Sports and Games

Sports council lauds volleyball initiative

Sports council lauds volleyball initiative

Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) has commended Central Region volleyball enthusiasts for running an under-18 volleyball tournament in Lilongwe.

The tournament was bankrolled by Phatafuli Sports Shop and it ended on Sunday.

MNCS acting Regional Sports Development Officer Fanny Phiri said they were impressed with the initiative which targets youngsters.

“They targeted youngsters from the age of six, which is a good development strategy as such players will become more skilful as they grow. As council, we are excited with programmes that are aimed at identifying and nurturing talent at grassroots level.

“We are appealing to companies and individuals to emulate Phatafuli’s gesture. The organisers of the tournament should also be commended for successfully staging the tournament,” Phiri said.

One of the organisers, Trust Mtegha, said it was a successful tournament as a team from Ntcheu District also participated.

“We deliberately put an age limit of 18 years to ensure that only youngsters take part. Of course, we were a bit flexible because we allowed players that are 18 years and six months old to participate due to lack of developmental players.

“The only setback is that we had four girls teams unlike last year when six registered,” Mtegha said.

Phatafuli Sports Shop representative Austin Limani pledged continued support.

“Volleyball lacks sponsorship and we have assured that we are here to stay. Of course, we selected volleyball because they also support us,” Limani said.

In the boys section, Wolves Academy were crowned champions whereas Blue Eagles Youth finished as runners-up.

Spixens Academy settled for the third place while Mipuniro Youth ended on fourth. Nsipe anchored the section.

In the ladies section, Wolves Cubs emerged winners with Minthopa- She securing the second slot.

Spixens Academy finished third while Blue Eagles Youth finished at the bottom