Regional U-17 trials set for this weekend

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has announced that regional trials for the Under-17 national football  team will be conducted this  weekend.

FAM said in a statement, the trials are in preparation for the Under-17 Cosafa Youth Championship slated for July 19 to 29 in Mauritius.

In the South, the trials will be held at Mpira Stadium in Blantyre, in the Eastern Region they will be conducted at Zomba Community Centre ground while  Nankhaka Stadium in Lilongwe will host the Central Region trials and Mzuzu Stadium will will be the venue for the Northern Region trials.

Speaking in an interview, FAM technical director (TD) John Kaputa said the regional selection will be handled by regional football coaches committees.

“We expect each region to come up with 15 players. During the trials, players will come from the district teams of the Fifa/FAM U-16 League, FMB U-20 League and Malawi School Sports Association (Massa) teams,” he said.

The TD said all trialists will be required to produce either birth certificates or letters from their respective denominations to prove that they are within the age bracket

At national level, the trials will be held in Blantyre from June 5 to 6 in and the Under-17 national team coaching panel will be part of the team to identify 30 players that will go into camp training at Mpira Village in Blantyre on June 26.

Malawi Under-17 head coach DeKlerk Msakakuona has commended the move to have regional trials, saying it will provide a wide range of choices for the national team call-up.

“I am happy that more stakeholders will be involved in the selection exercise as we will also reach out to talent from all the corners of the country,” he said.

In the last two tournaments, Malawi clinched bronze after South Africa. n