The Federazzjoni Maltija Lotta will be hosting the Bridgepoint Championships at the University SC this weekend as part of the federation’s 50-year anniversary celebrations.
The freestyle wrestling tournament, which gets under way on Friday at the University SC, will bring together wrestlers from England, Scotland, Cyprus and North Macedonia as well as 12 Maltese representatives.
Federation president Pierre Cassar told Times of Malta that staging the tournament in Malta works both ways for the local athletes.
“Being close to home will put the athletes under pressure to deliver in front of their friends and families, but it will definitely give them that professional experience which will help them become better wrestlers,” Cassar said.
“We’ve got a number of Maltese athletes taking part, some are already experienced, while others will be making their debuts at these championships. I’m sure they have what it takes to do well and as a federation, we’ll be expecting good results.”
One of the sport’s drawbacks in Malta is precisely the lack of local competition wrestlers have, due to the country’s very small population compared to the rest of the world. Because of this, Cassar said that most of the time, the only option to provide a suitable platform for the athletes’ international experience is to participate in tournaments like this.
Cassar admitted that it is very tough for the organisation to take athletes abroad to compete more regularly than they do at present, due to the financial toll it presents.
While he explained that the federation has always found support from the Maltese Olympic Committee and SportMalta in this regard, more will eventually have to be done in order for the sport to grow further.
The federation announced the launch of a new committee, which is part of the organisation’s plans for the future. The committee is made up of six members, four of which are former wrestlers themselves.
“It was down to the hard work and determination of a small group of people which has kept the federation on its feet,” Cassar said.
The MWA president Cassar mentioned how important it is to have people who know what they are doing, especially because of their direct experience fromhaving played the sport themselves.
He explained how despite the loss of two important members who have unfortunately passed away recently the setting up of a new committee was part of our future plans to inject that element of youth into the organisation.
In spite of being a small federation, Cassar remarked that they are striving to adapt to modern times, especially by investing their efforts into using social media and promoting themselves to the Maltese youth.
He mentioned the addition of freestyle wrestling to the University of Malta’s Degree+ programme as well as school visits to show students what the sport is all about.
“If there has ever been sport which Malta has always been good at, it is definitely individual sport.
“I say this with the exception of rugby and waterpolo which we have been successful in as well, but I believe it is very important to promote sport which we’ve got bringing various honours towards the country,” he said.