Sport - 01/09/2002

Bronze medal was gift from God'

Malta waterpolo coach Dirk Dowling is still elated a week after Malta's third place at the European B Championships that were held in Sweden. The all-time star of Maltese waterpolo, both as a player and as a coach told RAY ABDILLA about the difference between this year's championships and the ones held two years ago in Malta.

Waterpolo has always been Malta's number two sports. With football having a rest, the game climbs up to number one. Many might argue with such a statement because there's still Formula 1, athletics and tennis to contend with. But Maltese sports enthusiasts always look out for waterpolo results first especially when the national team is playing.

Why? Because in such a sport we always bagged decent scores.

Prior to the games Dirk Dowling believed that Malta could finish either fifth or sixth. "Yes I truly believed that this was not only what was achievable but we had to put it as a benchmark and this after finishing seventh in Malta two years ago.

"But when I was in Sweden and watched the teams I started to believe more in myself and the team. In my heart of hearts I began to believe that Malta could finish higher than fifth.

"Two years ago my concentration was at it's lowest ebb. My wife was in a life or death struggle following an accident. I could not cope the national side and sitting by my wife's hospital bed.

"I was not focussed enough but still I had to do my job. So that is why I believe that what happened in Sweden was a gift from God. I can't thank the players and my wife enough for what they achieved this time round," the Malta coach said.

Although the crowds have shrunk at the National Pool, the standard of Maltese waterpolo has improved considerably during the past years. Malta did very well in the Comen Cup while even Sliema and Sirens fared well in European competitions.

Speaking to Malta Today, national coach Dirk Dowling said that this improvement came about thanks to the building the National Pool. After eight years training practically the whole year round, we are finally improving our level of fitness.

"After finishing third now we have to train hard and continue to work hard to stay there, although the format will be different as from next year. Only the top four teams will make it to Group A, so we could find ourselves playing against the Slavs and the Russians as from next year" said Dirk.

We still need the foreigners to improve

"My prime target was always to finish in the top eight in the European B Championships. But this not only a personal target but also for the good of the game in Malta. For several years Malta was spoken of very highly abroad.

"When we had world class foreign players gracing our league, there used to be talk about the Maltese game everywhere. When the foreign players stopped coming over to Malta for one reason or another, the Maltese game took a nose dive. I think that although we still made good strides in the game, I still believe that if foreigners return to our league we would definitely benefit." Dirk told Malta Today.

Dirk is not only interested in waterpolo. He follows all kind of sports with football on top of the list. A self-confessed Chelsea supporter, Dirk also travels to watch Chelsea play.

Dirk Dowling has been married for 20 years and has two girls: Amy, 16 and Emma 14. No family member is keen on the game but they are a great help to him anyway.

Dowling’s recipe for success

Ever wonder what the ingredients of the recipe for "success" are? Most say it is discipline and good luck but waterpolo national coach Dirk Dowling bases his formula mainly on the former rather than the latter and this thanks to someone who he really loves and respects.

"I owe it to my Dad, his discipline when I was just a child bore fruit. I wouldn’t be the player nor the coach I am today without his disciplinarian attitude.," says Dowling, himself one of the best waterpolo players Malta has ever seen.

His tactical play was out of this world during his time as a player with Valletta, Sirens and San Giljan. His ability to score from anywhere in the pitch was just awesome. Those ingredients were visible week in week out.

An extra ingredient he had was coaching the players in the water. So graduating as a coach was not that difficult for him. Dirk comes from a family who not only loved waterpolo but lived it like a religion.

His father, a well-known player in his time, used to train Dirk and brothers Kurt and Kim before school hours. And this was a must. They had to do it like it or not. At 6.00 a.m. when most school children were still fast asleep, Dirk together with his three brothers used to start training.

Like it or not they had to become good swimmers. "Sometimes I used to arrive at school with my hair wet. We had to do it all over again after school hours."

"I won everything in waterpolo, I also played with world star players but I’m still learning the trade. Even when I was a player I always liked the coaching aspect of the game. In my last years as a player I liked the role as a play-maker of the side, so coaching a side was something natural for me."

I started my baptism in coaching in 1996. After winning the league with San Giljan in 1995, I started coaching the side in 1996 together with the famous Russian Sergei Markoch who was an international world class player. I learned a lot from him.

A year later San Giljan decided to change everything including having a new team and then I joined Exiles as coach. The team from Sliema had just won promotion to the first division but they were a bunch of inexperienced players, very young but willing to learn the trade.

I could never say no to the national team

I stayed at Exiles for two years and although it was tough, it was a healthy experience for my coaching. During my second year at Exiles, the ASA started to note the good work I did for such a young side and ASA’s President Robert Ebejer asked me whether I was interested in coaching the national side.

"That was the ultimate compliment for me. To coach of your own country's side is unique and for me it was an unrefusable offer. I accepted instantly.

As a national team we all knew that a transformation was needed. Many of the players were over 30 and they had to be phased out. In fact when I was handed the job I spoke with the ASA President and he told me. "Now we have a new coach, so a new mentality must set in and a new team. It took a change of eight players. New players were drafted in as our goal was participation the European B Championships being held in the year 2000 in Malta.

"It wasn't easy to leave out great players such as Kurt Dowling and Marco Manara, just to mention a few. But it was the future which was at stake. We had to build everything from scratch.

"I still kept a few experienced players who I thought would be a great help. Goalkeeper Joe Caruana Dingli and John Paris are two very important players and I still think they have a few good years left in them.

"The work started in 1999 and from then on we made a team for all enthusiasts to cheer about. We gave Georgia, Turkey and Belgium a good run for their money.

"Even Turkey who made strides in waterpolo we managed to beat. So let us all hope now that such results will bring back the crowds. The European B Championships in Sweden were a good advert for the game, if people won't come now then I don't know what we have to do," the Malta coach said.

A piece of history

Dirk Dowling started training with his first club Valletta in the early seventies at the Valletta waterpolo pitch. His father used to train Dirk and brothers Kurt and Kim all year round. In 1972 and 1973 he started playing with the Valletta Under 18.

Those days waterpolo was played in a different manner. Strength was more important than swimming so playing at the age of 16 with the first team was difficult. Despite all this Valletta used to include him with the senior side and sometimes called him in as a substitute. Something which his father disapproved of a lot.

Dirk Dowling made his debut against Sliema at the Sirens pitch, a game in which Valletta lost 2-1 with "Buffalo" getting the only goal for the citizens. He became a regular first team player in 1974 when Valletta had a strong side with players of the likes of Joe "l-Ors" Attard, Paul Falzon, Joe Curmi "Buffalo" and Harry Cutajar. Those days waterpolo was played in pitches with thousands of people supporting their sides.

With most of the players retiring from the game because of their age, Valletta took around four years to assemble yet another good side. Then came players such as Aldo Scerri, Paul Xuereb and Paul Curmi. In 1980 Valletta won the championship and continued to dominate the local waterpolo scene along with Sliema and Neptunes.

Dowling left Valletta in 1989 for Sirens and later joined San Giljan whom he stayed with for six years until he ended his career. For Dirk Dowling four of those years with San Giljan were his best years in waterpolo winning everything the game has to offer.

It was a very strong San Giljan side, which also had in its ranks Dirk’s brother Kurt, goalkeeper Sandro Cosby, Ian Azzopardi, Tony Galea and other useful players. Dirk claims that the 1995 San Giljan side was the best team he ever played for.