The good, the bad and the ugly inside the beautiful game of football in the vast Zambezi Region, former King Fisher Football Club livewire striker, Daniel Mbala, has been there and seen it all.
Established in 1986, catering for both football and netball, King Fisher FC is one of the two oldest football clubs in Katima and has produced piles of highly gifted footballers in the past, and one of its most outstanding players is none other than Mbala.
Since his infant years, the athletically built Daniel Mbala was certainly destined for the big stage and was literally born with a silver spoon in his mouth as he excelled in almost everything he managed to lay his hands on.
During his school days, Mbala was a sprinter of note always in the habit of showing his competitors a clean pair of heels in the short sprints – both the 100m and 200m and the relay races. In today’s edition of our weekly feature, Tales of the Legends, the stocky striker shares his experience as a footballer-turned-coach with New Era Sports.
KATIMA MULILO – The far north-east town of Katima Mulilo has in the past produced great footballers who went on to play professional football in neighbouring Zambia with high-profile clubs with some of them even featuring for the Zambian senior football team.
Up to this day, the beautiful game of football is regarded as a religion in Katima Mulilo, well known for its green valleys and the unmatched beauty of the Zambezi River.
Born in Katima Mulilo in 1973, young Daniel Mbala was hooked to sports and used to be a mean sprinter on the athletics track but football was his number one passion. Like many other young boys his age, Daniel was football crazy and would play the game at any given time on the way to school or during the school break, and even on his way to the nearest grocery shop.
He possessed such immense talent that it only took the youngster two years in the junior school team before he graduated to the school’s senior football team and subsequently to senior level where he played for the town’s leading football side King Fisher FC in more organized structures.
“In those days we were very lucky – the competition was good because local clubs could freely cross the border to compete against highly competitive football clubs from neighbouring Zambia and Botswana, notably teams from Kasane (Botswana) and Sesheke (Zambia) across the border and nearby towns,” reveals Daniel.
“It used to be extremely tough to play against teams from Zambia, although nowadays we are on par because we somehow managed to catch up. The good thing about Zambian people is they love football and support their teams as could be attested by the large crowds that would come out in numbers to cheer their teams on whenever we played over there.”
On the local front, King Fisher used to dominate football but the vast travelling distance between Katima and the nearest town Rundu, restricted the club from showcasing their mettle against other top teams. “Occasionally, we would travel to Rundu to participate in various knockout tournaments but they have too many good teams and the furthest we could go was a semifinal finish.”
Mbala bemoans the continued lack of exposure and inadequate funding which seriously hampers progress in the Zambezi Region. “We are struggling to solicit sponsorship from the local business community and if that scenario persists the game of football in our neck of the woods will die a natural death.”
He says it’s the dream of every football loving person in the Zambezi to have a football team campaigning in the country’s topflight league, the MTC Namibia Premier League (NPL) but expresses serious concern that the desire will remain a pipe dream in the absence of sufficient sponsorship and financial assistance from the local community.
“Currently we are competing in the country’s third tier league but still find the going tough as a result of the long travelling distances. We have to compete against teams from the Kavango, Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions and only rely on donations from club members and good Samaritans.
“Sometimes the club is obliged to travel early in the morning to avoid exorbitant accommodation expenses and by the time we reach our destination, the players are too tired and cannot perform to the best of their ability. It’s a real tough challenge to operate under such circumstances and expect to deliver the goods.”
Daniel expresses the hope for unity to prevail among all football lovers in Zambezi, urging people to bury the old-fashioned traditional hatchet and put tribal affiliation aside, at least for the time being, in an effort to establish one decent football team that will represent the town of Katima Mulilo for the sake of unity and progress.
“The problem here is that most football teams were established along tribal lines and area attachment – thus denying highly gifted footballers the chance to play alongside each other. We have a lot of great footballers in Katima but football politics is always at the centre stage. The structures for national trials at school level must be revisited in order to give all deserving talented youngsters an ideal chance to showcase their talent.”
Daniel’s argument is backed by the near faultless performance of one of the town’s senior secondary schools, which won the now defunct popular annual Coca Cola Youth Cup twice.
“In the past, we managed against all odds stacked against us to unearth great footballers in the mould of Boston Likando, who played professional football in Zambia including the Zambian senior football team playing alongside the late Ben Bamfuschile and Jan Simelamba; Gift Numwa (Brave Warriors) and of late Agenda Matongo and Kayo Munyaza, to mention but a few.”
Daniel’s flourishing football career was brought to a premature end after sustaining a career-threatening fractured ankle in 2005, but nevertheless he still harbours great memories of his days on the football pitch in a career that saw him scoring no less than 20 goals per season during his days as a formidable striker before he switched to the centre back position.
And while his blossoming football career has come to a premature end, Daniel is not entirely lost to the game and currently coaches his beloved King Fisher FC with the hope of taking the team to the promised land of milk and honey, the country’s flagship football league, MTC Premiership.
By Carlos ‘CK’
Kambaekwa