THINGS look good in the sporting arena as year 2025 starts, now that there is plenty on the sports calendar, and right away.

Discussion about Mapinduzi Cup becoming a regional event rather than grouping a selection of premier league sides and one or two visiting top club sides from the neighbourhood was rather mild.

Rather, greater attention is paid to the local premier league and the more engaging CAF tournaments. It is the three-way contest involving the two top clubs via continental opponents that thrills.

This month will thus be exciting if a number of countries turn up for the Zanzibar epic tourney as expected, in a way now being redesigned to take the place of Kagame Cup.

Looking at the local scene, neither the forthcoming  CHAN tourney nor the Zanzibar bonanza is on the minds of most soccer fans.

A certain amount of excitement was to be seen in the final months as Taifa Stars battled for qualification to the Nations Cup finals 2025, where a 1-0 win over Guinea earned our team a ticket to the finals for the fourth time.

Analysts noted that this time the qualification was wholesome as in the final match the opponent needed to win to advance, unlike past qualification ties where they were through.

Yet the keen point of interest is whether city giants Young Africans SC will be in a position to reverse their fortunes when CAF Champions League engagement resumes, after CHAN is done with.

Their arch rivals across the street are breathing well in their group contests, and with the Jangwani Street side at tail end in the group, that theirs is the club champions league unlike the second tier tournament is no solace to their fans.

But in that they have been picking up form in the local premier league, chances of coming up with a surprise in the next CAF Champions League tourney round aren’t altogether negligible.

Pundits have also been taking note of the cascade of coaches who have left their teams since the current season began, and that means within four months or thereof.

It appears that just a handful of premier league sides did not replace the coach or indeed the technical bench that saw the club side through pre-season and laying plans for the league run.

The changes have been generally positive as in several areas, including the top-rated teams, their form picked up, play improved and goals came in numbers.

As the year slipped out, a big number of fans and pundits had their minds less on the local or regional scene but farther afield, where world soccer is stunned by the loss of form at the UK’s Manchester United and Manchester City.

Just as applied locally, some fans have been wishing for the erstwhile coaches to leave and more suited ones to take over hopefully to bring the players together in the most effective play fomation they can muster.

But, of course, soccer can prove extremely harsh and tricky, with even the most accomplished of coaches and training schemes falling way short of expectations.