Rose Kabzere (2nd left in black kit) collected a goal and four assists, with Leticia (centre in red) netting two
* Products of Ascent Soccer Academy, which contributed five players to the COSAFA Women Championship Cup 2023
* Nominated alongside Zambian Esther Banda based on their performances both at national and club level in 2023
Maravi Express
Two Malawi Scorchers midfielders, Leticia Chinyamula and Rose Kabzere have been nominated for the inaugural regional Confederation of Southern African Football Association (COSAFA) Awards in Women’s Promising Player of the Year.
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According to Fam.mw, the two products of Lilongwe-based Ascent Soccer Academy have been nominated alongside Zambian Esther Banda based on their performances both at national and club level in the year 2023.
Chinyamula’s debut match for the Scorchers was in September 2023 when Malawi played Seychelles in an international friendly match at Mpira Stadium in Blantyre ahead of the COSAFA Women Championship in South Africa.
She aptly earned her place in the final squad that went to South Africa where they won the first-ever gold medal in which she played in four of the five matches and starting in three matches.
She scored two goals in the competition and locally, she helped her team win silver medal in the 2023 Central Region FAM Women’s League — scoring seven goals.
Kabzere had her debut for the Scorchers at the 2022 COSAFA Women Championship and was also part of the triumphant squad in South Africa where she started in three of the four matches that she featured and scoring one goal.
Kabzere scored eight goals for Ascent Academy in the 2023 Central Region FAM Women’s League.
Other categories of the awards — whose winners will be unveiled at a gala night in Durban, South Africa on April 19 — include Men’s Player of the Year; Women’s Player of the Year; Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year, Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year; Men’s Most Promising Player of the Year (aged 20 or under); Male Coach of the Year; Female Coach of the Year; Male Referee of the Year and Female Referee of the Year.
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At the COSAFA Women Championship 2023, Ascent Soccer contributed five players whom the academy nurtured from grassroots level — 17-year-old Kabzere; Chinyamula (17); Faith Chinzumu (16); Maggie Chavula (18) alongside Ireen Khulamo (20).
The 2-1 championship final victory over Zambia saw Ascent’s Kabzere and Chinyamula in the starting XI and both Rose and Leticia appeared in all five of the Scorchers matches (3 starts and 2 substitute appearances).
The Ascent Soccer ‘youth movement’ didn’t stop there — as Faith Chinzumu and Maggie Chavula also being considered in the line-up, alongside Ascent graduate Ireen Khulamo, who was used as left back.
Their wins included 4-3 against hosts and record seven-time champions South Africa’s Banyana Banyana (4-3); against e-Swatini (8-0); against Madagascar (3-1); against Mozambique (2-1); and Zambia (2-1), Rose Kabzere collected a goal and four assists — with Leticia netting two.
In the men’s junior football, Ascent Soccer contributed four players in the triumphant Under-20 Malawi national team that won the 4-Nations last month beating Kenya 3-1.
Mwisho Mhango (right) and Hermas Masinja celebrate with the trophy
The four are Julius Banda (18), Hermas Masinja (18), Mwisho Mhango (16) and Washari Jaziya (18), who made a major impact with Malawi’s U-20 national team with wins over Zimbabwe and Kenya.
Washari captained the U-20 squad while Mwisho, captain of the U-17s, earned the start in the tournament opener at just 16 years of age.
The unprecedented achievements of Ascent Soccer are not going unnoticed as prior to the 4-Nations Tournament, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Fleetwood Haiya paid a courtesy call to academy to appreciate its efforts, which is the only full-time football academy that also has a scholarship program in the country.
A report on Fam.mw said Haiya applauded Ascent Soccer for facilitating the move of a number of players abroad, which will be key to transforming the game’s player export strategy.
“As a country, we don’t have big football stars in big leagues of Europe, America and the Middle East,” he is quoted as saying. “This is due to the unviability of a systematic plan to export our best talents for development in the world’s best leagues.
“One way of realising that is to nurture and export talent via scholarships through academies and high schools. Ascent is doing that and we need to work with them so that we increase the number of players abroad and this is why I am here to appreciate these wonderful efforts.
“As FAM, we have developed guidelines for regulating academies and have embarked on an exercise to register and license all academies in the country.
“We will support the academies to ensure we have structured player development platforms and defined systematic pathways,” reported Fam.mw.
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