Kasambara to support son’s football ambitions
While many parents discourage their children from making strides in sports but encourage them to focus on academic studies, former Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Raphael Kasambara says he will support his son’s ambition of becoming a football player.
Kasambara said this on Sunday after his nine-year-old son, Tazizwa, outclassed 19-contestants in various drills such as football skills, discipline and English proficiency to win the Official Match Ball Carrier (OMBC) competition organised KIA Motors at St. Andrew’s International Primary School in Blantyre through their distribution partners HTD Malawi Limited.
Tazizwa, a year-five pupil at St. Andrew’s Primary, will be the OMBC at the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia in June and will be accompanied by his mother Maggie in this all-paid-for trip.
Kasambara said it does not make sense for parents to stop their children from pursuing their dreams.
“My son would like to be a football player and become as famous as his Barcelona and Argentina idol Lionel Messi. I will do anything possible to help him realise his dream. I intend to enrol him at a football academy to sharpen his soccer skills. I will also encourage him to take studies seriously,” he said.
On his part, Tazizwa said he has always wanted to become a football player. He said he believes the chance of rubbing shoulders with the best players in the world as OMBC in Russia will give him the much-needed motivation to pursue his dream.
According to HTD Limited chief executive officer Harris Sidik, being a well-paying sport in the world, football is worth the support if children seem to have skills and passion for it.
He said KIA Motors, as one of the World Cup main official sponsors, thought it wise to motivate children in the 26 African countries they operate in by giving them an opportunity to become the OMBCs at the forthcoming global showpiece.
The OMBC contest, which saw Robert Msukwa of Southend Secondary School, Jermaine Masanza of Lilongwe Academy and Mark James Schooley of Bishop Mackenzie finishing within the top-four bracket, had over 200 participants.
