36 athletes to benefit from Centre of Excellence

For the past 12 years, the Maltese Olympic Committee (MOC) has been supporting its athletes through various schemes and programmes aimed at aiding their technical preparation for international competition.

The MOC yesterday announced a restructuring of their funding strategy when they launched the Centre of Excellence scheme. Through this initiative, the responsible commission will identify the country's most promising athletes who will in turn receive assistance to help them maximise their potential.

MOC president Lino Farrugia Sacco yesterday told a news conference at Tal-Qroqq that 36 athletes from seven different disciplines have already been included in the programme which is divided into five categories - Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Youth.

"The MOC has been working relentlessly to boost our athletes' standards," Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said.

"Over the past 12 years, we have gradually increased investment in training and the positive results achieved in the last few years show that Maltese athletes have the talent to compete at international level.

"I believe that the Centre of Excellence represents another step forward for our athletes."

Although the senior athletes have been graded according to their current standards, their progress will be monitored regularly and their results will determine their future in the scheme, the MOC chief said.

"At the moment, the four-tier scheme encompasses 24 senior athletes," the MOC head said. "This number can easily be increased if other athletes prove themselves worthy of being part of this initiative. Besides, the athletes' performance will be scrutinised and we will not hesitate to upgrade their funding if they achieve the desired improvement."

Double Trap shooter William Chetcuti is currently the only athlete in the platinum category while there are 11 athletes in the gold bracket, including GSSE gold medallists Benji Borg, Joanna Camilleri and Marcon Bezzina and promising middle distance runner Francesca Xuereb.

MOC director Marie Therese Zammit explained that members of the Centre of Excellence have been requested to submit a detailed programme of their training and competitive commitments for the next 12 months.

"We want to make sure that our athletes are making proper use of our funds and are following the right training programmes," Zammit said. "It is of utmost importance for us that our athletes are dedicated and show all Olympic values."

Envic Galea, who is responsible for the Youth Department within the MOC, said that the Youth Athlete programme will provide our future champions with adequate preparation to fulfil their potential.

"It is our intention to work with the various federations so that promising athletes are given all the resources to develop properly," Galea said.

"The result achieved by Francesca Xuereb in last year's EYOF Games in Belgrade was a huge boost for Maltese sport as it showed that with the right training, our athletes can also compete with their peers from bigger countries.

"So far, we have selected 12 young athletes who have shown that they have the talent to succeed.

"In 2010, the World Youth Games will be organised for the first time by the IOC in Singapore where only 3,500 athletes from around the world will be able to compete.

"For the MOC, having one athlete qualifying for these games would be a great feat and our aim is to reach such goal."

Centre of Excellence

Platinum: W. Chetcuti (shooting).

Gold: D. Borg, C. Attard, D. Gilford, F. Xuereb (all athletics), M. Bezzina, J. Camilleri (both Judo), B. Borg (Sailing), F. Pace (shooting), A. Galea (swimming), S. Gerada, A. Makowski ( table tennis).

Silver: N. Portelli, M. Xuereb (athletics), M. Scerri (swimming).

Bronze: M. Debono, C. Walsh, R. Chouhal, T. Mallia, L. Scerri (athletics), P. Caruana Turner (gymnastics), E. Ulanov, B. Law (judo), R. Gambin (swimming).

Youth Athlete scheme: C. Sultana (squash), J. Pace Cocks, T. Vella (both athletics), J. Saywell (judo), S. Borg, E. Fleri Soler (both sailing), C. Farrugia (shooting), J. Dimech (cycling), K. Cassar (tennis), C. Bergedahl, J.J. Micallef (both golf), A. Buhagiar (wrestling).