Hibs Med-Sea were yesterday presented with the League trophy – their 10th success over the years.

The presentation was made by Mr Michael Attard of Michael Attard Ltd of Blata l-Bajda, importers of Peugeot cars in Malta.

In a short speech, Mr Attard congratulated the winners on their title win and added that it was the pleasure of the company to be sponsoring not just the women’s league, but also the national team. He did not exclude more sponsorships in future.

MBA President Magistrate Antonio Mizzi thanked Mr Attard for his company’s sponsorships and said it was evident that these helped to generate much more interest in women’s basketball during the past two years.

Former Malta player Mario Tabone, now Hibs coach, said the Paolites’ season has not yet finished. “After the league, there are still three other Cups for the taking and we intend to win all of them,” he said.

Tabone said the league win was important for the club. “It had not won the title for five years. We are proud that we achieved last year’s KO and this year’s League with some new faces. Three of our players are in the national team and this shows that we are working in the right direction,” he said.

Ronnie Calleja, head of the basketball sector at Assocjazzjoni Sportiva Hibernians thanked Peugeot for the sponsorship. He added that Hibs were very proud that apart from basketball, their women’s teams in football and volleyball were also on the verge of winning their respective national titles.

Asked whether Hibs would reconsider taking part in the European club competitions, perhaps in future, Calleja said they had taken part in the Champions League in season 1993/94. But added: “It has become very expensive. It is a completely different story from football where there seems to be more solidarity from the top clubs towards the smaller clubs. I hope FIBA Europe will give more consideration towards providing a subsidy. At present we cannot make comparisons with football. It is our ultimate objective to take part, but without some help from FIBA Europe, it is still impossible,” he stated.