Escom Sisters coach Griffin ‘Zagalo’ Saenda has said his team faces a bleak future as it is struggling to get on board new players due to lack of sponsorship.
Saenda said this on Saturday at Blantyre Youth Centre (BYC) where his team failed to defend the Presidential Netball Championship title. They lost 43-31 to Blue Eagles Sisters in the semi-finals. This was the first time for Escom Sisters to lose a match as well as finish outside the top two positions in a major event since 2008.
However, Escom Sisters finished third to get K1 million (about $4 000). They beat MTL Queens 39-30 in the third-place play off..
Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) stopped sponsoring the netball giants last June.
“To say the truth, our future is bleak after Escom pulled out their sponsorship. We rely on prize money from local competitions to sustain the club and we are now unable to get on board new talent. We ask the corporate world to help us,” said Saenda.
When asked if this signifies the end of Escom Sisters dominance on the local netball arena, Saenda said they would still soldier on.
“We are not dead yet. We would always remain a threat to our rivals in competitions. All we need is to reorganise ourselves so that we do not lose focus. We will prudently use whatever little cash we get,” he said.
After Escom withdrew its sponsorship, the team resorted to sourcing monthly funding from companies such as Countrywide Car Hire and O. Jussab. Recently, the team was close to getting Countrywide Car Hire sponsorship, but the deal died in its infancy.
