Eurosport International Youth Football Festival Comes to an End

by Jonathan Spiteri & Gilbert Micallef - 14th April 2011

During last weekend Birkirkara FC Youth Nursery, in collaboration with the Malta Tourism Authority, the Maltese Council for Sport and Sports Park Malta, hosted the Eurosport International Youth Football Festival at the Infetti Training Grounds, in memory of Alfred Borg and Mario Borg.

The Festival, open for boys born in the year 2000, was enriched by the participation of two Italian Nurseries. These were Atalanta, who are twinned with the Stripes, together with U.S. Triestina. Besides Birkirkara, the other four local nurseries that took part in this Festival were Hamrun Spartans, Paola Hibs, Pieta' Hotspurs and San Gwann.

The teams were split in two groups, with Atalanta having team in each. During the first day all the teams played each other in their respective groups on a round-robin system. The first and second placed in each group, Atalanta (Bianchi) and Paola Hibs from group A, Atalanta (Nero Azzurri) and U.S. Triestina from group B played each other on day two, whilst those ending third and fourth, Pieta H. and Hamrun Spartans in group A, Birkirkara F.C. and San Gwann in group B, made up the second group, where the same system as the previous day was used. Over 130 boys took part in this Festival, each of them being gifted a small token for the occasion, while 24 matches were played during the weekend. It was pleasant to see that a good number of parents came down from Italy to follow their children, who were impressed with the level of organisation they found together with the Maltese Island in general. For them and their boys, this was their first trip to Malta and seems it will not be the last.

On Sunday 10th April at 7.00pm a ceremony was held in order to officially bring to an end the Festival and also hand out the awards. This was attended by foreign and local nursery delegates, the foreign players together with other special guests. A commemorative plaque was uncovered by Mrs Helen Borg, wife of the Late Mario Borg, with Mr John, Mr Chris and Ms Sonia Borg, children of the Late Alfred Borg. Hon. Tonio Fenech, Minister of Finance, Economy and Investment presented the Nursery with a donation which is to be used in order to embellish the Infetti Training Grounds. The Minister endorsed the smart work that is being done by the Birkirkara Youth Nursery and insisted that all work done with the kids will surely pay its dividend in the future.

A campaign called 'Progetto Neonati Atalantini' was launched by the Atalanta delegates. The original project, launched in Bergamo by Atalanta President Mr Percassi sees that every baby born in any hospital within the city is given an Atalanta shirt. Dejan Lagana', Kailey Ancilleri and Loren Micallef were the first three Maltese to be gifted the blue and black strip of 'La Dea'.

Birkirkara FC Youth Nursery would like to thank the Malta Tourism Authority, the Maltese Council for Sport, Eurosport, Sports Park Malta, U.S. Triestina Calcio Malta, the US Triestina Head of Youth Sector Mr Franco Schiraldi together with Mr Mino Favini from Atalanta B.C. Special thanks go to all those who, in some way or another, helped in organising this Festival. Without their input, the event would have never been a success.

Positive Results in Bergamo

Two weeks ago some of the Birkirkara Youth Nursery players had the opportunity to travel to Bergamo for a unique football experience. The 15 Bikirkara youngsters, accompanied by three delegates and three coaches, spent five days in Italy where they participated in two tournaments and indulged in other football-related experiences. The team, composed of U-13s and some U-14s players, had its first commitments on Friday at Ponte San Pietro in a triangular tournament against U.S Giemme and A.C. Pontisola.

Birkirkara played first against Giemme and managed to win comfortably with a 3-0 score which gave the players the right to play in the last match. The second match was a tight affair between the other two teams where in the end it was Pontisola that emerged victorious with a 1-0 scoreline. This meant that the match between Birkirkara and Pontisola was the final match. Birkirkara managed to go 1-0 up but their opponents overturned the result to make it 2-1. In the final minutes the Stripes managed to equalise and set a final score of 2-2. With this result both teams ended level on points but the Maltese team managed to clinch the trophy thanks to a better goal difference.

Claudio Fasola presented the trophy to Birkirkara Nursery chairman Henry Bray and congratulated the team and the staff for their achievement amongst the joy of all the players. Locals explained to the delegates that their win was no mean feat as the Pontisola youth nursery was amongst the best in Bergamo. It boasted the fact that in the past it had Davide Astori in its ranks, who is now an established player with Cagliari in the Serie A who also debuted with the Italian national team last week.

In the second tournament Birkirkara played against the teams of A.C. Colognese and Atalanta B.C. at Cologno al Serio. This time round Birkirkara played two consecutive matches starting off with a 1-0 win against Colognese. Afterwards the Stripes had to face tough opposition in the likes of Atalanta whose senior team is topping the standings in the Serie B and could win promotion back in the top division sooner rather than later. The Maltese team were beaten 3-0 their only loss on foreign soil in a show of tactical brilliance and discipline from their foreign counterparts. In the final match between Atalanta and Colognese, the latter were beaten 7-1 much to the delight of the Maltese delegation who acknowledged the fact that the Maltese youngsters did not suffer such a heavy scoreline. During their time in the north of Italy the delegation had the opportunity to visit the Stadio Sinigaglia, home of the Como Calcio and Zingonia, Atalanta training grounds. Apart from this they also attended the match between Atalanta and Triestina at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia which finished with 4-0 win for the Nerazzurri.

comments powered by Disqus