New Basmal leadership targets leagues sponsorship
Newly inaugurated Basketball Association of Malawi (Basmal) president Chief Masawani Jere has outlined his key priorities, among them securing sponsorships for the country’s regional leagues.
He was speaking during the association’s elective annual general meeting (AGM) in Lilongwe on Saturday where he was ushered in unopposed. He replaces Hamlet Kamtengeni who withdrew his re-election bid.
All the three regional leagues are administered without a sponsor, a development widely believed to hamper development of the sport.
Jere said he will meet regional basketball representatives to map the way forward.
“We need to bring all stakeholders together and analyse what went wrong in the past for us not to have sponsors,” he said.
He, however, warned that the task will be tough if the basketball industry is disorganised.
“We need to put our house in order first before we start reaching out to potential partners. We need to know what the sponsors will gain from their support towards basketball,” he said.
The president also said he wants to popularise the sport in schools by setting up structures.
“Where I stay in Mzimba I have constructed courts in schools, including at Robert Laws Secondary. I believe that if we train youths at a tender age, they will develop into stars,” he said.
During the elections, Banthari Banda was elected vice-president while Peter Gomani emerged as a new general secretary after defeating his predecessor Edgar Ng’ong’ola.
Central Zone Basketball League president Hellen Chabunya is the new treasurer while Hope Chisamanga scooped the technical director’s position.
Dominic Moyo is the competitions and compliance manager while Dean Lungu is the new youth director. Lisungu Moyo is the director of women.
James Mangani, technical officer for Malawi Olympic Committee, who presided over the polls declared the elections as “free and fair”, saying no candidate lodged any complaint.
