Team Malta are gearing up for their participation in the 2015 Games of the Small States of Europe which kick off this evening with the opening ceremony at the Laugarsvallur Stadium, in Reykjakiv.

The Maltese contingent, spearheaded by president Julian Pace Bonello, landed in the Icelandic capital in the early hours of this morning where they were greeted by chef-de-mission William Beck.

Chef-de-mission William Beck.Chef-de-mission William Beck.

Months ago, the Maltese Olympic Committee agreed to hand Beck the responsibility of organising the country’s expedition for the GSSE and now he can rely on all that he had managed to gather when acting as assistant chef-de-mission at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

“I never imagined that the GSSE would require so much work,” Beck told Times of Malta.

“But, I am grateful to Mark Cutajar for appointing me as his assistant at last year’s Commonwealths as that experience proved useful ahead of the GSSE.

“I have realised that organising the logistics and sorting out accreditations was more complicated than in the Commonwealths. The Glasgow Games IT system was simple but unfortunately it’s not the case with the GSSE where you have foreign athletes competing on residency grounds. So, you need to ensure that you have everything in order in registrations. You need to be sure that you are abiding by the regulations.”

The Malta chef-de-mission admitted that drawing up the list of athletes for Iceland was one of the main challenges faced by the MOC.

“This year, the process of identifying the athletes competing in the Games took longer than expected,” Beck admitted.

“We initially planned to go for a contingent of 70 athletes and officials but the number swelled to 84. That inevitably caused a problem to find flights for the entire team and it was for this reason that we are travelling in two groups.

“The MOC selection was only finalised a few days before the Iceland Games due to a dispute that arose in swimming regarding Nicola Muscat and Neil Muscat who were banned from competition.

“The situation was anything but ideal, four days before the start of a GSSE.”

The Muscats’ case created a lot of discussion as to whether the ASA had made the right decision in sticking to their stance of banning the two young swimmers for disciplinary reasons.

“In these circumstances, it is very difficult to be totally convinced whether the decisions made were the right ones,” Beck contended.

“You have a situation where an athlete has been preparing for two whole years, supported by the ASA and MOC and marked to peak at the Games with a good chance of winning a medal. Then an incident crops up and everything goes up in the air.

“It’s hard to choose what is more important, the disciplinary code or your quest to win a medal? In this case, the ASA maintained their position to discipline the two swimmers.”

Last month, the MOC said that travelling expenses for Iceland were high, with spending for each athlete reaching around €2,300 in flights and accommodation.

This was followed by suggestions that financial considerations may have played a major part in the MOC decision to take a small contingent for the Games but Beck begged to differ.

“The costs are always taken into consideration but it was not the decisive factor for the MOC when it came to decide who was to make the trip to Iceland,” the MOC Exco member said.

“We set Minimum Qualifying Standards and all athletes who met the set criteria were included in the squad.

“The major dilemma was when you had athletes who just missed out on the qualifying mark and you had to decide whether they could still challenge for a medal based on current form.

“When you have an athlete well outside the MQS, it makes no sense for him/her to be include in the squad. I think it’s smarter to save the money you were going to spend for their trip and use it to help them improve their performance.

“We believe that all the athletes who form part of our team stand a good medal chance.”

Does that mean that Malta can challenge for a medal in each of the 10 sport being contested in Iceland?

“Yes, absolutely,” Beck remarked.

“I am a very positive person and from what I’ve seen, we have enough material to return home with good results.”

Apart from being an MOC Executive Member, Beck has been the president of the Malta Golf Association for the past 10 years.

This year, golf is making its first appearance at the GSSE and Malta will field three players in Reykjavik, Andy Borg, Daniel Holland and John Junior Ver Elst Micallef.

“The golf tournament in the GSSE will be of a high standard as it will be open for amateur and professional players alike,” he said.

“We are heading for the Games with our three best players. Daniel turned pro six months ago while Andy and JJ are two of our best players at the club.

“I’m very optimistic that we can be successful in golf. Iceland will have three professionals and that makes them favourites in the singles but Malta can be very competitive in the team event and hopefully return home with a medal.”

Valhmor Camilleri travelled to Iceland thanks to the assistance of Medical Laboratory Services (MLS).

Malta’s record at the GSSE

Year Hosts Gold Silver Bronze Total
1985 San Marino 0 0 1 1
1987 Monaco 1 1 4 6
1989 Cyprus 2 1 3 6
1991 Andorra 1 2 4 7
1993 Malta 4 7 16 27
1995 Luxembourg 1 4 7 12
1997 Iceland 5 10 11 26
1999 Liechtenstein 4 8 8 20
2001 San Marino 7 12 16 35
2003 Malta 12 16 15 43
2005 Andorra 7 13 18 38
2007 Monaco 4 9 17 30
2009 Cyprus 3 5 13 21
2011 Liechtenstein 8 12 9 29
2013 Luxembourg 2 10 13 25

Note: The GSSE in 2017 will be staged in San Marino.

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