Courtesy: Times of Malta


Eight teams register for inaugural FMA Junior Festival

Friday, November 4, 2016

To commemorate its fifth anniversary, the Futsal Malta Association (FMA) will organise the first edition of the FMA Futsal Festival for children born between 2004 and 2005 (U-12/13).

“The response was quite encouraging as the format of the festival was discussed with the participants to make sure that the principal goal is reached,” the FMA said.

At a news conference, FMA general secretary Claudio Azzopardi explained the format and the objectives of this festival, and thanked the participating clubs for their contribution during the discussions.

The FMA’s target is to launch a national academy of futsal once the game had made certain progress in the grassroots sector.

Mark Borg, the FMA president, said that futsal is also regarded as a ‘development game’, as described by FIFA and UEFA, to compliment the game of football in the development of basic skills, agility and technique.

The development aspect will be at the heart of the FMA Junior Festival, sponsored by Shield Security Consultants, as the young players will be encouraged to express themselves in an enjoyable environment.

The children will be free to choose the club they wish to play for and will remain attached to this club for one season.

Eight teams have registered to take part in the first FMA Junior Festival – Luxol, Sliema, Żebbuġ, Mosta, Pietà, Marsaxlokk, Balzan and the Malta Futsal School.

Two venues
Matches will be played every Tuesday at the MBA basketball pavilion at Ta’ Qali and the National School of Sports in Pembroke.

Chris Agius, the parliamentary secretary for youth and sport, expressed his appreciation at the FMA’s on-going efforts to boost the game in different sectors despite facing serious difficulties to find a suitable venue where to stage their senior competitions recently.

The issue was resolved after the FMA extended their contract with AS Hibernians to keep using the Corradino Pavilion as their main base after long and tough negotiations.

Agius stated that the government will be endeavouring to ensure that futsal will have its dedicated facilities in Malta and Gozo in the near future.


Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com