BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
RUWA-BASED football academy Power 11 has partnered with a local church Greater Life Embassy to build a multi-sport school in Chihota, Beatrice.
The institution, which will be known as Power 11 Sporting School, will provide high school education while giving learners the opportunity to hone their sporting talent.
Greater Life Embassy and Power 11 Football academy began the initial clearing of the land where the school will be built last weekend.
Power 11 School is expected to enroll Form 1 student athletes at the beginning of 2023.
“Over the years we were awarding football scholarships at Power 11 with the help of Greater Life Embassy, a church founded by Apostle Try Immanuel. We have children on scholarships around the country and also outside the country,” Power 11 director Tapiwa Ndewere told The Sports Hub.
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“Since we have a good relationship, Greater Life Embassy approached us and suggested we can build a sports school on the land they had acquired at a farm 19 km from Beatrice town.
“This time around we are not targeting footballers only, but we are targeting even kids who are doing different sports. Power 11 School is an expansion of the football academy
“We have started our building exercise. Hopefully if everything goes well next year the school will enroll for the Form 1s. It’s a sporting school. We will be doing sport to the maximum and also academics,” he added.
Ndewere talks about the vision for the vision, which is expected to give talented athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds and mainly rural areas an opportunity to have an education while pursuing sport.
“We have created some ties with some foreign schools in the UK and in the US so our ultimate dream is to groom a complete player, to provide a breeding ground for colleges and universities in Europe and around the world, who offer sports scholarships.
“We believe in ‘rural electrification’ in the sport sense so the location of the school shows our intention to give an opportunity to disadvantaged kids especially in the rural areas. We want to put all our Power 11 athletes under one roof as we groom them into our culture in line with our own curriculum. We look to start with sports such as football, athletics, table tennis and other popular sports codes,” Ndewere said.
Power 11 Football Academy, which was established in 2016 has sent players such as Denzel Marufu from Gromonzi to the US while Kupakwashe Muzanenhamo is on a scholarship in Italy.
The academy has a number of players at premier league sides.