NAM targets Waya for U-21 role

Veteran netballer Mary Waya has been earmarked as the Under-21 national team coach ahead of the 2017 World Youth Cup qualifiers in Botswana in July.

If a deal is reached, she will replace Connis Mhone who died in January this year after succumbing to cancer.

Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) president Rose Chinunda said Waya, who is currently Queens assistant coach, is being targeted because she is capable of nurturing talent.

“Mary is good at working with up-and-coming players and right now she has an academy which is already helping a lot of young players,” she said.

Waya has coached the Under-21, the senior national team and Thunder Queens formerly MTL Queens after ending her illustrious playing career. She is now coaching Alliance Capital.

Chinunda said Waya has been coordinating talent identification aimed

at recruiting players for the junior national side.

“Technically, she has already started working. What remains is that we should discuss the modalities with her. By accepting to coordinate the player identification it means she is willing to step in,” she said.

Chinunda said they have drafted a provisional squad of 31 players who were identified during the Presidential Trophy and Airtel Money tournaments.

On her part, Waya said she has not received communication from NAM on their plans to recruit her.

But she said it was true that she has been working with the

association to identify players for the world tournament.

“Through my institution, the Mary Waya Netball Academy, I have been assisting NAM to search for talent,” she said.

The World Youth Cup qualifiers will run from July 22 to 30. The finals will be played in July next year. n