Chris Busuttil Leaver is another well-known local sportsman who can be considered an all-rounder. He has taken part in several sporting
disciplines, but his top favourites were football, and later hockey – where he has had an illustrious career, first as a player and general
secretary and, in most recent years, as president of the Malta Hockey Association. At present he is mostly responsible for organising the international Hockey Challenge tournament which the European Hockey Association has entrusted to the Malta Association. It is the first tournament of its kind in Malta, although in the past two years, similar tournaments at club level have been held at Corradino. Here he tells his story to Henry Brincat
Chris Busuttil Leaver is one of those sports enthusiasts you rarely find. He has had a wonderful sporting career and only decided to quit playing competitively (hockey) three years ago.
Of course, as he told me during our long chat, football was his number one sport. But it is interesting to mention how he started playing hockey, for which he is mostly known these days.
This is how he described it to me: “One day, while at university, I saw a notice on the board, which said that those interested in playing hockey were to put their name on the circular. I had always been interested in any kind of sport and I thought I had nothing to lose, so I jotted my name down. A trial followed and, after being selected, I started playing. We used to go to Floriana, Luqa, Corradino, Tigne and St Andrew’s pitches,” he said.
He said he became so keen on playing hockey that one day his friends were surprised to be told by his mother that he was playing, just a night after they had taken him home feeling very sick.
He said: “It was a long career and despite the fact that we have now finally started playing on an artificial pitch, I had to call it a day three years ago. I started the long trek with the Banks team. Then I had a short spell with Luxol. That was followed by my successful move to White Hart which remained my only club until I retired.
“In the early days of my career with the Banks team, there were several outstanding players and there was some great rivalry with KOMR, the Dockyard team, the Civil Service Sports Club, Cable & Wireless, St Michael’s Training College, Floriana Irish Born and Valliere.
“During my spell as a White Hart player, I helped the club win the league title on nine occasions. The first one was in 1977-78 and that was, perhaps, the most memorable of them all. However, it was also a great moment when the White Hart team managed to win the title three years in succession, that is, in 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96. Apart from that, we also won the KO on eight occasions and the Challenge Cup seven times. I just couldn’t hope for much more,” he said.
During his spell with White Hart, Chris played alongside such players as Norman Miller, Anthony Tabone (now Maltese national team coach), Patrick Smith, David Tortell, David Agius, Brian Tortell, Robert Vassallo Agius and Dejan Mihajlovic, all of whom have been voted Player of the Year of the Association.
Under his presidency, four years ago he led the Malta national hockey team on a tour of Sicily. He also led the side to the European Championship in Dublin, where the national team, under the charge of Tony Tabone, played several matches against Wales, Finland, Italy, Austria, Gibraltar, Ireland and France.
Also, about four years ago, he led a Maltese contingent, including the national team, to a training camp in Sicily at CUS Catania. In the two matches played against the Italians, the Maltese registered one win and a draw.
On the football field, he had also led the Bank of Valletta team to play a match in Sicily as well as taking part in a Rome tournament where they also played against the Italians’ Banks team and that of the Cassa di Risparmio.
Asked to mention a memorable moment in his career, he quickly referred to the installation of the artificial surface pitch at Corradino for use by hockey enthusiasts. “We had been dreaming of it for many years. We knew that without it we could not stage any club and international tournaments and we also knew that with it, the standards of the local players would improve considerably. So when we inaugurated the pitch three years ago with an international match against Cyprus, it was a great day for me and for the Maltese hockey family in general. Hockey deserves to have such a good venue. After all, it has been a very popular sport in Malta since the advent of the British Services here,” he said.
Busuttil Leaver went on to say that his committee is now working to change the structure of local hockey. “In the national team, we are blooding new youngsters. We have been invited to take part in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne next year, but that is far beyond our reach. We would be mad if we were to go there, where some of the strongest sides in the world will be taking part. These include Pakistan, India, Australia and England, among others,” he said.
He said the game is continuing to develop in Malta. “Some-thing new is the staging of international tournaments at Corradino. Thanks to the new artificial turf, we have already hosted two club Challenge tournaments. Now we are holding an international level tournament involving four nations. We just hope that there will be more of such tournaments in the near future, having received a lot of praise for our facility at Corradino from those who have visited us over the past three years,” he added.
Busuttil Leaver made it clear that the primary use of the facility is for hockey clubs and their players, apart, of course, from the national team. “But when it is not in use, for example, on Sunday afternoons, we are hiring it out, thus generating some much needed funds for its upkeep,” he said.
Date of birth: 18 November 1944
Education: St Joseph, The Lyceum and the University.
Work career: He started work over 41 years ago with the National Bank of Malta, now the Bank of Valletta, and today is executive head of the bank’s Valletta Business Centre.
Sporting career: When he was young he was always active and played football for the class team and also for The Lyceum. It was at university that he started playing hockey, although he also played for the football team. He subsequently also played for the Banks first team and also played for the same team in the para-
statal football league. He also represented the bank in their hockey team. He had a short spell with Sliema Wanderers FC in the Reserves team, but had to cut his football career short. In his playing days he also turned out for St Peter’s of Birzebbuga, where he helped their Under 21 team win the title under coach Wenzu Gabarretta, a former Malta national goalkeeper.
In competitive hockey, he always played for Banks till 1977-78; then he moved to White Hart. Football has been his favourite sport – he also coached the Banks team – but hockey was another great favourite – his career in this sport way having started way back in 1962-63, while he was at university. He ended his playing career only three years ago. During his early days, he also played some volleyball, basketball and table-tennis, apart from having taken part in some athletics meetings.
Coaching career: He attended some football courses under well-known Italian coach Cragnotti and Briton Jimmy Sirrell. He coached the Bank of Valletta team to victory in the Government Parastatal League in the early 1980s, winning the final match against the strong Drydocks team. He never coached a league football team – never being interested in that particular job.
Administrative career: He was the general secretary of the Malta Hockey Association from 1983 to 1986. He was elected president of the association in 2000, taking over from Joe Grech, and has represented the association on the Council of the Malta Olympic Committee for several years.
Awards: He has not been nominated for any award at national level. However, he won nine hockey league titles, eight Cups and seven Challenge Cups during his illustrious career.
Chris is married to Nathalie and they have a son, Luke, who is now a Malta international hockey player, following in his father’s footsteps.