Veronica Gwaze in POLOKWANE, South Africa

ZIMBABWE’S Mighty Warriors flew into South Africa yesterday, alive to the mammoth task they face in trying to re-establish themselves as a force in the COSAFA Women’s Championship which starts in Polokwane today.

The competition is not only about winning silverware, but it is also a foundation for the future.

And those who can make a good impression in this edition will have secured spots in the future project.

The Southern African show-piece draws together 11 women’s national teams to battle for silverware.

The Mighty Warriors, while they eye honours at the tournament, their major task is to gauge their rebuilding efforts of constructing a team which can qualify for bigger tourneys in the near future.

ZIFA recently revealed their commitment to revive the women’s game and build a team that can qualify for the WAFCON and Olympics in three years.

After introducing fresh legs in the team recently, the COSAFA Cup will be their first proper tournament and it will help head coach Sithethelelwe “Kwinji 15” Sibanda to assess the progress her rebuilding assignment has made.

“We are looking to make something big, a project that can take us into the future hence we brought in the young players in December,” said the coach.

“This tournament will help us see how much progress we have made and the amount of work that we still need to put in so we are ready.

“I am happy that we arrived safely, allowed the girls to rest and today we will do some training and get ready for battle tomorrow.”

Zimbabwe are in Group B where they face Eswatini in their opening assignment tomorrow before taking on tournament favourites Zambia and Botswana respectively.

Sibanda will be hoping to lead her side to the semi-finals by either completing the Group stages as top-placed in the group or as the round’s best runner-up.

After exiting the tournament in the group stages in the previous edition, Sibanda would want her charges to progress past the initial round.

Sibanda is optimistic that her side have the legs to take them into the next round of the tournament. “So far all has been going on well, our preparations were okay and as a coach I could see improvements showing that we are cooking something good,” she said. “A number of players are still new, the COSAFA is their first real tournament so while we need results, we also have to be patient with the process.

“This time we will be able to really test and see if we are in the right direction with our plan to build a team that will take us to the continental stage . . . so it is a step at a time.”

The Mighty Warriors only won the COSAFA Cup once in 2011 while that same project went on to make a debut appearance at the Olympics in Brazil five years later.

Twice they also made it into the COSAFA finals, and settled for silver, behind eventual winners South Africa in both outings.

Sibanda’s charges go into the group tagged as one of the teams to beat despite an early exit in the competition last year.

“We have all the belief and quiet confidence that we will give every opponent a good run . . . our girls are raring to go and I believe that self-belief can take us far,” she said. Zimbabwe come into this showcase under a coach who was part of the 2011 crew, as a player, helping the team set a gold winning record.

Her wish is to guide the team to top honours, and win a second (COSAFA) gold for herself. Over the past fortnight in camp in Harare, Sibanda has been focusing on both the physical and mental strength of the team to ensure that the new look outfit are mentally prepared.