Athletics Malta looks to the future with its first National Forum

Athletics executives, administrators, coaches, athletes, and other stakeholders took part in the first-ever Athletics Forum organised by Athletics Malta last weekend

The local governing body is looking to take the sport to the next level and various stakeholders in the sport were invited to contribute to the drafting of a National Development Plan for the Federation. The event was held at the Cavalieri Hotel in St Julian’s.

This process is being supported by European Athletics which chose Malta out of a total of 51 European states to carry out an individualised strategic development plan. During this event, the participants shared their views on the challenges and opportunities facing athletics and the changes required to develop the sport further.

Among the themes tackled during the event, participants discussed matters covering good governance, administration, infrastructure, sustainability, commercialisation, and the sporting environment.

A separate, well-attended workshop was exclusively dedicated to athletes and coaches.

Andy Grech, Athletics Malta president, described the forum as a valuable event and a recognition that the federation, like any entity, has strengths and weaknesses and that it is ready to work on the latter in its eagerness to ensure a brighter future for the sport.

He announced that in February 2022, Athletics Malta will launch its five-year-plan and the template for the way it intends to drive the sport forward.

Opening the event, Parliamentary Secretary for Sport Dr Clifton Grima said that Malta’s objective is a record medal haul in the Games for Small States of Europe in 2023 which will be held on our shores.

Dr Grima insisted that Maltese athletes had the potential to match the authorities’ ambitions, but a collective effort was required to achieve such results.

Mark Cutajar, CEO of Sport Malta joined the Parliamentary Secretary in appealing to all stakeholders to work together towards the growth of sport in Malta, particularly the Maltese Olympic Committee, Sport Malta and the different sporting federations, citing recent examples where collaboration between the different parties yielded positive developments towards the athletics community.