At the Cottonera Sports Complex, SportMalta distributed the investment of five million euros, received from the NDSF, to 10 sports associations in order to start the training of Maltese athletes for the Small Nations Games that will be held in our country in 2023.

The agreement to transfer these funds was signed today by the Chief Executive Officer of SportMalta and the 10 associations, in the presence of the Parliamentary Secretary for Sport, Recreation and Voluntary Organizations Clifton Grima and the Parliamentary Secretary for -Citizenship and Communities Alex Muscat

Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima said that Sport Malta has already invested in infrastructure as well as new sports facilities that can be enjoyed by all. The Parliamentary Secretary said that through this financial investment, which will serve as a boost and preparation for the Maltese athletes before the Small Nations games in Malta in the year 2023, he will continue to confirm both the Government is a shoulder for athletes and sports organizations and that the aspirations of so many athletes will be achievable.

Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Communities Alex Muscat, stressed that the € 5 million investment that the NDSF agency has made in Maltese athletes who will be competing hard in the games of small countries 2023 is a beacon of wealth being created by Maltese programs that attract foreign direct investment. “Once again, our country is clearly showing how the wealth generated by residency and citizenship initiatives is translating into more aid and investment coming to the community.” While wishing the athletes good luck, he reiterated his commitment to continue attracting to Malta the foreign direct investment that is translating into so many benefits for our country.

SportMalta Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutajar explained that the record of assistance given today is an investment and shows trust in all athletes. The goals are clear and the plan is ready so that most of the athletes start living a professional career that will surely be fruitful. The aim of all this is to win a record gold medal in the small country games and qualify as many athletes as Possible for the Olympic Games in France for the year 2024.

Through these funds, sports associations will be able to employ professional coaches on a full-time basis together with the rest of the necessary technical staff, to finance the participation of Maltese athletes in competitions and training sessions abroad, and invest in more adequate technical tools.

The sports disciplines that have been assisted are: athletics, basketball, judo, rugby, Sailing, shooting, squash, swimming, table tennis, and tennis. Sport Malta is offering the necessary support so that Maltese athletes are best prepared.

On the 15^th of July 2021, the partners of the SKILLS project met for the third time to discuss the progress made with the expected project outputs and to plan the next stages in the work plan. The meeting was arranged online due to restrictions related to the pandemic.

The SKILLS project has been funded under the Erasmus+ Sport Chapter for a 24-month period and will run until December 2021. The initiative has been built as a follow-up from the ESSA-Sport project (www.essa-sport.eu) to ensure continuity and to keep the topic of skills development as high priority at the heart of the sector. The overall ambition is to maintain the momentum and build on the progress made during the ESSA-Sport project in the analysis and understanding of the labour market and skill needs of the whole sport and physical activity sector.

The SKILLS initiative has been designed to ensure continuity and maintain the momentum in researching, networking, implementing actions and improving skills in the sport sector in Europe.

In particular, the work programme of the SKILLS project includes to:

• Gather and analyse labour market statistics for the whole year 2019 and 2020
• Monitor the implementation of national strategic action plans from the ESSA-Sport project
• Identify and raise awareness of the realities and trends of the sector in terms of skills needs
• Promote and encourage dialogue and consultation on the topic of skills and workforce development at both the European and antional level

During the meeting, Aurélien Favre from EOSE presented the research material which has been developed and published from the available sport employment statistics for the year 2019 and first semester 2020 which corresponds to the start of the unexpected pandemic. That includes a European Research Report, a European Fact Sheet, and a series of 28 national Fact Sheet presenting the sport labour market situation through visuals and infographic.  

The partners were then able to discuss the next 6-month of the work programme that will include the analysis of latest available statistics on sport employment in Europe and particularly to focus on the key role of national partners to carry out a series of dissemination and consultation activities to present and exchange on the realities, challenges and tendencies of the sport labour market with targeted national stakeholders.

A final meeting will be arranged in October 2021 and at the European level it was confirmed that a European workshop will be organised to gather main European Sport organisations and present them the latest statistics about the sport labour market. This will be an opportunity to discuss the impact of the pandemic on sport employment and exchage on potential solutions and priority actions for the sector to recover from this unexpected situation.

Further information about the SKILLS project: https://projects.eose.org/skills/

  Full list of partners:

• European Observatoire of Sport and Employment (EOSE) – Applicant
• Académico Futebol Clube (AFC) – Portugal
• Croatian Association for Sport Management (CASM)
• National Sports Academy “Vassil Levski” (NSA) – Bulgaria
• Sport Malta
• Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) – Belgium.

Contact:      Aurélien Favre – EOSE Executive Director – aurelien.favre@eose.org

                   Ben Gittus – EOSE Director of Standards – ben.gittus@eose.org

Parliamentary Secretary for Sport, Recreation and Voluntary Organizations Clifton Grima,
together with the Chairman of SportMalta Luciano Busuttil, inaugurated the renovation of the
outdoor physical exercise facility in Ta ’Qali, which is used by many people early every morning.

