22 years after his first appointment as Malta Women’s National Team coach, Italian mentor Santino Coppa closed his Maltese chapter in May with a domestic double after winning the John Tabone Shield and the MAPFRE MSV Life Women’s League with Caffe Moak Luxol. Malta Basketball got in touch with Coppa for an interview after the dust had settled on his farewell tour…

The first thing I want to talk about is the season which has just ended. First, the Shield – a very special moment for you because of John Tabone, of course – and then the league, even if the favourites were Starlites and Depiro. If you had to describe the season, how would it be?

When we started planning the season, we planned on having both Sophie Abela and Kristy Galea. The president told me that Sophie (Abela) was already part of our team and we would also bring Kristy (Galea). So I went home in June thinking I had them in my team. When I found out that I didn’t have either of them, as you know and as everyone has seen, we ended up with a very young team.

The only two established players left were Mandi (Mercieca) and Josephine (Diaby). The foreigner was also a last-minute choice. So, in agreement with the president, we all thought it would be a season without much chance of success – a season in which we certainly didn’t think we would win anything. So, I focused on the growth of the kids. My training sessions were focused on individual growth, not necessarily on the team.

But I have to say that these kids showed a great desire to learn. This had never happened before. They never missed a training session. They were always there, very attentive. So the growth was beyond our wildest expectations. We became a great group.

The two veterans helped me a lot. But I have to say, and I want you to underline this – the help of (assistant coach) Luke Camilleri was very important. He’s a guy I’ve known since 2003. He was a very young man when I first arrived in Malta for the national team. In the following years, although not officially, he has always worked with me, especially in video analysis. He is very good at preparing highlights of games. He has allowed me, and the whole team, to study our opponents, looking at them on video. So, we formed a group of young players and the two veterans.

Luke (Camilleri) was a great help to me. You know, to form a group, you need good people. And he is definitely a good person.

So, this group grew beyond our wildest expectations. The first incredible result was winning the John Tabone Shield, a cup that all of us at the club cared a lot about. But especially me, because I had a great friendship with John (Tabone). He came to Sicily to see me. And I have to say that he was the first one to push me to accept and to ask me to stay. It wasn’t a contractual relationship, not an economic relationship. With Edgar (Caruana Montaldo), it was always a close relationship. he was the first one to introduce us. He pushed me to work with Luxol.

Whatever request, whatever help Luxol asks of me, I will always be available because we are talking about friends, and you always support friends.

Santino Coppa

The girls followed me with great enthusiasm when the season started. And it ended fabulously because making the playoffs became the most important thing, before the title. A team that comes third doesn’t mean it’s the strongest team. But what happened? We beat Starlites 2-0 even though at the beginning of the season, they were supposed to be the favourites. And then, above all, we bounced back from 2-0 in the finals against Depiro. This was a fantastic thing because bouncing back to win 3-2 is something that shows great character.

It also shows that the two games we lost were an experience for us. Because we studied the opponents, as I always said, we adjusted our mistakes with game-film. We adapted to their strengths and nullified them – the result is what we all saw. I have to say, it gave me great satisfaction because it’s not just about winning, it’s about seeing the team grow day by day.

And above all, I have to say that the three girls (Fenech Pace sisters), let’s call them that, for three years always trained with me. Sarah (Fenech Pace) is younger and couldn’t play in the first year because of her age. Even then, she never missed a training session with me.

And if you look at the exponential growth of these three girls, they were also very important for our victory. In short, it was a job that gratified me a lot because, day by day, I saw my work grow and I saw these girls grow.

It’s a great satisfaction for me.

Every season, the observation I make when I look at the Luxol team is that it’s very similar to the previous one. Of course, this season you had Josephine (Diaby) and Mandi (Mercieca), most of the under-18 players – the baby players – as you call them, and then there’s always a foreign point guard. This season you had (Tayler) Bennett, before Gladys Avila, and Palmira Marcal amongst others before her. Why is it always in the point guard position that you bring in a foreign player?

Because, let’s say, my initial strategy with Edgar (Caruana Montaldo) was to have a tall Maltese player and, among other things, one who I grew up with, who I knew, who started playing with me and came to Italy – Jo (Diaby).

So the first time Edgar spoke to me I told him that I wanted her not only because of her human qualities and because I knew her well, but above all because she was a tall Maltese player. This allowed us to always have a foreign player in the point guard position because this was the strategy I wanted.

Now let’s go back to the past. You were the coach of Luxol for many years, but you came to Malta originally as the coach of the national team in 2002, right? How did that happen?

