New year, new netball court for Lilongwe
Over the last two years, friends and supporters of Belinda have raised thousands of pounds to extend access to netball to more people in Malawi. Initially this was limited to funding vital sports equipment such as nets, balls and bibs and sponsoring two new netball teams in Lilongwe: the Scores Queens and the Kalulu Queens.
But it quickly became clear that what was really needed was a high quality, safe playing ground for people to play on.
This has proved to be no small undertaking but after two years of hard work and a few tears, the team has built a court the whole country can be proud of.
The court was officially opened by Lilongwe City Major, Richard Banda at Kaliyeka Full Primary School in Lilongwe, saying:
"The court is the first of its kind and Kaliyeka is very proud to own such a magnificent structure.... This court will go a long way in promoting sports among girls and young women."
Aaron Nyandeni Jere was at the ceremony to hand over the court to Major Banda and took the opportunity to emphasise the importance of remaining vigilant to vandalism. Kaliyeka A block leader John Phambala pledged maximum security to the facility.
Back in 2019, the Weller family founded Netball for All to enable more girls and women to get involved in the sport. It was set up in memory of Belinda Weller (1961-2019), a founding member of the Watson's Malawi Partnership, who had a great passion for netball and a strong appreciation of the empowering qualities of sport.
