Zimbabwean coach promotes cultural exchanges via football

Walter Musanhu, a Zimbabwean football coach based in Beijing, emphasizes football as a universal language that unites people across diverse cultural backgrounds.

Musanhu works for the Jadel Football Academy, a Zimbabwe-owned, China-based top football nursery established in 2019 with branches in the Chinese capital of Beijing and the Zimbabwean capital of Harare.

"My name is Walter Musanhu. I came to China all because of football, mainly developing the kids at grassroots level. I started playing in the streets with some friends. I signed my first professional contract at the age of 16. I got a chance to go to Austria. I signed the contract there, but the misfortune happened. I got an injury there and that was a life-scaring injury. And it's kind of like expelled me from playing football," he recounted. Returning to Zimbabwe, Musanhu saw many young players struggling to break into professional football, including the premier league. This prompted him to shift his focus to coaching and continue contributing to the sport.

Later, an invitation from a friend in China presented Musanhu with the chance to play there. This opportunity made him realize that even though he is no longer an active player, he still can and wanted to contribute to China's football community.

His early success coaching two young players, who and their parents appreciated his methods, led him to Beijing. There, his coaching philosophy of fostering self-reliance in trainees aligns with parental expectations.

"I have my own ways of coaching, of nurturing the kids. Because I'm not just a coach. When I look at myself, I'm a role model to kids. I' m a mentor. I'm a teacher. I'm a coach. I'm a father and I'm a mother," he said.

"Football is a universal language. Once you put that ball inside the field, the kids are always anticipating 'what does the coach want to do with us?' And they always are eager to learn. Whatever I'm instructing these kids is something which I learned when I was young," he continued.

"Training with my coach is tough, always, because he expects the best from us and pushes us to work hard. But I think sometimes it's a little bit fun, and sometimes it's serious and it's a mix of all. I think he's a really good coach," said Gary, a trainee at Jadel Football Academy.

"He [Musanhu] was really encouraging to me at first when I first joined here and he allowed me to play lots of competitions, such as going to other places to play and such as the league on Sunday. I had lots of experiences to be able to be more confident," said Elsa, another trainee.

The academy is now expanding its cultural exchange programs, arranging trips for trainees to countries like Spain and the United States.

"We want to bring this environment whereby we want to have a Chinese culture involved with the Zimbabwean culture, with the Western culture, but mixed together. We hope more Western kids, more European kids they can learn from the Chinese culture," Musanhu said.

Zimbabwean coach promotes cultural exchanges via football

Local authorities along the coast in east China's Zhejiang Province are getting prepared for the approaching Typhoon Bebinca.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) has upgraded its typhoon warning to the yellow or third class, saying that the eye of Bebinca, classified as a strong tropical storm, was located in the northwest Pacific Ocean about 1,090 kilometers southeast of Zhoushan City of Zhejiang, at 05:00 on Saturday.

Bebinca will move northwest at around 30 to 35 kilometers per hour, gradually intensifying, and is expected to make landfall from Taizhou of Zhejiang to Qidong of Jiangsu Province in the early morning of Monday, the NMC said.

The authority warned that affected by the typhoon, there will be heavy rains in southeast Zhejiang, east Fujian, and some areas of Taiwan island from 08:00 Saturday until 08:00 Sunday.

As a precaution against typhoon Bebinca, fishery officers in Fenghua District of Zhejiang's Ningbo City checked the safety of boats parked at docks on Friday.

"We are to patrol the anchorages and dissuade fishermen from working at sea. We are also to check if there are any risks such as dragging anchor. In case there's something wrong, we will contact special operators to handle it in advance," said Lin Haoyong, a staff member at the fishing vessel management service station of Tongzhao Village.

Many fishing boats that were originally moored along the pier have left the dock and anchored at designated anchorages.

In Wenling, a county-level city administered by Taizhou, a number of construction projects have taken measures to cope with the possible rains and winds brought by the typhoon.

At a seaside resort construction site, the contractor said they will remove some protective nets with large wind surfaces, transfer them to safe areas and bundle them together, and take measures to protect the tower crane.

More than ten of the 259 construction sites in Wenling City are by the sea. Their contractors are closely following the track of the typhoon and get prepared for it.

Authorities in Taizhou City have also suspended the operation of some island resorts and passenger ships since Friday afternoon, with tourists being moved to safe places.

Zhejiang prepares for typhoon Bebinca