[attach id=269115 size="medium"]Paul Sultana... new term as MBA president.[/attach]
Paul Sultana will retain his seat as president of the Malta Basketball Association (MBA) following an annual general meeting held earlier last week during which it was also decided that the term of office for the man at the helm and the general secretary be extended to four years.
Sultana was first elected to the post in June 2011, taking over from Antonio Mizzi who had been at the helm of the association for the previous 14 years.
Sultana told club delegates that the most important achievement during his first term as MBA president was the basketball academy which started last season.
The MBA, he said, invested a lot of money in this project including the employment of a full-time coach – Gabriele Alessi. Along with Sandro Farrugia, he conducted three different age groups from under 14 to under 18.
“The regular training that our youth players are doing is already paying off and the result by the women’s U-18 team proves this,” Sultana pointed out in reference to the Maltese side’s silver medal in Andorra this month.
The MBA president announced that the works on the new gym will be starting shortly, estimating the project to be completed in six months’ time.
“Particular thanks go to architect Edgar Caruana Montalto,” Sultana said.
“He is helping us voluntarily in this project which will provide clubs with adequate space and equip-ment to conduct training.
“This was not an easy season especially after the flooding of September but thanks to many people within our fold and Kunsill Malti għall-iSport we managed to survive this difficult moment,” Sultana added as he thanked the outgoing President’s Council members.
General secretary Joseph Muscat also got the backing of club dele-gates while Ray Mercieca returned in the deputy president’s role which he had occupied some years back.
New faces
Noel Muscat was confirmed as treasurer and there will be three new faces – directors – in the MBA set-up.
These are Carlos Bugeja, Charles Bonnici and Kimmy Borg. They will be joined by former vice-president Ottavio Terribile who also got re-elected.
Joseph Muscat showed his appreciation for all clubs and their contribution throughout the season which had to be re-scheduled following damages by the torrential rains of last autumn.
The 2012-13 championships for juniors had to be delayed but Muscat said other competitions went on without a hitch as the KMS made the University Sports Hall available for the association.
“There were many people who helped us replace the flooring in a very short period of four weeks,” Muscat said.
Despite the unexpected setback, mini-basket continued to flourish last year thanks mainly to Ivan Riolo’s input, and the MBA continued with its TV programme 3- Pointer and registered an increase in hits on the official Facebook page.
BOV, St James Hospital, MSV Life and Xuereb Installations were the main sponsors of the MBA last year as Muscat reserved words of praise for the charity Christmas Bonanza fund-raiser as for the first time ever a wheelchair basketball activity was held at the pavilion.
Meanwhile, Referees Director Brian Sly said that the exchange programme with the English federation will continue next season as well. Fly revealed that talks with the Italian and Israeli federations are being held for similar initiatives.
Last year, Luke Camilleri benefited from this exchange by officiating key matches in the British University and College Sport championship finals while Lyn Shakespeare controlled matches in Malta.
During the meeting, club repre-sentatives also approved a new registration window for non-EU players in the beginning of September.