Highlanders and the Botswana BeMobile Premiership side Tafic Sporting Club had a meeting at the Highlanders offices on Tuesday afternoon as the two clubs are seeking to rekindle the historical relationship that exist between the two.
The Francis Town-based BeMobile Premiership returnees and the Bulawayo football giants have an undocumented friendship which they want to strengthen, and the Tuesday afternoon meeting was the first step towards that direction.
Club Executive Chairman Kenneth Mhlophe, Treasurer General Donald Ndebele and Chief Executive Officer Nhlanhla Bahlangene Dube hosted the Tafic Sporting FC delegation led by Chairperson Carlos Sebina at Highlanders club office, where the representatives of both clubs had a discussion on the possibility of reviving the friendship.
Highlanders executive committee member Wisdom Mabhena was excused due to other commitments.
Deputy secretary general (SG) Monty Mothibi, general manager (GM) Christopher Ollyn and elders committee treasurer Tarcisius Mudongo completes the delegation that represented the Francis Town-based club.
Mhlophe who chaired the meeting said the meeting was the beginning of a series of meetings and activities between the two clubs, also indicating that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the sides might be on the cards.
” We had a successful meeting where we highlighted the history and identities of the two clubs. I am happy that our brand is visible out there, and some clubs feel they can learn a lot from us,”
“We have a very rich history as a club, and the richness is good enough to inspire other people out there. From what we discussed, we also hope to benefit a lot from this relationship. The relationship has a history, but what we want to do now is to take it to another level.” said Mhlophe.
His opposite number Sebina, who was elated by the two parties’ first meeting said the primary objective of the trip to Bulawayo was benchmark – trying to find out how the two clubs can revamp the relationship and take it to another level.
“The whole idea when we came here was to benchmark. Tafic being an armature club, if we go back to our history we understand we used to have a relationship, so now looking at the instance again, we found it fit to come back to Highlanders and seat down with them and see how best they can work with us,”
“We really would like to benchmark and learn a lot from them. If the partnership goes well it will include the exchange of players, and administratively we will try and see if some of our players will come here for training, and if Highlanders feel they need to learn something from our end the are more than welcome.” Sebina said.
The ambitious BeMobile Premiership newcomers last month unveiled former Warriors assistant coach, Saul Chaminuka as their new head coach.
Club vice-chairman Ofentse Motlogelwa was quoted by the local daily newspaper, the Chronicle confirming the development, adding that they were impressed by Chaminuka’s CV as they identified him as the right man to steer the ship to the right direction.
“When we received his curriculum vitae, his experience and achievements impressed us and we decided to invite him for interviews where he impressed. Since his arrival here what we saw in his curriculum vitae and interviews tallies with his professional approach to his work and a value addition to the club,” the Chronicle quoted Motlogelwa saying.