Malawi Paralympics launches sitting volleyball
The Malawi Paralympics Committee (MPC) has established sitting volleyball as an additional sports code to the already existing disciplines of para-athletics and wheelchair basketball.
During the launch of the sport at Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) in Blantyre on Tuesday, MPC president James Chiutsi said the new code aims at satisfying the sporting need of individuals with disabilities from the waist down.
“We have intensified our effort of diversifying sports in accordance with the kind of disability one has. Sitting volleyball targets people with paralysed legs. As you know, such people cannot take part in para-athletics and they needed a special sport. We are here to provide solutions to each disability,” he said.
Meanwhile, MPC has set up a Sitting Volleyball Committee (SVC) as its affiliate that will be running the sport just as the Para Athletics Committee (PAC) oversees para-athletics and is in the process of training coaches and umpires before the games roll into action in the next few weeks.
Samuel Mayuni has been appointed SVC chairperson while Sckener Gwaza, James Mangani, Hanna Kaunda, Shupikai Nyirenda, Veronica Mughogho and Karama Thierry Lambert have been roped in as vice-chairperson, secretary, vice-secretary, treasurer, classifier and technical adviser, respectively. John Mituka, Elton Ng’ombe, Gaston Manda and Tinkhani Temani are committee members.
According to Gwaza, their first target would be sensitising disabled people in institutions such as schools.
“It is a daunting task to set up structures for sitting volleyball but this is a challenge we are prepared to overcome at all cost through various campaigns,” he said.
Sitting volleyball is a game that can be played by anyone at community level. However, internationally, it is played by athletes with permanent physical impairment. It is a global game that enjoys spectatorship due to its fast action and exciting game play.
It can as well be played as adapted or integrated recreation activity as equipment needed is not very specialized unlike wheelchair basketball.
