Hard work lies ahead for new TAFIC boss
Chakalisa Dube | Friday August 3, 2018 13:05
TAFIC has just been relegated from the BTC Premiership, after one season stint.
“The reason the club has been alternating between the First Division and the Premier League is that it does not have a strong foundation. Many teams tend to ignore the administrative side and focus on the technical aspect (aiming for promotion),” Sebina said.
“They forget that if the team is not doing well administratively, it cannot enjoy long-term stability. Administration is the foundation and core of any team. After my two-year reign, I want to hand in an administratively sound and fit TAFIC that will not have cash flow problems. Gaining promotion will be a bonus.” The team has not known peace for over a decade. It has often been dogged by old problems of not paying players and coaches. The team’s recent relegation was attributed to demoralised players owing to unpaid salaries. One of the new boss’ goals is to retain the club’s supporters.
“TAFIC is a very big club with a very rich history, but it has only 200 paid up members, which is very worrying. Together with my committee, we want to ensure that the supporters are here for the long term,” he said.
“We have started working on new membership cards that will have various incentives. Currently, people find no reason to acquire our memberships because they do not have incentives.” He added that the main reason the club has not been able to attract long-term sponsors is because of a weak membership base. “Sponsors want to back a team that has a loyal and strong support base. They want to leverage on the loyalty and support base of a team they sponsor,” he said. The club has also started plans to rebrand as well as working on a new logo in order to improve its attractiveness.
“We are still at conception stage with regards to our plans to rebrand. Rebranding is one of the priorities of my term in office,” he said. Sebina added that he has meetings lined up with the club’s supporters, former players, past financiers and other stakeholders.
According to him, the meetings are meant to solicit ideas that can help come up with solutions that will help the club return to where it was decades ago. The car rental guru said the club intends to recruit experts to support the executive to carry out their mandate.
“We need a lot of people who are experts in various areas. In order for us to secure partnerships and other deals with various stakeholders, we need specialists to spearhead such initiatives. Our executive structure is very small, but there are many duties that have to be carried out to ensure efficiency in terms of running the club. That is why it is vital to engage experts to support the executive,” said Sebina, adding that the club executive is already working on initiatives aimed at bringing more skilled people on board.