National Sports

Rainbow Paints launches netball sponsorship

Men are colour blind and women are owners of colours! So goes the belief which has moved Rainbow Paints Malawi Limited to pump K1 million into the Top Six Netball Series to be competed for by teams in the Blantyre and Districts Netball League (BDNL).

The sponsorship was unveiled on Thursday at the country’s netball Mecca, Blantyre Youth Centre.

The month-long tournament, which will also be open to other interested teams in the Southern Region, will see the overall champions taking home K200 000 while runners-up will get K100 000.

Speaking during the launch, Rainbow Paints commercial manager Bruno Silas said the sponsorship was influenced by the success of Malawi netball locally and internationally.

“Netball continues to put Malawi on the map as it has registered tremendous results on the international scene. But little has been done by the cooperate world to appreciate and that is why we are here.

“It is our passion to make this an annual event, however, this will only be guaranteed after a successful review at the end of the event; therefore, the ball is in the court of the organisers to make it a success,” said Silas.

He thanked the Sports Writers Association of Malawi (Swam) for approaching Rainbow Paints to sponsor netball.

BDNL general secretary Anne Hanjahanja thanked the sponsors for realising the hidden treasure in netball.

“Netball is followed by a large section of women who form a large part of the country’s population and it has been bringing results. But, painfully, we battle so much to attract sponsors and we believe this is the beginning of good things to come,” said Hanjahanja.

Swam president Peter Kanjere said they felt obliged to assist sports associations to get sponsorship to ensure that there are more sporting activities in the country.

NAM general secretary Helene Mpinganjira said the sponsorship is vital to the development of netball in the country as the Southern Region produces the bulk of the national team.

Guest of honour, Dean Pinto, who is Sports Council board member, asked the organisers to run the competition professionally so as to safeguard the sponsorship.

The competition, which starts this weekend has been divided into two phases, whereby the top four teams in the OG Issa BDNL, namely Escom Sisters, Bingu Tigresses, MTL Queens and Woget Sisters have been seeded for the second phase.

The first phase will involve teams from number five and below and any other interested non-league side.

The two winners from the first phase will join the seeded teams to make the Top Six Series. Tigresses and Woget and the winner of the first phase will form Group A whereas Escom, MTL Queens and the first phase runners-up will form Group B.

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