After last year’s successful formula, the seminar was again divided in two sections; the administrative session held at the Corinthia Marina intended for nursery officials and administrators and addressed by three experts in their field: medical, marketing and EU grants to help the nurseries modernise their set up, as well as the President of the Malta Football Association.
As for the technical part, the Youth FA, thanks to Fr. Hilary’s vast networking contacts managed to bring over Mr. Valdier Badu Viera, a Brazilian coach with a very distinguished international experience, having coached in four continents and most notably leading Iran to the 1998 World Cup Finals in France. He also has a previous Maltese connection, as he played in Maltese league for Hibernians in the mid-1960’s.
Mr. Joe Micallef, the Association’s General Secretary, opened the administrative session, by confirming that in during the month of September, no Youth FA matches will be played in the afternoon to protect the young players from the scorching sun and heat. He added that in the coming days, the Youth FA will launch a revamped version of the website, www.theyouthfa.com, making it more user friendly and enabling more
enhanced user interface, as well as being more visually compelling.
The session continued with a very interesting presentation by Dr. David Attard, the National Team Doctor, who stressed the importance of keeping a medical protocol for all the players. Mr. Paul Zammit, a director of a local marketing company, followed up with a presentation of how to promote your nursery, thus making it more appealing to sponsors. Then, Mr. Mark Causon, an EU Affairs Consultant, urged the nurseries in
attendance to make the best out of the EU funds and explained how to apply for the various grants available in this field.
Mr. Joe Micallef, subsequently read the amendments to the competition rules for this season, most notably, that the U/15 matches will now be played in two 35 minute halves, instead of the previous 30 minutes, that as from next season size 5 balls will be used in the U/15 competition and the new regulations and obligations of registering of permits when local youth football teams go to play in tournaments abroad.
The Youth FA, would like to thank all those that made this seminar a success, namely Gatorade (Farsons), Mr. Darmanin Demajo, Mr. Bjorn Vassallo, the MFA’s new CEO, Mr. Valdier Badu, Mr. Tony Garcia, Dr. David Attard, Mr. Paul Zammit, Mr. Mark Causon, and last, but certainly not least, all the attendees.
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