Just as a player doesn’t get any better by sitting on the bench, so too can a country not improve overall without international competition.

Case in point is Malta, organisers of the European Promotion Cup Women which tips off on July 18th with the participation of Andorra, Luxembourg, Moldova, Scotland, Wales and the host country.

“Having international competition helps our players realise that there is basketball beyond the shores of an island,” said Malta Basketball Federation President Antonio Mizzi.

“Coming from an island, we have just a small number of clubs and we usually are just playing amongst ourselves so international play is vital for a country like Malta.

“We consequently asked FIBA Europe to start organising youth competitions for smaller countries.”

European youth competitions for small countries have taken place since 1997 and Malta has been the venue for many of them.

They organised the last three editions of the U18 European Championship in addition to the U16 European Championship Women in 2002 and the U18 European Championship Women in 1997.

As a result of this international system, Malta now has three age groups that play competitively and six national teams. Many of the senior level players are now semi-professional.

Malta has also been able to see positive results from a technical standpoint as the result of Promotion Cups.

“Our coaches are exposed to different ideas and ways of playing basketball. Our referees are also able to improve. We now have one international official and we hope to have two more.”
 
Malta’s organisation of previous events over the years should ensure the smooth running of the European Promotion Cup Women in a few weeks.

“As a federation, we have learned how to organise,” said Mizzi.

“We now know what to do and how to run an event.”