Aquatic Sports Association president Joe Caruana Curran told reporters yesterday that the ASA technical sector will be focusing on the junior male and female teams as part of a programme aimed at assessing the local potential in this sector.

“After the good work at senior level it is time to continue placing our attention on grooming more youngsters and help them improve,” he told a news conference at the ASA headquarters in Tal-Qroqq.

“It is a concerted effort aimed at bettering our rankings in Europe through more international participation.”

As a result, the ASA will be participating in two junior tournaments for the Under-17 male and female teams which will take place in the coming weeks.

The Maltese boys’ team will form part of one of four groups, comprising three of 12 sides taking part in Vienna, Austria, between tomorrow and Sunday.

Group A is comprised of Malta, South Africa and Ireland.

The teams in Group B are Austria ‘B’, Scotland and England, while Poland, Denmark and Switzerland are in Group C.

Wales, Austria ‘A’ and the Czech Republic were drawn in Group D.

The females will in turn travel to Odense, Denmark, to take part in the EU Nations Cup between April 1 and 3.

They will form part of Group B which includes England, Wales and Denmark and then they will play matches to determine the placings of the eight participating nations.

The other four teams in Group A are South Africa, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Ireland.

Caruana Curran said that the aim of these tournaments is to attract more youngsters to the sport so as to form the nucleus of a solid basis for the future.

Coach Karl Izzo will be in charge of the boys’ team at the tournament in Vienna.

He remarked that his squad looks forward to a very satisfactory showing while girls’ team coach Anthony Farrugia said that his players’ lack of experience will not deter them from doing their best.