Lilongwe July 9, 2018: Parliamentary Women Caucus has asked the government to consider increasing budgetary allocation for Malawi national netball team the Queens for them to perform better in international competitions.
Chairperson for the Caucus, Jessie Kabwila made the appeal on Sunday during the launch of the 2018 Mpico Gateway Mall Netball Challenge at Police ground in Mponela, Dowa.
She said it was disheartening to note that despite registering a number of success stories on global scene, the Queens are still subjected to low budgetary allocations for their progression.
“We need to change our mindset and view the Queens as equally important as the Malawi National Football team, the Flames in terms of allocating disbursing financial resources to them,” the chairperson suggested.
Kabwila observed that currently the Queens are number six in the World netball ranking but still lacks adequate financial resources while the Flames are enjoying the lion’s share of budgetary allocation despite being number 123 on FIFA World ranking.
“As a caucus will make sure that we should fight for the Queens and they deserved to be allocated enough financial resources for them to continue doing a good work for the nation. The Queens have put the country on the map and we are proud of their achievements,” she stated.
Kabwila pointed out that the Queens need to be supported in their endeavours whether they are doing well or not since they have demonstrated of doing well despite lacking financial resources.
“Even when they have not done well in an international competition we need to always welcome them at the airport in large numbers. They will always need our moral even if the chips are down,” the Caucus Chairperson hinted.
She commended Mpico for considering girls and women within the region to participate in a netball challenge which brings a lot of excitement among them.
Kabwila pointed out that the intuitive need to be supported by all stakeholders and that all 193 constituencies need to have netball courts in order to encourage grass root development of the sport.
Vice Chairperson for Central Region Netball Committee (CRNC), Fernando Magola thanked Mpico for sponsoring the netball challenge for third time in a roll since 2016.
He said Mpico’s initiative has helped to identify raw netball talent from the grassroots within the central region districts.
“Central region teams managed to contribute 10 netball players to the National Netball team in the last call up through the same initiative and we take this as a positive development to enhancement of the sport in the region,” Magola explained.
The Vice chair said the intuitive started with 15 teams in 2016, the number increased to 107 in 2017 and now 168 teams have registered to take part from 10 districts of the region.
He said this give an encouragement to the organizing committee and the sponsor that the sport is getting much needed support from teams.
Mpico sale and marketing Manager, Ellen Nyasulu said Mpico is pleased to note that the intuitive has produced a player of the likes of Joyce Mvula, who is currently playing professional netball in England,
She added that the netball challenge is helping players to be resilient when approaching challenges in their lives.
We are taking netball to rural areas in order to help the girl child to appreciate that sports is another weapon which can help people to do things together in an organized manner. We want every district within the region to be part and parcel of the development process of the sport,” Nyasulu said.
The Queens are expected to take part in the Africa Netball Championship in Lusaka Zambia in August 2018 and played in the World Netball Tournament in March 2019 in England.