Athletics Malta will be wrapping their track and field season next week with the participation of 15 young athletes at the largest Euro gathering for youths – the European Kids Athletics Games.

This two-day event in Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic, has now reached its seventh edition, with a selection from the islands present on six occasions.

This year’s MAAA contingent, composed of eight girls and seven boys, have been in earnest pre-paration throughout the summer months, deter-mined to match, and possibly outdo, past positive performances.

Having been on the podium 30 times so far and given the in-depth strength of this year’s selection, hopes are again riding high that performances may increase this tally considerably.

However, the challenge may also be getting tougher, due to the increased participation of teams hailing from 12 other nations besides those from the home republic and neighbouring Slovakia.

In fact, other than the traditionally strong British, Hungarian and German contingents, Poland and Georgia will be joining the fray, to bring the total of participating athletes past the 1,000-mark.

The Maltese contingent, under the leadership of IAAF-certified coach Carmel Borg, assisted by MaryAnne Ellul, herself a qualified official, will be taking part in practically all disciplines, with a special focus this year on hurdles events.

With five athletes having already participated in the Games, the group is a mixture of seasoned as well as new blood, building on the policy of the association to increase participation of young members in inter-national events to prepare for the future.

The group will depart to Brno tomorrow with events taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

As was the case in previous years, participation would not have materialised without the assistance of the Kunsill Malti għall-Isport and the parents of the athletes, who will be meeting a good part of the considerable expense involved.

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