When I was invited to see the Otters under-14 and under-17 teams in action at their waterpolo pitch in Marsalforn, they were battling it out with the Neptunes, a Maltese team that is well-used to aiming at league top spots. The comparison with David challenging Goliath came to mind, not least because the Gozitan boys were indeed younger and smaller than their adversaries. Fighting with determination, as they did, was not sufficient to defeat Goliath.

Waterpolo is a very healthy sport. Considering the copious amounts of sea surrounding the island one would expect it to be 'big' in Gozo. As a matter of fact, for the Otters and its supporters it is pretty big.

The Otters Aquatic Sports Club has been in existence for 36 years. Apart from being the only surviving waterpolo club of a large number that had sprouted in Gozo in the seventies, it has participated uninterruptedly in competitions organised on a national basis by the Aquatic Swimming Association of Malta since 1981.

This year, the Otters' foreign coach, Macedonian Saso Christovski, visited Gozitan schools, where he showed DVDs about waterpolo and handed out sign-up forms to students, in a bid to attract new talent to the club. The campaign was a success: 35 kids signed up for its waterpolo school for children aged 8 to 12.

It could be seen this way - 35 youngsters have been given something meaningful, healthy and educational to do in their free time, which in itself should count for a lot in this day and age of computer-addicted, obese children. Rounding off the benefits of waterpolo is a sense of discipline that a competitive team sport naturally instils.

It is a shame that little recognition, and even less help, has been forthcoming from the authorities and ministries, who have been dragging their feet over providing the team with proper training facilities. Top priority for the club right now is a pool which would ensure year-round training for the teams.

At present training is possible only during the summer months, which obviously puts the Gozitan club at a big disadvantage vis-a-vis its Maltese rivals who have continuous access to the National Pool, if not their own.

But missing out on many months of training is not the only obstacle; even greater has been the nuisance of ever-growing numbers of jellyfish in the past three years, wreaking havoc not only with training sessions, but even forcing league matches to be postponed.

The Gozitan club has not been sitting idly, just waiting for charitable help to flow its way. An application was lodged with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority last March, for the construction of an outdoor seawater pool on its premises, which would at least guarantee regular training sessions during the summer months.

In the meantime, yet another season has been battled through without the use of adequate training facilities. The club has also been lobbying for a public pool, similar to the National Pool at Tal-Qroqq or the MFA indoor pool at Ta' Qali, which would be open all year around. If giving support to the Otters plea does not seem to generate enough votes, then how about the great numbers of Gozitans who could and would gladly make use of such a facility too?

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