Team Malta's worst GSSE performance since 1995

During the week of the Games I watched the results coming in from Nicosia, which got bleaker as the days went by. At the end of the Cyprus experience Team Malta failed miserably in reaching its preset and declared target of a fourth place finish and in the process we witnessed a drastic regression in the quality and quantity of the medals won, which ended in Malta's worst performance since 1995.

All the work and achievements put in by all stakeholders since 1995 were wiped out in this week at the Cyprus GSSE.

I have analysed the performance in Cyprus and here are my observations:

1. This is the worst performance overall in terms of quality of medals since the 1995 GSSE.

2. Swimming and athletics had the worst performance since 1995.

3. Judo had the worst performance since 1985.

4. Tennis had the second worst performance of all time, the worst being in Monaco 2007.

5. Table tennis had the worst performance since this sport was included in the Games in 1997.

The times in the individual events in athletics and swimming were below those attained in previous editions showing a downturn in the actual individual performance in these disciplines.

The mountainbike and beachvolley produced nothing but defeat. The men's basketball team was simply not competitive.

One must also here add, in the analysis of the performance of Team Malta at the GSSE 2009 that the sports programme was very congenial and MOC friendly where we had top medal winning sport like sailing, shooting and basketball (women) included.

Taking the 30 medals we won in Monaco and including the women's basket and shooting medals, our total in Monaco would have been six gold for a total of 35 medals.

In women's trap, we made a serious tactical blunder.

On many an occasion when we had shooting as a possibility in the Games I was approached by the shooting federation to include women in the trap event.

I always objected to this, as I knew how strong San Marino are in this event where they place within the top six in Olympic Games and their woman shooter has just won a World Cup shoot in Cairo last month.

Now, if we do not field athletes the event cannot take place due to technical limitations of numbers.

But, we fielded two shooters, brought them over from Australia at great expense and for San Marino to win gold and silver!

San Marino are always contending the overall placing with us, so here we gave them a headstart.

The Director of Sport must truly understand all the sport disciplines and must in his own right be a great tactician so as to use our limited resources to our advantage and not give an advantage to our direct antagonists in the classification.

I have read a comment from the president of the MOC, which states that the bad performance arose from three main reasons: the table tennis issue and non-Maltese nationals, injuries in the squad and the fact that this year the national associations were permitted to work with more independence in the run-up to the Games.

In fact, most of these issues were also highlighted during Tuesday's media conference.

The table tennis issue. Here the issue is not what other countries did or did not do. The fundamental issue is, were our foreign athletes eligible or not?

If they were then we were done in and rightly so can claim foul play.

But if, in fact, these players did violate the eligibility rules as stated in the GSSE statute and technical regulations, then they had no right to be included in Team Malta.

The injuries issue. As a former Director of Sport up until I resigned in January 2009, I have to advise one and all that when I returned to the MOC in May 2008 after a period of absence, which started in early October 2007, I took stock of the situation and I could see that in my absence there had been a serious vacuum in the technical department.

I could see that our athletes were very far behind with their preparation for Cyprus.

On my return, I found elite athletes still nursing injuries from Monaco 2007 and another with an injury since September 2007. I immediately actioned a plan to address this long-standing issue.

In November 2008, the MOC held its quadrennial council elections and I was reconfirmed as Director of Sport.

In the previous months, that is since my return in May till November, I had compiled a technical audit and assessment of the state of the training and injuries.

I was present for training sessions of the various sport disciplines and seven months before the Games, shortly after my re-confirmation as Director of Sport, I recommended that for the last six months we employ on a part-time basis a specialist Russian scientist and physiologist residing in Malta who had worked for the MOC before.

His role would be to ensure that in the closing months of the preparation, the athletes, their coaches and their associations do not force the issue with over training in an effort to catch up as this would lead to injuries.

The executive failed to act on this recommendation and now I read about the injuries.

Where was the MOC? And why was nothing actioned?

Only on Tuesday, I heard the judo federation president, during the association's own programme, admit that their athletes only started training six months before the Games.

In no edition since 1995 have we had such a long and enduring injury list.

The role of the national associations issue. Another reason given by the MOC president for the non-performance in Cyprus was that in 2009, after my departure, the MOC adopted a different policy and gave the national associations responsible for their sport freedom of action.

Well, how about that! On my resignation, the MOC approved a statutory amendment during the February 2009 council, defining the new role and duties of the Director of Sport.

Since 1993 till 2009 the Director of Sport was "responsible for the sports and technical programme of the MOC and all matters connected with the Olympic Games, Med. Games, Commonwealth Games, GSSE and EYOF".

This was changed to read "in consultation with the technical person appointed by the federation will be responsible to prepare the sports programme... he will be responsible towards the executive for matters connected with the Olympic Games, Med. Games, Commonwealth Games, GSSE".

Reading the two texts one reaches two conclusions.

1. The Director of Sport will now be "coordinating" with the national association and not implementing the MOC technical macro plan.

2. Unlike his previous statutory role he is now answerable to the executive and not responsible for all matters etc, as per original text.

So, the MOC delegated the former powers vested in the office of the Director of Sport to the national associations and the executive.

In my opinion, the most critical person in the road to success within the MOC has now been rendered toothless.

In early September 2007, after the Monaco GSSE, the executive of the MOC agreed to a policy document - for the future. This was discussed and communicated to the member national associations in late September 2007 during a seminar.

The focal point of the policy document was that the MOC (post Monaco) had decided to take a firmer grip on the situation, especially technical matters.

If the MOC executive had decided so, how is it that we now hear that the MOC went in a diametrically opposed direction after I left and allowed the national associations to work freely? Do policies and strategies exist at the MOC?

Tax-payers money is funding 60 per cent of the MOC budget and we expect results, especially at GSSE level.

I would like to congratulate all medal winners in Cyprus, their families and national federation. At GSSE level, Team Malta goes to win and not to give athletes competitive experience. This has been the policy since 1995.

In conclusion, I would like to simply use a quote of the president of the MOC prior to the Games - "the proof of the pudding is in the eating".

Well, now we have eaten the pudding and I must say it has left a bitter taste.

Pescara 2009

Within three weeks, Team Malta will once again be competing in the Mediterranean Games in Pescara. The level of competition here is much higher than the GSSE and yet I am very optimistic that William Chetcuti, who I have seen grow to a world class shooter in the past seven years during my tenure as Director of Sport, will deliver the goods.

Chetcuti has the quality to go for gold in Pescara even if competition will be tough and I hope that those around him give him the peace and tranquility he needs to reach his true potential.

I think that Pescara 2009 could improve on the silver and bronze medals won in 1997 in Bari also at the Med. Games.