Let’s welcome back Malawi’s GOtv netball tournament
MultiChoice Malawi, the digital satellite television service providers, has announced that the GOtv Netball Champions League, which last took place in 2015, returns for its 4th edition next month and in grand style.
The tournament, competed for by the top teams in each region, was launched in 2013 with aim of transforming netball into a big brand owing to its success on the international stage and thus the format used is the FAST 5 — which assists Malawi national netball team to prepare for the FAST 5 World Series.
This year’s FAST 5 world series takes place in Australia in October and the GOtv Champions League is the platform for the Queens’ coaches to select the best suited players ahead of the world series.
This is good news for netball. This is the way this sport, that is putting Malawi on the world map, should be supported.
This sport needs such support and on behalf of all netball enthusiasts, I applaud MultiChoice Malawi for their continued romance with our pride in sports.
Netball players hardly are rewarded handsomely for their talent and representing the country but MultiChoice came in with exceptional rewards such as dedicating 80 percent of the sponsorship to the players through prizes.
It also gave chance for the whole country to follow the proceedings of the tournament by making sure the games are broadcast live on Times TV in 2014 and Zodiak TV in 2015.
I hope that in future, there shall be a system in which netball tournaments of this nature shall attract broadcasting rights that shall eventually go into the netball association’s coffers.
Such revenue can help lift the status of this sport such as making sure all three regions have an indoor facilities.
I know I have said this countless of times but it’s worth talking about it more because we are doing the sport a disservice by allowing the netballers to play on hard surface and in scorching heat as is the case at all netball venues.
And it’s also one of the reasons that the netball association cannot invite teams like Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, England and even South Africa. I very much doubt these countries can accept to play on hard concrete courts and in scorching heat.
Let’s have a touch of class in everything we have to do. Football and athletics have been given a state of the art facility in the name of Bingu National Stadium, why not give the same for netball so that when we broadcast tournaments such as the GOtv Champions League, we can proudly distribute copies of such games for countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, England and and others to appreciate.
