Over 1,000 pupils take part in Primary Schools Festival

Year 5 and 6 pupils from 42 schools took part in the first phase of this year’s Primary Schools Football Festival. This event, for both boys and girls, is organised by the Sport Promotion Unit (SPU) within SportMalta and the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education (DQSE) together with the Malta FA’s Grassroots Department within the Technical Centre. The 42 primary schools that have fielded teams in this year's festival are: Birkirkara, Birżebbuġa, Cospicua, Dingli, Fgura, Floriana, Għaxaq, Gudja, Gżira, Ħamrun GP Primary, Hamrun SS Primary, Kalkara Primary, Kirkop Primary, Lija Primary, Luqa Primary, Marsa Primary, Marsascala, Marsaxlokk, Mġarr, Mosta, Msida, Pembroke, Qormi SG, Qormi SS, San Ġwann, Senglea, Siġġiewi, Sliema, St Agatha, St Julians, St Martins, St Michael , St Paul's Bay, Sta Venera, Theresa Nuzzo, Valletta, Verdala International School, Vittoriosa, Xgħajra, Żabbar, Żebbuġ and Żurrieq. In the first phase, the teams selected by the teachers to represent their respective schools played against each other. This phase was spread over three days; 27th February, 1st and 2nd March. The PE teachers are now choosing the elite players from the teams that took part in this penultimate phase to represent the college team in the final tournament, to be held in early May. The matches were played at the new SportMalta Sta Venera Sports Complex with over 1,000 boys and girls aged nine to 11 taking part. “Only 36 per cent of the participants are registered with a local nursery,” the Malta FA’s Grassroots Department said. “This ties in with our objective to reach out to boys and girls who are not yet affiliated with local clubs.” The organisers thanked all the participants and their schools and sponsors TeamSport and GSD Marketing Ltd. for making the tournament a success.