Earlier last month, the Kunsill Malti ghall-iSport, in collaboration together with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment, organised the National Sports Conference which was very well attended.

In the course of these weeks (with the kind permission of the KMS and special thanks to Joe Cassar, CEO of the KMS) I am delving deeper into each respective workshop and share with you the main conclusions and suggestions that arose from all those present.

In fact I have already put forward the main points arising from two of these workshops, and today I will discuss another of the workshops namely one that discussed sport complexes and structures and how these could be extended and developed for the good of the community.

This workshop, chaired by Michael Aquilina and having George Micallef as rapporteur, commenced by immediately highlighting the fact there are both physical as well as administrative structures present within the local sports environment.

The latter structures could then be further broken down in various categories like educational, marketing/PR and the respective associations, federations and sport organisations.

The physical structures per se were then analysed and the main conclusions were that there is a need that all the sports facilities in our Islands, including those found within schools, be these publicly or privately run, are identified.

Additionally, strong proposals were put forward so that legal titles be issued for the use of sport facilities and that more than adequate attention be given to the management and maintenance of these same facilities.

The facility managers should be synchronised and have good level of relations/communication with the various sport entities so that effective co-ordination be the norm.

The discussion then moved forward and studied administrative issues, commencing with marketing and public relations.

There was a general agreement that there is the need for an excellent level of interaction between the KMS and the respective sport associations. Crucial information will then flow easily between the two parts and as a result there should be a higher level of efficiency and accountability in the national sports sector.

The KMS will, thus, also be in a much better position to act as a mediator between the respective associations and the government or any other public entity/institution/ body. In fact, it was later proposed that the KMS should have an official/s who would be responsible to take care and facilitate the relations/interaction between the various sport entities and public entities/departments like, for example, MEPA or the Lands Department.

In this way there would be a clear reference point the associations could go to and also a possibility of some decrease in unnecessary bureaucracy and time-stalling red tape procedures.

The workshop’s participants also stressed that the KMS could launch an ‘aggressive?marketing campaign on the local media with the main aim of both increasing general participation in physical exercises by all and sundry (this is a long term goal as results within the respective associations will be then felt after some years) as well as to promote, both locally and internationally, any relevant sports activity organised in our Islands (there is a potential for a good sport tourism niche yet to be exploited).

Other ideas put forward in this workshop was that the purchasing of air-time on the national TV station (even in current affairs programmes) could be a good investment. Sponsors will be more willing to fork out much-needed monetary assistance if they get more media exposure.

Turning towards education, the workshop’s main conclusions in this regard were that there is a dire need for change both in the structure and culture within the local education scene, notably at the primary and kindergarten level so that a superior sports culture be nurtured in children as from a very young age.

There was also a mention of the need of more co-ordination between the KMS and tertiary level educational institutions so that human resources (both at a technical and administrative level) be maximised to the their full potential. This will easily lead to more students being exposed towards various sport disciplines whereas the respective associations would possibly find much-needed support and assistance at the technical and administrative levels.

The KMS should also play a key role when institutions are planning or developing any sport project/s. It is important that persons with a ‘sport?frame of mind be actively and closely involved in these plans as ultimately we are dealing with sport-related structures/activities from which guaranteed benefits could arise for both the students and the general public (but only if they are planned/organised effectively).

In the latter stages of the workshop, the discussion turned on the administrative issues within the local associations and sport organisations.

An interesting example was put forward highlighting the possibility (and the resulting advantages) of sharing a sports facility between various associations.

Various participants also stressed the fact that they are run on a voluntary basis and on a small budget and sometimes do not find the time or the right people to carry out the general administrative tasks.

As a result, the establishment House of Sport was proposed as an idea for the future. This could act as a general administrative centre for various sport associations and will contain a number of professional administrative and technical officers that could then offer their expertise for each respective association.

Also in this regard, there was a mention of the need to have an updated directory/database of all the qualified administrators, coaches and sport officials in our Islands.

Obviously there was a general feel that one always needs more of these professional administrators and technical officials and as such there was a proposal that the KMS, possibly in collaboration with educational entities, organises training programmes leading to a relevant certification so that it becomes easier and more possible that each respective association will have qualified officials within its structure.

In the short run, the KMS (this was another proposal) could employ a number of full time administrators who will be ‘shared?amongst various associations and their job would be to implement every decision taken by the respective executive council within each association.