Maltese participation in Scooter world championship
Last weekend two Maltese Scooter Athletes competed for the first time in an international event that took place in Barcelona between the 24th and 26th of September.
The Urban World series is a street sport festival which include sports such as BMX, Skateboarding, Scooter and 3x3 basket, which many have become Olympic Sports in recent years. Daniel Grech and Shaun Alfala took part in the official world scooter championship, where all the best scooter athletes from around the world competed.
Being their first competition abroad, they did not qualify among the top to proceed further in the competition. However, this experience was an eyeopener and will enhance further their development both as a person and an athlete.
This was also the first international competition the Malta Street Sport Association participated in under the Skate Malta Federation. More competitions are in the pipeline as events resume after the Covid19 pandemic.
This event was also another reminder of how much the level of street sport needs to improve through better facilities in our Skateparks here in Malta. All local skateparks are not of an international standard as these are not built by professional skatepark contractors. The right design and quality cannot be achieved by conventional construction builders or sport enthusiasts.
Therefore, the association is currently advocating for more investments in professional street sport facilities to increase the selection of available sports.
Wider selection of sports will engage more young people in physical activity as they will have more options to choose from to develop their passion and personality.
It is evident that focussing on traditional sport is resulting in the exclusion of young people who do not fit in the currently available selection of organised sport.
More information regarding street sport can be found on MSSA’s website www.mssa.mt or their facebook/Instagram: mssamalta