Do all countries have a chance of success in international sport? Undoubtedly, the personal ability of the athlete, the tradition of the chosen sport, the particular country, the levels of coaching, the degree of experience, the mental and physical preparation, the ability to hit one’s peak at the right moment and the opposition that is expected in the actual competition are all deciding factors. And the law of averages is another deciding factor, as larger populations contribute to a higher probability of winning. So when an athlete from a small country like ours makes it to the top, the achievement has even greater significance.

William Chetcuti:

a world champion

A few days ago, William Chetcuti made us all proud when he won gold in a world competition in double trap shooting. His success in Beijing is certainly a memorable achievement for both the athlete himself and for the country.

Reviewing Chetcuti’s career, one will be impressed by his determination and dedication in his chosen sport, which he started practising at a very early age. “Catch them young” is a popular expression in sport and it is certainly true as far as our double-trap shooter is concerned, as he started gaining much-needed experience by entering international competitions when he was just 16. During these last 10 years he has participated in many international competitions at different levels and perhaps it is worth mentioning the European Juniors World Record he achieved in Nicosia in 2004, which he still holds.

William is a very talented person and the achievement is first and foremost to his credit. Of course, the unfailing support of his family and Jimmy Bugeja’s guidance and coaching have had no small impact on William’s rise over the years and many others have also done their fair share.

For the last six years Chetcuti has been “employed” by the Malta Sports Council, where he is basically paid to train for 40 hours a week. For the last few years he has been constantly financed and assisted to train professionaly and to compete both locally and abroad. Of course, he has repaid his dues with his achievement, and as now that Malta has its first automatic entry to the Olympic Games, the government is willing to assist William even further. He has already made us proud and we do not want to put any undue pressure on him. We simply hope that he continues to give of his very best, as we simply believe in his talent.

Nurturing our talent

William is still young but others even younger, such as Nathan Xuereb (another double trap shooter), seem talented and willing enough to follow him. To this end, we need to get our athletes young and find ways of nurturing their talent. We need to keep extending our participation in sport, keep improving our facilities and keep improving our coaching levels and we also need to make time for quality training without the athletes being torn between sport and their job.

It was for this reason that the government introduced the 20/20 Sports Training Scheme for national athletes working with the public sector. Through this scheme, these public sector employees are being given the opportunity to take paid leave of up to 20 hours a week to extend their training programme. A few weeks ago, as announced during the budget speech, we extended the scheme to private sector employees, by which national athletes employed by a private company can now opt to train for their sport during woking hours and the government will pay the employer part of the salary due.

In the last few weeks, the Armed Forces of Malta has set up a sports unit that will definitely contribute towards the development of sport in Malta. The unit will recruit top class national athletes who, on joining the AFM, will have an opportunity to practise their sport on a full-time basis. Over the years, this should provide Malta with better trained athletes and, hopefully, better results. In addition, when the sporting career of the athletes is over, they will be able to continue their career with the AFM, thus providing peace of mind by guaranteeing a future to those who give their best to their sport and their country.

As already said, the law of averages might work against a small country but we do not consider this to be an excuse for not nurturing our talent. We firmly believe that the strategic investment we have made in recent years will start paying off, one way or another, in the years ahead.