The preparatory meeting for the stakeholders of this year’s European Week of Sport was held on the 24^th of August 2021 at the InterContinental, Malta. The Malta Sports Journalists Association was invited together with SportMalta employees from different departments.

SportMalta’s CEO, Mark Cutajar holds that, “Since sports is very important, it can’t only be judged from international results which are obtained in competitions, but from within the community itself”. The European Week of Sport promotes not only sport but also fitness and nutrition and although it only lasts a week, a lot of preparation is done before implementation so that we see the results of this week all year round.  Therefore, the main objective of EWOS 2021 is to lower the percentage of people who do not do sport to 50% or less in comparison to 2018 which was 56%. Together with this objective, the priorities are joy, resilience and intergenerational activities as physical activity needs to be supported more by the community especially post global pandemic.

This year’s focus themes are education, workplace, outdoors, sports clubs, and fitness centers. Education, where all primary and secondary schools will be split in a total of 4 groups and a video will be shown to the students to follow from; workplace, where there will be staff events and programs through sport; outdoors, certain sports activities are better done outdoors and here in Malta the best place for that is the Mediterranean sea; sports clubs, through the main national event and the #BeActive Night, will be provided with a chance to exhibit their potential; also fitness centers, will be the main objective of the #BeActive Night and Local Council activities.

The use of plastic during sports activities has increased to a point where the environment is clearly not being taken care of. For this reason, SportMalta is encouraging all athletes and citizens alike to make a change and start using re-usable bottles which can be re-filled through water fountains and water dispensers found in certain localities.

Social media has taken over some typical traditional media and therefore more emphasis is being made to raise awareness on certain sport activities which will be held, alongside the voluntary work which is highly needed especially for the upcoming Special Olympics being held next year and Games of the Small Nations of Europe 2023.

40 sports organizations benefitted from a government scheme through which €1 million were
allocated for the installation of energy-efficient systems. This project will be saving around 340
tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

In a collaboration between the Energy and Water Agency and Sport Malta, 40 clubs implemented
more than 60 projects encompassing light installations, heat pumps, appliances, and pumping
equipment, amongst others.

Druing a ceremony held at the Hibernians Basketball Pavilion, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and
Sustainable Development Miriam Dalli and Parliamentary Secretary for Sport, Recreation and
Voluntary Organisations Clifton Grima awarded clubs with commemorative plaques for their
investment.

Highlighting the benefits of sustainable operations, Minister Miriam Dalli explained how such
schemes generate a lot of interest. Thus, the government decided to allocate more funds to allow for
more energy-efficient projects.

“It is our role to continue assisting those who wish to make sustainable changes. This investment will
result in less energy consumption and more energy efficiency”, said Minister Miriam Dalli.

As a result of installing energy-efficient equipment, these organisations will be saving €100,000
annually.

Minister Miriam Dalli said that the government will continue to incentivise these entities to keep
producing clean energy, which will contribute to more sustainable economic growth and allow
Malta’s targets to be achieved by everyone. As shown by the collaboration between the EWA and
Sport Malta, planning and technical support will lead to more positive results.

During the ceremony, Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima praised the 40 sports organisations who
took the step to invest in more sustainable energy. He stated that through these investments, a
substantial number of sports and voluntary organisations are benefitting financially, and that this same
investment will be re-invested in the community.

“Our aim, as government, is to create a sustainable society in all sectors. Through this initiative, both
the environmental and the sports sectors are benefitting from lower electricity bills, together with a
better environment and strong financial support”, stated the parliamentary secretary, while also
praising the EWA and Sport Malta which, through their collaborative efforts, yielded a sustainable
investment for sport organisations.
This project will target three Sustainable Development Goals:
• SDG7 – Affordable and Clean Energy
• SDG11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities
• SDG13 – Climate Action
Present for the ceremony were the CEO of the EWA Mr Manuel Sapiano and the CEO of Sport Malta Mr Mark Cutajar.

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