The annual financial statements of the Maltese Olympic Committee for the financial year ending 31 October 2006 were unanimously approved at the MOC council meeting held at MOC headquarters on Tuesday, 27 March.
The financial statements were presented to delegates from affiliated associations by Finance Director David Azzopardi, who gave a detailed account of the actions of the MOC from a financial point of view.
Vincent Curmi, on behalf of Vincent Curmi and Associates, also addressed the delegates present.
MOC president Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, while emphasising what had been achieved during previous months, referred to the MOC’s commitments in the immediate future. As attention is focused on the 12th Games for the Small States of Europe, to be held in Monaco, participating athletes and officials as well as other sports personalities, will have the opportunity to meet Archbishop Mgr Paul Cremona.
The MOC president informed the council that details of this gathering will be announced in the coming weeks.
Reference was also made to Malta’s international participation following the Small Nations Games. “We are less than 500 days away from the Beijing Olympic Games and we also have to focus on our participation there,” he said. “In addition, the MOC has to make preparations for the Mediterranean Games in Pescara in 2009 and the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010. The MOC is, of course, committed to being at the service of the affiliated associations”.
National associations’ delegates were also addressed by MOC general secretary Joseph Cassar, who gave a detailed presentation about the inter-college sports festivals held recently at the Marsa. Mr Cassar referred to the current educational set-up vis-à-vis sports and how this will help to look at sport in a different way. Details were given about how schools had been in groups of 10 colleges, according to the various localities, where they had more autonomy in decision-making.
The council also heard presentations from other MOC directors, namely deputy president Julian Pace Bonello, Kyril Micallef Stafrace (Marketing), Marie Therese Zammit (Director of Support Services) Lucienne Attard (Women in Sport and Doping Tests within National Associations), Vincent Scicluna (Government and EU relations), Envic Galea (Participation of Youths in various MOC activities and the Talent Identification Programme), Charles Camenzuli (Media and Public Relations) and Anthony Chircop, who spoke about courses to be held this year in Ancient Olympia, with the support of the International Olympic Academy.
* * *
MIA Olympic Special – What’s On
Thursday, 5 April on TVM at 5pm, Friday, 6 April on E22 at 9pm (RPT), Sunday, 8 April on E22 at 10am (RPT) and Monday, 9 April on E22 at 2.30pm (RPT) will feature the following:
GSSE Section – Tennis
The 12th Games for the Small States of Europe will be taking place from 4 to 9 June in Monaco. Carol Curmi and Helen Asciak represented Malta at the Monaco Games in 1987, both claiming a bronze medal in the tennis singles and winning the gold medal in the doubles. They went on to retain the doubles gold medal for the next three Games, namely in Cyprus 1989, Andorra in 1991 and Malta in 1993. Find out more about the experiences of these athletes competing in these Games.
Featured event
A traditional regatta took place on Saturday, 31 March in Grand Harbour, with five races in category ‘A’ and another five in category ‘B’. The clubs that participated were Birgu, Birzebbuga, Bormla, Kalkara, Marsa, Marsamxett and Senglea. Find out in this feature what happened at this event.
MOC Director
Charles Camenzuli Media and Public Relations director, responsible for projecting the right image of the MOC and informing the public about all the activities organised by the MOC. He is also responsible for all MOC publications and ancillary matters and is chairman of the Ethics Commission. Find out more about Charles Camenzuli’s role in the MOC in this short interview.
Highlighted events
This week’s highlights will focus on the MOC Council meeting that took place at the MOC headquarters on 27 March, where the MOC President and various directors addressed the council members. 31 March saw the organising of the Rugby MRFU Cup Final by the Malta Rugby Football Union. Find out more about these events in these features.
The schedule is available every week on www.nocmalta.org and in The Malta Independent newspaper every Tuesday. Produced in collaboration with E22.
* * *
Tennis Europe honours MOC President
Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, president of the Maltese Olympic Committee, has been nominated as an Honorary Member of Tennis Europe.
He was former president of the Malta Tennis Federation between 1991 and 1999, and was treasurer of the European Tennis Association and chairman of the Men’s Committee of the Association (1996-1999).
In Malta he was responsible for the organisation of three Davis Cup tournaments and six team championships, as well as three Junior World Ranking Tournaments and three ATP Tournaments.
Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco was also instrumental in the general organisation of the European Tennis Association AGM held in Malta in 1996 and the ETA General Secretaries Meeting in 1998.
The presentation was held in Vienna last Saturday during the Tennis Europe annual general meeting.
Association News: Malta Judo and the GSSE
It all started in the bar of a hotel in Sliema
Malta Weightlifting Associa-tion president Charles Mifsud was busy looking for officials and competitors at a hotel in Sliema.
