The Mqabba FC Youth Nursery participated in an international tournament in Sicily last month when they fielded an U-11 team in the XVIII Carnevale di Avola Football Tournament.
Participation in this international tournament was one of the major objectives for the nursery for this season as they wanted to offer their children an additional experience that would help them in their holistic development.
This tournament was held between February 18 and 20 and like every year it attracted interest from many Italian academies including Atalanta, Milan and Juventus.
In the Under 11 category, there were a total of 17 teams and the Mqabba FC Youth Nursery played no less than 10 matches.
The first engagement in the tournament for Mqabba FC Youth Nursery was on Saturday afternoon, just a few hours upon their arrival. They faced ATL Team Campo Felice, the Mqabba youngsters suffered defeat, in a match where it was clear that the travel fatigue and the excitement of the occasion had affected their performance.
In the second game, Mqabba FC ground out a 0-0 draw against Rari Nantes, Scuola Milan, a result that helped to raise the morale of the children.
On Sunday, Mqabba FC completed the first phase of the tournament with matches against Ragusa Boys, Cantera Romano 2018, Mtarfa and Carlentini. The positive results obtained helped the team to compete in the final phase which was held on Monday, February 20.
In the last phase of the tournament, Mqabba FC played against ATL Campo Felice and Cantera Romano 2018 once again, and managed to finish the competition in third place.
At the closing ceremony the Mqabba FC team was given a trophy and a commemorative plaque while all children were given a medal each.
In a statement, Mqabba FC Youth Nursery said: “Our team distinguished itself in this tournament with beautiful performances and positive results. But above all, our boys exposed themselves to a bigger reality, where the skills of our players were tested in a football culture different from the one we usually play in.
“It was a very positive experience for both the children and the parents who accompanied them. We are looking forward to more opportunities like this in the future for other categories. This experience will undoubtedly remain in the mind of our children and will help them in their development.
“We take the opportunity to thank Avola Calvio and Mr Cirino Torrisi who was the organizer of this tournament as well as Mr Simon Spiteri from STEM Malta who served as the coordinator between the Nursery and the same organizers.
“We thank coach Roderick Vella who was instrumental in training the team as well as the Nursery Administrator Mr Antoine Sciberras for the administrative support. Finally, we thank all parents for the full cooperation we received. Surely this experience would not have been a success if it had not been for their cooperation from start to finish.”
