Leaving a lasting legacy is the ambition of every administration and Malta Football Association president Norman Darmanin Demajo looks determined to do just that if the ambitious plans he announced during the recent annual general meeting are implemented.
Mr Darmanin Demajo presented to FA delegates and members of affiliated clubs and associations a five-point plan that, in his own words, indicated where the country’s foremost football organisation should be heading to in the next six years. He announced that an agreement had been struck with the Ministry of Education for the introduction of a second national school of sport that will be totally dedicated to football and will be situated close to the governing body headquarters in Ta’ Qali.
He is also planning a review of ‘amateur’ and ‘grassroots’ football, including futsal and women’s competitions, the setting up of a support unit to help young footballers overcome the initial difficulties when joining a foreign club and adequate preparation of club administrators. A string of redevelopment projects at the national stadium and MFA’s training grounds are also on the cards.
Projects that are not only ambitious but relevant and, one must admit, necessary too if we really want to keep raising the standards in the game of football, attract all potential talent and make the life of all stakeholders easier and worth the while.
No doubt, the introduction of a national school of football will be a massive boost in the Malta FA’s drive to boost its work among the grassroots.
The association’s technical centre is already doing a lot of work in trying to identify the most promising players on the island and take them under its wing to make sure they receive the right formation and maximise their potential.
Such an initiative is a must in a tiny island where available talent is limited.
The project will, no doubt, provide aspiring participants a holistic upbringing because they will not only have the opportunity to train under the best youth coaches on the island but, at the same time, also continue with their academic studies in the same institution.
This follows on the footsteps of prestigious overseas football academies run by big clubs such as Ajax Amsterdam, Manchester United and Barcelona, which are continuously nurturing the future stars of the ‘beautiful game’. As they say, it is best to catch them young.
The national school of sport already provides such service but the new facility at Ta’ Qali will allow football students in Pembroke to move out, providing more space and vacancies for young sportsmen in other disciplines.
One hopes this initiative will get off the ground without any loss of time and will not end up like other sporting pro-jects that were widely discussed in the past but never came to fruition, such as the sports village at White Rocks and the rugby football stadium in Għajn Dwieli.
It ought to be borne in mind that it will take a few years before the first fruit of the proposed national football school can be reaped.
The biggest benefit of such a project will, hopefully, not only be high-standard footballers in the future but, more importantly, its ability to nurture in children those core values that can transform them into role models who would be an inspiration to others in attaining a healthy lifestyle.