Indeed, proof of this ironclad assertion can be drawn from some unimpeachable examples.
For instance, the senior national women’s football team, Twiga Stars, magnificently hoisted aloft the coveted trophy at the COSAFA Women’s Championship a few years ago.
Hot on the heels of this awesome feat, the national U-20 women’s football team, fondly dubbed Tanzanite, magnificently lifted the greatly sought-after title at the COSAFA U-20 Women’s Championship.
Moreover, the fact that the Serengeti Girls exceptionally advanced to the quarterfinals of the recently ended FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup further solidifies the argument that there is a wealth of unexplored talent in local women’s football.
Still, if there were any lingering doubts about our country’s impressive prowess, where women’s football is concerned, the stellar outings of the Simba Queens at the CAF Women’s Champions League (CAF WCL) must have surely swept them away.
Indeed, last weekend the Simba Queens tore up the history books by becoming the first-ever East African women’s football club to progress to the semi-finals of the prestigious CAF WCL.
Undeniably, this is a giant leap forward for national women’s football as it illuminates the steadily rising trajectory of the domestic women’s game.
Unquestionably then, it seems logical that more significant investments need to be made into national women’s football as there is indisputably a deep reservoir of talent in the women’s game.
Let us now examine local men’s football where an unheralded side has sprung to prominence on the local stage during the last three years.
Indeed, the team in question Namungo FC emerged on the football scene totally out of the blue two seasons ago when they qualified for the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup.
Even though things did not go their way last season in the CAF Confederation Cup, the one priceless gift that Namungo FC was able to obtain was the invaluable experience of playing on the ferociously competitive African football landscape, which ought to stand them in good stead for the future.
Interestingly, the ascent of Namungo FC in the domestic football arena comes at a time when Azam FC has proven unable to topple heavyweights Simba SC and Yanga from the summit of local football.
Despite being a football team with deep pockets, Azam FC has found it extremely challenging to give Yanga and Simba SC a serious run for their money.
It should be noted though, that during their first few seasons in local football’s top flight, Azam FC was widely regarded as being the team that could potentially break the tight stranglehold of Yanga and Simba on domestic football.
Nevertheless, as the past five seasons so vividly demonstrate, Azam FC has not succeeded in changing the status quo in local football.
Indeed, Yanga won the Mainland Premier League title last season and Simba SC clinched the title four consecutive times in the four seasons that preceded the last league campaign.
Having said all that though, it is questionable whether Namungo FC can pose a dangerous threat to Simba’s and Yanga’s lofty aspirations – what with the financial limitations that the club undoubtedly faces in comparison to Tanzanian football’s two big guns.
What is irrefutable though is the fact that it has been heartening to witness Namungo FC’s rise from obscurity in the last few seasons on the home front.