La Belle Dame
Rachela, you are indeed another National School of Sport Student success story! You practice Athletics and Football at Team Malta National level and that is something impressive. Rachela, whilst I know that you form part of the first 11 of the Malta Football Women National Team Under 16, I can describe you as an allrounder in Athletics. I recall that you competed in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 600m, high jump and Long jump with overwhelming results. As of lately, it seems to me that you are more focused on the long jump rather than the former mentioned events where to be honest, you were always one of the prime actors at the end of each event. You set various allbest performances in different disciplines, can you please specify?
My family is a very sportive family. All of my siblings and parents used to do a sport in some way or another and that pushed me into practising sports myself. My football career started at the age of five with Dingli Swallows FC, I was the only girl of the whole team. By the age of five I won the Most Dedicated Player Award (the boys weren’t very happy). In that same year, whilst watching my sister train athletics I approached her coach, Angie Mangion, and asked permission to join her session. She agreed and from then on my athletic career begun. I first started racing in the cross-country events, where I always came first overall.
Thanks to playing football I developed a lot of endurance and stamina which helped me in the 1,000m, 800m and also 600m. In the 1,000m I set a U/14 National Record which later on was broken by another athlete. In the 800m and 600m I had a very good time also. Meanwhile I was chosen to play for the Maltese National Football Team.
Then my first ever injury arose. My knee got hurt and so I couldn’t run. So I turned to high jump and hammer. I continued practising the high jump and broke both the U/14 and U/16 National Record in which I also jumped more than the Women’s National Record but being too young it couldn’t be recognised. I also won my first ever international medal doing the high jump in Brno Czech Republic 2015.
After recovering from my injury I decided not to run any more long distance running so I focused on the 400m, 200m and 100m as a back injury made me stop doing the high jump and made me focus more on the long jump. I was doing very well in the 400m but my knee injury struck again so I had to stop and focus more on the long jump. In the long jump I managed to set the U/16 record twice. Once abroad by jumping 5.61cm and the second time during the Open National Championships here in Malta by a jump of 5.70cm. I still do the 100m and the 200m as they help me in the long jump.
Whilst still practising athletics I played my first international tournament together with the Maltese National Football Team. I was in the first eleven team in all games and scored a goal in one of these matches.
Rachela, you are the current Youth National Champion of Long Jump and I may surmise that you were never beaten in your age category. Moreover, during last Open National Championships you were invited to compete in the adult category against national icons including Rebecca Sare and Claire Azzopardi. Everyone was in awe for your leap of 5.70m which resulted in the overall best jump. This was something unheard of, how was your reaction and do you think that such performance has enhanced your selfconfidence?
I was thrilled to have jumped such a leap. I was and still am working hard to improve myself. After every competition I remind myself that it’s never enough and that I always have to keep pushing for more. That jump also meant that I broke my previous National Record which surely enhanced my self-confidence but there’s a thin line between confidence and arrogance, and I make sure not to cross that line.
Rachela, you are representing Malta abroad quite regularly and there will be further in the future! Which competitions and results are most at heart and which international events are you eyeing?
The most competitions that I treasure were both held in Brno