FIBA Europe is ready to help the Malta Basketball Association (MBA) in constructing two new basketball courts, the European governing body general secretary Kamil Novak told The Times yesterday.
Novak, of the Czech Republic, revealed the news at the end of a two-day visit here during which he met association president Paul Sultana and discussed the impending projects intended mainly to raise the standard of the local game.
“This has been a short but intensive visit where I gathered a lot of information on the work being carried out by the Maltese asso-ciation,” Novak said.
“The president gave me a good insight and I also had an opportunity to have a look personally at what the MBA plans consist.
“They are keen to complete the construction of a new gym and basketball courts and FIBA Europe is ready to provide the funds necessary.
“We want to see this project completed in time.
“At FIBA Europe we have other applications from other countries to consider but I can affirm that Malta is on course to receive the financial assistance required from our schemes towards this kind of developments.”
Novak, who has only been in office since October when he was elected to the post to fill the void left by Nar Zanolin, said he discussed various other matters with his MBA counterparts this week.
“FIBA Europe is not all about financial grants but we also assist the technical set-ups in the form of clinics for coaching, officials and administrators. Paul Sultana has made no secret of his desire to see the Maltese game improve in all aspects.
“So in the coming months, we’ll be having qualified personnel conducting seminars here for the benefit of the MBA technical staff.”
Sultana welcomed FIBA Europe’s pledge to help his or-ganisation in their undertakings for 2013.
“We feel honoured to conduct talks with Kamil Novak so early in his tenure as FIBA Europe general secretary,” Sultana said.
“He saw for himself what we intend to do and studied our plans thoroughly.
“The damage at our basketball home in the September storm put a huge strain on our finances but we hope FIBA Europe will provide us with the necessary funds to complete our new projects.”
Novak had a successful basketball career as a forward, most notably with Banik Ostrava and German side Dragons. He also represented his country at international level for 17 years.
Asked how he considered the game to have evolved since his days, Novak said: “Basketball nowadays is based more on athleticism and tactics.
“The big players are finding it more difficult to leave their mark as the game flows faster, be-coming more exciting to watch.
“Our sport has also grown signi-ficantly in popularity thanks to the Euro League where the best players put their skills on display, inspiring a lot of youngsters to start practising basketball.”