Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1120087
4 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 22 MAY 2019 MASSIMO COSTA A new national sport strategy is set- ting its targets on integrating physical activity in the lives of Maltese people and encouraging a generation of ath- letes to reach the highest level and experience success at international events. The strategy will cover a 10-year pe- riod and will see up to €30 million in- vested in new sport facilities, as well as €6 million invested in athlete train- ing. This will also include brining for- eign coaches to Malta to help raise the bar locally by 2020. This announced investment will be over and above the €11 million grant- ed to SportMalta annually. The €36 million being invested will come from the citizenship scheme fund, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said, adding that this showed how such funds were being used to ad- vance the sector. Sport parliamentary secretary Clift- on Grima said that the launch of the strategy was like the planting of seeds, the fruits of which would be a leap in quality, a change in mentality, and success abroad. "We want positive results for Malta to become an expectation," Grima said. The strategy strives to: build a more active and healthy Malta, stimulate a new sporting culture, enhance the competence of all stakeholders, trans- form the island into a centre of sport- ing excellence and ultimately lead to success at top international competi- tions. It is based on the pillars of education, participation and quality of life, high- performance, integrity, industry, im- proving facilities and giving due atten- tion to Gozo, including establishing regional leagues and developing multi- sport hubs on Malta's sister island. Muscat said that through the strat- egy, Malta was aiming to compete at all levels and in all sports. He said the sector was looking at 2023 - the year Malta will be hosting the small nations games – to reach the strategy's first targets. "We should not look at sport only as a hobby but as one of the main pillars in our country's social life of our coun- try," Muscat said, as he highlighted that the strategy provided the frame- work to help the country achieve its goals in this regard. New national sports strategy aims to raise the bar, trigger culture change in Malta The new strategy will see €36 million invested in the sector