The Malta Baseball and Softball Association's (MBSA) greatest challenge is that it lacks its own ground, MBSA president Andrew Bajo told this newsroom.

Malta's baseball and softball community has been playing on a plot of land at the Marsa Sports Village since baseball was first introduced in the country in 1981, though this land does not belong to it. This pitch used to be owned by the government before it was given to a third party "whose interests are other than baseball", said the MBSA head.

Bajo said that his association has never had a say on this land and that the baseball pitch was given infrastructural upgrades - such as to incorporate a new backstop and foul posts - by the government just a few years before it was transferred.

In this interview, which was conducted in the MBSA's office inside the Marsa Sports Complex, Bajo told this newsroom that his association has been pushing for the government to find it another plot of land. He noted that a year-and-a-half has passed since this promise was recorded in Parliament, though "we haven't gone anywhere".

A parliamentary petition was launched by the MBSA in late 2024 to "save" the baseball and softball field at the Marsa Sports Complex. The petition urges that the Marsa baseball and softball field be transferred to the MBSA, and roughly 1,000 signatures were collected within a week of this petition's launch.

"Transferring the field to MBSA would ensure the continued growth and success of these sports, which are dependent on this dedicated space," the petition reads. Through it, the MBSA declared that due to this land agreement, "our sports have become threatened" and "unless an alternative is provided, our future existence is in jeopardy".

Bajo mentioned that a plot of land in Paola has been earmarked for a baseball field, but the MBSA has been left in the dark on this. Bajo said that whenever his association asks for a status update on this area, it is told that "they are working on it". When asked what works are being done, he replied that he hasn't been notified, and that "if anything is really happening or not, I don't know".

"When you have somewhere to call home, you can do a lot more," Bajo said, "When you are depending on third parties, even to organise something, and you have no land, it's difficult."

He said that if the MBSA had its own land and premises, its dream is to use this space to host strong foreign teams during the winter months when harsher weather and temperatures force these nations to go on a winter hiatus unless they travel elsewhere.

Bajo told this newsroom that in 2017, an Italian engineer from the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) came to the Maltese islands and wrote a study on Malta's playing conditions for the sports, in which he analysed the field, local temperatures, and several other factors. The engineer had concluded that in Malta, baseball can be played for nine out of 12 months each year, with the worst period being the first three months of the year. However, Bajo noted that training can commence as early as February.

The MBSA president stated that "if they'd let us, we'd get the pitch in Marsa up to WBSC standard" to then use this baseball field to attract top northern countries who cannot train in their respective homelands during winter months.

Bajo stated that several European countries, including Italy, Germany, and Czechia, have highly competitive leagues, to the point that they hold "many" prospects who make it to the Major League Baseball (MLB) in North America.

The MLB is home to some of the largest contracts in sports history; three of the six largest sports contracts ever were signed by MLB players in the last two years. Historically, 12 of the 20 largest sports contracts ever have come from the MLB - partially because the average length of these 12 contracts is 12 years.

The MLB's highest paid player, Juan Soto, is the best paid athlete in sports' history from a single contract. He signed a 15-year contract with the New York Mets worth $765 million last year. Notably, Shohei Ohtani, in 2024, signed a 10-year $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Vladimir Guerrero Jr signed a 14-year $500 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays last April that kicks in this year. Soto's contract is the largest in sports' history, Ohtani's is the third biggest, and Guerrero Jr's ranks sixth all-time; rounding up the top six most lucrative sports contracts ever are Lionel Messi's final Barcelona contract and Cristiano Ronaldo's two short-term contracts signed with Al Nassr.

Bajo noted that these countries' national baseball teams must travel abroad during the winter to keep training, and that the Italian national baseball team just travelled to Mexico for this.

He said that it is not uncommon for top teams to travel to Mexico, Florida, USA, or other locations across North America to keep training all year round. He continued that attracting these top teams would be a win-win for both sides; while it would serve great learning experiences for the local community, foreign national squads from mainland Europe would save "thousands" by coming here instead of North America.

"Our target is to get these teams to boost the level here and to move our players, as we have in the past, to get them opportunities in Europe," Bajo said.

In addition, Bajo's ambition is also for members of the community, including youths, to have a space to head to, belonging to the MBSA, in their free time.

Today, the MBSA has around 150 people registered with it; members are as young as nine years old. The MBSA currently offers the fast-pitch baseball league, slow-pitch league, and youth league.

Bajo said that they used to play softball and have even won games at the European Softball Championships, though it "never really took off" in Malta.

"Some children see it as a boys' sport, even though softball is a women's sport," Bajo said.

The Covid-19 pandemic had forced many communities in Malta to close shop for a prolonged period of time and the local baseball community was no exception. After being forced to stop all play for over a year, "all children and some adults" walked away from the sport. The association lost two teams as a result.

Hence, the MBSA is now focusing on rebuilding its numbers back to what they once were. It is working on growing its community by attracting more children via collaborations with primary schools and through social media promotions. The association is aiming to double the number of children in its systems by the end of this year as it is already observing positive results.

Today, there are around 30 boys and girls in each of the baseball teams Mellieħa Northenders and Mustangs. The National Slow-pitch League is being played between three teams: Sliema Patriots, Brewers, and Northenders.

Bajo said that a simplified variation of baseball - known as "Baseball5" - is helping the MBSA in its mission to attract more youngsters. Baseball5 is played with a lighter and softer ball, without a bat, and within a relatively confined 21 x 21m square space. Batters hit the ball with their bare hands, instead of with a bat.

The MBSA president noted that since Baseball5 requires less equipment, less players, and less space, it is easier for schools to take up the new sport themselves during PE lessons.

Baseball5 games are played five versus five on the pitch, plus three substitutes per team. At international level, Baseball5 is strictly a mixed-sex sport; there must always be at least two of any gender on the field at any given time from each team.

Baseball5 is also presenting a major opportunity for the MBSA later this year through the 2026 Mediterranean Games in Taranto, Italy.

Baseball5 was selected as a demonstration sport in this year's Mediterranean Games, for which all baseball-playing participating countries are being pushed to send teams for. The WBSC is calling for all 16 WBSC members from the 26 countries participating in the Mediterranean Games, including Malta, to send teams for the Baseball5 event.

Being the first time Baseball5 is making an appearance at the Mediterranean Games, baseball communities are hoping to make a strong first impression in hopes that this sport becomes a permanent staple of the Mediterranean Games, rather than being shelved after this opportunity.

It is also making an appearance in the 2026 Youth Olympics, in late October, in Dakar, Senegal.