Cynergi Virtus point guard David Bugeja is coming from a very positive season in the Malta Basketball Association competitions.

Bugeja’s character lured him to basketball from the tender age of 11 and, looking up to his older sister, he improved continually in his sport. Now he has a third championship medal to show for his hard work.

Bugeja pays tribute to the growing community of basketball players.

“I still keep in touch with my first team-mates and we grew up in this sport together,” he said.

“The social side of my sport is very important as we shared a common love for the game and continuously wanted to improve.

“Basketball creates a good environment and this has been a good influence on my game.”

Since his early days, Bugeja, 23, has seen the sport grow and credits the last four years as his most important.

“The introduction of the foreign players has given us new heights to aim for,” he added.

“We can learn a lot from our team-mates and training has also improved. No doubt, foreign players have upped the standard in our game and our targets are increasing.”

Bugeja also identified the setting up of new nurseries as a key factor as they engage players from a young age. Coaching standards are improving and although he feels young players need more areas and facilities to practise outside, the sport is increasing in popularity and the pool of young players is becoming stronger.

It was not hard to see that this season, in which Virtus became champions for the first time, was his best ever.

He beamed when mentioning the league success and added that playing against his ‘old team-mates’ in the play-offs final increased the intensity.

“All in all, I think we started the season on a good note but slowed down due to changes,” he said.

“I think we managed to come together as a team and peaked at the right time of the season.”

Virtus’s rise to stardom saw them do the unimaginable as “beating Athleta 3-0 in the final was never achieved before”.

Hard work pays off

Bugeja reckons his team’s hard work has been rewarded but he will soon shift his attention to “the most important part of the season – the summer months and pre-season”.

“All your training at this stage will pay off later and this gave us an edge,” he added, with a little advice to budding players.

The words ‘work hard, play hard’ springs to mind and even though Bugeja is not one of the sport’s old hands, his advice echoes a sentiment of leadership.

He hopes to add more medals to his collection next season. “We should not change a winning formula,” Bugeja pointed out.

His team moved from strength to strength and Bugeja believes “more can be achieved next season.”

The pre-season will be a tough one for Bugeja, who is setting himself the target of becoming one of Malta’s leaders in the sport.

“I want to play a big part in the national team and use my experience in the league to help the sport continue to develop locally,” he remarked.

Bugeja’s enthusiasm has led to him becoming one of the country’s most promising players, so it is worth keeping tabs on his development as he eyes new targets for himself and the national team.