This was 1980 and the occasion was the Small Nations Championships for Weight-lifting. While Charlie was looking around, I was talking to Marino Casadei, general secretary of the International Weightlifting Federation and president of the San Marino Judo, Wrestling and Weightlifting Federation.
We were complaining that the bigger federations were too strong and never gave us a chance to compete and gain experience. We said that we needed something like these championships and that we should start a “Mini Olympics”, open only for countries with less than one million citizens.
Charlie had found his people and off we went to the Conference Centre for the championships. But the idea did not stop there. We resolved that we should promote this idea through our National Olympic Committees.
Our idea was readily accepted by MOC president Karm Borg and secretary-general Bertie Muscat, and through the insistent canvassing of Bertie, the first games were held in San Marino.
Our first participation in San Marino 1985 was considered very successful as Alex Bezzina, added to the Maltese list after the cancellation of the athletics team, registered a victory against Andorra, one of the few successes of that Maltese adventure.
In the second Games, in Monaco, the inexperience of the organisers caused us the loss of a potential gold medal. Judoka Stefan Farrugia had fought his way to the quarter-finals and the organisers informed our coach that the semi-finals would be contested in the afternoon, so he sent Stefan to rest. This was not so and Stefan was called on the mat in the morning, losing by default. In the afternoon Stefan fought for bronze, which he won easily.
A second incident happened in Cyprus, where we had expected gold from our Alex Bezzina. Alex fought his way to the final against the home favourite Katsiniorides and some participants drew our attention to the fact that the points that Alex had gained were being awarded to his opponent.
Checking with the scoreboard, hidden under the head table, we confirmed that this was the case. The protest to the official was in vain and served to distract Alex, who lost his concentration and opened his defence, and was immediately taken by his opponent. Alex had to be content with silver while Jason Trevisan won bronze.
In Andorra 1991, Jason Trevisan missed gold in an epic final, acclaimed by all the Maltese press for his bravery.
In 1993, on home ground, the organising committee agreed to include women categories at the suggestion of the Maltese Federation.
Here entered the golden girl Jackie Xuereb. Everybody expected Laurie Pace, bronze medal winner at the Commonwealth Games, to win gold, but Laurie succumbed to the superiority of Biggie Blum of Liechtenstein, to be satisfied with silver.
Jackie, however, entered these Games like a cyclone, to set a record nobody in judo has yet beaten – that of winning three consecutive gold medals. Not only did she win gold, but equally impressive was the way in which she won them. Her bouts were all under one minute, as she eliminated her opponents so quickly that they did not know what had hit them. Judo in the Malta Games was held in Gozo and Jackie’s gold was the first of the Games. This inspired the home team immensely.
From the Malta Games onwards, Maltese Judo continued to excel, with Jackie again winning gold in Luxembourg, together with the second silver for Laurie and other bronze medals. However, the greatest success for judo and all sports in the Games came in Iceland.
The Judo Federation fielded eight athletes for the Iceland Games, six of whom were qualified to fight for gold, and the other two for bronze.
In the afternoon, in a country where in summer the sun never sets, several Maltese supporters were ready waving the red and white flag. They knew that history was going to be made that afternoon and, in fact, they were not disappointed.
The national anthem was played three times in succession, Maltese judokas winning three gold, three silver and two bronze medals, beating all the rest of the Maltese contingent put together.
After Iceland, judo remained the top sport for Malta, who won the gold again in Liechtenstein and San Marino.
In Liechtenstein, Laurie Pace finally managed to win the coveted gold in the home country of Biggie Bloom who had beaten her to the yellow metal every time.
Laurie confirmed her gold the last time she competed in San Marino. Here, in this tiny republic, we were accompanied by Natalie Galea, an Australian with Maltese citizenship who, like Laurie, managed to win gold.
When the Games returned to Malta, in 2003, the Maltese team was in the process of reforming, as most of the veterans had stopped competing, and here again the rules of Judo were changed to include the team event. In this new event, Maltese judo went very close to winning gold, when we lost to Iceland in the final. The Games in Malta saw the debut of Marcon Bezzina, who did not start in the best of form, but showed her worth in Andorra two years later.
Preparations for San Marino are under way and this year the Federation has teamed up with Bath University where, thanks to the services of Carlos Carbonell, one of the first graduates of the special European Judo Union degree in judo coaching, the completely new team is showing great progress.
* * *
Athletes’ profiles:
BENJI BORG
Age: 16
Sport: Sailing
Discipline: Laser Sailor/radial Class
Club: Malta Young Sailor’s Club
Started: Optimist Class at age of 7
Job/Student status: First year in Art & Design at MCAST
Hobbies/pastimes: Painting/building model boats
Achievements:
Gold Medal, Optimist Class, GSSE Malta 2003.
