Task 2 - Article

 Local Female Footballers Tired of Being Second Best.

Thursday 7^th December 2023, Malta
By Emma Camillieri & Carlos Carella

Federation of Armenia

Maltese national woman footballer shares the struggles and challenges, she has faced trying to balance playing for the national team and local team.

 Although Maltese football is popular within our country, its  standard is relatively low compared to other nations. This issue has persisted through many generations, forcing young players to choose between playing for foreign teams or staying in Malta. Furthermore, this also seems to persist as Maltese players do not seem to gain the support they need from locals, as they choose to follow foreign football more often. The lack of support is especially prominent in the female sector of the sport. The difference between playing as a youngster on three different levels seems to vary. These levels are as follows, city, national and foreign. Playing for a national team seems to be more demanding than playing for the city team, as it consists of a higher responsibility.

Neil Fitzpatrick

A local Maltese football player who has experienced both sides of playing for a local team and a national team claimed that this in fact seems to be the biggest struggle players face. Yulya Carella, an 18-year-old, Imgarr player, has been in this field since the age of eight, when she first joined the Mosta team in 2014. She also joined the national team in the under fourteen category in 2016. Ever since then she has continued to establish her name in the scene, with a solid number of goals and assists, garnering traction from foreign teams as well.

John Zammit Montabello

In the last week Malta has been promoted to League B in the UEFA Women’s Nations League, marking the first time this has happened. However, people in the scene can see how their hard work could use recognition. As stated by Sasha Vella on The She Word, Women football in Malta has an average of fifteen percent airtime coverage and one percent sponsorship revenue. In the interview, Emma Xuereb who plays for Malta’s National Women’s Football team, stated that the women’s training sessions always must happen after the men’s training sessions which usually start at eight in the evening sometimes even nine. This is a huge draw back for them having to wake up early the next day for work or school all due to the association giving priority to the men’s national team.

Carella, faces these struggles every day. She enjoys football like nothing else, stating that “football is the way to my heart, I have never known anything else, and I do not think I ever will”. This seems to be the reality for all females playing football here. However, Carella explains that a week in her life seems to only consist of work and football training every evening, as she tries to balance day to day life and two different teams. She and the rest of her team are trying hard to push their agenda forward, to support women in sports.

Neville Cassar