By Twimepoki Mangani
Lilongwe, Mana: Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) has expressed satisfaction with the ongoing scouting exercise currently underway in Lilongwe as the body seeks to build a formidable team for the World Cup tournament to be hosted by South Africa in July 2023.
Technical Director of NAM, Samuel Kanyenda said this in an interview during the first day of the trials at Mpico Netball court as he hailed the participating girls and FDH bank for sponsorship.
“The mood among the players is positive, it has been a while since we had trials due to logistics of assembling the players, however we are fortunate because our main sponsors FDH bank responded positively when we requested for help,” he said.
Kanyenda also clarified that the organising committee in Mzuzu utilised their money correctly contrary to reports in the media that they had diverted funds intended for regional trials.
“The money sent to all regions was meant for the bonanzas and Mzuzu was quick to organise one, therefore they didn’t have money to use for the trials but we eventually sourced funds and assisted,” he said
Coach of the Queens, Peace Chawinga said the trials will address the current gaps in Malawian Netball of transitioning players from grassroots to the main team.
“We are going to have 21 games in total so we have time to look for what we want. We only have the under 19 and the senior teams however we need to put in place additional team B and C to address the current problems of transition into the senior team.
“We are looking for players who have the caliber of the senior team, that is why we have the Queens team doing trials as well, the other players will measure themselves and the adopt tempo of the game which is necessary for international tournaments”, she said.
Chawinga added that all players in the camp should prove themselves and stated the possibility of incorporating foreign based players because she constantly watches and engages with them.
“Am a bit worried because the top talent which we are looking for still requires building but we are not late we are going to correct that, “Chawiinga said.
More than 90 players are participating in the trials with 30 players from each district and each district has provided two teams of 15 players.
The exercise runs for three days and the final list will be announced on the last day of scouting on 12 February.
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