5th place, Optimist Class, European Championships, Croatia 2003.
National Champion, Optimist Class, 2003/2004.
Sailor of the year and Sportiv tas-sena 2003/2004.
National Champion Laser 4.7, 2005.
2nd place, Birzebbuga Sailing Club, St Peter’s Trisa Regatta 2005, Laser 4.7, 2005.
2nd place, Spring Regatta, Laser 4.7, 2005.
1st place, Foundation Day Regatta, Laser 4.7, 2005.
3rd place, Malta Young Sailors club, Foundation day Regatta, Laser Radial, 2006.
3rd place, Birzebbuga Sailing Club RLR Spring Regatta, Laser Radial, 2006.
3rd place, Malta Optimist Regatta, Laser Radial, 2006.
Benji Borg is a member of the MOC Elite Athlete Scheme which is sponsored by the Malta International Airport as part of the company’s Supporting Malta’s Sport sponsorship
policy.
* * *
TERENCE GATT
Age: 16
Club: Acro Jumpers Gymnastics Club
Sport: Gymnastics
Discipline: Men’s Artistic
Started: At age 13
Competitive achievements
2004
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION
1st on Pommel Horse, 2nd on Vault, 3rd on Floor – 3rd All round
2 Bronze Medals at the INTERNATIONAL GYMNASTICS COMPETITION, GYMSTARS GC, Malta
2005
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION
2nd on Pommel Horse, 4th All round
2006
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION (Elite)
3rd on Floor, 3rd on High Bars, 2nd on Parallel Bars, 3rd on Rings, 1st on Pommel Horse, – 3rd All round
OTHER
2004 – Chosen to join the National Team
2004 – International Training Camp, Milton Keynes, England
2006 – ISLAND GAMES SICILY (Performance only): 3rd in Boys Team Event
2006 – Attended Winder Training Camp, Cesena, Italy
PHILIP AMATO GAUCI
Age: 16
Club: Acro Jumpers Gymnastics Club
Sport: Gymnastics
Discipline: Men’s Artistic
Started: At age 7
Competitive achievements
1999
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION
1st All round
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION, Milton Keynes, England (Participant)
2000
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY COMPETITION, Milton Keynes, England (Participant)
2001
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION
1st All round
INTERNATIONAL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS, Milton Keynes, England (Participant)
2002
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION
1st All round
INTERNATIONAL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS, Milton Keynes, England (Participant)
2004
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION
1st All round
1st All round in International Competition, Milton Keynes, England
GWG CUP, INTERNATIONAL MEET, Cottbus, Germany (Participant)
2005
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION
1st All round
OTHER
1999 Nominated for Sportsman of the Year
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, Attended summer training camp, Milton Keynes, England
2005 Coached two youths for international competition in Belgium
2006 – Attended Winder Training Camp, Cesena, Italy
British Gymnastics – Women’s artistic judging award – Club Judge
British Gymnastics – Coaching Award – Assistant coach women’s artistic gymnastics
Attended various lectures hosted in Malta by foreign coaches
JEREMY J. SAYWELL
Age: 13
Club: Acro Jumpers Gymnastics Club
Sport: Gymnastics
Discipline: Men’s Artistic
Started: At age 7
Competitive achievements
2002
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION
1st on Floor, 3rd on Vault, 3rd on High Bars – 2nd All round
3rd All round in International Competition, Milton Keynes, England
2004
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION (Under 13)
1st On Floor, 1st On Vault, 1st on Rings, 1st on Parallel Bars, 1st on High Bars, 1st on Pommel Horse – 1ST All round
INTERNATIONAL GYMNASTICS COMPETITION,
GYMSTARS GC, Malta
1st on Floor Routine, 1st on Vault, 1st on Pommel Horse, 1st on High Bar, 1st on Parallel Bars, 2nd on Rings – 1st All around
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION, in Milton Keynes, England
1st on Vault, 1st on Floor – 1st All around and 1st Boys Team Competition
2005
INTERNATIONAL CLUB
COMPETITION, Belgium
2nd on High Bars, 3rd on Parallel Bars, 3rd on Vault, 3rd on Floor – 3rd All around
2006
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION (Elite)
1st on Floor, 1st on High Bars, 1st on Parallel Bars, 1st on Rings, 2nd on Pommel Horse, 2nd on Vault – 1st All Around
OTHER
2002 – Chosen to join the National Team
2006 – ISLAND GAMES SICILY (Performance only): 1st on Floor, 2nd on Vault, 6th Parallel Bars – 2nd All around and 3rd in Boys Team Event