The Ministry for Culture, Lands and Local Government, Arts Council Malta, and the Malta Football Association (MFA) announced the launch of ‘SportArti’, a national framework for arts and culture to be integrated within football nurseries across Malta and Gozo. This agreement will serve to strengthen collaboration between the cultural and sport sectors, while also prioritising youth’s creativity, innovation, and development.
Through this agreement, Arts Council Malta will allocate €50,000 a year to support a dedicated fund which allows football nurseries which are part of the Maltese Youth Football Association to integrate their artistic activities and cultural programmes, such as, for example, creative teaching opportunities, communal projects and collaborations with artists and cultural practitioners.
The initiative forms part of Arts Council Malta’s wider strategic direction to strengthen cultural participation and for creativity to be present in communal structures in line with the priorities indicated in Vision 20250, the national framework which will give direction to the country in the coming years. This framework emphasises stronger collaboration between different sectors, wider access to culture, and programmes to help develop creative skills, resilience, and wellbeing for youths.
Minister for Culture, Arts and Local Government Owen Bonnici stated, “This agreement reflects our electoral commitment to widen cultural participation and to ensure that creativity becomes a significant part of everyday life. Vision 2050 envisions stronger ties between culture, education, sport, and the community’s wellbeing, and this initiative creates a space where these goals take on a concrete form. Through artistic practice within football nurseries, we will be offering youths the opportunity to develop courage, imagination, and a sense of belonging—qualities which all strengthen the cultural sector and our communities.”
Arts Council Malta Executive Chairman Dr Luke Dalli stated that this agreement is a step which seeks the holistic development of our young athletes. “We believe that those who grow on the pitch should also have a space where to express themselves, where to think creatively, where to better understand themselves and those around them. Through this agreement, we will be laying down concrete foundations for the arts to be introduced in a structured manner to sports formation and in football-linked communities. We will create initiatives and opportunities to bring together artists, educators, and local clubs so as to build a richer experience for our children and youths.”
Youth Football Association General Secretary Stephanie Rocco stated, “Youth FA welcomes with pleasure this initiative not only because it correctly addresses the association’s mission to oversee the holistic development of children in nurseries, but also because it is an opportunity through which children have the chance to truly be part of the creative sector. Football, art, and culture are all sectors through which children can develop their characters as well as their abilities, and as such we encourage nurseries to come forward with innovative and creative projects.”
The agreement will remain in force for three years and will be implemented with the aim of strengthening the shared commitment of both organisations so as to create sustainable opportunities for children and youths, while the cultural ecosystem continues to be affirmed through structured and sustainable collaboration.
