COME July 6th, this year, all eyes will be trained on the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Kagame Cup, which is set to take place in Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.

Indeed, the perennially pulsating and drama-filled football championship had been suspended for the last few years but to the sheer elation of numerous quarters, the CECAFA Kagame Cup has now been delightfully revived.

 In addition to the leading lights of East and Central African Football, the CECAFA Kagame Cup will this year feature three indisputably redoubtable guest football sides, which are: TP Mazembe from the DRC and Red Arrows from Zambia.

 Understandably, given the sheer quality of the three guest teams, it is expected that the aforementioned three football outfits will lend loads of spice to the hugely competitive football championship.

 Ergo, as the various competing teams put the finishing touches to their preparations for the eagerly awaited CECAFA Kagame Cup, it is hoped that all teams will serve up an utterly compelling and absorbing football competition, which will hopefully be one for the ages.

 Let us now consider domestic football where top clubs are presently trying to lure highly rated stars to join their respective teams.

 Indeed, the last few years have seen affluent local giants sign football greats from across the continent in a bid to strengthen their sides.

 Sadly though, this trend has also resulted in the failure of moneyed clubs to invest in local youth football, which consequently has made it difficult for young blood to be selected for the first teams of domestic football’s powerhouses.

 Needless to say, we are presently entering into dangerous waters as we seem to have forgotten that youth football has long been the cornerstone of the roaring success achieved by some of the globe’s greatest football sides.

 For example, it is extremely doubtful whether the Dutch juggernauts Ajax could have fabulously clinched the greatly desired UEFA Champions League trophy in the mid-1990s were it not for the priceless contributions of the club’s teenage prodigies such as Patrick Kluivert and Edgar Davids among others.

 Moreover, it is vital to note here that Barcelona’s internationally renowned La Masia Academy has been responsible for grooming the unmatched talents of some of the club’s most beloved legends, who were absolutely key to the Catalans’ age of dominance from the late 2000s to the mid-2010s.

 Indeed, some of the enduring football legends who emerged from the La Masia Football Academy include the midfield maestro Xavi Hernandez, the diminutive playmaker Andres Iniesta and who could forget the incomparable Lionel Messi.

 In light of all this then, it is incumbent upon all clubs jockeying for top honors in local football’s top flight to tirelessly strive to develop the gifted youngsters who are just waiting to be discovered.

 Let us now zero-in on Simba SC where an era ended just recently when the club parted ways with one of its most lethal forwards John Bocco.

 The ageless veteran striker, who was an unstoppable predator in the opposition’s 18-yard box, scored a vast number of goals which helped Simba to secure three Premier League trophies in a row.

 This writer would like to wish Bocco all the best in his future endeavors.

 Furthermore, Bocco deserves to be showered with praise for his peerless goal-scoring exploits during his spell at Simba.