With an investment of €2.5 million, the Minister for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation Clifton Grima inaugurated a handball pavilion, dedicated to Louis Borg, former President of the Maltese Association of Handball, which is part of the sports facilities at the Maria Assunta Sports Complex in Hamrun.
“Today’s inauguration is the continuation of our work which is seeing strong investment in sports facilities around our country”, said Minister Grima. “This is a work that reflects what we promised as Government, to continue investing in sports facilities accessible to everyone and as close to you as possible. Our vision for this field affects everyone who in one way or another practices some physical activity, from people who do basic training to professional athletes whose sport is their passion and career”, said the Minister Grima.
“This Pavilion will serve to nurture this sport and to attract more youngsters toward this beautiful game”, said Mark Cutajar, SportMalta CEO.
“Its is a dream come through for all the community within this sport”, added Prof Andrew Decelis, Chairman of SportMalta Board of Directors.
The handball pavilion is part of a larger investment made in recent years in this complex, which also includes the first snooker academy in Malta with an investment of €700,000, a sports project for the Complex of Maria Assunta which by now already has a football ground and it is planned that there will also be a pavilion for various sports, a hall for table football, and another hall for bowling.
With the handball pavilion project, for the first time in Malta, a hall was built specifically to play this sport discipline. The hall accommodates 155 spectators and will be used primarily for handball training, from adults to children under 8 years old, as well as by SportMalta’s programs and by schools.
The hall was made according to International Handball Federation specifications, it is equipped with lighting that offers uniformity and reduces shadows to improve safety during use, as well as electric blinds that make it easy to use natural light. The iron structure is covered with a material that provides the best insulation, windows that open with an electronic mechanism and extractors to help control air and temperature.
In the plan put forward, the government is aiming for our country to have sports facilities of international standards that serve as a foundation for the sports industry that also attracts investment to our country. This is a collective work to raise the sport to the next level.
