Saturday 16th September 2017 – Cottonera Sports Complex

John Bugeja Tribute Matches

13.30  Zabbar St Patrick vs Mġarr Volley

15.30  Sliema Wanderers vs Paola Volley

Sunday 17th September 2017 – Cottonera Sports Complex

John Bugeja Tribute Matches

13.30  Balzan Flyers vs Birkirkara

15.30  Kavallieri Volleyball vs Swieqi Phoenix

Posters Credit to Ms. Julia Pearson

Saturday 09th September 2017 – Cottonera Sports Complex

John Bugeja Tribute Matches

13:30   Balzan Flyers Crosscraft  vs   Balzan Flyers    :- 3 – 0 (25 – 13;  25 – 14;  25 – 13)

15:30  Fleur de Lys 1      vs   Kavallieri Volley   :- 3 – 0 (25 – 13;  25 – 8;  25 – 12)

Sunday 10th September 2017 – Cottonera Sports Complex

John Bugeja Tribute Matches

  13:30  Mgarr Volley    vs   Birkirkara  :- 3 – 0 (27 – 25;  25 – 20;  25 – 18)

15:30  Paola Volley  vs   Swieqi Phoenix  :- 3 – 1 (25 – 20 ;  25 – 15;  24 – 26;  25 – 16)

Standings – John Bugeja Tribute Matches – Women Category – 10-09-2017

Another volleyball season has come to an end, and with it, the evaluation period every club and team goes through when assessing the performance throughout that season. No less than 157 matches were played between September and April, with honours being awarded in 11 different competitions. As is customary, the Fr. Tony Parnis National Cup will close off the season in the coming weekends. For four particular clubs, this season has been a season full of successes, and whilst for some teams these were a repeat of last season’s successes, for one other it was completely the first time.

Sliema Wanderers managed to etch their club’s name for the first time ever when they managed to win the Ladies’ First Division League, after the Runners’ Up position they obtained last year. Sliema had to overcome the fierce opposition put forward by Swieqi Phoenix, even if the latter never managed to beat the Wanderers in the three league matches this year. However, Sliema’s defeat at the hands of Fleur de Lys 2 at the beginning of the season meant that this particular division remained tight till the very end, with only one point separating Sliema from Swieqi before the last match of the season. However, Sliema won 3-1 to make sure that this year they became the 1 st Division Champions for the first time.

On their part, Swieqi Phoenix had a string of successes in the Youth Categories, and for the second year running, they managed to win all three age group competitions organised by the Malta Volleyball Association. Swieqi Phoenix’s domination in these three competitions was a total one, when they not only won the three categories without losing a match, but they did this without even losing one set. Balzan Flyers, Paola and Sliema Wanderers shared the Runners’ up position in the U/18, U/16 and U/14 categories respectively.

Balzan Flyers was once again the prevailing side in the Ladies’ Seniors Competitions, winning all trophies except the season opening Super Cup, which it lost against Fleur de Lys. However, after winning the John Bugeja Tournament and the Christmas Cup, Balzan managed to repeat last year’s success and win the Ladies’ Super League, remaining unbeaten till the end of the season. The girls in pink were the most consistent throughout the season, with only Fleur de Lys and Paola managing to push them to their limits in some of the matches. However, these last two lacked consistency during parts of the season, whilst Balzan Flyers kept marching ahead towards their second league title in a row.

In the Men’s competitions, Valletta Mapei continued where they left in 2015-2016, winning all the competitions at stake. Their main opponents, Fleur de Lys, lost some precious points against  Aloysians and against the same Valletta in the crucial part of the season, thus not managing to produce an effective claim to the title. Valletta’s dominance was evident throughout the whole season, winning the John Bugeja Tournament and the Super Cup at the beginning of the season, and culminating in the Super League success.

Swieqi Phoenix A – Under 18 Champions 2016-17

Swieqi Phoenix Under 16 Champions 2016-17

Swieqi Phoenix Under 14 Champions 2016-17

Sliema Wanderers 1st Divsion Champions 2016-17

Balzan Flyers Super League Champions 2016-17

Friday 21st April 2017

1st Division League – Women Category
20.30 Fleur de Lys 2 vs Swieqi Phoenix

Saturday 8th  April 2017 – Cottonera Sports Complex

1st Division League – Women Category

  13:30    Sliema Wanderers vs Mgarr Volley

Super League – Women Category

  15:30  Paola vs Fleur de Lys 1

  17.30  Balzan Flyers vs Mellieha Tritons

 Sunday  9th April 2017 – Cottonera Sports Complex

Under 16 League – Women Category

                  09:30    Swieqi Phoenix A vs Swieqi Phoenix B

  11.00  Swieqi Phoenix B vs Paola

  12.30  Paola vs Swieqi Phoenix A

Super League – Women Category

  15:30    Kavallieri Volleyball vs Balzan Flyers

                  17:30    Fleur de Lys 1 vs Mellieha Tritons

Poster Credit :- Julia Pearson

Thursday 30th March 2017 – San Andrea Mgarr

Super League – Men Category

20:30  Aloysians vs Mgarr

Friday 31st March 2017 – De La Salle

1st Division League – Women Category

10:30  Mgarr Volley vs Swieqi Phoenix

Saturday 1st April 2017 – De La Salle

1st Division League – Women Category

13:30    Fleur de Lys 2 vs Birkirkara Volleyball

Super League – Women Category

15:30   Kavallieri Volleyball vs Fleur de Lys 1

17:30   Paola Volley vs Mellieha Tritons

 Sunday  2nd April 2017 – Cottonera Sports Complex

Under 14 League – Women Category

09:30  Swieqi Phoenix vs Mellieha Tritons

11:00  Mellieha Tritons vs Sliema Wanderers

12:30  Sliema Wanderers vs Swieqi Phoenix

1st Division League – Women Category

13:30    Fleur de Lys 2 vs Swieqi Phoenix

Super League – Women Category

17:30   Fleur de Lys 1 vs Kavallieri Volleyball

Poster Credits: Ms. Julia Pearson

MVA_CEV Press Release

MVA_CEV Press Release_MT

Today an important partnership between Fundación MAPFRE and the Volleyball Malta was signed.

