The meeting of the Directors General of Sport held in Malta on the 15 and 16 of March 2017 featured social inclusion and volunteering as its main themes. Chris Agius, Parliamentary Secretary for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sport presented two good practices linked with these topics as reference was made to the first accredited course for volunteers in sports and a project carried out with prisoners supported through EU funds of the programme Gruntvig.

Other good practices led by Sport Malta such as MOVE 360, the horse racing academy and On the Move programme were also presented to the directors general.

Significant progress on the council conclusions was also reached  during the two day meeting. The conclusions will be submitted at the end of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

A discussion paper on migrant and refugee social inclusion, senior citizens, vulnerable youths and people with disabilities was also placed on the table for debate and will be eventually presented at ministerial level.

 The Malta Shooting Sport Federation welcomed the directors general at Bidnija and gave them the opportunity to test their shooting skills and also enjoyed an exhibition by Maltese top athletes William Chetcuti, Nathan Lee Xuereb and Gianluca Chetcuti.

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Her Excellency, the President of Malta, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca addressed the European Sport Forum as it was brought to an end through a round table discussion.  The President stressed on the importance of sports being accessible to everyone especially those families living in poverty. She also remarked that sport should be used as a tool that unifies people.

The outcomes of the forum were presented together with the recommendations to the European Union Commission, representatives from the Member States, the Sport Movement and other stakeholders.

The main recommendations that derived from the three day forum focused on:

Healthy Living through regular physical activity, whereby facilities should be increased and already existing potential locations used as sports facilities so as to maximise all resources available.

Social Inclusion was identified as the second recommendation and focused on the participation of volunteers to work in this field in the light of the migration influx. An appeal to the European Union was made to embark on a promotional campaign.

Finally the third recommendation in view of Sport Diplomacy suggested that exchange between European citizens should be increased. Moreover it was also proposed that elite athletes should share their experiences at grassroots levels.

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The theme of Sport Diplomacy was central to the third day of the Forum. The participants were engaged in the presentation as the forum kicked off with a panel discussion with the participation of panellists hailing from different walks of life. The members of the panel were Steven Fenech, who is a professional local wheelchair dancer, Vlada Kravchecko, a Maltese Paralympian and Ambassador of SportMalta in the European Week of Sport and Mr Robert Portelli, Director of Programmes at SportMalta. All three gave their input on how throe backgrounds and experiences contribute to establishing sport diplomacy and highlighting the real meaning behind this theme.

The day was then characterised by another panel discussion concentrating on intercultural dialogue through sport which is so vital for Sport Diplomacy. The panel discussion was this time made up of three participants: Rachid Chouhal who is an Athletics National team Athlete, Milos Stanisavljevic, a former Handball Serbian National Team player and Elena Malikova, Head of Unit of International Cooperation in Sport from the Ministry of Education, Science, research and Sport of the Slovak Republic. The discussion underlined the integration of athletes through sport in any society and how sport can bring together different cultures. All three speakers spoke about their personal experiences.

At the end of the forum the participants again participated in a number of workshops and gave their input in the drafting of recommendations in the field of Sport Diplomacy. Following this the participants were given a unique opportunity to visit the Maltese parliament and actively contribute to a debate with the Maltese Members of Parliament on the theme of Diplomacy.

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The day kicked off with a Zumba and Piloxing session for the young participants of the Forum in line with the day’s theme: Healthy Lifestyle through Sport. This session was greatly appreciated by the Forum members and set the tone for the day’s discussion.

The first keynote speech was delivered by veteran Dr Simone Digennaro form the University of Casssino and Southern Lazio. Dr Digennaro who is also an EOSE member talked about Fighting Obesity through Physical Activity. He was followed by Dr Charmaine Gauci; Director General at the Ministry of Health gave a presentation on Nutrition and its impact on Public Health.

Again the participants were grouped for workshop to discuss and give recommendations on healthy lifestyle through sports.

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Yesterday marked the beginning of The European Youth Sport Forum organised by SportMalta as over 120 young participants from different countries met and discussed a number of issues affecting the field of Sport. The first day of the Forum was characterised by the theme Social Inclusion and Volunteering through Sport which is one of the priorities of The Maltese Presidency.

The opening of the Forum was addressed by Mark Cutajar, Director General, Hon Luciano Busuttil , Chairman of SportMalta, Mr. Paolo Emilio Adami from ENGSO Youth, Mr. Yves Le-Lostecque, Head of Unit, EAC Sport European Commission and Hon Chris Agius Parliamentary Secretary for Sport.

The topic in discussion was aptly analysed through the keynote speakers of the day. Mr. Tobias Staebler who is the Unified Sport Coordinator Special Olympics Europe Eurasia spoke about Sport as a Catalyst for Social Inclusion. Whereas the theme Volunteers in the Centre of the World was presented by Ms. Lara Tonna, lecturer at The University of Malta.

Nevena Vukasinovic gave an overview of the Pink Paper, which is a document containing recommendations drawn from previous forums and spoke about what is being expected of the three day forum.

Finally the participants were able to give active input as they took part in interactive workshops discussing various themes.

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The second day of the Forum had two very important plenary sessions. The day commenced by an introductory speech from the Sport Unit of the European Commission Yves Le Lostecque. In the morning good governance and integrity in Sport was the main theme where Malta was represented by MEP Marlene Mizzi. The discussion focused around a pledge board signed by major European Stakeholders including SportMalta and the Maltese Olympic committee, giving emphasis on the integrity of sport and values of good governance.

The highlight of day two was the presence of the European Commissioner for Sport Tibor Navracsics who alongside with Parliamentary Secretary Agius, Santiago Fisas, co-chair of the Intergroup of the European Parliament and Susanne Erlandsson, vice-President of the Swedish Sport Confederation conducted a high level debate of the future of grassroots sport.

