Written by Kaz Louise Stoner
The Maltese are notoriously passionate and patriotic people. With events like the Eurovision, it is truly impressive to see how a country can rally together to sass every other country’s entry in order to hype up our own.
The presence of sports at the University campus is not as prominent as it should be. Where, in other countries, people gather together to support their local teams with mascots, cheerleaders, and general good vibes, it can’t go unnoticed that this student-body cheer is lacking. This is not just at university but also in other sports that are not as well-recognised as football.
With one of our national handball team hosting the EHF Cup and making it to the third round, two gold medals won by Maltese athletes at the Championships of Small States Of Europe, the announcement of the first-ever female weightlifter Yazmin Zammit Stevens who will be representing Malta at the Tokyo Olympics, and many more wins, there is ample to be proud of and support. UM Futsal is here to guide you on how to show a little love to our local athletes.
What can YOU do to support athletes?
Follow their social media
Instagram and Facebook are full of influencers that can sometimes be beneficial but can also promote futile initiatives. Following your local athletes on social media platforms and interacting with their posts is a minimal task that can go a long way. By doing this, you will be expanding the athlete’s or team’s outreach and helping them grow their platform which will help them engage with other athletes or other sponsors. It is also validating for the athlete to know they have support from their country. Besides this, it fills your feed with positive and useful posts that can be inspiring and add some reality to a feed full of selfies and giveaways!
Tune into performances
Unfortunately, COVID has stopped many supporters from being able to sit in the stands and chant and cheer for their favourite teams or athletes. However, most competitions and games have a live stream that you can follow along. The views will mean a lot to the athletes and technical staff supporting those athletes. It will also encourage local entities to continue to share these streams. When the time comes, of course, nothing fills an athlete with more pride than looking to the stands and seeing friendly, familiar faces cheering them on.
Share
If you see a post that is of good news, and can help the club or community, share the post! The more people that can see and engage with these posts the better. News outlets are steadily doing a better job at covering athletic wins. However, the more spread of such articles the better! Sharing the successes and wins of our local athletes will only raise awareness of our local talent and capabilities.
What can WE do together?
Education
Sports should be given more importance from the level of primary education all the way up until reaching university level. It is hard to engrain new normalities into individualised who have been programmed otherwise their whole lives. By investing more time and money into sports education and awareness at younger ages, the problem will be tackled head on.
More funding
It is not a hidden fact that sports funding is unproportionate amongst different sports with certain sports receiving the bulk and some receiving none at all. It is therefore fundamental to invest more into the sports economy for a multitude of reasons. These include:
- Better facilities
- Coaching courses
- Psychological support for athletes
- International opportunities
- Medical support
Preparation for the UM Futsal team is currently in full swing to head to the Challenger’s Cup in the name of our university. Follow our journey on our social media and support your local athletes. All games will be live-streamed.
