Camp training delay worries Mwawi
Malawi Queens’ star shooter Mwawi Kumwenda has expressed worry over the national netball team’s delay to start camp training ahead of the 2013 Test Series next month and the Fast5 Netball Series in Auckland, New Zealand, from November.
She said this will negatively impact their performance at the six-team event.
Upon her arrival from her professional career in Australia on Wednesday, the 23-year-old wondered why the Queens are yet to begin preparations when other sides like Australia’s Diamonds started camping over two months ago.
Malawi Queens are expected to face New Zealand’s Silver Ferns and the Diamonds in the Test Series this October before proceeding to the Fast5 Series event.
They finished on fifth position during last year’s Fast5 after beating sixth-placed Diamonds twice (33-15 and 33-30) and runners-up England once (27-23) but Mwawi believes Malawi would probably fail to achieve similar feat with shoddy preparations.
“Our Australian counterparts began camp training over two months ago and I doubt if we could beat them again with our delay to go into camp. We are already running against time but we can still catch up with them if we start ours as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will be a gamble,” she noted.
Despite she said whether the Queens will be well prepared or not, she would still put up her best performance ever at the two international events to prove wrong her critics who believe she could not fit into the New Zealand netball system, where she has just signed a yearlong contract with Tactix Netball Club.
But Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) general secretary Carol Bapu said on Saturday that there is no cause for worry in terms of Queens’ readiness for the international contests as the girls would probably go into camp next week.
“We will go into camp just immediately after the completion of the Presidential Netball Championships next week. We still have enough time for preparations and we are confident of doing well at the international competition,” Bapu said.
