Sports experts have punched holes into the performance of the Malawi National Netball Team, the Queens, following their campaign at the just ended 2025 Africa Netball Cup held at the Griffin Sayenda Complex in Lilongwe.
Malawi registered defeats against South Africa, Zimbabwe and Uganda but managed victories over Tanzania and Botswana.
Despite the home advantage, the Queens failed to secure a medal, a result that has drawn sharp criticism from analysts.
Speaking to MBC, sports analyst and journalist, Bright Kanyama, said the performance displayed by the Queens was far from convincing, noting that the team made some matches unnecessarily difficult.
“We panicked where we were not supposed to, whenever a country hosts a tournament, supporters naturally expect the home team to at least win a medal, but unfortunately that was not the case,” said Kanyama.
He added that the outcome suggests Malawi’s netball standards have dropped significantly, describing it as a major concern.
Kanyama, however, said there were positives to take from the tournament, pointing out that several young and promising players showed potential and gave hope that the team could rebound in the near future.
On calls to fire the technical panel led by Coach Peace Chawinga, Kanyama cautioned against placing all the blame on the coaches.
“In a serious sporting nation, such a poor continental showing could result in resignations or dismissals. Yes, some decisions were questionable, but this problem started a long time ago,” he said.
He cited inadequate funding, lack of a proper technical structure and poor scouting systems as key contributing factors.
He further called for serious investment in the Queens from both government and the corporate sector, urging the strengthening of the technical panel to include specialists such as data, video and performance analysts, a dietician, a well trained physiotherapist and a competent technical director.
Another sports expert, Henry Gome, described the Queens’ performance as a clear indication that Malawi has not made progress in the growth of netball.
He attributed this to a limited pool of netball coaches, leading to the recycling of the same coaches who have “run out of ideas.”
Gome called on the Netball Association of Malawi to hire a technical director from abroad and invest more in grassroots netball to enhance the sport’s growth, urging the association to put its house in order.
Netball Association of Malawi president Vitumbiko Gubuduza expressed satisfaction with how the Africa netball cup was organised but said more needs to be done to improve the performance of the national netball team.
By Smart Chalika
