Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) will from next year introduce annual awards to recognise outstanding individuals in the sports fraternity.
Sports Council executive secretary George Jana said the annual awards would be a celebration of exceptional achievements by individuals.
“The idea is to encourage such people to continue doing well and better than the rest and of course to create competition among any particular field of sport since those that may not have made it would want to do so in the next period.
“It is also a way of thanking the awardees for contributing towards the ultimate goal of sport and its development and the general growth and success of the nation and its people,” Jana said.
Recipients will include athletes, administrators and sponsors.
“The recipient groupings may change from time to time. The groupings of the recipients are being worked on and we may not disclose what exactly these will be at this stage,” Jana said.
However, the Sports Council is yet to reveal the prizes for the awardees.
“The modalities and details are still being worked on,” Jana said.
“In our view, however, the prizes are not the important thing. Rather the recognition and status one attains is the most important.”
Sports Council is expected to come up with a panel of judges to select the awardees.
“We are designing the selection process so that it is foolproof and neutral in consultation with processes used and followed in other countries on similar and other awards,” Jana said.
However, Jana said they were aware that sustaining the awards would be a challenge.
“One may not guarantee sustainability of any programme and so it is difficult to say yes or no,” he said.
“However, we will ensure that we sustain it so that the awards remain a permanent feature on our calendar as we believe that the benefits thereof are beyond the expenditure that may be incurred in mounting them.”
Meanwhile, some Sports Council’s affiliates have welcomed the development.
Athletics Association of Malawi (AAM) president Godfrey Phiri said the awards would go a long way in motivating athletes.
Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) president Rosy Chinunda said it was high time outstanding individuals from netball were recognised.
