The Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) held a meeting with ten sporting associations at their headquarters in Blantyre to launch preparations for the 2024 African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 under 20 youth games. These games are scheduled to take place in Namibia in May 2025.
The associations that attended the meeting are the ones that will be participating in the games. Malawi will be taking part in 13 different sporting codes, including Football, Netball, Table tennis, Karate, E-sport, Athletics, Athletics Visually Impaired (VI), Judo, Boxing, Basketball, Swimming, and Volleyball.
During the meeting, Dr. Henry Kamata, the Chief Executive Officer of the Malawi National Council of Sports, emphasized the need for thorough preparation for the games and advised the associations to use the Malawi Youth Games that are currently underway to select athletes in different sporting codes
“We invited you, the associations, to this meeting because we need to understand how you are preparing for the games. We also need to plan together on how the athletes will be identified and selected. Furthermore, we need to ensure that we have proper documentation of the athletes, such as birth certificates and passports.”
“This meeting is also crucial to plan for identifying and selecting qualified coaches who will work with the athletes and plan for training and camping so that as a country we should perform well at the games,” explained Kamata.
Malawi is expected to send 244 athletes to Namibia to compete in the games.
The Athletics Malawi(AM) General Secretary Nicholas Kanyenda expressed appreciation for the meeting, stating that it is a step toward better performance in Namibia.
“The meeting has been very enlightening, as many important issues were discussed. Our main task now is to identify the athletes who will represent Malawi at the games. We expect the council to assist us with regional competitions so that we can identify the best athletes to carry the Malawian flag at Region 5,” explained Kanyenda.
The preparations for the Namibia games will involve three camps: the first in August of this year, the second in December, and the final camp in April of next year, leading up to the games.
During the 10th edition of the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 youth games that were held in Lilongwe, Malawi won a record 38 medals.