The signing ceremony was held in the presence of H.E. The President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca at San Anton Palace.

Mr Oscar Picazo of Fundación MAPFRE, stated that for this year’s edition of ‘Caqlaq’, Fundación MAPFRE will be teaming up with the Malta Volleyball Association (MVA), which will be implementing the programme on its behalf. Mr Picazo said that both Fundación MAPFRE and the Malta Volleyball Association (MVA) share a concern for the increasing consequences related to the lack of physical exercise, particularly amongst children, and the certainty that in most cases, this is due to a lack of awareness of the positive effects of healthy lifestyle habits, in particular that of regular exercise. Mr Picazo confirmed that both parties “strongly believe that the situation can be greatly improved by encouraging children to participate in activities where they can enjoy physical exercise, including activities within a team sports environment, in a spirit of fun and teamwork.”

As part of the ‘Caqlaq’ programme, the MVA will be conducting a series of visits to primary and secondary schools, and organise events for schoolchildren. The focus of these activities will be to give children exposure to physical activity, within a fun environment, while enabling them to experience aspects of physical activity, such as basic motor skills, agility, movement coordination, and teamwork.

Mr Jesmond Saliba, President of the Malta Volleyball Assocaition said that “The aim is to develop children’s interest in regular physical activity through participation in a sport, at least at a basic level. We also see this as a vehicle for social inclusion through sport, which is an underlying theme of the Maltese Presidency of the EU and something which we, as an Association, strongly believe in. Therefore the theme we will adopt for this year’s ‘Caqlaq’ programme will be ‘Let’s all play!’.”

President Coleiro Preca, thanked Fundacion Mapfre, for their firm Corporate Social Responsibility beliefs which sees them sponsoring the Ċaqlaq programme for the fifth year running.

The President also thanked the Malta Volleyball Association, for partnering in this edition and in the way it embraced its commitment towards society in the field of sport, formation and social inclusion.

The President also said that, initiatives such as this are also an effort to creatively support the work of sports diplomacy, as a means of increasing dialogue and cultural understanding among the diverse communities.

Lastly, President Coleiro Preca stated that these activities continue to raise awareness about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, thus maintaining the wellbeing of the individual, of the family, and of the community.

Press Release By DOI

Caqlaq Press Release

Valletta Mapei were declared Males’ League champions after managing to open a seven point lead at the top of the standings with only two matches to go.  In the Ladies’ 1^st Division Swieqi Phoenix beat Birkirkara to go just one point away from top team Sliema Wanderers.

Valletta Mapei took some time to settle themselves in their match against Mgarr, with the former playing without a number of regular players.  Mgarr started the first set with Clayton Portelli and Cedric Bondin being constantly fed attacking balls by setter Franco Debono, and with Valletta finding it difficult to stop them, Mgarr took the first set 25-21.  Predrag Schindler also had a good match, constantly putting pressure on the Valletta defence with his serves.  However, from the second set onwards, Valletta’s main attackers, Robert Balzan and Reuben Vella, starting playing better and combined with Jonathan Chetcuti’s blocks from the middle, turned the match around to a 3-1 win.

In the other match, Aloysians obtained their first win of the season again Fleur de Lys, beating them 3-1 in the process.  Due to various reasons, the Blues also had a number of regular players missing, with Aloysians immediately taking advantage of this situation, winning the first two sets 25-16 and 25-19.  Fleur de Lys made a comeback in the third set; however it was soon over as Aloysians, with Gianmarco Rabuazzo and Edmond Vassallo having a good match, soon took the fourth set 25-10.

Swieqi Phoenix continued putting the pressure on table leaders Sliema Wanderers when they beat Birkirkara 3-0 in a match that they dominated from the start.  There were no doubts where the three points were going, with Swieqi Phoenix being better than their opponents in every aspect of the game.  Swieqi are now just one point away from Sliema, and with another direct encounter between the two teams still to be played, everything is still possible at the top of this division.

Friday 13th January 2017 – Cottonera Sports Complex

Super League – Men Categor

20:30  Valletta Mapei vs Fleur de Lys

Saturday 14th  January 2017 – Cottonera Sports Complex

Super League – Men Category

  15:30  Kavallieri Volleyball vs Mellieha Tritons

  17:30  Balzan Flyers vs Fleur de Lys 1

Sunday 15th January 2017 – Cottonera Sports Complex

Under 14 League – Women Category

  09:30  Sliema Wanderers vs Mellieha Tritons

  11:00  Mellieha Tritons vs Swieqi Phoenix

  12:30  Swieqi Phoenix vs Sliema Wanderers

Under 18 League – Women Category

 13:30  Swieqi Phoenix A  vs Swieqi Phoenix B

1st Division League – Women Category

  15:30  Mgarr Volley vs Fleur de Lys 2

  17:30  Sliema Wanderers vs Birkirkara Volleyball