Local game at the crossroads

Malta's participation in one of three groups of the European Championships qualification tournament held in Istanbul almost a fortnight ago, has somewhat dented our hitherto positive outlook regarding our national team's placing in the continental hierarchy of waterpolo.

Not that we were expecting to qualify for the final round - the 12-team championships proper will be held in Zagreb in October - when facing much stronger outfits.

Spain were considered stratospheric opponents, with Slovakia and Turkey constituting very stiff but nevertheless mundane hurdles.

Two of the three results more than manifested these fears, with the 26-2 thrashing at the hands of the Spaniards being the heaviest defeat we have ever suffered. The 19-goal drubbing against the Slovaks was a cold shower, while the 12-5 defeat against Turkey was palatable, given the circumstances.

Talking of circumstances, it was evident that the missing elements from our squad would not help our cause.

The absence of experienced players among whom was the talismatic Steve Camilleri, top-scorer by a mile in the preliminary tournament of these championships when held in Malta last summer, was a severe blow to our chances of downsizing our defeats in Turkey.

These handicaps were further augmented by the fact that whereas our opponents in Istanbul were at their peak in terms of seasonal tapering, Malta had to struggle to reach optimal competitive levels given that we were in our pre-season phase.

At this point one might ask why did not the ASA meet the press after the team arrived from Turkey?

Surely, this would have thrown more light on our participation there, as was the case when Malta qualified for this latest phase last September in Lugano.

Be that as it may, our participation in international events at this time of the year shows the need for us to bring our season in line with that of the European nations where the national leagues are contested in winter and leading up to spring.

However, there is more than a mountain to climb in this respect.

Our season is intrinsically tied with summer, both in the traditional sense and as far as the lack of indoor or adjusted playing facilities in winter are concerned.

A compromise was the Winter League which has been on for well over a decade now. Although this competition and the build-up it generates helped to sharpen our players' competitive edge, this is clearly not enough.

Added to this is the fact that continuity in churning out good quality players is currently suffering a shortfall.

There are various reasons for this, the first being that only a handful of clubs are nurturing youngsters through nurseries and eventually presenting competitive teams in the youth leagues, something which the ASA is still dead set on encouraging.

The recent tournament for siblings is a case in point as were those organised at club level at the end of last season.

All this shows that Maltese waterpolo is at the crossroads and the next step towards better pastures and an eventual upgrading in our international rankings may take longer to realise.

The organisational and technical structures need refining, while the physical ones call for a thorough upheaval.

However, at this point we cannot ignore our demographic limitations, even if the game is traditionally ingrained in us due to prevailing physical conditions evident in the seaside facilities we have.

The ASA is working hard to this end, leaving nothing to chance in its bid to improve our standards of waterpolo.

Winter League

The Winter League will resume over the last two Saturdays of this month, with the play-offs between the first four-placed teams.

Top-placed and holders Sliema will play Sirens, while second-placed San Ġiljan will face Neptunes (third).

The winners of these matches will contest the pre-season title on May 29 and on the same day the losers will play for third place.

June will then herald the summer season trek for the BOV national titles and knock out competitions.