FORMER Highlanders coach Bobby Clark is in the country on a three-week tour with his University of Notre Dame team which could see them engage Castle Lager Premier Soccer League sides Bantu Rovers and Bosso in friendly matches.
THANDIWE MOYO SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
Clark arrived in Bulawayo yesterday aboard a South African Airways flight with the 30-member team.
“It has been 30 years since I last came to Zimbabwe and it was great seeing Peter Nkomo. When I left Zimbabwe he (Nkomo) and Dougie (Douglas ‘British’ Mloyi) took me to the airport and it was good to see him as well as Madinda (Ndlovu),” the 68-year-old coach said soon after arrival.
He said the university allowed them a trip once in every four years and this year he decided to come back to Zimbabwe.
“Last year we went to Sweden. The previous year it was Denmark and the year before it was Brazil, then Scotland, so this year I decided to visit Zimbabwe. I will help out with the clinics at Grassroot Soccer and maybe play a couple of soccer games,” he said.
Clark said he hoped that the trip would have the same effect for his players that it had on him when he was coaching at Highlanders.
Clark who was formerly with Dartmouth College which was home to Bantu Rovers coach Methembe Ndlovu, said they were hoping for friendly matches against Bosso and Bantu Rovers.
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“We are here for a couple of weeks and we hope that we will play a number of matches with Bantu Rovers and Highlanders,” he said.
The visit will give the veteran coach the opportunity to identify talent for his university side.
“Yes, I will look out for talent, but the person has to be a good student,” he said.
Clark is credited for starting the Highlanders junior policy where they identified a number of players who went on to become some of the best players in the country.
During his time at Highlanders, Clark coached the likes of Morgan Phiri, Nkomo, Mloyi, Tymon Mabaleka, Bigboy Ndlovu, Madinda Ndlovu and Willard Khumalo.
Clark reminisced his days at Highlanders with Nkomo, Madinda and Methembe.
It was during his time at Highlanders that his son Tommy came up with the idea of forming Grassroot Soccer, a private voluntary organisation. Methembe now heads the Zimbabwe operations.
The organisation uses the power of football to educate, inspire and mobilise communities against the spread of HIV.
