LACK of proper development structures and policies in Zimbabwe has resulted in most of the sporting disciplines suffering when they compete at regional and continental events.
Usually sponsors and administrators focus on senior teams ignoring the young athletes who need to be nurtured and developed for success in future.
However, for cricket, the year 2009 saw the formation of Hartwin Cricket Academy in a bid to promote and develop the sport from an early age.
The academy presents a platform for young athletes to showcase their talent and develop skills.
The academy caters for cricket players from the age of seven to 15 years and has 21 members with registration still in progress.
The academy is led by Sengi Mlambo, who is the chairperson, and runs it with Chabi Iknow and Percy Ngilazi who are the coaches in charge of the teams.
The players are divided into four age groups — the Under-11, 13, 14 and 16. One of the coaches, Iknow, said it is the passion to see the sport developing that inspired them to form the academy.
"We thought about forming the academy in 2007 because there was no academy catering for small kids and we eventually formed the academy last year.
"Parents form the bulk of the board members. Right now we are working with more than 20 kids and we have managed to have three players who have made it into the Harare team for the private schools inter-provincial championships.
"We want to ensure that we mould the kids from an early age until they get into the provincial teams," said Iknow.
When the Academy was formed it started with 15 children from Hartman House and Twin Rivers School but Iknow said they are hoping to work with about 60 children in the near future. "We started with 15 children from these two schools. However, we hope to include kids from the high density areas because that is where the talent lies but they do not have the resources. Those from the low density areas can afford to engage private coaches," said Iknow. Members of the academy pay a fee of US$7 per training session, which is usually conducted on Saturdays.
Iknow said although they have managed to attract a number of players, they do not have their own training field and hiring is expensive which have seen them training on Saturdays only.
"Our main challenge is that we do not have our own premises to do the practice and we are still looking for a place of our own. We would have wanted to train on Friday and Saturday but currently we are having our training sessions every Saturday at Harare Sports Club and we are using a rugby field because the cricket field is being used by another club," Iknow said.
"We also need equipment such as bats, batting pads, batting gloves, balls, practise balls and cones, among other things," said Iknow.
The academy relies on fees paid by its members to buy equipment and hiring practising fields and are still to come up with a figure that can sustain their programme.
"We wanted to approach sponsors when we had something already running and currently we rely on the fees that are being paid by the players part of which goes to the rentals. But we are still negotiating with the parents so that they can pay a certain amount every month," said Iknow.
Iknow said he started coaching in 2006 and the experience he gained when he was working with schools helps him when he works with the young players.
"I have been coaching since 2006. I used to coach at Twin Rivers and Heritage School and now I am used to working with kids," said Iknow.
Hartwin Academy chairman Mlambo shared the same sentiments as he said their objective is to produce talent that can represent the country at major tournaments and they intend to work with underprivileged children in the society.