The Ħamrun Spartans FC Youth Nursery organised the Firetech Christmas Festival for the 14th consecutive year.
The festival, held earlier this month, featured the participation of around 250 players, in four different age-groups, from 10 nurseries.
New regulations, introduced by the MFA Technical Centre, were adopted for the first time during this festival. The rules included new goalposts and pitch measurements to enable the young hopefuls to spend more time with the ball.
In line with the Youth FA policy, no winners were declared and game results were not published but each participant received a memento.
Fair Play Awards were given to Valletta (age-group 2005), Mosta (2004), Ħamrun (2003) and Naxxar Lions (2001).
“The venue of this festival, the Victor Tedesco Stadium, gives added prestige to the event as the young players have a unique opportunity of playing in a stadium that hosts top-level football,” the Ħamrun Spartans nursery said in a statement
Robert Gatt, the Malta FA’s technical director, paid a visit to the venue during matches and returned with positive feedback to the organising committee.
The next commitment for the Ħamrun nursery will be the popular Tony Bajada Memorial International Tournament during the Easter holidays.
The nursery of Floriana FC, in conjunction with the Floriana Local Council, are organising a Christmas Tournament, now in its eighth edition, at the Verdala Secondary School, Cospicua, starting on Boxing Day.
A total of 13 nurseries will be taking part in this competition, namely Paola Hibs, Ħamrun Spartans, San Ġwann, Melita, Pietà Hotspurs, St Patrick, Mosta, Tarxien Rainbows, Qormi, Żejtun Corinthians, Birkirkara, Vittoriosa and Floriana.
The tournament is open for teams in five different age categories – Under-8, Under-9, Under-10, Under-11 and Under-12.
Meanwhile, another tourna-ment, this time for U-12 teams, will be hosted by the Birkirkara FC Youth Nursery starting on Monday.
Apart from the hosts, teams from Pietà Hotspurs, San Ġwann, Paola Hibs, Ħamrun Spartans and St Andrew’s will also take part.
Draws were made earlier this month in the presence of delegates from each participating football nursery.
The six teams will play each other on a round-robin basis.
The opening ceremony takes place on Monday at 5.15 p.m. at the Infetti training grounds, Birkirkara.