Malawi National Council of Sports chief executive officer (CEO) Henry Kamata has asked Salima Sugar Company Limited to consider increasing sponsorship for the annual Salima Sugar National Netball Championship.
He made the call on Sunday at the Blantyre Youth Centre during prize presentation of the competition’s second edition that saw Lilongwe-based Malawi Police Service side Blue Eagles retaining the title following a 42-36 victory over Blantyre-based First Choice Tigresses in the final.
Salima Sugar Limited doubled this year’s sponsorship to K80 million, but Kamata believes the country’s netball standards could greatly improve if the package is further enhanced.
“We express our profound gratitude to the company for coming in to sponsor this national tournament. Let me take this opportunity to ask Salima Sugar to consider increasing the sponsorship for the game to reach its potential,” he said.
“We also plead with other companies to follow Salima Sugar’s example of supporting netball, which is the pride of the nation. There are also other sports disciplines that need such assistance.”
Kamata also commended the Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) leadership for handling the tournament well, saying there were no issues of financial mismanagement.
Salima Sugar executive chairperson Webster Kossam said they will they will review the request to increase sponsorship.
“We will look at the budget and where permissible, we will definitely improve the package without doubt,” he said.
NAM president Vitumbiko Gubuduza said they satisfied with how the competition has been run and they appreciate the support from Salima Sugar and Sports Council.
“This competition has helped us to accomplish our mission of unearthing talent which might be considered for national team call-ups,” she said.
The 2024 edition saw eventual champions Eagles receiving K6 million, runners-up Tigresses got K4 million, Kukoma Diamonds, who finished third, received K3 million. CivoNets got K2 million for finishing fourth whereas teams that took positions five to eight pocketed K800 000 each.
In individual awards, Alinafe Chimenya of Young Eagles was named Player of the Tournament, the best shooter accolade went to CivoNets’ Cythia Khunga, Bridget Kumwenda of Diamonds was the best centre while the best defender was Fanada Saidi of Civonets.
Noel Mussa of Diamonds was named the best coach while George Masiye was the best umpire.
