Malawi National Netball Team goal-shooter Joyce Mvula is back in the United Kingdom (UK) where she has signed for UK Netball Superleague side Leeds Rhinos from Central Pulse of New Zealand.
Mvula, who previously played for UK Netball Superleague giants Manchester Thunder, will start playing for her new team next year.
Both Mvula and the club confirmed the development Thursday.
The Malawi Police Service officer told Rhino’s website that she was thrilled to return to the UK after a year-long romance with Pulse.
“I am excited to be heading back to the Netball Superleague and I am looking forward to meeting up with my new team. I have played with Liana before at Manchester team up with her again. Thunder, so it will be good to
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“The competition is one that I really enjoy playing in and I can’t wait to get started and build new connections with my teammates,” Mvula said.
The Malawian is a high-profile player in the UK, where she won the 2022 title with Thunder.
She also finished second in the best shooter category at the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa.
Mvula admitted in an interview that it would not be an easy ride in the Superleague as it has top players.
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The Blue Eagles Sisters product established herself as one of the best and most consistent shooters in the Netball Superleague during her six-year stay at Thunders.
Mvula will reunite with former Thunder coach Liana Leota, who is now Director of Netball at Rhinos.
The two were part of the squad that helped Thunder win the title.
Leota spoke highly about Mvula.
“I am very grateful that Joyce has signed for Leeds Rhinos in 2024. I think she was a standout player at the World Cup for the Malawi Queens. She is a high percentage, high volume shooter. She is that target shooter at the back.
“She has a presence in the back and everyone knows what you are going to get from her. Joyce is definitely a threat in that circle and will be hard to stop because of her physical presence as well,” Leota told the club’s website.
In her last three years of Superleague action, Mvula achieved a 91 percent success shooting rate.
Rhinos’ website also recognised Mvula for scoring an incredible 699 goals in 2021 to see Thunder through to the league’s semi-finals.
In the following year, she top-scored with 774 goals to help Thunders lift the championship.
Mvula made her international debut in 2010 and this year’s World Cup was her fourth.
At the global showpiece, she finished as one of the stand-out performers, having previously shone in the 2014 tournament with 216 goals.
Both Netball Association of Malawi General Secretary Isaac Chimwala and Technical Director Samuel Kanyenda applauded the player for securing the deal.
Chimwala said the move will help strengthen the Queens while also marketing local players, while Kanyenda said the player will inspire budding shooters to aim high.
The development comes after Malawi Queens goalkeeper Towera Vinkhumbo received a timely boost when UK Netball Superleague side Strathclyde Sirens signed her for the 2024 season.
