Persons interviewed: Beppe Muscat Baldacchino and his mother, Rebekah Muscat Baldacchino.

Beppe, 8 years old, is a male gymnast who has been practising this sport for the past 5 years. The following interview was done as part of the project GEOS with the aim of eliminating the stereotypes associated with gymnastics and encourage more boys to start practising it. GEOS - Gender Equal Opportunities in Sports is a project funded by the Erasmus+ Sport programme that aims to strengthen gender equality within sports organisations.  Finland's Svenska Idrott (FSI) coordinates it and the Institute for Physical Education and Sport at the University of Malta, Associação de Futebol de Bragança (Portugal) and Centro Universitario Sportivo - CUS Padova (Italy) are participating as project partners. Along with Beppe, we interviewed his mother who shared her experience of what it means to have a son who practices gymnastics.

To Beppe:

"What motivated you to start gymnastics?"

Before gymnastics I was practising another sport but I was not enjoying it as much. So then I decided to try a new sport and give gymnastics a go and I really enjoyed it.

"Have other people ever said something negative about you doing gymnastics?"

No, my friends and my teachers never said anything negative about me doing gymnastics. But there were times when some people said that gymnastics is for girls. Sometimes this hurt my feelings but I always stood up for myself.

"Do you think boys who do gymnastics sometimes get treated differently? Why?"

I don't think this should be a problem. They should follow their dreams and if someone bullies them or tries to make fun of them then they should stand up for themselves.

"How has gymnastics shaped you as a person?"

Good, gymnastics has helped me become more disciplined and committed even away from the gym.

"What would you say to another boy who wants to try gymnastics?"

I would tell them that it is really fun and that they should definitely try it out. If then they really enjoy it then they should definitely continue doing gymnastics.

"Why should sport be for everyone?"

Sport should be for everyone because if someone likes a particular sport and they want to be in this sport, like me, they should. Sometimes sport can be very hard but you have to keep going to achieve your goals. Everyone can do whatever sport they want!

To his mother, Rebekah:

"What was your first reaction when he wanted to do gymnastics?"

I don't think there was a specific reaction because I have three boys and obviously we let them decide whatever they want to do. Actually I was happy because when I was young I used to practise gymnastics so at least from the three of them I have one who does the sport I really love. Apart from that, my husband and I believe that gymnastics is one of the main sports that leads you to a lot more and obviously with what it provides, the strength and flexibility, it helps you in most of the sports. Because of this, we are very happy with the sport he chose.

"What made you support his decision to do gymnastics?" 

As a parent you will support whatever decision they make in life as long as they will benefit from it and that it helps them as they go along in life. We offer a lot of support; we're the "taxi drivers" now so that's the main support we provide. But we also support him financially because at this age he needs his parents to support him to fulfill his dream after all. He aims very high in this sport so we try our best to support him as best we can.

"What do people misunderstand about boys in gymnastics?"

That's a tough one. Unfortunately I don't think there's much awareness about the sport. I don't really understand that in 2026 people don't really know that gymnastics is a male and female sport. Living on an island doesn't really help either. For example, there is yet to be formed a gymnastics male national team and there are barely any boys competing. Maybe even the federation needs to open up a bit more to more male participation. In fact we have had many discussions with Beppe about whether he wants to explore other sports so that maybe he will have a better chance of achieving his dream of representing his country abroad. But for now he's determined to keep developing in gymnastics.

"How has gymnastics shaped him as a person?"

It shaped him to be stronger. I don't think that everyone can achieve what he's achieving. It's not easy being the only boy in a school, like Pembroke Athleta (where he currently trains), amongst many other members and you're always the only boy competing. This obviously happens at competition level because there are classes for boys but at competition level he remains the only boy representing the club. Therefore, he needs to be tough and this is something we speak a lot about. At school, his friends, sometimes they question and label him and as parents this concerns us a lot but we believe that Beppe is coping with it well because he speaks up for himself.

"What would you say to parents hesitant about letting their sons try gymnastics?"

Very simple; why be hesitant? If your son is happy and he really is achieving what he really wants in life why should you be hesitant? As long as I have happy and healthy kids I'm all in for whatever he chooses. We will support him all the way as long as this is what he really wants and I really hope that one day we get to see a male Maltese team representing gymnastics internationally.