The Football Association of Malawi and Super League of Malawi have exppressed disappointment at Super League clubs’ shunning of the Under 20 youth championship in Mangochi, where they would have scouted young talented players.
Last weekend FAM organised a two day Under 20 championship for the selection of the Malawi Under 20 national team players, which brought together 80 talented players from across the country.
Surprisingly, Super League clubs did not send scouts or coaches to spot players at the championship with only Tigers FC coach Trevour Kajawa showing up on the last day.
FAM President Walter Nyamilandu Manda said clubs should embrace young talent for progress as the future lies with the youth.
“We need to bridge this gap otherwise Malawi Football will not grow. Most of the coaches do not believe in giving a chance to young players. They are comfortable with sticking to tried and tested players who are getting tired hoping that they will produce magic in the twilight of their careers.
“Performance of the teams is affected due to lack of creativity, energy and low productivity. This has a spin-off effect as it trickles down to the Flames. This mentality of sidelining youngsters has to change,” said Nyamilandu.
SULOM President Tiya Somba Banda, who is also FAM Technical Committee chairperson, said: “It is quite disappointing that we had 80 players on display and there was no scout from any team from the super league. We would like to encourage these clubs to come and scout for players at such events. If you go anywhere else in the world this is where top talent is discovered. The Messi’s of this world were spotted from programmes like this one.”
Kajawa said his attendance was fruitful as he scouted four players whom he will recruit for next season.
“Tigers does not have buying power for players. We rely on scouting raw talent which we nurture for elite performance. So, expect to see some of these players in our team soon,” he said.
Central Region emerged champions of the championship after winning all their matches. They finished top of group with nine points after beating Southern Region 4-2, Northern Region 2-0 and Eastern Region 4-0. Eastern Region finished second with four points after beating North 2-1 and drawing 3-3 with South. North finished third with three points with a single win over South who finished bottom with just a point.
