Be the beginning, Be the connection, Be the inspiration, Be the movement that activates a whole continent #BeActive

The European Week of Sport from 10th September 2016

The Maltese ambassadors Karl Izzo, Esther Azzopardi, Gilmour Borg, Jonathan Caruana and Vladyslava Kravchenzo, joined our mission to promote a more active lifestyle through sport and physical activity, have a very simple message for all of us, let’s all #BeActive!

Karl Izzo believes that practicing sports at a competitive level and represent our country at the international stage is an experience of a life time.

As a former PE teacher herself, FIFA referee, Eshter Azzopardi believes that physical activity should be integral part of every day’s life.

Special Olympics athlete Gilmour Borg told us that “children who are active, are more intelligent, health and confident”.

Football national team player Jonathan Caruana has a message to schools “schools can benefit in collaborating with sports organisations”.

Our last message was from para-olympian Vladyslava Kravchenzo. She believes that sports should be accessible to all.

More info about this year’s European Week of Sport go to www.maltabeactive.com

Past and present sport personalities should act as ambassadors to promote clean sport and physical activity. This is the main message that resulted from the announcement of five sport ambassadors by SportMalta in collaboration with Public Broadcasting Services. The sport ambassadors form part of the campaign #BeActive pertaining to the European Commission that will culminate during the European Week of Sport to be held between the 10^th and 17^th of September. They will be joining other sports ambassadors hailing from all over Europe, all together forming an integral part of this campaign.

During a press conference held at PBS Creativity Hub, Mark Cutajar, CEO of Sportmalta said that he has just returned from Bratislava where he attended the Directors’ General meeting held during the current Slovak Presidency during which the role of the ambassadors and the messages that they should push to the general public was discussed. Through their popularity and success these ambassadors will promote physical activity by attracting new audiences and draw them towards sports. He stated that SportMalta is working relentlessly on a number of initiatives to get people moving and encourages everyone to work together and participate in such events.

As a matter of fact, Mr. Cutajar listed a number of events where the ambassadors will be present to give their contribution. He thanked PBS for immediately accepting to become partners and collaborate on this project were through the national station and its programmes the ambassadors will be able to pass on the message to a large audience. He further pronounced that this partnership was presented to the 28 member states with the intention of discussing further such initiative during the Maltese Presidency.

Mr. Cutajar also thanked the ambassadors declaring their positive response in accepting to act as role models for inactive people that shy away from physical activity. The five ambassadors nominated are Karl Izzo, National Waterpolo Coach, Esther Azzopardi, International Football Official, Vladislava Kravchenko, Paralympic Swimmer, Jonathan Caruana, National Football Player and Captain of Valletta FC  and Gilmore Borg ,Special Olympics Athlete. Mr. Cutajar remarked that Jonathan Caruana is also an employee of SportMalta and stated that this augers well for the entity as it is part of its strategy to have high level athletes working within its structure.   Additionally he concluded by mentioning the upcoming strong TV media and social media campaign led by SportMalta.

Tonio Portughese, Chairman of the Public Broadcasting Services said that public broadcasting supports such social and educational initiatives as they are part off and in line with their commitment to promote social responsibility campaigns to the community. He sustained that this remit pertaining to PBS has its origins rooted in the direction provided by the European Commission of leading a healthy and active lifestyle.  Moreover this reflects the policies of the European Broadcasting Union. PBS will disseminate these messages through its popular media avenues.

Parliamentary Secretary for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sport Chris Agius said that the chosen ambassadors are idols for several people and with the help of their new role they can share the values they have earned through sport to society at large.  He said that values gained through sport have been on the agenda of high level EU meetings and thus this initiative will put Malta in a better position to achieve aims that other EU countries inspire to achieve.

More information about the local activities in relation to this campaign can be found on the new website maltabeactive.com.

A two month campaign promoting sport and physical education in all Maltese and Gozitan schools reached its climax as the programme ‘summer on the Move’ opened its doors in the last few days. The programme will end in September.

The main objective of this programme is to attract as many children, youth and adults as possible towards physical activity during the summer months where normally most have some more extra free time during this period.

This programme is an extension to the campaigns Be Active and Move that started some months ago so as to continue increasing participation and influence people’s perception in viewing sports as a means to live a better life.

For the first time the programme Summer on the Move reached its maximum capacity weeks prior to its starting date due to the fact that the sports activities are being offered at numerous centres spread around Malta and Gozo thus making the programme even more accessible.

Moreover the increase in the financial backing to this programme has made it possible for SportMalta to maintain low and affordable prices for everyone consequently embracing the inclusion of all alike.

All coaches engaged by SportMalta to lead this programme are qualified, dedicated and passionate about their work providing added value to the programme. Furthermore even the helpers engaged to assist the coaches are students specialising the field of sports enhancing even further the service offered to SportMalta’s clients.

Apart from the sport discipline itself coaches make sure that they guide the participants and impart information on the importance of a healthy diet, drinking plenty of water and protecting oneself from the sun by using adequate protection.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Sports visited one of these centres and stated that this is another initiative towards encouraging an active Maltese society with the aim of reducing obesity in our country. He emphasised the fact that every citizen should realise that a sedentary life accompanied by an unhealthy diet can seriously jeopardise one’s health. He praised SportMalta for contributing to change this mentality.

