"Sport without education is doomed." This is the message of three former soccer stars, Toy Kutama, Nanana Manase and Chris Mahandana.

The trio is former Black Leopards stars and is at present ploughing back into their communities. They have embarked on a mission to motivate learners to take their education and sport seriously.

The former soccer stars visited Mvudi Primary School last week. Masase, a popular and famous star during his days at Black Leopards and now an educator at Ligege Secondary School, said the idea came about after seeing that most youths are taking sport as their worst enemies and embracing alcohol and drug abuse and unprotected sex. "Most of them end up being drop-outs and not succeeding in life. However, sport will keep them focused," he said. He said many former stars were now living in abject poverty after retiring from their soccer careers.

"You can be a star today and you are written off the following day. Education will never forsake you and you can bank on it," he said. Masase said most youths regard stars as role models, irrespective of whether they were educated or not. He said some even leave school trying to crack it in sport. "Yes, you can crack it and make it, basking in the limelight, but this could be short-lived as you could be injured or be out of form and coaches dump you," he said. "You should be prepared for the unknown. Put your education first and you will succeed," he said.

Toy Kutama, who is also involved in the project, said they started the project out of love for children. He said they were worried to find that only the old crop of players was still going for practice while the youth were roaming the streets. "Look, we are becoming old but we still find time to go to sports field while the youth frequent beer halls and taverns," he said. He said they did not have enough to give back to their communities but felt that the little they were giving would make a difference. He said they were going to engage businesspeople to partner them in developing their communities. He said they were just giving the kids direction. "Who knows, we might have some players in the national squad from this part of the country during the 2010 games," he said.

The principal of the school, Mrs Erica Dzhivhuho, was over the moon. "These gentlemen are doing a wonderful job for our school; they are laying a good foundation that will take the kids to a better future." She said sport played a very important role in developing the children. "Children who are involved in sport tend to perform well in class and we will have better results in the long run," she said.