Malawi Youth Games return to Lilongwe for sixth edition this week

The Malawi Schools Sports Association (MASSA) is set to host the sixth edition of the Malawi Youth Games in Lilongwe, running from Thursday 13 to Sunday 16 August 2026.

The Youth Games were first introduced in 2021 by the Government of Malawi, through the Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS), as part of a national initiative to promote diverse sporting disciplines in schools across the country.

MASSA president Blackson Malamula said the initiative had proved rewarding since its inception, describing it as the starting point for the journey of every Malawian athlete.

“This initiative is unearthing talent even from rural areas. School sports is the beginning of the journey for every athlete,” Malamula said. “Some people may not know that the Chawinga sisters steering the Scorchers played school sports when Airtel was sponsoring girls’ football in schools. I would like to encourage different stakeholders to support this initiative.”

Malawi National Council of Sports spokesperson Edger Mtulumbwa said the council was satisfied with the initiative’s success in identifying talent from primary and secondary schools nationwide, while acknowledging there was still room for improvement.

“A number of athletes that represented Malawi at the Commonwealth Games are products of this initiative,” he said. “But we know we can do better and achieve more. We just need to improve in certain areas and make sure that we enhance school sports.”

The games begin at zonal and district level across the country’s seven Sports Education Divisions, with divisional representatives then selected to compete at national level across a range of sporting disciplines.