By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –

THE Zambia Football Coaches Association (ZAFCA) says there is need to introduce a benchmark for the winner of the Golden boot award as a way of tackling the low scoring rate in the MTN-FAZ Super Division.
Former Nkana striker Ronald ‘Sate Sate’ Kampamba claimed the golden boot after powering in 15 goals during the 2013 league season with Zesco United’s Jackson Mwanza scoring an identical number of goals last season while Winston Kalengo has finished at 18 for this season.
ZAFCA vice president Lewis Shambulo said in an interview that low scoring rate in the domestic league was worrying.
“It is a very big concern for us as coaches to see that players are not meeting the 20-goal mark and I think should be a source of concern everyone. We must quickly find a way to improve the scoring rate in our league,” Shambulo said.
He said it was unfortunate that for the past few soccer seasons, players that have been crowned top scorers, have always scored less than 20 goals.
“The likes of Godfrey ‘Ucar’ Chitalu used to score a good number of goals when football was so competitive and I think with the strides the game has made so far, there is need to work on the deficiencies in scoring and introducing a benchmark could motivate players to work
extra hard for a golden boot award,” Shambulo said.
Shambulo said the local league was a vital resource for the national team ahead of the Gabon 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, hence the need for the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) to explore options to abate the low scoring rate.
Meanwhile, Shambulo said ZAFCA was impressed with the competitiveness of the FAZ Division One Leagues that saw teams battle for promotion to the elite league in the northern region till the last day.
He said the development was a clear indication of how determined coaches were to see their teams progress to the premier league.
Shambulo further commended Football House for its commitment to ensuring that coaches’ qualifications were upgraded by conducting various coaching clinics.
“Come next year, we need to ensure that we go a step ahead in what we were seeking at club and national level. We happy that most of our members received adequate training and we hope that they will fully apply their knowledge for the development of football,” he said.