SportMalta Awards– L-Għazliet Sportivi Nazzjonali 2010, a great success!

Kunsill Malti għall-iSport and the Għaqda Ġurnalisti Sports brought together Malta’s sporting community to celebrate the achievements of local sportsmen and sportswomen during a spectacular event held at the Mediterranean Conference on the 29th January, with the second edition of the SportMalta Awards – L-Għazliet Sportivi Nazzjonali 2010. These awards are the main national sport event of the year and a number of exceptional athletes, officials and coaches took home awards, including Massimo Cremona who received the SportMalta Award 2010. This year’s finalists represented 15 sports disciplines, including: Athletics, Baseketball, Billiards & Snooker, Canoeing, Football, Horse Racing, Judo, Shooting, Swimming, Squash, Table Football, Table Tennis, Tenpin Bowling, Triathlon and Weightlifting.

Guests and athletes were treated to an exciting show presented by TV personalites Dorienne Grech and Chris Cauchi. The show was opened by HipHop Malta who together with various breakdance and streetlock crews gave a vibrant number involving at least 20 dancers. Live entertainment included Versatile Brass Band lead by Maestro Paul Borg and leading artists such as Kristina Casolani and Airport Impressions also contributed to the wide range of entertainment offered during the show. Especially for this event, three foreign performers from Belgium were brought over, these included Ilias Zefzaf (Football Freestyle), Thierry Klinkenberg (World Champion VVT - Bike Trial) and for the second time Antoine Jehanne (Artistic Basketball).

Special guest for these awards was Mr. Jean Todt, the President of the FIA, motor sport's world governing body. Mr. Todt met all the finalists prior to the awards ceremony and presented the prestigeous SportMalta Award to Massimo Cremona. Mr. Todt’s visit has been made possible thanks to the Malta MotorSport Federation. 

Apart from the L-Għazliet Sportivi Nazzjonali categories, namely Sportsman, Sportswomen, Official, Team, U/17 athlete, and special recognition to athletes with special needs, the Kunsill Malti għall-iSport also gave recognition to that Local Council who has contributed to sporting initiatives within their community; that State school who has endeavoured to ensure that its students regularly participate and are involved in sport;  and that sporting body who has contributed to Sport Tourism in Malta by attracting on a regular basis foreign athletes to our shores; and a special award to that individual who contributed to sport with a life time achievement recognition.

KMS Recognition Awards for 2010 included:

Local Council Recognition Award: B’Kara Local Council

Sport Association Recognition Award: Malta Rugby Football Union

State School Recognition Award: St. Benedict’s College

In addition due recognition was given by the KMS to the following sporting achievements in 2010:

Kayak for Cancer Recognition

On 15th July, two Maltese Kayakers, namely Albert Gambina and Dorian Vassallo participated in a paddling trip in aid of Puttinu Cares from Mahidia in Tunisia which ended at Golden Bay on 22nd July covering a total of 324 kilometres.

Veteran Athlete Recognition

Recognition was given to Alfred Debono who at the age of 62 continues to participate in local and international marathons. In the over 60 years of age category, in April, he placed first in the Vienna Marathon and in October and November he participated in the Chicago Marathon and placed second; in the prestigeous New York marathon, he placed fourth respectively. In addition he participated in the half marathons of Toronto and Niagara Falls in Canada, placing first.

Challenge 8000 Mount Everest Recognition

Climbers Gregory Attard, Marco Cremona and Robert Gatt became the first Maltese to conquer Mt. Everest, the world’s highest mountain (8,848 metres). The team was also made up of guide Victor Saunders and Manuel Morgado, a Brazilian climber. The expedition took 57 days which started on the 17th May.

World Record Achievement: Thomas Cremona

Thomas Cremona on the 11th December attempted to break the 20 hour world record held by Vincent Brunning (UK), in the Concept2 ‘Longest Continual Row’, Heavyweight category during an event organised to collect funds for Puttinu Cares Foundation. Thomas successfully established at new record at 24 hours.

During the awards ceremony two further awards were presented these included a special recognition award to the family of Dr. Michael Aquilina for his contribution to local sport. In addition the KMS recognised Mr. Justice Gino Camilleri for his life time contribution towards local sport.

