Peace Chawinga-Kalua, considered one of the best netballers ever to emerge in Malawi, has quit the game out of frustration both as a coach and player.
Chawinga-Kalua, who doubled as coach and player for Bingu Tigresses, confirmed the development but refused to shed more light.
She was also a member of the Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) coaching panel.
“I am done with netball, but I would not want to give reasons. You can even confirm with authorities at NAM, Tigresses and SRNL [Southern Region Netball League] chairperon Khungekile Matiya.
“I have been frustrated long enough and I felt I just could not take it anymore. I now feel at peace with myself. I will be concentrating on religious issues and other personal things,†said Chawinga-Kalua.
But a well-placed source said Chawinga-Kalua was upset by NAM’s move to institute disciplinary action against her after she questioned the criteria for the Queens selection ahead of the African Netball Championship that was held in Tanzania early this year.
“At that time, Peace was already in bad books with some NAM authorities, but the situation worsened when she was quoted in the press questioning the criteria of national team selection on her social network Facebook wall,†said the source.
Tigresses administrator Helene Mpinganjira, who doubles as NAM general secretary, could not be reached for comment on the issue as she is reported to be out of the country while Tigresses assistant coach Charles Mhango expressed ignorance of the issue when contacted recently.
“What I know is that Peace has not been reporting for duties because she has been busy as she also operates her personal business. As far as I am concerned, she is still our coach because there has been no official communication about her bowing out from the game.
“Personally, I cannot accept that she should quit because she is one of the influential figures in the game. Peace actually groomed me into what I am today and I would not accept that development,†said Mhango.
NAM president Rosy Chinunda could also not be reached for comment, but Matiya confirmed being informed by Chawinga-Kalua on her sudden decision.
“She [Peace] is my good friend and she confided in me the reasons she was quitting. She explained that she had been frustrated to the point of no return and she felt enough was enough. I understood her position because we had quite a long chat.
“But it is unfortunate because she has been an influential figure in the game both as player and coach. She is a role model to up-and-coming players and I only hope something will be done about it,†said Matiya.
Chawinga-Kalua had a distinguished playing career and was part of the Queens dream team that rose to become the best netball outfit on the continent.
At the time she announced her retirement from the Queens two years ago, alongside other big-name players Mary Waya and Esther Nkhoma, Chawinga-Kalua was the captain.
