By Blessings Phiri, LCC 3

Between March 29 and 31, the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) hosted various sporting games as part of the Vice Chancellor’s trophy.

Introduced by current MUST Vice Chancellor, Professor Address Malata, the tournament is held under the moto of “Unveiling Achievement” and is worth K4.7 million. 

For the entire three days, the MUST sports ground hosted different sports activities with both male and female students competing.

This year was particularly interesting as the competition had more sports disciplines than the previous editions. They include football, volleyball, netball, basketball, chess, cricket, athletics as well as Gendaball.

Edmond Mandindi, Student Representative Council’s director of sports, described the tournament as a success as it helps in discovering talent amongst students and also offering a platform for students’ relaxation and networking.

“We are happy to see both male and female students participating and this has given an opportunity for selection to perform at national level. The trophy has unveiled different talents and it’s our hope that in the near future, we will have more of our students representing Malawi at international level,” he said.

The Dean of Students’ Affairs, Dr Kondwani Mkandawire, described the tournament as the future of sports in the country because of its multidisciplinary approach.

“After the tournament, I am pleased to learn that some students have been selected to play cricket at the national level, this is good news. Although the tournament experienced some challenges, the overall feeling is one of success. It is interesting to see students enjoying and performing at their level best and winning awards. We also invited the media to cover the tournament and they did a remarkable job,” he said. 

“We believe the tournament will help to uplift the profile of sports in Malawi and put MUST on the map as one of the best contributors of various players at both national and international levels. As such, we would like to call on various organisations to come and partner with us so as to make the tournament more competitive and successful,”

One of the students, Memory Kapalamula, was particularly happy with the involvement of many female students.

“Most of the sporting activities is mostly participated by men only, but am happy that this tournament gave female students to participate in almost every category. This will surely promote gender equality in sports,” she said.

At the end of the tournament, Hall 3 emerged as winners of men’s football and Hall 7 went away with the female football trophy and the two walked away with K150,000 and K100,000, respectively. 

On top of that, Hall 4 also won in men’s volleyball with Hall 6 emerging champions in female volleyball. Both teams received K100,000 and K50,000, respectively, for emerging champions in volleyball. 

In basketball, Hall 3 were winners in the men’s category while Hall 5 won in women’s category and the two received K100,000 and K75, 000, respectively, in prize money. 

Other individual awards were given in various sporting activities of chess, bawo, athletics, tennis, gymnastics as well as the Malawian inverted Gendball, among others.

The Vice Chancellor’s Trophy takes place annually at the end of an academic year. It aims at unveiling hidden talent and motivating students to work hard in achieving goals through their talents. 

The tournament is also important as it offers an alternative pastime for students, away from their busy academic works, in addition to promoting unity among students and building their mental health awareness.