The seventh edition of the MOC Sports Awards 2008 is taking place next Sunday, 7 December at the Grand Hotel Excelsior with Live TV coverage through E22 channel at 8pm.

The event will also be repeated on E22 channel at different times (Monday 8 at 9.30pm, Tuesday 9 at 2pm and Saturday 13 at 9am) and in addition, it is being repeated on NET TV (Friday 19 December at 9pm) and One TV (Wednesday 10 December at 10pm).

The comperes for this year are well-known TV personalities Charles Camenzuli, Miriam Dalli and Louise Tedesco.

Live entertainment will be provided by Vinny Vella Jr and his Band including Andreana Spiteri as Vocals. The other members of the band are Walter Vella, Joe Vella and Joe Micallef.

Moc awards road show gathers momentum

What’s called as the MOC Sports Awards Road Show is another initiative within the programme of events which highlight the seventh edition of the Awards. This initiative is aimed to encourage and create awareness within schools and school children alike in order to be familiar to what’s within participation of Team Malta athletes in international and local commitments.

Mentor for this initiative was Pippo Psaila, MOC Director of Sport and responsible official for the MOC Sports Awards.

On addressing hundreds of students at St Aloysius College in Birkirkara and at the Girls Junior Lyceum at Blata l-Bajda, Psaila gave an overview of what the Maltese Olympic Committee has been doing in the promotion of sport, in the participation of local athletes in international commitments and, above all, the importance to strive for further success.

School children had the opportunity to watch promotional video features relative to the Team Malta set-up, ahead of the 2012 London Olympic Games as well as an overview of Malta’s participation in Beijing last August.

A unique opportunity for most of them was to meet well known sports personalities who varied from renowned ones of the calibre of William Chetcuti and Dermot Galea to budding youngsters Darren Vella and Clive Farrugia as well as team members of the national squads from Pool, the women’s basketball team, and the women’s squash team.

MOC Directors David Azzopardi and Adele Muscat also attended these events.

Today, the venue for the MOC Sports Awards Road Show will be St Martin’s College, Swatar, and tomorrow it will be the turn of St Benedict College, Kirkop where a good number of nominees from the seventh MOC Sports Awards are due to be present.

MIA Olympic Special – What’s On

Tomorrow on TVM at 5.15pm and on E22 at 7pm; Thursday 4 December on E22 at 10am (RPT), Friday 5 December on TVM at 10am (RPT) and Saturday 6 December on E22 at 3pm (RPT) will feature the following:

Featured Event – Squash Malta Open

Squash is a racquet sport that was formerly called squash racquets, a reference to the “squashable” soft ball used in the game. The game is played by two players (or four players for doubles) with “standard” rackets in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball. Squash is recognised by the IOC and remains in contention for incorporation in a future Olympic programme. Squash narrowly missed being instated for the 2012 London Games. It is again up for consideration for the 2016 Summer Games. During the past weekend the Malta Squash Association held the Malta Open at Living Well, Portomaso

Highlighted Event – Canoeing/Swimming

Throughout history people have employed the canoe for its speed, endurance and efficiency – perhaps even Malta’s ancestors. Modern canoeing is more sophisticated, but the fundamentals remain the same, and these are still valued by the Malta Canoe Federation. A few years before the canoe federation was conceived (1991), the secretary of the International Canoe Federation (ICF) visited Malta and saw the September traditional regatta. Snr. Orsi remarked to Malta Olympic Committee officials that canoeing would be an ideal Olympic sport for Malta, tentatively inviting Malta to the world championships. It is perhaps somewhat ironic that 15 years later, Maltese athletes are going international in the sport of canoeing and not rowing. Now the Malta Canoe Federation can boast of a new premises in Msida. Watch more during this programme.

The Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) was founded in 1926. At the Annual General Meeting of 2000, the name was changed to Aquatic Sports Association, so as to conform with the change in FINA. The objectives of the Association are to promote and encourage the development of Swimming, Diving, Waterpolo, and Synchronised Swimming in Malta and to adopt the necessary rules and regulations, and to stimulate public opinion in favour of providing accommodation and facilities. Once again at the National Pool Complex Tal-Qroqq the ASA organised Time trials for its affiliated swimmers.

MOC Section

This week in this section we will witness more about the upcoming MOC Awards to be held during the month of December which takes place on 7 December and will be transmitted live on Education 22 at 8pm.

Table-tennis seminar

The European Table Tennis Union, under the auspices of the Malta Table Tennis Federation, will be holding a seminar entitled “Women living in a Man’s World”. This will run from 5 to 6 December and will be held at the Castille Hotel in Valletta.

The discussions will focus on the historical and present barriers that women face in their everyday lives in relation to a male-dominated world. The keynote speaker will be Ms Katja Brand, who is an international Table Tennis referee and is also very active on the Women’s Working Group of the European Table Tennis Union. Other speakers will include Dr Lucienne Attard and Ms Adele Muscat from the Women in Sport Commission of the Maltese Olympic Committee.

The general public, all athletes, and coaches are invited to attend.

Men are particularly welcome! Participation fee is e35 and includes a reception and lunch.

Registration can be made by emailing [email protected] or [email protected].

Registration is also possible on Friday 5 December at 6.30pm at the Castille Hotel.