Luciano Busuttil, Chairman of SportMalta stated that this was the first time that bookings for the programmes reached saturation point and SportMalta had to close its booking system with the record participation reaching a staggering 2600 participants. He also remarked that as from this year more disciplines were offered.

Maintenance work are currently underway at the Ta’ Qali Outdoor Gym. The surrounding wooden perimeter of the mini football pitch at Ta’ Qali Satellite facility has been painted with varnish and the goal nets will be replaced by new ones soon.Two of the working machines have been re-hauled and re-painted whereas in the coming days new pull up bars will be installed.

During this scholastic year SportMalta in collaboration with the Directorate Health Promotion and Disease Prevention launched ‘Schools on the Move’ in a number of schools. The project is aimed at teenage girls mainly to encourage them to be more active during the recreation sessions. Dance coaches from SportMalta visited the schools and introduced an activity “Dance Fitness” to a group of students. However the pilot project also trained team leaders so that the exercise routine  would still be held even in the absence of the coaches guidance.

As a matter of fact the “Schools on the Move” programme provides the necessary tools to the students to become independent and physically active during their free time. Moreover the project addresses bullying and peer pressure that can be addressed through physical activity resulting in unity and solidarity amongst the team.

To assure a successful outcome of this project SportMalta is currently holding a number of seminars for the team leaders do that they will be fully prepared to continue the programme in the upcoming scholastic year in October. On the otherhand SportMalta coaches will enlarge the programme by introducing it in more schools so that ultimately “Schools on the Move’ will be in all the schools across Malta and Gozo.

SportMalta would like to inform the general public that all places in the Summer on the Move programme are taken and no more applicants can be further accepted.
Whilst thanking all applicants, SportMalta would like to inform them that Summer on the Move will open its doors on Monday 11^th July.

A European Award to highlight outstanding work and commitment at local levels to promote Sport and Physical Activity.

The awards competition is open for entries from 10 June to 22 July 2016.

The #BeActive Awards competition is a central element of the annual European Week of Sport and has been created to support initiatives and individuals dedicated to the promotion of sport and physical activity across Europe. The awards have three categories:

#BeActive Education Award

#BeActive Workplace Award

#BeActive Local Hero Award

Applications for each of these categories are to be submitted to the European Commission by National Coordinating Bodies. Focusing on educational establishments and workplaces, as well as individuals in local communities, the awards competition contributes to the local and human dimension of the Week, while showcasing best-practice initiatives, and introducing inspiring individuals, to a Pan-European audience.

TAKE PART! Send your submissions by 22 July
to EAC-SPORT-EWOS@ec.europa.eu and help us inspire people of all ages, backgrounds and fitness levels across Europe to #BeActive!

Click Here for information.

Skolasport, concluded the 2015-2016 programme with a vibrant end-of-year show of sports disciplines.   This annual event was organised at the Marsa Sports Complex were Skolasport participants enjoyed an energetic and colourful show of sport.

Participants had an opportunity to be active with their relatives and friends, whilst young participants joined by their parents and siblings also tried different activities. Due to a record number of 6,000 participants for Skolasport programme, the annual manifestation has been moved to SportMalta’s largest outdoor complex in Marsa. Meanwhile, the Cottonera Sport Complex is undergoing a major upgrade in its’ flooring to reach international competition standards.

The large space at the Marsa Sport Grounds gave the possibility to organise different stations with the children and adults participating concurrently in different sports and activities. The parents could appreciate the progress achieved through the programme.  This event was also a showcase for the Handball, Volleyball, Basketball and Gymnastics Academies that were launched this year in collaboration with the respective National Sport Associations to help the children achieve higher levels of performance.

During a short address, SportMalta Chairman Hon Luciano Busuttil said that this year’s Skolasport programme welcomed a record breaking 6,000 participants, with a marked increased enrolment for adult classes and a significant increase in the number of different sports offered, thus exposing our children to a variety of physical activity. Whilst thanking Kellogg’s for their continued support, he said that SportMalta will be continuing in its mission to get sports and physical activity as part of the lives of the Maltese community.

Mr Mark Cutajar CEO SportMalta thanked the coaches for their dedication and expressed his gratitude to the parents who believe in SportMalta’s commitment in providing the best sports programme by choosing year after year to enrol their children in both the winter and the summer programmes. He said that SportMalta will keep on working hard to continue improving its service to the public.

Hon Chris Agius, Parliamentary Secretary for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sports expressed his satisfaction with the record participation in this year’s programme. He stated that it is the Government’s commitment that through SportMalta it keeps offering the best service through its professional coaches with the best facilities but keeping affordable prices at the same time. He said that this is the formula for the Skolasport success.

At the end of the show, Stefan Cassar, Commercial Manager at Charles Darmanin & Co Ltd, distributors of Kellogg’s in Malta, presented the Kellogg’s sponsorship to SportMalta Chairman Hon Busuttil.