The overall results for L-Għazliet Sportivi Nazzjonali categories, 2010 which are decided by the members of the Għaqda Ġurnalisti Sports through a voting procedure are as follows:

Sportsman of the Year

The criteria:

Awarded to an athlete (male) who has achieved outstanding results in respect to their performances at an international and/or national level and who exibits the highest level of skill, performance and dedication to their sport. The finalists in the Sportsman of the Year category is also in contention for the KMS's SportMalta Award.

The results:

Sportswoman of the Year

The criteria:

Awarded to an athlete (female) who has achieved outstanding results in respect to their performances at an international and/or national level and who exhibits the highest level of skill, performance and dedication to their sport. The finalists in the Sportswomen of the Year category is also in contention for the KMS's SportMalta Award.

The result:

Official of the Year

The criteria:

Awarded to an individual who has achieved outstanding results in officiating at an international and/or national level. Nominations are open to all local referees/umpires/technical officials.

The result:

Team of the Year

The criteria:

Awarded to a team who has achieved outstanding results in respect to their peformance in a national competition.

The result:

U-17 Category

The criteria:

Awarded to a junior athlete (male or female) who has achieved outstanding results in respect to their performances at an international and/or national level and who exhibits the highest level of skill, performance and dedication to their sport.

The result:

Special Recognition for Athlete with Special Needs

The criteria:

This award will be given in recognition of a sportsperson (male or female), in disabled category, who exhibits the highest level of skill, performance and dedication to their sport.

The overall result:

Azzopardi Angele - was prominent in bowling during the season in competitions held by Special Olympics; won gold  in the doubles and a silver medal in the individual and mixed competitions in the last European Special Olympic Games held in Poland

Dalli Claudio  - was prominent in athletics during the season in activities held by Special Olympics; won gold with the relay team  and two silver in the 1500 and 5000 metres in  the last European Special Olympics Championships held in Poland.

In addition two further awards were revealed on the night these included the Sporting Event of the Year, which was presented to the Malta Amateur Athleteics Association (MAAA). During June 2010, the MAAA organised the European Team Championships, involving over 650 foreign athletes and officials. The Journalist recognition awarded to that journalist who has contributed to sports throughout their lifetime went to Fr. Hiliary Tagliaferro.

SportMalta Award 

Massimo Cremona who also placed 2nd in the Sportsman of Year category, was the overall winner and was presented the SportMalta Award Trophy by Hon. Clyde Puli, Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sport and Mr. Jean Todt, the President of the FIA, motor sport's world governing body. Massimo a table football player had a successful year in 2010 - he was a member of the Malta team that won the World Championships and also placed third in the Individual competition in the same championships. He was also a member of the Italian Team, Filli Bari Reggione, that won the Champions League and played in all ten matches.  With the same Italian team, he finished third in the World Open Championships.

Massimo was selected through a voting processes not determined by the KMS but through set criteria which is made up of 40% of the votes cast by the sports journalists, another 40% from votes of association delegates present during the presentations' night and the other 20% from a public vote through SMS voting. Massimo obtained 4.52% from the Journalists, 7.8% from the presidents of the national associations and was the favourite with the general pubic where he obtained 4.145% of the voting percentage, giving him the lead with a total of 16.47%.

SportMalta Award - final results:

The SportMalta Awards– L-Għazliet Sportivi Nazzjonali 2010 was more than an awards ceremony, it was a vehicle to reach out to youths and students and bring sport and its message closer to them. This was successfully achieved as over 20 schools were included in a Roadshow program which resulted in over 4000 students coming into direct contact with the athletes; a novel approach which boosted their self esteem and as role models they encouraged youngsters directly to take up sport.  In addition, three pre-events were also organised including a mega event at Cottonera Sports Complex, Junior College and Bay Street. Six media events linked with the show were also organised in addition to 34 TV slots in sports programs, host shows, and specialised programs and over 1170 promo spots on TV and radio was given. In excess of 16 hours of TV coverage was given to the objective of instilling more awareness for sport and the achievements of local athletes.

These awards have successfully managed to create an event which has extended beyound the actual awards night.  It is clear that this activity will be remembered as the event that put local athletes in the forefront which involved them with numerous of students and the general public directly.