We hope that our participation will inspire more girls to start playing this wonderful sport and softball will gain in popularity in Malta
Our own Estelle Scicluna was interviewed by Romy Marinus of the European Softball Federation and featured on the front page of their website. The interview was in connection with the application of Malta to participate in the Women’s U19 Softball European Championship this summer in Staranzano, Italy. Estelle Scicluna is one of the players on the U19 Softball National Team.
Unfortunately, the bid of Malta to take part for the first time in a Softball European Championship is still very much in doubt as the team was left with only one pitcher when the other two experienced pitchers eligible for selection, Denise Xuereb and Yana Vella, withdrew from the team for personal reasons. The Malta Baseball & Softball Association is trying its best to resolve the problem. Malta was drawn in a very tight group with one of the tournament favourites, the Czech Republic, along with Belgium, Serbia and Bulgaria. A decision one way or the other has to be taken before the end of February.
In her interview Estelle mentioned some of the challenges the sport faces in Malta. “Unfortunately, only the Ghajnsielem Redcoats have youth teams. So for our U19, U17, U15 and U13 softball players to gain experience we have to compete against the women’s teams in Malta.” She also outlined what the U19s expect to achieve at the European Championship. “Our objective for us individual players and for the team as a whole is to perform at our best during the tournament. I want to gain experience and learn from our opponents as much as I can. We would like to win at least one game but more importantly we want that this experience will help us to improve as a team. Another hope for us is that our participation will inspire more girls to start playing this wonderful sport and softball will gain in popularity in Malta.”
In the World of softball Malta is very small, however, if this sport receives supported from the government and with the hard work of everyone involved, it can gradually move up the rankings. The efforts of the Ghajnsielem Redcoats, especially over the past year through the Erasmus+ Sports project IGETS, are being noticed and appreciated by the international softball community. The objective is to participate regularly in international softball competitions.
This is a great honour for one of our players, our Club, and for softball in Malta. Well done to Estelle and the rest of her teammates. Keep it up!
