www.youthfa.org.mt

St Andrew's International Football Tournament 2013

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St Andrew’s FC in conjunction with Luxol Sports Club will be organizing the 4th Edition of the International Christmas Football Tournament between 23^rd and 30^th December 2013 at the Luxol Stadium.

In this Tournament, which will be spread over six days, 19 teams from 10 Football Nurseries and a foreign Football academy will participate, where around 342 players will be taking part in 41 matches of nonstop football.

This edition will be dedicated to players born after January 2001, 2000, and 1998 coming from the Nurseries of: B’Kara, Hamrun Sp, Melita, Mosta, Pieta H, Paola H, Sliema W, Valletta, Chievo San Sofia and Sta Andrew’s

All matches, played on 11 v 11, will be controlled by MFA referees but Club Linesmen will be used only for the 2001 Fun Festival Category.

This was announced last Monday by Mario De Battista, Administrator of St Andrew's Youth Nursery, while addressing a Press Conference held at the Luxol Stadium. Present for the meeting was Mr Joe Micallef, The YFA General Secretary.

De Battista said that during the course of this year’s Tournament, St Andrew’s would like to deliver a message both to the parents and the coaches involved. He said that it is very important for the parents who will be attending, to let their children enjoy playing freely the game they love. Also it is very important for the coaches to make use of all the players registered for this Tournament. This will help a lot to assist and watch the joy and fun within these youngsters and see more football spectacle. He added that to compliment all this, for this Edition, the Organizing Committee will be using the slogan: “My Parents came here to WATCH ME play”.

Mr Joe Micallef, Secretary to The Youth FA said that today this Tournament has now proved the well organization since it’s started, while moving its way to the 4^th Edition. He noted with satisfaction that the theme used for this Edition is focused more on the players then on the parents and coaches. He appealed to all coaches to help to avoid any type of incidents and play with respect.

Mr Micallef took the opportunity to mention the players’ passport which was launched by The Youth FA earlier last week. He said that this passport will be guiding us about the development of these young players, apart that the players themselves will have a memory record of the main Tournaments that they participate in, during their carrier. He ended up his address by auguring all participants a most enjoyable Tournament and to deliver a message of Sports Respect.

Whilst thanking the Youth and Grassroots Committee for their support to organize this 4^th Edition of the St Andrew’s Christmas International Tournament, Mr De Battista went on to give the full details of the Tournament.

The program opens on Monday 23^rd December whereas the tournament kicks off at 08:30Hrs with the first match and ends on Sunday 30th December with the 1998 and 2000 Category Finals.

Youth FA for Ethiopia Campagin

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Bhala parti mill programm ta’ football social responsibility tal-Youth FA ghal dan l-istagun, kif kien imhabbar aktar qabel, qed tigi nedija kampanja ‘Youth FA for Ethiopia Campaign’. Wara talba mis-sur Andrew Attard, il-Youth FA, qed thoss li tohloq din il-kampanja, biex permezz tal-futbol, tghin tfal li jhobbu din il-loghba barra minn xtutna, fejn gewwa r-rahal ta’ Aramo fl-Ethiopia, hemm tfal li jhobbu l-futbol, izda minhabba l-qaghda socjali taghhom ma jistghux li jkollhom blalen biex jilghabu.

Ghaldqstant tkun xi haga verament sabiha li fil-granet tal-festi n-nurseries jinghaqdu, u jgibu xi blalen u pompi nhar il-Gimgha 27 ta’ Dicembru 2013, bejn 4.00 pm u 7.00pm, gewwa l-Youth FA ta’ Qali(nitolbok tinnota schedule tal-hin ghall kull nursery biex tkun prezenti) tkun okkazjoni tajba fejn tistghu ggibu xi tfal minn nursery taghkom, biex jisimghu l-esperjenzi ta’ zaghzagh li hadmu din is-sena qalb dawn it-tfal fl-Ethiopia.

Certament li kull nursery ser taghmel l-isforz taghha, biex dan il-progett ikun ta’ success. Kull ballun ser jghin lil dawn it-tfal li huma wkoll jixtiequ jilghabu l-loghba favorita taghhom.

Inheggu, li din l-email tintbghat ukoll lill genituri tat-tfal tan-nursery tieghek, biex noholqu kuxjenza akbar, u fejn jistghu il-genituri jghinu f’dan il-progett, billi joffru blalen huma wkoll. Tkun haga verament sbiha li n-nursery tieghek apparti li tkun prezenti, itella’ xi tfal biex jiltaqghu ma zaghzagh li ghamlu din l-esperjenza gewwa l-Ethiopia dan is-sajf. Thalliex ghall-ahhar ibda’ ahseb minn issa u zgura li n-nursery tieghek tghati l-appogg taghha f’din il-kawza hekk sabiha.

The Youth Football Association launch the players’ passport

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The Youth FA is looking to gather statistics about local grassroots football and players, whilst introducing a more modern and innovative way to register the players in the 6 to 12 years age group. At the YFA Passport launch, held yesterday at the Centenary Hall, Fr. Hilary Tagliaferro appealed to the member nurseries to embrace this new initiative with passion as it will be for the benefit of all the football family.

The YFA President explained that this new application will give real time access to the nurseries to check whether a player is already registered with another nursery, and also will provide a wealth of statistics, such as the number of players in each age category and each player’s history. He also expressed his appreciation towards the Association’s main sponsors, APS Bank for their constant support and for their partnership in this new venture.

The General Secretary, revealed that the Youth FA has invested more than €2000 in a data processing system which will allow to have the passports’ details available online. Joe Micallef explained in detail how the Passport needs to be filled in and appealed for the nurseries support to make this application a successful one, for the good of the game and all those involved. He concluded his intervention by reminding that in these age caterories, there should be no compensation of any sort involved, and that the players between the ages of 6 and 12, can move freely from one nursery to another at the end of each season.

During this event, the new Youth Logo was also revealed, as part of the Youth FA’s new branding, which will see the association look forward towards a more professional approach.

APS Leagues Results - 15/12/2013

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U/15B Gozo 0 - 5 B`kara
Zabbar 0 - 1 Kirkop

U/15C1 B`bugia 2 - 0 Marsa
Sta Venera 0 - 4 Attard

U/15C2 Qrendi 5 - 0 Mtarfa

U/17C1 Mgarr 2 - 1 Mtarfa

U/17C2 Zebbug 3 - 0 B`bugia

Hamrun Nursery holds tenth edition of Firetech Festival

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The long weekend starting on the 13th December saw another edition of the Firetech Festival being held at the Victor Tedesco Stadium. Around 300 children had the opportunity to play their favourite game in one of the best football festivals organised by a local nursery.

Once again, places in the Firetech Festival were booked in a matter of a few days and, unfortunately, the Hamrun Nursery had to turn down a number of other requests by other teams. In all, 32 teams participated in this event. Kids born in 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2003 had the opportunity to play in one of the best football stadiums in Malta, getting a feel of where top-level football is played.

In line with Youth FA guidelines, results were not kept but emphasis was placed on the fun element of football. In fact, the slogan of the festival was "Before kids can play like a pro... they must enjoy playing the game like a kid". The nice weather throughout the three days, which is quite unusual for December, added to the fun atmosphere of the festival. A number of first-aiders were present during all the football festival and the organisation turned out to be a success.

The Hamrun Nursery would like to thank Firetech Limited for sponsoring this festival for the tenth consecutive time. Firetech specialises in fire, safety and security and operates from its premises in Mill Street, Qormi. The next football festival to be held by the Hamrun Nursery is the Tony Bajada Memorial which will be held during the Easter holidays as usual.