Delegates also had the opportunity to appreciate Malta and the Maltese culture as a folklore gala dinner was organised in Rabat.

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The Primary Schools’ Football Festival was played in the week of the 1^st of March. This event is organised by the Sport Promotion Unit (SPU) within SportMalta and the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education (DQSE) together with the Malta Football Association’s Grassroots Department within the Technical Centre.

This friendly event, held for Year 5s and Year 6s for both Boys and Girls saw the following 28 schools participating with 56 teams; Pembroke Primary, Sliema Primary, St. Julian’s Primary, Gzira Primary, Rabat Primary, Mellieha Primary, San Gwann Primary, Marsaskala Primary, Tarxien Primary, Marsaxlokk Primary, Zurrieq Primary, Zejtun Primary, Cospicua Primary, Qrendi Primary, Fgura Primary, Birzebbugia Primary, Marsaskala Primary, Hamrun S.S. Primary, Sta. Venera Primary, Zebbug Primary, Valletta Primary, Floriana Primary, Pieta’ Primary, Paola B. Primary, Qormi S. S. Primary, Birkirkara Primary, Luqa Primary, Siggiewi Primary and Verdala International School.

Following the first phase where teachers selected the team to represent each school, this phase saw schools under the same college playing against each other. The PE teachers are now selecting the elite players from among the teams who took part in this penultimate phase to represent the college team in the final phase.

This year saw a historic change for the girls, where rather than including mixed boys and girls’ teams (with girls being represented by 2 out of a team of 5), schools were to participate with two (2) teams – one team of boys and one team of girls. This falls part of the MFA Long term development plan to further the growth in the women’s game.

The tournament has been held at the new SportMalta Sta. Venera Sports Complex seeing over 700 boys and girls aged 9 to 11.

The organisers would again like to express their satisfaction and thank all the participants from all schools, sponsors TeamSport and GSD Marketing Ltd. for making the tournament a success. The MFA and Educational entities are looking forward to an exciting final phase in April.

The first day of The European Sport Forum opened with an introductory welcome session by Mark Cutajar, Director General for Sport followed by interventions by the Deputy Director General Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission Jens Nymand Christensen, Petra Kammervert, chair of the CULT committee in the European Parliament and by European Olympic Committee acting President, Janez Koclijancic. Cutajar said that it is with great pleasure that the European Sport Forum will give an onset to a series of events here in Malta as it will be followed by the European Youth Sport Forum and the Director Generals’ meeting that in all will unite more than 500 delegates to our island to discuss sport. He also highlighted the work that is being done under the Maltese presidency in particular the EU Work plan for Sport and the council conclusion on Sport as a platform for social inclusion.

Various current topics where discussed during the sessions on the first day, mainly sport diplomacy, gender based violence in sport, employability, inclusion and the role of volunteers, digital technology in sport, Anti-Doping, environmental impact of sport and social platform for sports. Amongst the Maltese speakers Hon Chris Agius who is the EU representative on anti-doping was involved in a panel debate discussing what needs to be done in order to restore trust in the anti-doping system. Michael McNamee from the Swansea University in Wales and former Slovenian high-jumper Rozle Prezelj who is the Chair of IAAF athletes’ commission also took part in this debate. The session was moderated by German Station ARD presenter Hajo Seppelt.

On the other hand the Malta Basketball President Paul Sultana participated in the panel debate focusing on the possibility of having more inclusive societies in particular through the role of volunteering. This session which was all focussed around the Maltese Presidency priorities was introduced by Mark Cutajar. Cutajar highlighted the rationale behind the priorities and various best practices that Malta adapted successfully in the last years to include vulnerable members in local communities most importantly the On the Move programme, Move 360 and the horse racing academy. The European Parliament representative Bogdan Wenta, David Evangelista from Special Olympics Europe and Raimonds Elbakjans from the Ghetto Games 2016, gave their input during this session as panellists. The session was moderated by Agata Dziarnowska, Policy Officer of the European Commission. Sultana argued that in these days it is not very easy to find volunteers, and some sort of motivation and certification should be given for volunteers to be kept on board. He praised SportMalta first ever certification platform for volunteers.

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Following months of intensive refurbishment and maintenance works, SportMalta has re-opened the National Pool Complex to the associations, clubs and clients.

Following 20 years of abandon the Government has fulfilled its electoral promise and returned to the Maltese people a newly restored facility of the highest national and international level.

Refurbishment works included:

Maintenance of both swimming pools, including a new floor for main pool

Non Slip tiles on deck;

Water proofing of deck floor to safeguard structure and tunnels around the pools

New Hand Rails on all Ramps on deck

Upgrade of ASA Store room

Double Gutter system all around the pool for sanitary reasons;

  Swimming Lines according to FINA rules

Both sides with non-slip tiles

 Electrical system (for Time Trials and Water Polo games) mainly all under the deck, so wiring above the floor limited which is 100% safe

An additional 8 new starting blocks

Water system all around the swimming pool under the deck which makes easier to clean deck on a daily basis

New partitions for all the offices at ground floor

Uplift of the whole deck area (plastering / painting / eliminated all eye sore cables etc.)

 Diving Structure was demolished (health hazard) so deck area has increased in size for the better use of swimmers and water polo players;

New stainless steel ladders

Tomorrow SportMalta kicks-off its activities in relation to the Maltese Presidency of The European Union as 350 delegates from all over Europe will take part in The European Sport Forum to be held in St. Julian’s.

The forum is being organised by The European Commission in collaboration with SportMalta and will bring together stakeholders hailing from various sectors in the field.

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