MALAYSIA Netball Association (MNA) president Datuk Suraya Yaacob has urged for the sport to be considered as a replacement for one of the three sports recently dropped from the National Sports Council's (NSC) core sports programme.
Last Tuesday, Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced that sepak takraw, taekwondo and weightlifting would be dropped from the list of 19 core sports under NSC's program and Suraya feels it is fitting that netball replace one of the three sports following their accomplishments recently which include winning gold medal at the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games in August.
"The most important thing for us is to strive towards getting netball into the core sports programme because it deserves to be," said Suraya.
"Previously, they said there are enough sports in the programme, but now since they've taken out three, so why not include a women's sport. Try us."
Suraya added that in efforts to realise this dream, the association has decided to establish a tournament, to be named the Netball Evo Cup which would take place in the middle of next year.
The announcement was made during the national team's meet and greet session with the fans at the Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara, yesterday.
The tournament will see 32 clubs from all across the country competing, with the final to be held at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil in December next year.
Such an initiative will also enable the association to set up a database of netball players nationwide, while laying the groundwork for the association’s ambition of setting up a professional league.
"We will be organising the Netball Evo Cup which will start in June, with teams and clubs from across the country taking part. This will help us set up the players' database," said Suraya, who also revealed that the tournament will have a prize purse of RM100,000.
Meanwhile, the national team will be working hard and focusing on qualifying for the 2019 Netball World Cup in England.
The national team will need to perform by winning next year’s Asian Netball Championship, a biennial event where Malaysia are the defending champions, if they are to qualify for the World Cup.