Rainbow Paint Netball delays worry clubs
First Choice Tigresses and Kukoma Diamonds are worried with uncertainty over the winding up of the 2021 edition of the Rainbow Paints Blantyre and Districts Netball League (BDNL).
Tigresses coach Peace Chawinga-Kaluwa and her Diamonds counterpart Noel Mussa, whose teams will face-off in the final, said yesterday the continued delay to set dates is becoming costly to the teams.
They said it is surprising that the 2021 season is heading towards mid January 2022 yet BDNL vice-chairperson Klema Hau told The Nation a few weeks ago that the league’s fixtures would be finalised before the end of December 2021.
“What bothers us most is the fact that we continue spending on preparing for the final match yet we have not been given the dates,” Chawinga-Kaluwa said.
She said when they asked BDNL officials about what was causing the delay, they were told it was because the sponsor [Rainbow Paints] were still on holiday.
Mussa agreed with Chawinga-Kaluwa that the delays are also eating into the resting period for their players ahead of the new season.
“By this time, our players were supposed to be off-season; going through the recovery path ahead of the 2022 season. Nevertheless, there is nothing we can do rather than wait for BDNL to tell us what to do,” he said.
When asked about the cause of the delays, Hau referred the matter to BDNL general secretary Annie Hanjahanja-Billie, who was not available for comment.
Tigresses won the league title for the first time in five years with a game to spare following their 60-27 triumph over Imosys at the Blantyre Youth Centre a few weeks ago and they need to beat Diamonds in their last fixture to wind-up the season with 100 percent winning record.
Tigresses, who are unbeaten in 19 games, are at the summit of the 11-team log-table with 38 points two points ahead of second-placed Diamonds. They would still remain top even if they lose their last match as they have created an insurmountable 152 basket-difference.
