The country’s first ever FDH Bank Premier Netball League is set to throw off on Saturday, with 11 teams battling for four slots to compete in the top-tier competition.
The competition’s committee announced Tuesday that the playoffs would take place at Area 30 in Lilongwe.
The playoffs will attract teams from all netball regions, with Lionesses, Vanessa Sisters, Atlas and Mafco Soldiers representing the Central Region.
Moyale Sisters will represent the Northern Region whereas Giants NC, Pacers, Shizaella Queens and Blantyre Tremors are Southern Region ambassadors.
Marine Queens and Genius Sisters from the Eastern Region complete the list.
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FDH Premier Netball Committee General Secretary Tadala Billie said they had informed all participating teams to get set for the playoffs.
Billie said teams would be placed in different pots so that they should not meet opponents from the same region in the early stages.
“We are looking forward to coming up with the best. We want to test the strength of teams from different regions. As such, we will put the teams in different groups and teams from the same region will not play against each other. That way, the best teams will be identified.
“The top four teams will gain a spot in the Premier League to join eight sides that were seeded because of their performance,” she said.
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The eight sides that were seeded are Blue Eagles, Civil Netball Club (Civonets) of Central Region; Ekwendeni Resources, Karonga Queens of Northern Region; Kukoma Diamonds, Tigresses of Southern Region and Prison Queens and Airforce Falcons of the Eastern Region.
Netball analyst Neffie Kam’mata applauded the format, saying it would give budding teams a chance to qualify for the Premier Netball League.
“In the first place, I thought Giants and Pacers would represent the Southern Region but the organising committee has increased the number of teams to include Blantyre Tremors and Shizaella. This is commendable because the smaller teams have a chance of qualifying for the Premier League,” Kam’mata said.
Last week, the Netball Association of Malawi unveiled a K1.2 billion sponsorship package from FDH Bank plc catering to the Premier Netball League.
The sponsorship will be split to K300 million annually.
