On Saturday 25^th October at Maria Regina Middle School, Naxxar Starlites Basketball held its Mini Basketball Open Day and organised a Mini Basketball Festival which brought together children of different ages to play 3 vs 3 games.

During this event which celebrated the European Week of Sport seen a turnout of many children participating in games and fun physically active activities. As part of Starlites BC long term plan, and aligned to the motto of the club, towards an active lifestyle, the last hour was dedicated specifically for children as young as 3 and 4 years of age. These young participants were exposed to micro basketball and games which offered an exposure to movement, exploration of space and shooting hoops in an adapted micro basketball environment.

A dire need to expose young children to movement and activity is an essential target in the Club’s objectives. Starlites BC thanks all coaches and helpers who attended this event and SportMalta for providing gifts to all children who participated.

B’riżultat ta’ ftehim bejn SportMalta fi ħdan il-Ministeru għall-Inklużjoni u l-Kwalità tal-Ħajja u l-Kunsill Lokali ta’ Ħal Luqa, il-komunità ta’ Ħal Farruġ, li tifforma parti mil-lokalità ta’ Ħal Luqa u li fiha joqogħdu 580 resident, se tkun tista’ tagħmel użu mill-faċilitajiet għall-eżerċizzji fiżiċi li SportMalta għandha f’Ta’ Kandja. L-użu ta’ dawn il-faċilitajiet se jkun mingħajr ħlas u se jkunu eliġibbli għalih persuni li l-età tagħhom hija minn 16-il sena ‘l fuq.

Il-Ministru għall-Inklużjoni u l-Kwalità tal-Ħajja Julia Farrugia Portelli, li kienet preżenti għall-iffirmar tal-ftehim, iddeskrivietu bħala investiment ieħor li se jtejjeb il-kwalità tal-ħajja tar-residenti. “Huma diversi l-fatturi li jikkontribwixxu għal x’livell ta’ kwalità ta’ ħajja jkun qed jgħix il-poplu. Ekonomija soda, servizzi edukattivi u ta’ saħħa, drittijiet ċivili, servizzi soċjali, u servizzi u benefiċċji lil persuni b’diżabilità huma fost dawn il-fatturi, u li ċertament li l-gvern ta aktar minn prova waħda ta’ kemm mexxa lill-pajjiż ‘il quddiem fihom. Xjentifikament u medikament, hu stabbilit li eżerċizzju fiżiku hu kruċjali għall-benesseri tal-individwu. Qed naħsbu għal dan ukoll. Tista’ tgħid li għandna faċilitajiet sportivi f’kull belt u raħal u qegħdin niżviluppaw il-kunċett li nipprovdu apparat għall-eżerċizzi fiżiċi fil-miftuħ b’kordinazzjoni mal-kunsilli lokali u SportMalta biex ikun jista’ jintuża mir-residenti tal-lokalità.”

Il-Ministru Farrugia Portelli żiedet tgħid li, “Qegħdin inkomplu niżviluppaw il-kunċett li jittejbu l-attivitajiet sportivi u fiżiċi fil-komunitajiet, bħalma huwa l-ftehim bejn SportMalta u l-Kunsill Lokali ta’ Ħal Luqa, li apparti li huma utli ħafna biex dak li jkun iżomm ruħu f’saħħtu, fl-istess ħin iservu wkoll ta’ rilassament mentali, rilassament li jirrendi kwalità ta’ ħajja aħjar. Il-komunità ta’ Ħal Farruġ se tkun tista’ tibbenefika mill-faċilitajiet għall-eżerċizzji fiżiċi li SportMalta għandha f’Ta’ Kandja.”

Segretarju Parlamentari għall-Isport, ir-Rikreazzjoni u l-Għaqdiet Volontarji Clifton Grima rrimarka kif ġimgħa wara oħra, permezz tal-proġetti sportivi fil-komunità, il-gvern qiegħed ikompli juri kemm verament irid itejjeb il-kwalità tal-ħajja tal-poplu Malti. Is-Segretarju Parlamentari qal li, “L-għan ħolistiku ta’ dawn il-proġetti komunitarji u sportivi huwa li l-poplu jintegra ma’ xulxin filwaqt li jsib ħin biex jeżerċita ruħu u jżomm ruħu attiv kemm jista’ jkun”.

Is-Segretarju Parlamentari żied jgħid li, bl-għajnuna tal-kunsill lokali flimkien mar-rieda tal-gvern u SportMalta, aktar nies qed jibbenifikaw minn attivitajiet sportivi bla ħlas biex ikollna poplu b’saħħtu.

