MOC announces shift in operations

As part of its plans to ensure that Malawi performs well at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Malawi Olympic Committee (MOC) on Sunday held meetings with the Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) and the Athletics Association of Malawi (AAM) where it announced changes in policy and operations.

Among major changes that MOC president Oscar Kanjala announced in Lilongwe were that the institution will no longer be funding beginner’s training for coaches, administrators and athletes and instead it will focus on high performance training.

“In the past, we used to finance basic training but this time we thought it proper to focus only on high performance trainings. In this way, we believe we can achieve medals.

“The responsibility of sports associations will be to establish or identify talent and in turn we will finance to develop and nurture that talent. We will focus on quality not quantity. We will now be investing in talent to ensure it is nurtured and developed,” said Kanjala

He said the changes are part of the strategic plan to ensure that Malawi win medals at the Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games.

“It is high time we started to invest in our athletes if we are to do well in continental and global tournaments. To achieve this, I am appealing to sports associations to embark on vibrant marketing approach to woe corporate support. They need to start incorporating marketing people in their associations,” said Kanjala.

He said his committee will date all its affiliates to find solutions on how the country can start winning medals.

Both NAM and AAM described the meeting as very fruitful.

“We will take them on their word. We are preparing for the Commonwealth Games qualifiers which will be hosted by Uganda and we need to have three camps and also play some friendly games before flying there. It is in this area that we need MOC support,” said NAM president Rosy Chinunda who was in the company of general secretary Carol Bapu.

AAM general secretary Frank Chitembeya said the new approach announced by MOC is the way to go.

“We already have an elite number of athletes who were identified during the national cross country in February. These will need intensive training and we will work with MOC to ensure they get good training ahead of qualifying games,” he said.