Council for Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) has predicted a tough contest in the women’s most promising player category of its gala awards, where two Malawian stars are up against a Zambian.
The inaugural awards are set for May 9 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Malawi National Women’s Football Team duo of Leticia Chinyamula and Rose Kabzere was nominated for the category alongside Esther Banda of Zambia.
According to a report on Cosafa’s website, the three deserve the nominations after an outstanding 2023 season and have a bright future in the game regardless of who goes away with the top prize.
The report describes 17-year-old Chinyamula as one of Banda’s rivals for the award, with technical qualities well beyond her years.
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“Her year started with helping Ascent Academy to the final of the Fam National Women’s Championship where the young team was ultimately beaten by Ntopwa but still recorded a major achievement that showed all their potential. That led to international recognition and selection for the 2023 Cosafa Women’s Championship where Malawi would go on to take the gold medal with Chinyamula playing an integral part.
“She netted in a famous 4-3 victory over South Africa in their opener and scored again against Madagascar in the pool stages and was one of the stars of the historic maiden regional title for the Malawians. In the build-up to the tournament, she also netted twice in a 17-0 win over Seychelles,” part of the report reads.
The report also notes that Kabzere, also aged 17, had a year that mirrored Chinyamula’s closely.
“Kabzere has shown her huge potential the year before when she finished as top-scorer in the 2022 Cosafa Under-17 Women’s Championship and was able to translate that form to the senior national team. She enjoyed the same success with the Ascent Academy and also netted against Seychelles in one of Malawi’s twin 17-0 wins over the islanders and got a goal against eSwatini in the Cosafa Women’s Championship pool stages. She played in every match, including starting the final,” it reads.
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The report states that Banda featured at the 2023 Cosafa Women’s Championship and was a stand-out performer for Zambia as they took home the silver medal, losing 2-1 to Malawi in the final.
“She also helped her club Green Buffaloes to the semifinals of the Cosafa Women’s Champions League where they were defeated by eventual winners Mamelodi Sundowns. Again, more big international tournament experience for her to learn.
“Whoever ultimately wins the Cosafa Women’s Most Promising Player Award, there is no doubt all three nominees deserve their recognition and have a big future in the game if they can continue to develop,” it concludes.
Malawi also has Tabitha Chawinga and Mercy Sikelo in the women’s player of the year and women’s goalkeeper of the year category, respectively.
A panel of judges from across the region shortlisted the three after assessing their performances in the January 1 to December 31 2023 period.
The panel has members from across Cosafa’s 14 member nations with The Daily Times former assistant editor Peter Kanjere also on the list.
