New MAAA president Edwin Attard.

Athletics has been running through the veins of Edwin Attard for almost his entire life.

His love for the sport started at a very young age and in his heyday went on to become one of the fastest middle distance runners in the country, winning the national titles in both the 800 and the 1,500 metres races. He was also the first in the local scene to breach the two-minute barrier for the 800m event.

Inevitably, the passion for athletics pushed Attard to take a more active role in the administrative sector after quitting the track, eventually going on to join the Malta Amateur Athletic Association, first as a media officer and then 17 uninterrupted years as general secretary.

Last month, former president Anthony Chircop decided to retire after almost two decades at the helm and Attard was voted in as the organisation’s new leader.

The task looks formidable but Attard will be relying on his background in the sport to drive him through.

“Being president of the MAAA is a great honour but a huge challenge,” Attard told The Sunday Times of Malta.

“But I have always been involved in the organisational aspect of the sport so my background will help me a lot.

“During my years at the university, in the late 1970s, besides practising the sport I also formed part of a group that included several promising runners who tried to organise meetings to further enhance and promote the sport on our shores.

“We introduced an endurance series – the winter series – which involved races on the road, track and cross country. Thanks to this initiative, we now have an established Mdina to Spinola race. It’s the second most popular long distance event in the local calendar.

“Eventually I also got involved in the first Malta Marathon edition. That was in 1986 and a few years later I joined the MAAA committee.

“When the vacancy of president became available I felt that after so many years I had enough experience to take up the post. I know there’s hard work to do but I’m grateful that club delegates opted to give me their backing in the vote.”

Attard is determined to take the sport forward but wants to implement his programme through good management and consultation in all areas.

“Before we embark on new initiatives, we have to ensure that there is good management of all resources we have at our disposal,” he said.

“Once we achieve that we can look at other objectives like improving training facilities and putting more focus on the elite athletes programme to ensure better results.

“We also have to give a sound backing to our group of track officials. That way our competition meetings, a huge headache for the organisers, will be managed more efficiently.”

Legal title

Five years ago, the MAAA was granted a legal title on the Matthew Micallef St John athletics stadium and a lease of 49 years.

Attard said that was a move in the right direction as the association could boast their own headquarters. However, he concedes that keeping the place up to standard requires an all-round effort and great commitment.

“The stadium is of great value for our sport. The track provides us with an ideal venue for our athletes to practise and improve standards,” Attard said.

“But, I also think the upkeep of the place and adequate maintenance of the facilities are held regularly. That will make the place attractive for local athletes and foreign visitors alike.

“In the past, we had a project to turn the stadium into a high-performance centre. The council is again in the process of re-assessing this idea.

“We are still in favour but we have to find ways to make sure that it is done in a practical way. It may well be the case that to complete the project we would need to divide development in stages, always giving priority to certain aspects.

“We cannot rush otherwise all this will never happen.”

Attard said that one of the options being considered is partnership with private companies. However, at the moment that’s not really possible as the agreement signed with the government does not allow such third-party agreements.

“Due to financial difficulties it’s difficult to upgrade facilities on our own,” Attard admitted.

“So, the way forward is through partnership agreements with private companies to make the Marsa stadium more commercially viable.

The way forward is through partnership agreements with private companies to make the Marsastadium more commercially viable

“As the agreement is at present this is not permitted but hopefully there will be a breakthrough in the coming months following further discussions with the authorities.”

Turning his sights back on track and field, Attard conceded that after the poor showing of the Luxembourg GSSE, where MAAA representatives only managed one gold medal, the new administration is determined to assemble a more competitive squad.

“Luxembourg 2013 was very disappointing for the MAAA,” Attard said.

“Our objective is to bounce back in Iceland in 12 months time. To this end, we are planning to set up a technical committee. Its first task will be the European Team Championships in Georgia in June.

“From there, we’ll continue building on our national squad for the Iceland Small Nations Games.

“We think this initiative could provide us with new options, perhaps giving us a clear indication where we stand and what can be done to have a strong athletics team to rely on in future.”