Widely acclaimed as one of the most skilful Maltese players ever, Carmel Busuttil was reverred by local fans throughout his glittering career, spanning over 20 years.
His is a fascinating story of a modest local boy made good thanks to his exceptional football talents that brought him rich rewards, including a long spell with Belgian club Genk not to mention his unsurpassed 113 caps with the Malta national team.
When last summer, Buzu, as Carmel is affectionately known, announced his retirement from football at the age of 37, many wondered whether life would ever be the same for such a high-profile personality. Success brings fame and Busuttil was regarded as the favourite son of Malta`s sports media, his every action on the pitch filling inches of column space in newspapers.
When I met Busuttil for an interview over a cappuccino at the Papillon cafeteria in Balzan, I expected to come across a nostalgic person, eager to reminisce over his past.
But Busuttil`s first words were enough to make me change my mind.
"I have got used to coaching kids and I am enjoying every moment of it. Before I hung up my boots, I made no bones of my wish to start coaching. It did not take me too long to fulfil my ambition as I am now coaching the young ones at my newly-opened soccer school.
"I was thrilled by the response received when we first launched the Buzu soccer school a few months ago. In six weeks, we had 175 players enrolled which is a very good number. Recently we also added 10 new members after several requests," the former Malta skipper told me.
Busuttil`s lofty reputation ensured that the launching of his school was an instant hit. The opportunity to train with arguably Malta`s best ever player was too big a temptation for children aspiring to become elite footballers one day. I asked Busuttil how today`s young footballers compare with those of his time?
"In football, there is never a dearth of talent. When I was young, we used to play football in the streets and we did not have the luxury of training under the guidance of experienced coaches. In those days, we tried to emulate what we saw on TV but we rarely received specific training on technique, physique etc. Those aspects were first introduced with the advent of Centru Sport but on a limited scale. Today, the facilities are first-class," Busuttil said.
Rotation system
The Buzu school holds daily training sessions at St Martin`s College, Swatar, from 4.30 till 6 p.m. for their groups, ranging from eight-year-olds to 14-year-olds. Busuttil said the school operates a rotation system whereby participants train with different coaches week in week out.
"One of our chief priorities was to provide high-level coaching. So far, we have engaged people like Gentcho Dobrev, former national coach, Stefan Sultana, the Hamrun Spartans striker, Saviour Darmanin, the Pietà goalkeeper and Iro Curmi, another former footballer. In the near future, the school is also planning to bring in another high-profile coach.
"My school is proud to have lured to its fold a good number of former and present players with such distinguished careers. Their reputation adds weight to our promise that we would provide the best coaching to our players.
"In addition, to make the training more interesting, we have been inviting players and coaches to make guest visits to the school every week. So far, we had Cesar Paiber, Horst Heese and John Buttigieg and we have many other popular footballers and coaches lined up for the future," Busuttil said.
"The demand is increasing by the day and we plan to increase the capacity of the school in the future. A wider pool of players would obviously require more coaches because we don`t want to have more than 12 kids in each group.
"Our school pledged to devote individual attention to every participant and we will continue to do the best to honour our promise."
Busuttil also said that his school is working on several other initiatives, including the possibility of overseas training camps and trials for their young members. To this end, the Buzu Soccer School has already reached an agreement with Belgian club SK Lierse to act as their scouts in Malta after the latter spent a training camp in Malta.
According to Busuttil, Lierse have asked him and his coaching staff to monitor the progress of Pietà`s up-and-coming players Cleaven Frendo and Gareth Sciberras who impressed them during their stay on the island.