It takes a minimum of 10 years to develop an athlete to reach elite levels, MOC director of Youth, Envic Galea said at the official launch of the GO Youth Athlete Scheme. He went on to say: producing an athlete is no longer a process of taking a short term approach with emphasis on immediate results. Today’s mentality, which the Maltese Olympic Committee adheres to, is to focus on an approach that works towards helping to develop and support talented youngsters with a Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) process.
Young athletes need to gain experience, confidence and an aptitude which will provide them with a solid foundation. Through a LTAD approach young athletes will learn to work towards developing sustainable success that is not necessarily immediate; but in the long run ensures that they remain in sport and reach elite levels, he concluded.
MOC secretary-general, Joseph Cassar, who was also present went on to highlight how two well known elite athletes who will be representing Malta at the forthcoming Olympic Games in Beijing namely William Chetcuti (Shooting) and Marcon Bezzina (Judo) are the result of this same approach.
Both William and Marcon were identified as talented athletes in their sport at the age of 16 years. With progressive and gradual steps they have worked their way up the sporting ladder and have reached the pinnacle of any athlete’s dream eight years later at the ages of 24 years, that is, representing one’s country at the Olympic Games.
Today, at the official launch of the GO Youth Athlete Scheme, the MOC have now made it possible with the help of GO to go a step further. The GO Youth Athlete scheme which will be an ongoing scheme under the auspices of the MOC Centre of Excellence which will help Malta’s most talented youngsters to follow in the footsteps of the likes of William Chetcuti and Marcon Bezzina. These schemes focus on helping talented young athletes to learn training to train skills, training to compete and eventually training to win.
The MOC received over 60 nominations from its affiliated members to support their talented youngsters of which 12 athletes coming from athletics, cycling, judo, golf, sailing, squash, shooting, tennis and wrestling where chosen. This not to say, that the youngsters not chosen were not talented, but due to financial constraints, a line had to be drawn.
The MOC hopes that the initiative taken by GO to support the GO Youth Athlete Scheme will show other commercial entities that supporting youngsters and sport can be in line with their company objectives and policies.
David Kay, CEO who was present congratulated the youngsters who were present in their official uniforms and said that GO is proud to support such an important initiative which brings together two areas of sponsorship which the company has at heart – sports and the youth.
Mr Kay added that over the years GO has supported a number of high profile sporting events, as well as teams and individual athletes who have made a name for themselves in Malta and abroad. He said it is part of GO’s corporate social responsibility programme to assist young athletes within our community.
GO Youth Athletes include: Jana Pace Cocks (Athletics), Tamara Vella (Athletics), James Dimech (Cycling), Chris Bergedahl (Golf), JJ Micallef (Golf), Jeremy Saywell (Judo), Sean Borg (Sailing), Ella Fleri Soler (Sailing), Clive Farrugia (Shooting), Colette Sultana (Squash), Kimberly Cassar (Tennis), Aidan Buhagiar (Wrestling).
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IOC president Rogge says he’s ‘very concerned’ about Tibet, other international issues
STEPHEN WADE
AP sports writer
The head of the International Olympic Committee said yesterday he was “very concerned” about unrest in Tibet, but played down talk of a
boycott of the Beijing Games.
The extraordinary comments by IOC President Jacques Rogge illustrate how the largest anti-government protests in Tibet in two decades are continuing to rock the Olympic movement, four months ahead of the summer games.
People protesting China’s policies on Tibet and other issues have repeatedly attempted to disrupt the Olympic torch relay, bringing new publicity to long-standing complaints about the communist regime’s human rights record.
“I’m very concerned with the international situation and what’s happening in Tibet,” Rogge said yesterday at a meeting of the IOC and national Olympic committees in Beijing.
“The torch relay has been targeted. The International Olympic Committee has expressed its serious concern and calls for a rapid peaceful resolution in Tibet,” Rogge said in a brief speech at the meetings’ opening ceremony.
China has faced rising criticism ahead of the August Olympics on issues ranging from Tibet to curbs on free speech and the government’s close ties to the Sudanese regime accused of overseeing atrocities in Darfur.
Demonstrators, many of them challenging China’s policies in Tibet and Darfur, tried to board a torch relay bus and attempted to grab the torch during the procession on Sunday.
Police said 37 people were arrested for a range of public order offences. Security for the event was tight, with several dozen uniformed agents jogging alongside torchbearers to shield them from repeated onslaughts.
While Rogge made no direct reference to the protests, he denounced violence “for whatever reason,” as “not compatible with the values of the torch relay or the Olympic Games.” Rogge acknowledged that “some politicians have played with the idea of boycotts,” but added: “As I speak today, however, there is no momentum for a
generalised boycott.”
“We need the unity of the Olympic movement to help us overcome the difficulties. Our major responsibility is for offering good games to the athletes who deserve them,” Rogge said. “The athletes deserve and the world expects it, and the unity of the Olympic movement will deliver it,” he said.
Rogge’s comments follow similar statements over the weekend by the head of an organisation overseeing 205 national Olympic committees.
