The Malawi Kings’ winless Africa Netball Cup campaign has exposed a bigger problem than four defeats: Malawi still lacks a strong domestic pathway for developing men’s netball players.
According to results published by the Netball Association of Malawi (NAM), the Kings lost all four of their pool matches at the 2026 Africa Netball Cup in Nairobi, Kenya. They lost 52–39 to Kenya, 42–37 to Eswatini, 50–40 to South Africa and 52–31 to Uganda.
The four results give Malawi a combined 147 goals, an average of 36.75 per match, while opponents scored 196, averaging 49 goals per game. That left the Kings with a minus-49 goal difference across the pool stage.
But the statistics become more revealing when the matches are broken down by quarters.
Against Kenya, Malawi led 25–24 at half-time before eventually losing 52–39. Against Eswatini, the Kings were also ahead early, leading 12–10 after the first quarter before going down 42–37.
Those figures do not erase the defeats, but they show that Malawi was capable of competing with opponents for significant periods before struggling to maintain its performance over the full match.
That raises a bigger development question is how much regular high level competition are Malawian men’s players getting before they are asked to compete against established international sides?
Malawi head coach Garvey Nyondo highlighted that issue after the Kings’ campaign, saying Malawi does not have an active men’s league while their opponents have domestic competitions. His comments point directly to a structural gap rather than simply a problem with one tournament.
The contrast with the women’s game is difficult to overlook.
The inaugural FDH Bank Premier Netball League completed 264 matches over eight months, with Blue Eagles Sisters finishing unbeaten after winning all 22 of their matches. NAM president Vitumbiko Gubuduza said the continuous competition had brought noticeable improvement and helped maintain players’ fitness for international assignments.
That is what a domestic league can provide is repeated competitive matches, regular assessment, tactical development and a wider pool from which national team players can be selected.
The men’s game does not currently have an equivalent structure.
Nyondo’s point is particularly important because national team camps cannot fully replace a domestic season. Training camps can improve combinations and tactical understanding, but regular league matches expose players to pressure, mistakes, physical demands and different opponents week after week.
The Africa Netball Cup results provide a useful illustration.
Malawi’s narrow five-goal defeat to Eswatini and its one-goal half-time advantage against Kenya show that the Kings were not completely out of their depth. However, both matches eventually slipped away, while South Africa and Uganda also produced winning margins.
The question, therefore, is not simply whether Malawi has talented players. It is whether those players have enough competitive matches to develop the consistency required at international level.
This is where the women’s domestic structure offers an important comparison. The FDH Bank Premier Netball League has 12 teams and has been backed by significant corporate investment. For its second season, FDH Bank increased its sponsorship from K250 million to K350 million, while the four-year sponsorship package is worth K1.2 billion.
That investment demonstrates that a structured domestic competition can attract serious commercial support when there is a clear competition and development model.
Men’s netball does not necessarily need to begin at the same scale.
NAM could start with the teams that already exist, organise them into a national competition and gradually expand the number of participating clubs. Regional leagues could provide a foundation, with the best teams progressing into a national championship or cup competition.
The important thing is not the size of the first season. It is the creation of a consistent fixture list.
A league would also give the national technical team a bigger scouting network. Instead of selecting from a small group of players who become active mainly around national-team camps, coaches could monitor performances throughout an entire season.
It could also create a pathway for younger players.
A player should be able to start at club level, develop through regional competition, progress into a national league and eventually earn a place in the Malawi Kings. That pathway is much harder to establish when competitive men’s fixtures are limited.
There is also room for basketball players to contribute to the development of men’s netball. Their experience in passing, movement, positioning and creating space can be useful, particularly when expanding the player pool. But recruitment from another sport should complement not replace a specialist men’s netball development system.
The Kings’ Africa Netball Cup campaign has therefore raised a question that goes beyond the four defeats.
If Malawi wants its men’s national team to compete consistently with Kenya, Eswatini, South Africa and Uganda, where will the next generation of players get the competitive experience needed to reach that level?
The answer cannot always be another national team camp.
It has to start with clubs, coaches, fixtures, league tables and regular competition.
Malawi’s women’s game has already shown the value of sustained domestic competition. The men’s game now needs its own pathway.
More clubs. More matches. More competition. More players.
That is the foundation on which the Malawi Kings can build.
Leave a Reply