Arkati Interview with Mediterranean College of Sport CEO, Charlo Bonnici – “Opening Doors to Your Sports Aspirations”

It’s Friday October 4 and Charlo Bonnici has a proud satisfied smile on his face. It’s the end of the first week of school for the Mediterranean College of Sport and he is clearly relieved that the start of the first-ever academic year in the new institution has gone to plan. “It has been an interesting and rewarding week,” he says. “So far, so good. There’s room for improvement but overall we’re happy.”

Charlo and the rest of the team were on site at 6am for the first school day to prepare to greet the students who were welcomed by MCS Chairman Pio Vassallo, Head of School Mariuccia Fenech, Director of Sport Development and Recruitment George Micallef, as well as the deputy heads, teachers, coaches and other members of staff. The official inauguration was held on November 14. For its first year of operation, the MCS has 94 students across years 7, 8, 9 and lower Sixth Form and decidedly more boys than girls – “as expected” – with a preference for football. The girls are also interested in football, as well as swimming, athletics and sailing.

Over the coming years the college will “gradually” grow to its full capacity of 400 students, hopefully with more girls. As football is the most popular sport among the student-athletes, the MCS has partnered with Portuguese football giants SL Benfica who assigned coach Ricardo Mota to train the children together with other coaches. The partnership may be extended in future with the opening of a Benfica school in Malta, catering for children from a younger age.

The MCS offers a combination of secondary and postsecondary school education with a professional focus on sports where students do not need to compromise on one to favour the other. It is the culmination of years of planning but also consolidates Vassallo Group’s commitment to education. “Education has always played a small part of the Group,” explains Charlo. After running an English language school, the Group started training mostly locals to become carers as part of its CareMalta business.

This led to the establishment of Learning Works, which today caters for 800 students every year who enrol in a wide range of courses. These are not just related to healthcare but also management, languages, hospitality and now also sports, including a Masters in International Sports Coaching, in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University. Learning Works has now relocated to the MCS grounds and even supported MCS as it prepared to open its doors.

“Without Learning Works, I don’t think MCS would have happened. It would have been a more difficult journey for us to open MCS,” says Charlo. While the two institutions are different and operate independently, as CEO of both entities Charlo ensures there is synergy between them. “There is room for more synergies to produce excellent results.” While the college is a fee-paying independent school, it is also reaching out to the wider community. In partnership with the Jesuit Society, MCS has taken over the management of the existing sport facilities of St Aloysius College’s complex.

The refurbished sports pavilion and fitness centre are open to the public and to St Aloysius students and have increased membership numbers. The complex now features two football pitches, a 25m swimming pool, a multipurpose hall, which will be used for martial arts, a gymnastics hall, an athletics track and an 800sqm performance science centre, one of the largest in the Mediterranean. “We want it to become a hub,” says Charlo. There is also a childcare centre and a kindergarten, which will open later this year, as well as a 100-bed accommodation facility for visiting foreign teams, with plans to cater for international boarding students, particularly at Sixth Form level.

As a stakeholder in Malta’s education system, MCS aims to “contribute towards strengthening the culture of sports” on the island. “I feel this project can contribute heavily in sports. We can create opportunities for students who study at our college and continue to focus on sport at a higher education level or study full time in sports-related areas through Learning Works. We are not after huge numbers but quality education.”