Sports and leisure strategy

Any sports and leisure strategy must target the educational area, club level, national association level, and - most important of all - sports tourism, as this is where financial benefits will come from, to be regenerated for the Maltese population and athletes.

The Malta Olympic Committee (MOC) and the Malta Sports Council (MSC) must also have their roles clearly defined, as much as where they should co-operate. Whoever is to co-ordinate and oversee the policy's enforcement should also be part of a new policy.

It is high time that a sports and leisure minister be appointed, or at least a parliamentary secretary to ensure the smooth running of such a policy, as it is natural that different ideas exist, but at the end of the day someone must take the final decision with authority and responsibility.

It is also debatable whether sports should be included under the education portfolio, tourism, health or a ministry on its own. The MOC should concentrate on providing the best athletes and bringing international competitions to Malta, while the MSC should focus on being of service to the community at large, to fight obesity among the population.

The MSC should not be seen as a financial provider to associations or the MOC. Its role should be greater and it must promote sports tourism, as this is also part of the community and an area where co-operation with the MOC is imperative. This is where most of the revenue must come from to ensure the success of the sports and leisure policy.

The public and high officials need to understand that repeat tourists are those involved in sports and leisure. No tourist will come to Malta twice to see, for example, Ghar Dalam, the churches and all the rest of our heritage and culture unless they are specialised tourists, but they will return if our sports and leisure sectors provide an experience which exhilarates them and because our infrastructure provides so many leisure areas in a short distance.

The only leisure areas lacking, especially in the St Paul's Bay area, are good quality children's playgrounds, as these provide good entertainment for the whole family. We also need to increase good indoor leisure areas to be enjoyed by elderly and young tourists during the winter time.

The sports and leisure policy must put the educational sector in order first. At primary level good quality physical activities must be health and fun oriented, while in secondary schools, practice along with O-level standard is already being provided but must be further strengthened with life-long learning activities and leisure practices which are non-existent at the moment.

The A-level standard at the Junior College is still missing and the University should offer more than just Physical Education. Now we have to remember that we do not just provide for employment in Malta but also for the European sector. Visiting www.leisureopportunities.co.uk you will realise what a great potential there is in these sectors with very good pay.

We also need to change routes for employment, for example people being employed in the health department coming from the sport and leisure sector; however, before this is done we have to change the way courses are being provided.

Sports tourism is touched upon lightly at the Institute of Tourism Studies, but this is not enough. Greater importance should be given to this area as this is the most beneficial to make the wheel spin round, getting revenue for different areas. MCAST can be instrumental in holding technical courses important for the sports tourism industry, and with the new premises on the way, perfect planning should be done in the facilities and perhaps bring in the first sports institute to life through the policy where all major stakeholders will discus the way this can be done.

Club level is another area which needs strengthening and all volunteers or employees should be well trained and certified as much as those in the committees, so as to bring out the best for sport.

This is where Government or the MSC should come in by sponsoring ideal courses for the required personnel in various sectors and to study the possibility of doing away with SkolaSport and bring in the clubs to do its job by giving the same amount devoted to SkolaSport to clubs interested in providing services for children throughout the week instead of just on Saturdays. Those clubs which offer activities to parents while their children are training should be given more help as they are the ones helping out in the healthy living drive to minimise the cost on our health care system.

On the other hand, sports associations must be the guardians of their clubs and encourage each club to have nurseries, and also contribute to the educational sector as much as to the competition organisations, while trying as hard as possible to attract sports tourism to our island.

Sports tourism is also geared towards schoolchildren. In fact SET is one of the biggest sports tours agency based in England which sends many schoolchildren to practise sport in Malta. Sports tourism is not only geared towards associations but also towards the adventure sector, and this is why leisure should also come into the policy as we need other strong associations for this sector.

It is a pity that the MSC never seriously got its sports tourism committee to meet. No one should depend only on government finances - there should be a think-thank of new ideas where there is good enjoyment, good organisation and good financial return which complements government finances.

Sports generates a lot of business too like hiring of equipment and sales of sports attire of which we do not have enough statistics to support. Sports and leisure bring tourism from all walks of life and has a great percentage of repeat tourism if well organised.

Hopefully, the new sports strategy and policy will concentrate mostly on sports tourism, as this greatly benefits the Maltese in general and gives a great image of the island abroad. Obviously I cannot divulge all ideas here but this is food for thought, which must be acted upon without further delay as Europe is already gearing for the new sports law and for a health and fitness strategy across the board.