The contract of Malawi Queens head coach Peace Chawinga-Kaluwa expired on Wednesday and the Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) is undecided whether to renew it.

This is despite the government, through the Malawi National Council of Sports, giving NAM the green-light to hire a permanent coach to guide the Queens at the Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa in 11 months.

Chawinga-Kaluwa, who has just steered the Queens to the World Cup following second-place finish at the just-concluded qualifying tournament, signed a three-year contract as part-time coach on August 31 2019.

Her contract expired: Chawinga-Kaluwa

NAM general secretary Isaac Chimwala yesterday said they were uncomfortable to deploy a permanent coach without government’s assurance of paying the trainer’s salary.

“We are aware that Chawinga-Kaluwa’s part-time contract has expired and there is need to hire a permanent coach. However, that can only happen when we get government’s assurance on salaries. It is difficult to employ someone when funding is not readily available,” he said.

But Sports Council spokesperson Edgar Ntulumbwa yesterday said the ball is in NAM’s court to notify government about the expiry of the current coach’s contract and recommend a permanent one.

“After giving NAM a go-ahead to deploy a permanent coach, we expect the body to come up with recommendations on whether they want to renew Chawinga-Kaluwa’s contract or deploy a new trainer. Then, we will take it from there,” he said.

On her part, Chawinga-Kaluwa said she was happy that her contract has run out after accomplishing her mission of taking the Queens to the 2023 Netball World Cup.

The hiring of a permanent Queens’ coach has been a long-standing issue for the past five years.

Netball stakeholders have partly blamed lack of  a permanent coach for the Queens’ struggles to improve their performance on the international stage, where they have dropped from sixth to seventh on world rankings.

It is also said to have contributed to the Queens’ failure to have a proper transitioning system, since part-time coaches are available only for event-based assignments.

In the past, there was no clear picture on the progress of hiring a permanent coach as the Sports Council turned down  the proposal on the basis that NAM was failing to come up with a documented and outlined scope of work for the coach

Netball analyst Wesley Namasala said employing a permanent coach is important as the coach has sufficient time to implement his/her strategies and philosophy.

“It also brings stability to the team, which is key to progress. A coach must have a considerable time to be able to mould a team in a manner he/she desires. Having a permanent coach is certainly a move in the right direction,” he said.

For the past decade, the Queens have slumped from being the continent’s top team to third best after South Africa’s Spar Proteas and Uganda’s She Cranes.

This year, they had to fight for the World Cup slot at the qualifiers after losing their privilege of automatic qualification due to a drop on world rankings from sixth to seventh.

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