Mwawi wins two Australian awards
Malawi’s export to Australia Mwawi Kumwenda continues to make headlines in Australian netball circles as she has won two accolades for her outstanding performance in the 2012 Victorian Netball Championships.
Mwawi, who is in Malawi on holiday from her Australian club Peninsula Waves, has been named as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and obtained the Hot Shots Award for the 2012 season during the Netball Gala Awards in Australia on Saturday.
Peninsula Waves team manager Dot Mace received the awards on Mwawi’s behalf while the netballer accepted the accolades through a recorded video message. The message was broadcast during the gala at the request of the Netball Victoria (NV) events coordinator Kate O’meara and Frankston District Netball Association (FDNA) business manager Shelley Haynes.
This is the first time Mwawi has won two awards in a season since she joined Waves in 2010. She won the ‘Best Shooter Award’ in the 2010 season before becoming the tournament’s best player in 2011.
Mwawi, who turned 23 last week, also grabbed the ‘Overall Player’ and the ‘Best Shooter’ awards with Malawi Queens during the Diamond Challenge Championships hosted by South Africa recently.
“I never expected this. I thank God for the talent He gave me. I should also thank my coaches and teammates at Waves for helping me to improve my skills. I will also not forget to thank Escom Sisters coach Griffin Saenda for making me a better player before I went to Australia,†Mwawi said on Sunday.
According to her cousin and manager, Hlupekile Phiri, her achievements in Australia are making her family and the country proud.
Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) president Rosy Chinunda also expressed happiness at Mwawi’s success, saying this serves as an inspiration to other netball players in the country to work hard.
“On behalf of our family, I should say we are proud of our daughter who continues to put the country’s flag on the international map. We will continue to give her our full support,†Phiri said through email.