Iċ-Chairman ta’ SportMalta Luciano Busuttil qal li SportMalta dejjem tfittex mezzi differenti sabiex tilħaq aktar nies biex jagħmlu attività fiżika. Huwa qal li SportMalta akkwistat dan l-apparat għal attivitajiet tal-Ġimgħa Ewropea tal-Isport u poġġiet dan l-apparat għad-dispożizzjoni permanenti tal-pubbliku sabiex jitgawda s-sena kollha.

Is-Sindku ta’ Ħal Luqa John Schembri saħaq li din l-inizjattiva hi waħda pożittiva li se tkun qed tagħti opportunità lir-residenti ta’ Ħal Farruġ biex jagħmlu użu minn din il-faċilità bla ħlas. Is-Sindku ħeġġeġ lir-residenti ta’ Ħal Farruġ sabiex japplikaw għall-sħubija mill-Kunsill Lokali.​

Għarb Local Council organised an activity for its residents as part of the European Week of Sport on 16^th September. Tai Chi is a form of graceful exercise that is used to reduce stress and a variety of other health conditions. This is often described as meditation during movement, and it promotes serenity through gentle circulating movements. This was the first time that we had this type of exercise in our village, and we had good feedback. We look forward to doing it again in the future. Thanks goes to SportMalta for their assistance.

On 19^th September, Gharb Local Council organised its third edition of the 5k Run. Nowadays everyone knows how important it is to do some form exercise and #BeActive. This 5k Run brought together athletes of all ages. Every year we always have new participants who are motivated to continue practicing this type of sports. We thank SportMalta for their support in the event. This activity also formed part of the European Week of Sport events.

Today the Malta Snooker Academy based in Hamrun will host an exhibition match between two of Malta’s best ever players Tony Drago and Alex Borg. This event is being organised by SportMalta with the collaboration of the Malta Billiards and Snooker Association as part of the European Week of Sports which officially ends today.

Tony Drago and Alex Borg who are well known for their national and international results, will face each other over best of nine frames.

Also as part of this 7th edition of the European Week of Sport, the Malta Snooker Accademy organised the BeActive Tournament in which 52 players took part with the final game  being played today.  Finalists Philip Ciantar and Brian Cini will decide the winner over seven frames. In the semi finals Philip Ciantar beat Chris Peplow 3-1 whilst Brian Cini managed to beat Glenn Axiaq 3-2.

The two games are going to be streamed live on YouTube Channel link https://youtu.be/KtkBQyyBy61

The final of the BeActive Tournament between Ciantar and Cini starts at 5:00 pm with the exhibition game between Drago and Borg immediately after it.

27 member states and many other countries across Europe and the
western Balkans throughout this week are having a massive
campaign in order to get the populations more active. The European
week of Sport is an initiative by the European Commission to create
awareness towards the need of physical activity in one’s life. The
European week of Sport was symbolically launched by Commissioner
Maria Gabriel in Bled, Slovenia, the country which holds the EU
Presidency of the Council.

Malta through SportMalta, the government entity for sport
organised two main events and many other satellite events for our
population to be more active. On Thursday the Kirkop Sport
Complex was transformed into a sport village where many
associations, federation and clubs displayed their sport. Hundreds of
athletes of different ages and abilities took part in this event which
was endorsed the presence of Minister Julian Farrugia and
Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima. Traditional team sport
organised sessions for their nurseries. basketball, netball, rugby and
football. There were also other individual such as table-tennis, table
football, weightlifting, a show from BMX, kendo, judo, badminton,
taekwando, gymnastics, triathlon, line dancing, athletics and
Waterpolo. The SportMalta programme on the move was also active
with displays from the academies. There were also competitions
organised by Special Olympics Malta and the Frame football
association who were recently donated 31 frames by SportMalta for
the sport to keep expanding. SportMalta employees and coaches
were also very active to distribute various freebies with the Be Active
logo for the message to be passed on to their families.
Yesterday all Europe between 21 and 23 hours celebrated the
BeActive night. For the second year running SportMalta organised
an Obstacle course relay which was transmitted live on TV. The
competition was held in the adventure park adjacent to the

Cottonera Sport Complex. 8 teams made up of four participants ( 2
male and 2 female) took part in a knockout competition. The teams
had a non playing captain many of who were ambassadors of this
year European Week of Sport. The obstacles varied with the athletes
being challenged on good grip and core strength. All 32 athletes
tried hard to get their body over and around the obstacles on a
slippery terrain made more difficult with rain simulation throughout
the course. There were intervention during the activity by Dr Lydia
Abela who focussed on the various initiatives she is launching to
promote physical activity for a healthy citizenship, parliamentary
secretary Clifton Grima, SportMalta Chairman Luciano Busuttil and
National Coordinator Rosemarie Mercieca. After three hard fought
battles the team captained by Special Olympics athlete Matthew
Bugeja emerged to be winners beating the team captained by
Olympian Matthew Abela. The team led by Paralympian Thomas
Borg finished third. SportMalta chief executive officer Mark Cutajar
presented the trophy and 800 Euro in sport Equipment to the
winning team.

