Local clubs need to run football as business

Our local clubs should be patient with this football business. Football development is a long term venture that requires long-term investment. Many local soccer clubs have failed to mature because of a hunter spirit that normally kills their day to day management. When you look at soccer development in this part of Africa compared to those in the West and Northern Africa, you admit the shot fall in our sports management, particularly football. Traditional clubs Mukura Victory Sport, Kiyovu Sports Club and Rayon Sports that were established in 1960s, still hold the same status as back then. None of this country’s oldest clubs has made an impact both locally, in the region and on the continent. Rayon Sports enjoyed a relatively good run in African competitions during late 1990s but has failed to win a trophy or at least reach the stages. Even the CECAFA club championship has proven too hard for them. The championship is meant for the best clubs from East and Central Africa but it’s embarrassing that Rayon has only won it once (1998) while Kiyovu and Mukura can only dream. Kiyovu and Mukura sports clubs have not represented the country on the continent in the last 17 years. They have also not won the national championship in the same period and you wonder whether they will mature into big clubs or turn into cooperatives. Though we can all admit that strained financial muscle affects them, but their organizational structures are not elaborate enough to enable the managers run the teams professionally. Our clubs seem to lack good organization programs both administratively and technically. Most if not all local clubs are run on shoestring budgets, something that affects the entire football structure of the country. Until now, none has managed to put up a professionally run academy, an indication for lack of technical organization and development. For sport to develop, we shall need to borrow ideas from successful sports organizations and clubs. Organization at club level is done by its administrators. In other countries where the sport has developed, club administrators review their annual performances and make sure better strategic plans are put in place for a better new season. But in Rwanda, club football business is run on survival instincts. Here we have to admit that many of our local clubs are poorly run and most of them lack official strategic development plans for their activities. Such initiatives are developed by club’s executive committee or administrators but the problem that the people supposed to do that are either ignorant or simply focused on embezzling even the little finances that the clubs generate. One sounding example is Mukura that battled with relegation last season. The Southern Province club has suffered due to a lack of proper management by its administrators. Mukura decline like in many other clubs shows the level of mismanagement. It is normally run by prominent people from Huye and with a good local fan base. Though its local fans cannot provide enough gate collections to run the team, club administrators have for many years failed to create a source of income to run the club effectively without relying on handouts by the Huye district and a few well wishers. You wonder why they nominate new committee members every year and doubt their subsequent contribution to the club success. Every young player from the Southern Province would fancy putting on a Mukura jersey, they have thousands of young players eager and interested in developing their skills but club managers do not realize this opportunity. Part of the money from the district is used to buy players from Congo and other neighboring countries yet this could be meaningful if invested in developing their local youth. Poor clubs will remain poor if there is no plan to develop and search for their own talents. Buying a foreign player is much more expensive than developing a locally grown talent. There are many football grounds in the district of Huye and thousands young boys interested in the sport, if a club cannot get at least 10 players out of the many, then am afraid it is doing wrong business. Ends