Does footballers’ education matter?

While education is a necessary tool for success, it may not the case with sports if football success stories of the likes of Robin van Persie, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are anything to go by.

Experts say even with poor education, athletes have excelled elsewhere in the world because of proper grooming structures such as sports academies which are uncommon in Malawi.

Football academies offer courses designed to maximise players’ educational outcomes by facilitating their ongoing academic and career progression in business, leisure, football and sports sector while ensuring that they ably continue to train, compete and play football at the highest level.

“The Greeks said that body, mind and soul are inseparable when it comes to human development. By nature, people get involved in sports, but it is through education that one can afford to enhance skills,” said physical education and sports expert Dr Mark Tembo of Domasi College of Education on Tuesday.

Analysts say between the late 1970s and early 1990s, when a good proportion of local players had at least finished secondary school, domestic football was more entertaining to watch as players were rich in skill. Clubs and the national team could also win international trophies or reach crucial stages of prestigious events.

The analysts argue that the Flames won titles as a result of the players’ talents coupled with sound academic background.

In their good times, the Flames won the Central and East African Challenge Cup in 1978, 1979 and 1988, won bronze during the 1987 All Africa Games while in 1984 they qualified for the first time for the African Cup of Nations.

At club level, Admarc Tigers FC (now Azam) won silver during the 1983 Cecafa Clubs Championships while Big Bullets won bronze during the East and Central African Club Championship hosted by Somalia in 1979. Then, the clubs and the Flames had players such as Kinnah Phiri, Barnett Gondwe, Jack Chamangwana, Boniface Maganga and Young Chimodzi.

It was during this period that local clubs came up with a policy to keep players in school and pay for their school fees.

But for the past decade, the Flames only emerged as Confederation of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) Cup runners-up twice (2002, 2003) and qualified for the 2010 African Cup of Nations while no local club has won anything on the  international stage.

Super League of Malawi (Sulom) president Innocent Bottomani said although they appreciate that a talented player can still succeed with limited education, they would like to encourage players to balance the equation by aiming high in their studies as well.

He said Sulom plans to seriously discuss players’ education at their end-of-season meeting.

According to Bottomani, about 300 of the 400 players in the current Super League season did not attain the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) while the situation was 50-50 over a decade ago.

“Our initial idea was to put MSCE as a minimum qualification to play in the elite league, but we are restrained by the fact that football rules do not allow segregation of players on grounds such as poor education,” he said.

Super League clubs, mostly civilian outfits, have confirmed that most of their players shun education despite being offered scholarships. But the clubs say they cannot force the players, who are mostly above 18 years of age and are free to make independent decisions.

Football players agent Kondi Msungama told Nation on Sunday on Tuesday that some local players failed to complete their contracts with South African teams because they rushed to sign without understanding contractual agreements. He said these problems occurred on deals clubs did without the involvement of agents.

Msungama, who facilitated deals for prominent stars such as Robert Ng’ambi and Peter Mponda to South African clubs, said it is embarrassing that most Malawian players fail to express themselves in English when interviewed on television channels.

Now, his football career is in shambles as the illegal move has reduced him to a sideshow.

Wanderers general secretary David Kanyenda said although they have not produced graduate players since they had the likes of FAM president Walter Nyamilandu, Phillip Madinga and Hannock Ng’oma, they still encourage their players to take education seriously.

Big Bullets chairperson Malinda Chinyama, whose side is proud to have Peter Pindani as graduate player and Chiku Kanyenda following his footsteps, agreed with his Azam Tigers counterpart Sydney Chikoti that it is hard to convince players to balance education with their football careers.

“Most of them are blinded by short-term luxuries such as I-phones, TV screens and home theatre systems,” said Chikoti.

Former Flames coach Yasin Osman, who once played for Mighty Wanderers, said although uneducated players at times are able to bond with their coaches in terms of communication, their understanding of critical issues both on and off the field is sometimes compromised.