The Youth Football Association, together with the Malta Council for Sports, has launched the’ Investing in the Future ‘ programme.

The President of the Association, Fr Hilary Tagliaferro, thanked the Government which, through the Parliamentary Secretariat for Youth and Sport and the KMS, is assisting Maltese sport move forward, by helping to provide adequate facilities and sports education, as in the case of the programmes launched.

He urged the Youth FA the nurseries to keep in mind that well-being and education of children is much more important than the results.

MFA CEO Bjorn Vassallo commended the Youth FA Council and each and every volunteer helping in the nurseries, because football at this level was “a breath of fresh air for the future of the beautiful game”.

Vassallo urged all those involved in football to be always positive in their approach and face challenges with a professional attitude. He announced that in the near future the MFA will introduce programmes for Parent Clubs’ administrators, where among other things, the importance of nurseries, as for the future of the game will be highlighted.

The KMS Chairman, Bernard Vassallo announced that all football nurseries will be able to participate in four programmes: nutrition, psychology, bio-mechanical tests and child protection. He went on to remind that football is the most practised sport on our islands, and there are thousands of children enrolled in the football nurseries . The KMS therefore expects a very good participation in these programmes, which would help players improve their performances.

Vassallo praised the Youth FA and the MFA for being pro-active and proposed these programmes and other associations were urged to see how the KMS can assist them to continue installing a sporting culture in our country.

In his speech the Parliamentary Secretary for Sport, Clyde Puli, said that such a programme will take the sport to a more professional level and added dimension that such programmes should be provided to train children and young athletes by each sports discipline.

The Parliamentary Secretary said the Government is endorsing this initiative organised by the KMS and the Youth FA because through this program, the 8, 400 children and youths from the 50 nurseries registered with the Youth FA can benefit.

Furthermore he said the programme will be giving space to the parents of these children to participate and learn more about how to take care of their children’s health as well as their own.

Puli concluded by saying that these kind of programmes are indeed a direct investment in our children’s future.