Malawi: Malawi Netball Team “The Queens” has asked for better investment in the team for them to perform well. The team has said that they can claim its lost glory if funds are injected for early preparation and camping.
Leeds Lionesses professional netballer, Joyce Mvula made the call during a media interview on Saturday. She was at the time at Gateway Mall Netball Court in Area 47 in Lilongwe.
She admitted that the team’s performance has gone down in the recent past. However, she has reasoned that the reason for this is the lack of adequate preparation and camping.
Mvula further noted that early camping was helping a lot and players were able to formulate good combinations. The support of the administration will help the netball team become significantly better in the future.
The Queens Goal Shooter observed that the Queens only have one week of camping for big tournaments. As a result of this, the results are usually disastrous.
“When I was first called into camp in 2010, we used to be in camp for two months when preparing for big tournaments.” Mvula recalled.
She noted that teams like England, New Zealand, Jamaica and Australia have already started camping for 2025 Commonwealth games and 2026 World Netball cup.
“Look at the seriousness of the teams that we play with. If we are to progress, we need to emulate what our opponents are doing and then we will be at par with them. Netball Association of Malawi through National Sports Council need to support the Queens technically and financially,” Mvula explained.
She believes that, “Camping makes the players happy and happy players always win games.”
Former Queens captain, Emmie Chongwe has expressed her disappointment at the delays in injecting new and young members into the team.
“We are taking long to replace our aging players and as result we are being caught up. We need to have a fine succession plan and more days of camping in order to develop our play. We have talent and the only way we can nurture it is to scout,” she said.