The year 2011 finally gives way to 2012 and what a year it has been. Unfortunately, for sports, 2011 has been a fruitless year. A year better forgotten than remembered.

Who would want to remember how the Flames miserably failed to qualify of the Gabon/Equatorial Guinea Africa Cup of Nations finals?

It's a year our national team has not impressed all and for all those that love football, the Flames failure to qualify for he Afcon final was the most painful experience in 2011.

I mean how do you explain a team's failure to qualify for the final after maintaining an unbeaten record throughout the campaign?

Now the Flames have finished the year 2011 at position 94 on Fifa rankings and none of us surprised at all.

No wonder our national team coach Kinnah Phiri thought it wise to throw in the towel only to reverse his decision after some persuasion.

In netball, it has also been a lacklustre year. The Queens have not been impressive at all at international scene.

I know many will point at the Queens having managed to reclaim their position five and first in Africa on Ifna rankings but then the reality is that we still are playing second fiddle to England , New Zealand, Jamaica and Australia.

But the most positive thing about the Queens is that at last it has managed to get rid of super hero mentality and some veterans who were dimmed untouchable finally retired from the national team.

Of course some forces tried to use their political power to change the situation but reasoning still prevailed and the Queens now have some up and coming players that are making even sceptics like me see a bright future of the team.

But then Netball Association of Malawi has been under heavy criticism for its mediocre administration which has led to Standard Bank cancelling this year's national tournament.

Though we have been assured that the sponsorship is safe, it is very clear that Nam made a costly blunder and need to act swiftly to avoid experiencing what football went through.

Another episode better forgotten than remembered is Malawi's embarrassment at All Africa Games where our athletes were chased for not paying affiliation fee to Supreme Council of Sports.

However, on a rather positive note South Africa based boxer Isaac Chilemba continued to hoist Malawi flag higher on international scene.

He twice fought in USA where he left an indelible mark on boxing enthusiast.

So as the year ends, it is my hope that sports associations will come up with good plans for the year 2012.

It is my hope that 2012 will be a successful year to all sports disciplines.

Until then, all I can say is merry Christmas to you all.