In those years, I was one of the best in Italy. Sicily is very close to Malta, so the president of the association, who was magistrate Antonio Mizzi, and the secretary, Frank Camilleri, one day gave me a phone call.

They were together and they proposed to me – let’s say they begged me – because it was clearly very far from my mind to come to Malta. But they involved me and I repeat, it was never an economic matter, it was always a matter of friendship, a matter of esteem. And I must say that they involved me for the first time and that’s when an era began.

When I arrived in Malta, Malta didn’t win a single game. We’re talking about winning a few games against countries like Gibraltar. It was one of the last in European basketball’s small countries.

And that’s when I started a murderous job, because the first time we had the Games of the Small Countries, I think they were in June, I had started travelling to Malta in February, so I cleaned up the old team a bit and I brought in some very young players. The first one I remember is Josephine Grima back then, but I could also say Caroline Fenech and maybe some other names.

I changed the old national team a bit and that’s when it started to become a great job that gave incredible results until the first gold medal which was really a dream because when they told me about this adventure, they had told me that if we won a medal it would be a miracle. And I said, “But how many teams are there?” There were four teams, so I thought we had to beat only one to win a medal. Instead, we beat all of them and we won the gold medal.

But that was only the beginning because since then, it has been a continuous success. We won in Cyprus, we won in Armenia, in Luxembourg – which was one of the strongest teams in Europe – and we really changed the history of Maltese basketball.

We started a new story that culminated in the last year, I think it was 2014 or 2013, after 12, or 13 years of great success and not missing a chance. This is the story.

Shifting forward to the summer of 2023… I want to discuss the Women’s U18 national team that won Gold. The team was composed of most of the young players from Luxol. The assistant coach was also Roderick (Vella), so you could say it was a team dominated by Luxol plus Danika Galea, who was playing in Italy. How important do you think it was that they were together in this way? And, of course, how satisfied are you with what they did?

Look, I’ve known some of these kids as I told you, I coached them for three years. Roderick (Vella) is an excellent coach, especially for young people. So, of course, I was very happy with this result. And I’m also very happy that now he is coaching both the U16 and U18 national teams. I hope they get the results they deserve.

Can you see the players of last summer’s team taking the next step from the U18 national team to the seniors under Charles Bonnici?

I’ve just met Charlie (Bonnici) because last year, he won the league against me. Now we have to see what he can do with the national team. I can say for sure that he’s an excellent coach. Such a role takes a lot of experience and a lot of charisma. But he knows all the players. He could do well and as we’ve already seen, if there’s a good coach, the results come because the Maltese girls aren’t different from Italian, or Spanish girls.

Let’s talk about your assistant coach Luke (Camilleri) again. How was the dynamic between you two as coach and assistant?

I care about him a lot because he’s also grown a lot. He’s been close to me not only in recent years, but he was close to me when I was coaching the national team. Even though he wasn’t officially with us, I’ve always relied on him to correct our mistakes. This was a job that, especially at that time, was completely unknown to Malta. For me, he was a precious assistant, not only from a technical standpoint but also from a human point of view. He was a link with the team and an interlocutor between us. He did this with maturity and intelligence.

I really appreciate him, and I hope his abilities will be further enhanced because I would be sad if he stopped. After all, for me, he’s a guy who can do a lot because now he knows a lot about basketball and he has the human qualities to be a coach or an assistant even at the same level whether it’s with me or not.

Speaking of this, the photo we took together after winning the title, even though I appear with my eyes closed, that is not that important, I keep it because there’s him, the trophy, and Jo (Diaby). So even if I’m with my eyes closed, if you could publish that, I would be very happy and I’m sure he’ll appreciate it too.

I’ll be sure to do that. To conclude, let’s move from the past to the future. As you told me last time, you have decided to return to Italy and that your time as the basketball coach in Malta is over. This means that naturally, there will be some changes in the way the team will play from next season onwards. After all your experience, how do you see the future of Luxol?

Whatever choice Luxol makes, just like when they chose me, it will be a well-considered and intelligent decision. In any case, I will always be available to support Luxol in any way, just as I have always done. So, if they ask for my help or advice, I will always be available because, I repeat, human relationships are important to me, and the rest counts for little or nothing.

The human relationship I have with everyone at Luxol is special, especially with Nadia (Vella), Roderick (Vella), and Eric (Fenech Pace) – I want to especially praise Eric (Fenech Pace) and Michela (Fenech Pace), who are two special parents. Following their daughters, not just watching them play, but seeing the great education they have received, you can truly see the family’s values. So, whatever request, whatever help Luxol asks of me, I will always be available because we are talking about friends, and you always support friends.

Santino Coppa, thank you and good luck!