Soccer Academy and Dzoro, are set to take part, with teams required to confirm participation by July 30.
More than a competition, the festival is a statement: that a girl’s postcode should never limit her potential. Running under the theme “No to Drugs, Mental Health Has No Boundaries,” the tournament weaves football with life-skills talks on mental health, substance abuse and reproductive health, giving young players tools that extend far beyond the pitch.
For the girls of Zaka, the prize is bigger than medals. Scouts from the ZWPSL, women’s national teams, PSL clubs and provincial structures have been invited, with standout performers in line for recommendation to junior national teams, and even scholarship opportunities to study and play abroad.
St Joseph and Mutsambwa headline the seeded sides as the eight schools prepare to do battle in a group-stage-to-knockout format, culminating in a final showdown with no third-place play-off. Winners walk away with 25 gold medals and a trophy; runners-up collect silver.
For Muzhara, it’s personal. His name has become synonymous with grassroots girls’ football in Zimbabwe, and this festival is his boldest investment yet in rural talent that too often goes unseen.
