While the Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) claims to have submitted a report justifying their proposal to hire a permanent coach, the Malawi National Council of Sports claims, eight months down the line, the association is yet to present the report.
Council executive secretary George Jana on Wednesday said: “We received a proposal from NAM requesting the need to engage a full-time coach to work under government contract.
“Among other things, we asked them to come up with a proper job description and what he or she will be doing extra that the current caretaker coach is not able to do. We also asked them what they have achieved so far and how a permanent coach will help them move forward.”
Jana also said NAM was asked to critically weigh on whether it would be appropriate to engage a national coach or a marketing person so as to make strides in the quest to make the association self-sustainable.
“But it is now running close to between seven and nine months and we have heard nothing from them [NAM]. Maybe they are still consulting,” he said.
However, Chinunda contradicted Jana, saying NAM already justified in writing the need to engage a permanent coach.
“I am surprised that Mr. Jana is saying he did not get the report because we presented it sometime back,” she said.
“We stated that we are now ranked the fifth-best side and it is time we broke into the top four and for that to be achieved, we need a coach who can be committed and motivated towards the cause.
“The coach will also be responsible for developing other coaches and coming up with development programmes across the country,” explained Chinunda.
She brushed aside suggestions that they want a permanent coach to be at par with the Flames.
“It is not like that. We have our own programmes that we want to pursue as an association,” she said.
Youth and Sports Minister Enoch Chihana recently gave an assurance that the Queens would soon have a permanent coach.
The current caretaker coach for the Queens is Griffin ‘Zagallo’ Saenda.
