Malawi is the only country out of the top 10-ranked nations in the world that does not have a national netball league, a development that affects the sport’s progress.
Netball analysts, players and local netball clubs have admitted this could be one of the major contributing factors to Malawi Queens’ struggles in recent years.
Weekend Nation has established that top-ranked Australia, second-rated New Zealand, third-ranked Jamaica, fourth-placed England, fifth-ranked South Africa and sixth-rated Uganda all have top national leagues and second-tier competitions as promotion and relegation platforms. The same applies to Tonga, Wales and Scotland, who are ranked eight to 10.
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Ironically, Malawi Queens have been struggling to beat South Africa and eventually surrendered the World’s fifth-ranking and Africa’s number one spot, since the Rainbow Nation established their elite South Africa Premier Netball League in 2014.
Malawi has not beaten South Africa in conventional netball since a 58-51 victory during the 2015 Netball World Cup, a decade to be precise.
Uganda’s She-Cranes have also been a thorn in the Queens’ flesh since they strengthened their national league over a decade ago. They displaced Malawi from the sixth ranking and it is becoming difficult to reclaim the spot.
At the recent Quad Series in England, the Malawi National Netball Team finished at the bottom of the table following a 45-50 loss to Uganda in a third-place play-off.
That came after Malawi beat the She-Cranes 59-45 in a round robin match. The Queens also narrowly lost 55-58 to South Africa and suffered a 62-36 defeat by England.
Netball analyst Chimwemwe Nyirenda said a national league is essential in providing a top-level competitive platform for players to display their skills and up their game prior to carrying the national flag at international competitions.
“A national league acts as a platform for the best of the best players in a country to compete against each other while pushing themselves to enhance their skills and fitness levels. This makes it easier for national team coach to select the best players for national duties,” he said.
Yet, Malawi, with the exception of overseas-based professionals, England-based shooter Joyce Mvula and her Australia-based countyerpart Mwawi Kumwenda-M’bwana, continues to rely on regional/district leagues for national team selection.
Currently, the Gateway Mall Central Region Netball League is the only regional league at senior level. Top teams in the Southern and Northern regions play in the respective Rainbow Paints Blantyre and Districts Netball League and Mzuzu and Districts Netball League, which are more of district tournaments than regional competitions.
The Botsalt Under-23 Southern Region Netball League is the only league at junior level.
Local netball players also hone their skills through the Salima Sugar National Netball Cup and they are also set to find solace in the inaugural One Nico National Netball Cup this year.
Mvula and Kumwenda-Mbwana concurred with Nyirenda that introducing a national league and the junior leagues would help improve netball standards in the country.
Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) general secretary Yamikani Kauma said they are aware of the challenges Malawi netball is facing due to the absence of the national league and they are doing something about it.
She said there were plans to turn the Salima Sugar tournament into a national league, but its K80 million sponsorship package was on the lower side, considering that a national league could demand a lot for logistics such as teams’ frequent travelling and accomodation to fulfill fixtures.
“Next week, we will meet Salima Sugar Company and urge them to increase the sponsorship in a bid to establish a national league. We will also meet as NAM executive committee soon to properly align our activities with a new calendar,” she said.
Kauma has also urged the corporate world to join the association in their bid to revive the sport.
Nevertheless, marketing expert Isabel Masi Kachinjika said NAM can only attract support for the national and junior leagues if they handle themselves in a manner that inspires confidence in the corporate world by ensuring that there is enhanced netball visibility.
“Corporate partners are always attracted when they see value in whatever they invest their money in. Therefore, I would urge NAM to keep up the work of ensuring continued netball visibility and accountability. They should also avoid wrangles as they do not inspire confidence in corporate partners,” said Masi-Kachinjika.