China’s communist government said 22 have died in violence stemming from protests in Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited regions of western China that turned violent on 14 March.
Supporters of the Dalai Lama say up to 140 people have died, including eight killed when security forces fired on protesters on Thursday night.
China’s blames the Dalai Lama’s supporters for fomenting the violence and has rejected international calls to open a dialogue to address concerns its policies are harming the region’s traditional Buddhist culture.
Despite Rogge’s comments, the IOC has repeatedly said it would not become involved in the politics of the host nation. Rogge told members that China’s policies on Tibet have no bearing on the Olympics and dismissed talk of a boycott, according to Paris-based Reporters Without Borders. IOC officials have not denied Friday’s report.
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Thursday, 10 April on TVM at 5.15pm, Friday, 11 April on E22 at 9pm, and Monday, 14 April on E22 at 2.30pm (RPT) will feature the following:
Featured event – Chess Olympiad international tournament
Chess is a recreational and competitive game played between two players. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from similar, much older games of Indian and Persian origin. Today, chess is one of the world’s most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide in clubs, online, by correspondence, in tournaments and also informally.
A Chess Olympiad International Tournament was held on our shores during the past week.
Highlighted event – National Duathlon/Canoe-Kayak
Duathlon is an athletic event that consists of a running leg, followed by a cycling leg and then another running leg in a format bearing some resemblance to triathlons. Recently on the Hal-Far Road, B’Bugia another Duathlon event was held with the MIA Olympic Magazine cameras giving due
coverage to this event.
A Canoe/ Kayak race was held at Manoel Island on Sunday, 30 March. Similar races draw great interest from the numerous enthusiasts of this sport which is fast emerging on our island.
Olympic Archive
A trip down memory lane will make us recall past editions of the Olympic Games.
Schedule available every week on www.nocmalta.org and on The Malta Independent newspaper every Tuesday.
Produced in collaboration
with E22.
MIA Olympic Special – What’s On
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Vazquez: A boycott of Beijing Olympic would be ‘serious error’
STEPHEN WADE
AP sports writer
The head of a body that oversees 205 national Olympic committees says politicians who encourage a boycott – or partial boycott – of the Beijing Olympics are making “a serious error.”
Mario Vazquez Rana, the president the Association of National Olympic Committees, spoke last Saturday. His organisation and the International Olympic Committee are holding meetings these days in China’s capital with the games only four months away.
“Any politician who is pushing for a boycott is committing a serious error,” Vazquez said, without mentioning French President Nicolas Sarkozy by name. “For me a total boycott, a partial boycott, is totally out of the question.”
Sarkozy’s Human Rights Minister Rama Yade, in an interview published on Saturday, said the French head of state could boycott the opening ceremony unless China’s government met three conditions: end violence in Tibet and free political prisoners; be transparent about the events in Tibet; open a dialogue with Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
Sarkozy has said he would not close the door “on any possibility.”
Rioting last month in Tibet has thrown a spotlight on China’s human rights record, prompting protests along the torch relay and turning the run-up to the Olympics into a large stage for groups with grievances against China’s communist government.
Vazquez took the same line offered on Thursday by Hein Verbruggen, who heads a team of IOC inspectors making their last official visit to Beijing before the games. An IOC member, Verbruggen was also critical of politicians who call for boycotts, saying the IOC is a sports organisation – not a political one.
“This (Tibet) is a Chinese problem and China will have to deploy all its ability and experience to solve its problem,” Vazquez said. “Nobody should use the games as a way to solve this problem.”
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Popular Japanese pair give badminton a fresh look
JIM ARMSTRONG
AP sports writer
Kumiko Ogura and Reiko Shiota are putting a little glamour into badminton as they carry the hopes of Japan’s first Olympic
shuttling medal.
The popular female Japanese duo were featured in a photo album released last year, have their own website and even appeared as characters in the appropriately-named manga comic book “Smash.”
They rallied from a set down on Sunday to win the Osaka International Challenge with a 20-22, 21-8, 21-13 win over South Koreans Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung.
Ogura and Shiota have created a stir in Japanese badminton and are hoping a medal at Beijing will result in a boom in the sport.
“Winning a medal in the Olympics has a huge influence on people,” said Shiota. “Minor sports become more popular when an athlete wins on the world stage.”
Ogura and Shiota are part of a growing trend in Japan of young, photogenic women rising to the pinnacle of their respective sports.
Miki Ando in figure skating, Aiko Uemura in freestyle skiing and Momoko Ueda in golf are other glamorous, young female stars who have made their mark.
“Obviously success leads to popularity,” said Ogura. “It also helps if you’re cute.”
Currently sixth in the world rankings, Ogura and Shiota, both 24, easily qualified for the Beijing Olympics.
The pair failed to qualify for Athens, but won a bronze medal at the last year’s world championships in Kuala Lumpur.
China holds the top three positions in the world rankings for women’s doubles so taking a medal in Beijing will be a big challenge for the Japanese pair.