A very important educational debate was initiated in this newspaper a few months ago about the young adolescent and competitive sport but, unfortunately, many questions were left unanswered and the issue remained inconclusive.

Here are my conclusions based on a lifetime dedicated to sport at all levels. I also served as national youth football coach.

In Malta, unlike other countries of the Western world, most competitive sport is organised outside the context of the school system. In many countries, competitive sport for children, known as little leagues, still function with exceptional success, contributing to ongoing positive results in the international arena.

A review of the academic literature on the subject reveals the reasons for favouring such organised competition stressing the contribution of such activities to the child’s physical fitness, emotional development, social adjustment, development of competitive attitudes and insulation against delinquency.

In my experience as a primary school head teacher, I can confirm these positive signs in my introduction of the first football teams at the Marsascala primary school in 1962 and in Qala in 1969.

Of course, one also finds literature that points to negative aspects. However, it is very obvious that this sterile preoccupation, which is nothing less than overprotection, deprives young children of the fascinating world of competition. It is in these active physical disciplines that the catharsis effect, namely the purging of emotional stress and frustrations inherent in the adolescent, is strongly felt.

It is obvious that coaches at pre-adolescent level should ensure that the fun and mirth in sport should not be obliterated with excessive competition with enormous trophies or monetary rewards.

Community-based institutions like sports nurseries for pre-adolescent children provide the opportunity for children to scale new heights as their flowering talents later emerge on the international arena.

Whither will Malta go?