Baseball clubs frustrated over limited facilities despite sport’s growth

Baseball and softball officials have voiced concerns over limited access to adequate sporting facilities, warning the lack of a permanent home is hindering the sport’s development.

Sources within the sport said the association has faced persistent challenges over the years, including the loss of a previously used facility that was later allocated exclusively to rugby.

While rugby has not directly managed the facility, it is now operated by another entity, leaving baseball and softball with only a limited number of contracted hours.

These allocated hours are “far from sufficient” to meet the demands of a growing community, sources said, adding that any additional training time depends on ad hoc requests and goodwill rather than a stable, structured arrangement.

The association had also been promised alternative land for development of facilities by the government. However, sources said it took more than a year to secure a meeting on the proposal, and no formal response has been received to date.

The situation has been made worse by the loss of access to other grounds. The association was previously allowed to train at the Santa Venera pitch, but was later informed the facility would be reserved exclusively for football.

As a result, clubs have been forced to seek alternative arrangements, including renting facilities at MCAST for six hours a week. Due to infrastructure limitations, players are restricted to using tennis balls and sponge balls during training sessions to avoid damaging the grounds.

Sources contrasted this with the annual rental for the Marsa sports complex, which, with government subsidy, amounts to approximately €4,000.

They said it is largely thanks to the goodwill of the complex’s administrator that the association has been able to make greater use of the Marsa facility. However, the hours formally allocated in agreements do not reflect actual operational needs.

The issue of facility access has also persisted at policy level.

In 2017, an international baseball body World Baseball Series had approached the association regarding the potential use of pitch facilities following a competition. Discussions at the time with then minister Konrad Mizzi, in the context of a proposed sports village at Kordin, had included baseball in the original plans.

However, these proposals did not materialise.

More recently, in 2024, the association was informed pitches it had been using would be handed over to the Malta Football Rugby Union. Attempts to engage Education Minister Clifton Grima on possible solutions have so far gone unanswered, sources said.

Currently, the association has access to facilities for between eight and nine hours per week, which it says is insufficient for both training and hosting competitions. Organising tournaments often depends on the goodwill of facility operators.

Sources said a minister had indicated efforts would be made to identify an alternative location, possibly within the Kordin sports complex, but no concrete developments have been communicated.

Despite these constraints, participation in the sport is growing, making the call for a permanent base even more pertinent.

“What we lack is not commitment, structure or ambition, but a space to call our own,” sources said, adding that a dedicated facility would allow clubs to operate sustainably and support the sport’s long-term development.