Netball Association of Malawi (Nam) has hailed supporters for gracing the Africa Netball Championship in large numbers.

For the first time in the history of netball, spectators are paying K200 to watch the championship games at Blantyre Youth Centre. On Tuesday Nam realised about K84,000 from the games and over K250,000 was collected on Wednesday.

Nam General Secretary Carol Bapu said they did not expect such turn-out and they do not take it for granted.

“We are excited with the turn out and we applaud supporters for coming in large numbers. Some quarters were not happy when we decided to charge at the gates. Surprising the patronage seems to grow with each passing day,” she said.

Nam intends to use gate collections for its administrative roles. Bapu said they were also happy with the overall conduct of the fans.

“They have been cheerful and disciplined,” she said.

The Africa Netball Championship threw-of f on Monday at College of Medicine Sports Complex. The championship that has attracted eight teams is expected to end today. – By Mphatso Malidadi