Through this investment of around € 61,000, everyone who uses this facility will enjoy
new machines that are accessible to everyone, as well as new flooring. The investment also includes
the renovation of the small stadium where the floor and surrounding wood were changed. Security cameras were also installed.

In his speech, Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima stressed that with this investment many families
will enjoy this open space that has been deserted for years. The parliamentary secretary,
while thanking SportMalta for the valuable work it is doing, said that this renovation is an
investment in the health of the Maltese people and therefore talks are underway with various local councils to make
these types of facilities are more accessible.

“These facilities will be rebuilt or renovated with their potential to connect
more communities together where there is more social interaction, ”explained Clifton Grima.

SportMalta Chairman Luciano Busuttil said that this renovation is part of the mission of
SportMalta who wants to get the Maltese exercising again. He said that these investments are intended so that
exercise becoming more accessible to all.

Parliamentary Secretary for Sport, Recreation and Voluntary Organizations Clifton Grima, together with the Chief Executive Officer of SportMalta Mark Cutajar, inaugurated a fitness hall in Ta ’Kandja which will be enjoyed by the public and sports associations.

This hall, which was built with an investment of around € 20,000, is equipped with a number of bicycles, rowing machines, as well as free weights among other top quality sports equipment. In addition, it also includes a simulator facility for Clay Shooting.

Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima explained how SportMalta is running a program that sees to making a difference in the lives of people in the communities in Malta and Gozo. He emphasized the importance of such sports and community facilities as to bringing people closer to a balanced life, both physically and mentally.

The Parliamentary Secretary concluded that all this complements the investment made in elite athletes as well as in the level of physical activity for the general population.

SportMalta Chief Executive Mark Cutajar stressed that one of SportMalta’s goals is to exercise more and therefore SportMalta has made this investment equipped with the best exercise equipment to be used by both athletes,individuals, and sports clubs.

For more information on the use of this fitness room, the public is encouraged to contact SportMalta.

Kijan Sultana has won the Squash Queensland Gold Event Championship.

Following a bye in the first round, Sultana defeated Joshua Wood 11-5, 11-3, 11-4 in the quarter-finals.

In the semi-finals the Maltese junior was paired with tournament second seed Brendon MacDonald. Sultana started very strong, taking the first two games 11-5, 11-5. MacDonald fought back hard to win the third game 11-9. Sultana did well to squeeze out the Australian in a 13-11 fourth game victory.

The Maltese junior champion was again in top form in the final against tournament top seed Joshua Penfold. Sultana outskilled his opponent to win the match and the tournament in three straight games 11-5, 11-9. 11-3.

This is the first Under 19 championship win for Kijan since he turned seventeen earlier this year and follows his tremendous achievements last year when he secured both Queensland State and Australian National titles in the Under 17s.

Sultana is currently based in Brisbane, Australia where he has been training under the watchful eye of professional coach Bradley Hindle.

Kijan Sultana is supported by SportMalta, the Maltese Olympic Committee and through the Malta Sport Scholarships Scheme financed by the Government of Malta

For another year, SportMalta is launching the 18th edition of the ‘Summer on the Move’ program
which will be offered between July and September 2021 in accordance with the measures issued by
SportMalta and by the health authorities.

Through this program, SportMalta is continuing to drive a more active and participatory
Maltese society in sport and, apart from that, reach higer levels in the world of competitive sport,
and enjoy the health benefits associated with sport.

Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima said that so far there are more than 1,500 applications
for the ‘Summer on the Move’ program. This amounts to more than 4,220 sessions
a week for 35 different sports and will be run by more than 220
qualified teachers and coaches who are dedicated to providing quality service.

“The government is committed to further raising the level of sport in our country with more direct investment
in Maltese athletes. So much so, that in the coming days a massive investment will be announced that will see that
several athletes be prepared and achieve prestigious results at the Small Countries Games in 2023
which will take place in our country, ”concluded the parliamentary secretary.

“Parliamentary Secretary for Sport, Recreation and Voluntary Organisations Clifton Grima launches Summer on the Move
“

The Director of Programs within SportMalta Robert Portelli explained that these activities are
offered in a number of centers around Malta and Gozo in a modern, state-of-the-art
sports equipment.

The activities offered vary, from football, basketball and gymnastics, to karting and
martial arts. Water sports are not lacking; swimming, water polo as well as Sailing. For adults,
one finds yoga, pilates and fitness of different intensities, as well as badminton, swimming and
self-defense. This year the parent and child program will also be extended where in addition to
swimming, gymnastics and fundamentals will be offered.

‘Summer on the Move’ also includes lessons for adults where they take place at the same time as the
children’s activities so that those parents who bring their children can come as a family and
participate at the same time. SportMalta Chairman Luciano Busuttil said that this program is meant to entice
more and more people move and do physical activity while believing that everyone has
have accessibility to sport.