WATCH: This Young Maltese Sailing Team With Dreams To Enter The World Championships Needs Your Help
Do you hear that? That’s the sound of our hearts breaking. Four young Maltese boys between the ages and 12 and 14, part of the Malta Young Sailors Club, will be representing our country in the 2018 Optimist World Championships in Limassol, Cyprus.
Saul Vassallo, Nico Dreschner, Antonio Gasperini and Richard Schultheis will be competing against 55 other nations from around the world. They have been training all year round to build as much stamina as they can in order to win the Championships. These young boys partake in international training camps regularly. You go boys!
The four team members have already made history by winning Gold and Bronze medals at this year’s Jeux des Isles (literally called the Island Games). They have a high prospect to get to the top positions of this competition — making history for our islands yet again.
“We don’t get much funding, we usually have to fund ourselves,” Saul said. “This year, we’ve set up a crowdfunding campaign to ask for help, and we really appreciate any support in getting us there. We are hoping to make Malta – and everyone in it – very proud.”
The young sailors are aiming to raise €10,000 to be able to cover their costs along with the chartering of boats at the World Championships. They have already managed to get a little bit more than half of their goal, and only a small push is needed for them to make their dreams come true.