End of the line for Maletroit

Saturday 28th November 2009, 3:00PM GMT.

Matthew Maletroit, pictured competing in the Aland Island Games

A LACK of permanent gymnastics facilities on the Island has forced top gymnast Matthew Maletroit to give up on his Commonwealth Games dream.

The 22-year-old, who won seven medals at the Island Games in Aland this year, has been competing in the sport since the age of seven and was last year crowned British Universities’ three-piece apparatus champion.

However, having been training at Cardiff University with access to top facilities and coaching the Jersey Gymnastics Club member recently returned to the Island, taking up the post of Attorney General’s assistant, and can no longer maintain training at the level needed to make the Delhi 2010 event.

He said: ‘It was an extremely tough decision, but I’ve decided to hang up my hand guards. I don’t need to explain how disappointed I am that I have had to stop merely because of a lack of facilities.’

Read the full story in the Jersey Evening Post.

Click here for subscription details.

Individual editions are also available online.

1
parry gashley

November 28, 2009 at 3:56 pm

We all have to make choices in life, and for an island 9 x 4 susrtaining all the welfare benefits etc that we do, we can’t really gripe at the facilities …

Report abuse
2
steve

November 28, 2009 at 4:09 pm

Go and live in Cardiff then… Oh wait no the moneys to good and the job too secure here. All hail the money king!

Report abuse
3
Harry

November 28, 2009 at 6:12 pm

I lived with Matt for a year in Cardiff and there was no denying his dedication to the sport. It’s a shame to see it happen. Would have been a better way to spend the islands funds on something like better gymnastics facilities. And Steve, if you were given a chance to take up a good post at a Law firm in Jersey, would you choose to go for a lesser job away from home? The job market in the UK is bad enough as it is. It’s a shame that some people take this bleak outlook to some of their fellow ambitious islanders. And the phrase “All hail the money king”? What are you, 8?

Report abuse
4
jsybean

November 28, 2009 at 11:17 pm

steve – its a shame you dont have to give up something you are good at due to lack of facilities on this island & would YOU want to have to live away from your family because of the sport you have chosen ?? I say good luck to matt I hope that he will continue to coach and that one day gymnasts will have the facilities they need if they played football or netball they would have money thrown at them to help them that is not the case with gymnastics each club has to fund themselves !!!!
Parry – yes we all have to make choices but why should we have to give up due to lack of facilities and what the hell has welfare benefit s got to do with it he has been away got qualification & then got a job so welfare comes in where ?
I hope Matt has the opportunity to at least continue like Ben Frith with Island games & coaching & I wish him luck for the future with Jersey Gymnastics Club I am sure many young gymnasts will look up to him like they do to Ben. Good luck to them all & hopefully one day they will get facilities that will cater for them all, at the end of the day the deserve it, as they put in long hours training for their sport as do others & they represent our island with pride, commitment and dedication. Well done.
I dare anyone to go & join a gym club and see how well they do, some of these gymnasts train up to 15 to 20 hours a week at the age of 8yrs old in cold damp facilities and they have to put out & put away all their equipment every session, now that is what you call dedication to your sport so dont knock it till you try it & see how heavy some of the equipment is to carry !

Report abuse
5
John

November 29, 2009 at 6:14 pm

I feel sorry for the guy

There simply arent any jobs in Cardiff at the moment (I would know – I have a business there). SO I totally understand that he has had to come back to Jersey – its not like Jersey would fund his accommodation etc costs to stay and train in Cardiff

At the end of the day, if he was expecting to compete for Jersey, why should he give up so much simply because Jersey wont support him. Maybe he should have considered competing for the Welsh team (having lived there for 3/4 years at uni)

Report abuse
6
Chris

November 30, 2009 at 7:51 pm

Steve – why should someone have to fork out loads of money just to train to represent their birthplace?

- If he stayed in Cardiff he would have had to pay for accommodation and living costs, training and coaching fees etc – understandable if he was doing it to represent himself. But if he was planning to represent Jersey at such a high standard you would expect the Island to provide some sort of support.

Remember – there are many gymnasts on the Island – hundreds of younger ones. Its not like it would be wasting money to support one individual

Report abuse