College Of Medicine Sports Complex High Performance Center

College Of Medicine Sports Complex High Performance Center

The College of Medicine Sports Complex is currently, Malawi’s premier fitness facility. Located in Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial capital, the Complex was officially opened on 25th June 2008. Since its inception, the Complex has developed and supported a number of sporting activities and has had several achievements to that end, including:

  • Netball: The Complex provided accommodation, training facilities and technical support to the national netball team, The Malawi Queens. The team has since risen from 7th to 5th ranking in the world.

  • Football: The Complex provides accommodation, training facilities and technical support to the national team, The Flames, which saw them, participate in the 2010 Angola Afcon games. The Complex still offers technical and preparatory support to the team.

  • Boxing: The Complex is a training base for local professional boxers and is currently responsible for conditioning the boxers.

  • Swimming: The Complex has assisted national team swimmers in dry land training and supplementation advice.

  • In addition, the Complex has hosted several holiday sports camps for primary and high school going children. 

 

The College of Medicine High Performance Centre

The Sports Complex is undertaking an ambitious project to consolidate the above-mentioned activities under one name: The College of Medicine High Performance Centre (CoM-HPC). The overall focus of the Centre is to create a home for professional sports management and high performance training, the first of its kind in Malawi.

 This ambitious undertaking is a result of a need to address the gaps that exist in the sporting fraternity in Malawi. These gaps were identified based on research conducted the Centre, and include the following:

 

  • The absence of a well equipped training facility that caters for professional athletes.

  • The lack of professionally managed sporting academies.

  • The lack of high standards for sporting events.

The Sports Complex has recently signed a MOU with the University of Pretoria Sports Campus which will provide support to the CoM-HPC. The MOU covers areas that include technical assistance, coaching upgrades, athlete development and clinics in Malawi and South Africa. In partnership with the University of Pretoris Sports Campus, the objective of the CoM-HPC is to develop local professional athletes who will achieve high levels of performance at both a regional and international level. Our ultimate goal is to support the athletes in attaining medals in competitive sports.  

Vision

While adding value to the vision and mission of the College of Medicine, CoM-HPC will strive to be:

  • A leader in the field of sport participation and management

  • A professional home for athletes and volunteers who participate in CoM-HPC programs

  • A catalyst for sports development by adding value and making a contribution towards sustainable sports programs in the larger Malawian community.

The CoM-HPC is committed to contributing to the sports fraternity in Malawi, and in this regard it has envisaged four sporting disciplines as the focus for the pilot phase of the project: Athletics, Football, Netball and Hockey.

Current Realities and Challenges for the Future

Facilities for the pilot disciplines are available at the Sports Complex, which currently has passable sporting facilities. However, there are challenges that need to be addressed if the objectives of CoM-HPC are to be realized. These challenges include:

  • Equipment and Facilities: There is a need for additional support equipment and facilities, such as;  electronic scoreboards, referee facilities, changing rooms on the pitch and PA system, floodlights on the pitch, additional gymnasium and hockey Astroturf.

  • Human Resources:  Under the exchange program, the CoM-HPC hopes it could benefit from member institutions visiting our facilities.

  • Information Technology: Introduce more IT based support platforms for sports.

  • Malawi is a landlocked country, thus import costs are high hence posing a great challenge to the acquisition of high quality equipment for the CoM-HPC to prosper.

 

Conclusion

CoM-HPC will bring a new dawn to the sports fraternity in Malawi. Its existence will not only benefit the national teams of various sports disciplines but also budding athletes who lack mentorship and technical assistance. The Centre will thus develop a lot more athletes, which will benefit sports in general in the country and abroad. It is therefore imperative that we harness support for the Center through patronage and funding. Let’s join forces as we take sports to another level in our country and the SADC region as a whole.