Take it to the hole!

My friend Cikku was feeling lucky. He was feeling so lucky that after buying a ticket for a well-known number game, he felt that he was already Lm100,000 richer and sat down to plan how he would spend or invest the money!

After making some calculations he reckoned that investing Lm35,000 of his future winnings on property would be wise and decided to look into what was available on the market.

The next day with about Lm50 in his bank account, he rang up a number of real estate agents and began his hunt for a good investment.

Only then did Cikku realise that descriptions of property can sometimes be a little misleading.With a sea view, in one instance, meant that if one climbed on a ladder in the balcony of a third floor apartment, a one-metre stretch of sea could just be seen.

Scenic views often meant that an abandoned field that had accumulated a lot of rubbish was opposite the property and compact meant that three of the rooms together would have comfortably fit into a mini minor!

Cikku is rather claustrophobic and whenever the word compact was used he ran a mile!

It is a small world!

Unfortunately for Cikku he did not guess the winning numbers and is only 17 years of age.

What might his age have to do with the whole matter you might ask?

Well since Cikku still plays in the under-19 category he will have to go and see someone about his fear of small places!

Due to the flooding of Ta' Qali, the under-19 was transferred to the newly-built sports hall at Savio College, however this venue was only booked till the end of January.

The MBA was hoping to move back to Ta' Qali by this date but it seems that this estimate was a gross miscalculation.

The end result was that someone else managed to book the Savio College facility for the rest of the season with the threat to the under-19 league coming to a very abrupt halt.

Fortunately it appears that the league will now continue at the St Dorothy's gymnasium in Zebbug but this court is not of regulation size and will severely cramp Cikku's (and any other kid's) game!

Do not get me wrong... I believe the sports facilities at St Dorothy's are among the best of any school in Malta, it is just that while the gymnasium is more than adequate for a secondary school it was not made for this kind of competition.

Unfortunately a small court is always an advantage to a physical and less technical team. One also has to wonder where the team benches and scorers table will be.

Making do

Obviously, one has to understand the extreme stress that the MBA has been under since the Ta' Qali catastrophe, especially with the financial downfall this has brought about.

All the same a more realistic planning might have avoided this second change of venue.

Despite this, the clubs and players now have to make do and understand that officiating on a smaller court is not easy. Players, coaches, administrators and supporters need to be more understanding once the games begin at Zebbug. Everyone will have to do his little bit until basketball moves back to Ta' Qali.