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An investment in sport is an investment in Malta
There were hardly any sport facilities of international standards in Malta and Gozo prior to the nineties. We were extremely limited. Apart from a number of ‘bocci’ pitches, a sea-water swimming-pool with costly but ineffective filters at Marsascala and a football stadium with the enormous difficulties of having a decent playing surface and a number of tennis courts mostly left by the British services, was perhaps the sum total of all that was available. Obviously the situation has improved since, with the building of a heated swimming-pool at Tal Qroqq, a modern shooting range at Bidnija, the laying of a synthetic surface at the Matthew Micallef St. John track, the modernisation of a number of tennis courts, and the construction of other new facilities by the State and public enterprise.
The Gozo Complex, the University Hall, and the Cottonera Centre take pride of place but one can hardly ignore the Tedesco Stadium, and the improvements that were carried out to the Basketball Pavilion, the Corradino Grounds and Hall, and other projects.
The Malta FA embarked on a new facility with the building of the Centenary Stadium and an impressive new stand which includes an indoor pool and other amenities.
A sober analysis shows that before erecting these constructions, we lived in a dream. We played football on hard surfaces, water-polo in open sea pitches, ran on dirt tracks and foolishly expected positive results. It was merely a make-belief situation. One can hardly fathom the mentality of all those involved. The younger generation will find it comical when one realises that it took us 65 long years to build a heated swimming pool despite the fact that when we returned from the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, the water polo contingent clamoured for such a need. Summer after summer the need became more pronounced. Had all those who wrote and discussed the subject laid a mere brick they would have helped to erect the most lavish indoor pool in the world!
Spaceman goalkeeper
Yours truly recalls the sad exhibition by the famous German Sepp Meier of Bayern Munich who took the field all padded and looked more of a spaceman than a goalkeeper for a training session on the eve of the match Malta-West Germany played at the Gzira Stadium in the early seventies
Meier wanted to show the dangers of the grassless pitch. Television crews and photographers pushed each other to get the best shots. Films and pictures which was wired all over Europe certainly ridiculed us because of our primitive facilities! The show was just meant to do that, as for the match proper Meier wore his usual keeper’s attire and forgot all about his pads!
Improved results
The introduction of new facilities plus a better approach, improved our performances at competitive levels. Nothing extraordinary or exceptional but a slight improvement was evident. Still we did not have the right mentality at grass root levels. Admittedly a number of fitness centres were opened during the last two decades and the membership is encouraging. Nevertheless the overall numbers of those involved in sport and physical exercises, though on the increase, is still very low. It is wrong to compare the numbers of those who practise sport for competition with the others who regard sport as a way of life.
A new culture must be created. Sport for the masses and not solely for the selected few who are involved in competitions. Emphasis should be made on the real values. On feeling good, fit, healthy, looking better without flabbiness and excess weight thus avoiding the possibilities of indulging in dangerous diets with all the serious consequences.
The love of sport should start in and with the family. Young couples who practise sport will have no difficulty in encouraging their offspring to ‘run, jump and throw! Loving sport at an early age will prove beneficial, especially if taken as a lifelong activity. Besides kids have a right to practise the sport of their own choice.
Suggestions
Sweet talk unless it is put into practice
There is an urgent need for a collective, continuous effort from everyone. This means, the Sport Division under the Ministry of Education and Labour, the Local Councils, the national federations, the voluntary and private sectors, the media and the public.
The schools’ sports facilities should be opened after schools hours, for kids and their parents who want to practise under professional guidance. The media would do well to place a spin in favour of youngsters and their obvious needs like exercise and healthy habits without ignoring the principles of fair play and sport ethics. Viewership will be increased if novelty replaces some of the boring thrash.
The central and local governments should plan a National Day for Sport. With the help of all interested parties, a number of activities should be staged in every town and village in Malta and Gozo. These activities could be held in the main square, in front of the church… anywhere and everywhere, and should include everyone. Running, jogging or even walking or marching; cycling, line-dancing, gymnastics, three-a-side football in restricted areas, any type of organised game with the axiom being ‘fun through exercise.’
Less talk or writing but more action. The doors of all facilities should be opened for one and all.
That would be an ideal start to a well-planned campaign aiming at creating a new mentality aimed towards sport participation.
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