Govt to launch K200m for talent identification

In a bid to improve performance of the national football and netball teams, government through Ministry of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development is set to launch a national talent identification exercise.

In an interview on the sideline of a briefing of the project to stakeholders in Lilongwe, director of sports James Ndalama said government has set aside K200 million for the nationwide exercise.

“The main idea of national football and netball talent identification is to develop youth at grass root level. We are focusing on communities. The objective is to have a specific programme to identify young players and develop them.

“We will be organising competitions at community levels and form a district team which will compete at district level. Then we will form regional teams and compete at regional level and lastly at national level,” he said.

Ndalama said they expect to roll out the exercise next week.

“We have put in place a team of scouts in each district to ensure the exercise is smooth. This is about government commitment to making sure our national teams are performing.

“In the first phase we are focusing on football and netball only. But in the second phase we will include other sporting disciplines,” he said.

Central Region Football Association (CRFA) general secretary Bernard Chiwiriwiri Harawa in an interview applauded government for the project.

“This a great and commendable initiative. There is a lot of talent in rural areas going unnoticed. But with this programme young people will be given a platform to showcase their potential,” he said.