posts on the Malta Olympic Committee as well as with the European Judo Union
Martial Arts, including, of course, the sport of judo, did not receive much attention in the Maltese press in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Those practising the sport were few. One of them was Envic Galea, the president of the Malta Judo Association, who says that his interest in the sport dates back to 1963 when he watched a feature on TV by Anton Geesink. “Judo became an Olympic sport in 1964, but it was when I finished school at the Junior College that I took it seriously. Together with my cousin Alfred Cremona, we joined the Zabbar Physical Culture Club and started training with Ninu (Il-Koku).
“Soon we were talking about affiliation to the British Judo Association, especially after having taken part in training sessions with visiting British sailors. But one of their officials told us it would be better to seek affiliation to the International Judo Federation.
“It was not easy, but in 1970 I earned a scholarship (one-year) at RAI as a founder member of the Royal University Students Cine Association. While I was there, I wanted to continue training and had the occasion to meet Pio Galli who introduced me to the vice president of a top club, Maurizio Genolini, who was also the secretary of the EJU. It was he who proposed to me to get the MJA affiliated to the European Judo Union as our first step,” said Galea.
He added: “He took me to Ostia Lido where we met the president of the Italian Judo Federation, Avv. Augusto Cerachini. I was offered a chance to attend a course in Rome, but I thought it would have been more appropriate to have our technical director (then Ray Cutajar) attend this three-month course.
“In 1970, we were accepted as Malta Olympic Committee members and, a year later, we also became full members of the EJU and the International Judo Federation during the general assembly at Crystal Palace in England.
“I can say our association came to life then, as we started sending several black belts to Italy to get their gradings. This was done at the academy in Rome till 1983. Then the EJU Sports Director, Henri Curtine, came to Malta and he thought it was time that the gradings were held locally.
“Our first black belt, in fact, was Richard Galea Debono, now a well known lawyer,” said Galea.
The MJA president added that they faced a serious obstacle in 1989, when they found out that their membership (Lm700 per annum) had not been paid – it had previously been paid by the Italians. “We did not have the funds to pay it and we faced expulsion from the EJU during the general assembly in Dublin. We appealed for a reconsideration. We told them we did not have the funds, but we would accept the amount to be staggered over a certain period of time so as not to lose our membership. Fortunately for us, our proposal was overwhelmingly accepted. They even decided to waive our dues (Lm1,400) and we started afresh.
“There was another big breakthrough, this time internationally, in 1991 at the congress in Greece. At that time, there was a great monopoly from the big nations at the EJU, but with the support of several nations, especially the small ones, we managed to elect a Greek delegate, the first from the so-called small nations.
“Before the Malta congress, the EJU encountered another problem. Swiss secretary Robert Felber was forced to resign due to an alleged embezzlement of funds (around $35,000). I was then appointed acting general secretary of the European Judo Union. At the Congress, I wanted to contest for the post of secretary, but the Belgians wanted their own man and they advised me to contest for the post of head sports director instead. I accepted the nomination and though I was contested by a Bulgarian, I obtained 32 votes against 11 – a very satisfactory outcome,” said Galea.
Then came the other numerous posts which he occupied at the EJU, but after the Monaco assembly, he surprised even himself. “In fact, I was uncontested for the vice-presidency and then I went on – one step after another in just one year until I became the EJU’s first vice-president (the EJU had four vice-presidents).
“And after the general assembly in the Czech Republic, I was also nominated to sit on the Education Commission of the International Judo Federation. At present I also form part of the IJF committee on Educational Coaching,” he said.
In the mid-1990s, Galea started working hard to change the regulations involving youth sport.
He said: “I was responsible for the formulation of the judo rules, having been the technical delegate of the Youth Olympic Days Festival. I was also highly involved in introducing the education seminar which was followed by a medical seminar. These are still being held up to today, even in Malta.
“As far as the Judo Association is concerned, one of my biggest days was in 2000 when I was nominated by the Malta Association as a 6th Dan, a great honour for me,” said Galea.
The MJA president, as can be seen from his profile, has also served Maltese sport within the Malta Olympic Committee and for eight years has been its Youth Director.
When former Sports Director Pippo Psaila resigned last year, Galea contested for the post, but was unsuccessful.
“I had to contest, because I had been in the forefront criticising Pippo, mostly for his interference in federation affairs, something which I thought he was not competent in. He was a great administrator but, with all due respect, he could not understand that the federations knew what they needed much better than he did,” he said.
Another thing also caught my attention. This is Galea’s version of how the Small Nations Games came into existence.