During the Be Active night SportMalta launched two parallel
campaigns. The first one focussed on creating a balance between
sport and education. A number of sport personalities of all ages
passed their message through short video clips. These include
Waterpolo youngster Jayden Cassar, young tennis player Kayleigh
Busuttil, 400m runner Janet Richards, former 400m runner Charlene
Attard, football coach Paul Zammit, parent Mariella Borg Costanzi
and special Olympian Rachel Chircop. The second number of clips
promote volunteering with coaches / administrators Joseph Muscat
(basketball), Philip Ciantar (Snooker), Mario Aquilina (Sailing), Laura
Demicoli (Paralympic Committee) and Maria Vidal (Special Olympics)
encouraging followers to join and volunteer and club and national
level.

For more information about the European week of Sport which will
come to an end on the 30 th September you can join the web on
www.sportmalta.mt

Mark Cutajar Chief Executive Officer of SportMalta said that the activities will be focused between 23rd September and 30th September. The opening of the activities will take place through sports activities at the Kirkop Sports Complex. More than 20 sports organizations will take part and they range from individual sports to team sports. The activity starts at 18:00.

Cutajar said that another important event will take place on the 25th of the month in the garden next to the Cottonera Sports Complex. The activity traditionally known as #BeActive Night will be an Obstacle Uphill Sprint Relay between 8 teams and 32 athletes on a knockout basis.

He also mentioned that there will be other activities including activities in different localities and from different organizations as well as activities in schools. Cutajar said he will start a media campaign on volunteering in sport, the outdoors as well as on the balance between sport and education.

Finally, Cutajar also announced that the ambassadors of this edition are Sacha Gatt, Yazmin Zammit Stevens, Matthew Bugeja, Vlada Kravchenko, Matthew Abela, Eleanor Bezzina, Andrew Chetcuti, Thomas Borg, Matthew Bugeja and Carla Scicluna who all took part in the Olympics, Paralympics and Special Olympics.

To commemorate the European Week of Sport, Marsakala Aquatic organized a half-day waterpolo interleague at its own training grounds, Zonqor Point Ex-National Pool on Sunday 5^thSeptember. The league was played amongst four participant teams made up of members of the Club’s nursery, parents, senior team members, masters and coaching staff. Members of the Club’s nursery were each presented with a backpack courtesy of SportMalta. The event was closed off with a festive BBQ for all attendees. Marsaskala Aquatic strongly believes that sports and physical exercise is a way to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Club members and its committee would like to thank SportMalta for supporting and encouraging this initiative #BEACTIVE

The preparatory meeting for the stakeholders of this year’s European Week of Sport was held on the 24^th of August 2021 at the InterContinental, Malta. The Malta Sports Journalists Association was invited together with SportMalta employees from different departments.

SportMalta’s CEO, Mark Cutajar holds that, “Since sports is very important, it can’t only be judged from international results which are obtained in competitions, but from within the community itself”. The European Week of Sport promotes not only sport but also fitness and nutrition and although it only lasts a week, a lot of preparation is done before implementation so that we see the results of this week all year round.  Therefore, the main objective of EWOS 2021 is to lower the percentage of people who do not do sport to 50% or less in comparison to 2018 which was 56%. Together with this objective, the priorities are joy, resilience and intergenerational activities as physical activity needs to be supported more by the community especially post global pandemic.

This year’s focus themes are education, workplace, outdoors, sports clubs, and fitness centers. Education, where all primary and secondary schools will be split in a total of 4 groups and a video will be shown to the students to follow from; workplace, where there will be staff events and programs through sport; outdoors, certain sports activities are better done outdoors and here in Malta the best place for that is the Mediterranean sea; sports clubs, through the main national event and the #BeActive Night, will be provided with a chance to exhibit their potential; also fitness centers, will be the main objective of the #BeActive Night and Local Council activities.

The use of plastic during sports activities has increased to a point where the environment is clearly not being taken care of. For this reason, SportMalta is encouraging all athletes and citizens alike to make a change and start using re-usable bottles which can be re-filled through water fountains and water dispensers found in certain localities.

Social media has taken over some typical traditional media and therefore more emphasis is being made to raise awareness on certain sport activities which will be held, alongside the voluntary work which is highly needed especially for the upcoming Special Olympics being held next year and Games of the Small Nations of Europe 2023.