Maningi Youth Soccer Academy has always been about more than matches. It is a pathway — and the pathway keeps producing. Since inception, the academy has sent many players to ply their trade in Europe and the United States.
In one recent intake alone, three players left for the United States of America on scholarship, two headed to South Africa, and a pair signed for clubs in Europe. In 2023, academy product Tanyaradzwa Chihoro played for the Zimbabwe senior women’s national team.
Doors open because of people who believe — and few have believed longer than Ten Toes Africa, Inc. The US-based organisation has spent 16 years mentoring Africa’s youth through education and soccer, connecting student athletes with coaches, clubs and schools — and its Safari Cup International tournament gives players like ours a stage to be seen.
Formed in 2014 as Maningi Queens, the club rose through the Northern Region Women’s Football League to the top-flight Zimbabwe Women Premier Soccer League in 2023 — a 30-strong squad with an average age of just 19. The next generation is already lacing up.