“In 1980, during a Small Nations weightlifting championship in San Marino, I met the president of the local federation, Marino Casadei, at the meeting of the then confederation of judo, weightlifting and wrestling. When the event was held in Malta shortly afterwards at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Charles Mifsud (weightlifting) needed help and I offered my services. It was on this occasion, over a drink at the Hotel Metropole bar in Sliema, that the idea of a mini Olympic Games sprang up, although I remember we spoke only about the so-called small sports. We immediately excluded football, as it would have received all the limelight. I made that proposal, but later on it was Bertie Muscat who, as MOC secretary, worked hard on it and was eventually successful in 1983 – having convinced even IOC president Antonio Samaranch at the US congress. The first edition was held in San Marino in 1985,” said Galea, who added that he is very proud of the fact that all eight countries have always competed in judo, which proves that this sport is very popular.
Galea also spoke about his various tasks within the MOC and the EJU which, in this space, are impossible to describe.
But something which is dear to him is the work he is doing on the Talent Identification Scheme. “We have finally managed to enter the schools, even though, at this early stage, we have not yet received full cooperation from everyone concerned.
Unfortunately, up to today, there are a lot of youngsters who just take sport as a pastime. They do not know that they can make a career out of it.
They give it little importance – they simply do not know that sport gives you fitness, makes you disciplined and enables you to show respect for others (fair play). It is also a means of lifelong education.
“On these lines, it is important for PE teachers to inform their students that an athlete will never reach his or her genetic potential unless the basics are properly introduced up to age nine. I am not saying that we are obliging them to do it through sport, but if they do, then I will be a lot happier – convinced that it is the right way,” he said.
Galea added that 31 disciplines had applied to take part in the programme and 29 of them have been enrolled. “As to darts and pool, we took into consideration that these two disciplines were practised in an environment which was not very comfortable for children.
“Our main aim in this project is to produce youngsters capable not only of becoming good sportsmen and sportswomen, but also true Maltese ambassadors through sport, having a good educational level and in the hope of becoming role models who would be honoured to represent their country in future sporting events,” he said.
Galea admitted that it was Fr Hilary who had enabled him to get closer to the youth sector, first at the Education Sports Centre at Valletta and later at Marsa.
One final thing we spoke about, among other things, was the Association’s proposed premises at Pembroke.
He said: “Unfortunately it is still non-existent. We do not have the funds available at present, but we hope to start construction by the end of the year.
The site is there and up to now we have spent Lm67,000 on excavation work and permits.”
Envic Galea – a profile
Date of birth: 21 September 1950, in Hamrun.
Education: St Aloysius College, the University of Malta (Junior College – Medical School), MCAST (ACCA part 1 and 2 and Catering School – evening classes).
He has worked as resident and catering manager at the Mistra Village Aparthotel, was manager at Alpine Travel and managing director of Ultramar Ltd, a destination management company.
Professional membership: He is a member of the Association of Travel Agents as well as a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He served as a member of the council, chairman and vice chairman of the Travel & Tourism sector as well as a member of the Economic Committee.
Sporting career: He was a founder member and general secretary of the Malta Judo Federation before being elected its president in 1983. Earlier, he had also founded the University Judo Club and the MCAST Judo Club.
He won the Malta national championship in 1972 and in 1974 became a national referee coach III Class.
In 1983, he became a 1st Dan Black Belt at the National Italian Judo Academy.
In 1994, he was elected to sit as a member on the executive committee of the Commonwealth Judo Association and in 2000, was awarded 6th Dan (red and white) – the first Maltese to have won that award.
Galea is a well-known figure in European judo circles. In fact, at the Athens General Assembly in 1991, he was elected assistant general secretary. In 1994, he occupied the post of acting general secretary.
A year later, in Malta, he was elected head sports director of the EJU at the general assembly. In 1998, he was elected first vice-president of the European Judo Union at the Monaco general assembly. Two years later, in Berne, Switzerland, he was elected Education sports director of the Union. Other posts he has occupied at the EJU since 1995 are those of chairman of the Youth and Education Commission and chairman of the Medical Commission. Last year, he was also named as the EJU’s chairman of the Persons with Special Needs committee.
He has also served the EJU as the Technical Delegate at the Small Nations Games in Andorra (1991), Malta (1993 and 2003), Luxembourg (1995), Iceland (1997), Liechtenstein (1999) and San Marino (2001).
Galea is also a member of the International Judo Federation’s Education Commission, representing Europe.
He has been the Youth Director of the Malta Olympic Committee for eight years: 1992-1996 and 2000-2004. He became a council member, representing judo, in 1971, and in 1988 he was elected to the executive committee.