Netball hit by elite coaches shortage

Despite Malawi’s proud netball tradition and the Malawi Queens’ consistent presence on the international stage, the sport is facing a shortage of elite coaches, Nation on Sunday understands. Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) has made significant progress in training coaches at lower levels, but the number of highly qualified coaches capable of driving high-performance programmes at senior national team remains low. According to NAM technical director Joseph Mazaza, over 1 000 coaches have been trained at developmental level and about 70 have progressed to intermediate level.

However, only around eight Malawian coaches currently hold advanced coaching qualifications obtained outside the country. Immediate past Queens coaches Peace Chawinga and Mary Waya who hold International Netball Federation Level 2 badges, are the most highly qualified coaches. The others such as Jane Chimaliro, Joana Kachilika, Charles Mhango, Carol Mtukule, Judith Chalusa and Beatrice Mpinganjira hold Africa Level 1.

Said Mazaza: “The qualification systems for netball umpires and coaches differ across national, regional and continental as well as world netball levels. “Umpire progression is centralised while coach development is decentralised. National netball associations design their own pathways, which are endorsed by continental or world netball bodies.

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“For example, in Malawi, NAM’s coaching pathway has five levels. Foundation Level [Basic Level 4], Developmental Level [Level 3], Intermediate Level [Level 2], Elite Level [Level 1], Advanced Level [Specialisation].” He said NAM gives coaches not less than one year to progress between levels. However, the gap at the top of the coaching pyramid has been attributed largely to the high cost of accessing elite qualifications.

Coaches seeking top-tier certification are required to self-fund training abroad, mainly in South Africa, the United Kingdom or Australia. The shortage of elite coaches is among the reasons NAM has engaged high performance consultant Debbie Fuller who is also expected to build the capacity of local coaches. NAM in a statement said: “The expatriate consultant will also focus on capacity building and succession planning of six Malawian coaches that will be identified and embedded into the high-performance environment, working directly alongside the high performance netball consultant.

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