Nursery

• Nursery

Nursery

The Birkirkara F.C. Youth Nursery was founded in 1983. The Nursery was founded by the same founders of an amateur club, named Birkirkara St. Joseph SC. In the year 1983, a meeting was held between the Birkirkara F.C. Committee, under the Presidency of Mr. Joseph Gauci and Mario Borg, Charles Sciberras and Joe Mallia asked for permission to organize a Youth Football Nursery. The permission was granted by the Birkirkara F.C. Committee, the nursery was formed under the name of Birkirkara FC Youth Nursery. The first meeting was held at the Birkirkara St. Joseph SC and a committee was formed. In the first seasons from its foundation, two teams were formed, namely that of the fourteen years old and the youth team. The Nursery during the late 1980's moved from a garage to the present premises at Infetti Training Grounds. In the following seasons a large number of parents wanted their children to join. For this reason, new age groups were formed commencing from the age of eleven up to the youth team. This was quite a problem for the Nursery Committee as qualified coaches were few, but with the help of Mario Borg, who was the Headcoach of the nursery, coaches were provided and success didn't take too long as the good organisation in the running of the Nursery attracted many more youngsters to join. The Nursery continued to flourish in the very late 80's and early 90's, with the formation of a proper committee, the changing of the premises (moving to Infetti Grounds completely) and the introduction of younger sections. The aim behind these young sections is to nurture a love for the game and a true commitment to Birkirkara F.C. The Under 7's, Under 8's, Under 9's and Under10's are coming along well and success can be measured in the development of good players at Under 11, Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16 levels.

Birkirkara were the champions of the first Under 14 National League held in the early 80's. In the following years the Under 14 and Under 16 teams of Birkirkara F.C. Youth Nursery remained among the best on the island. Up till recently, the club could boast that these two teams never lost their places in the top division of the Youth Football Association's national leagues. Indeed, they always finished amongst the top six clubs. Nevertheless, their best years were between 1992 and 1996 when the Under 14 team once again won the National League and on two occasions lost the championship in the last match of the season, drawing both games when they needed a victory. On the other hand the Under 16 team made it twice to the finals at the National Stadium at Ta' Qali, only to lose to Sliema (2-0) first and to Floriana (2-1) later. Season 2003 / 2004 the Under 16 won the Cassar Cup organized by the YFA, when they beat Mosta in the final 2-0.

Although trophies have never been on the main agenda behind the founding of Birkirkara F.C. Youth Nursery, the lavish amount of them adorning our showcases spells out successful years of administration and football competition. Yet, not withstanding all this, we seek our true success in the number of players who have made it to the top National and international football and most of all to character formation. The list is quite long - and getting longer all the time.

The Nursery's premises and training facilities are amongst the best on the island. New dressing rooms were inaugurated in 1996 and a well equipped committee room was inaugurated in 2001 thanks to the hard working committee members. The Gym has modern equipment and is used regularly both by youth and senior players.

But a new chapter for the Nursery was opened on the 20th November 2005, when the new Infetti Ground Artificial pitches were inaugurated. These pitches were officially opened by the Hon. Tonio Fenech Parlamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Birkirkara FC Youth Nursery Honorary President Mr. Geoffrey Montebello, Birkirkara FC Chairman Mr. Victor Zammit and Birkirkara FC Youth Nursery Chairman Mr. Henry Bray. Amongst the distinguished guests present, together with the many parents and children, was Mr. Victor Zammit, Chairman of Birkirkara FC, members of the board of Directors, The Hon. Tonio Fenech, Hon. Dr. Tonio Borg, Hon. Dr. Chris Cardona MP, Hon. Joe Debono Grech MP and Dr. Mark Fenech, the club's legal advisor.The grounds were then blessed by Dun Vincenz Demicoli, the club's Spiritual Director and two commemorative plaques were unveiled.

The training sessions have been increased. It is only the 6 to 10 years old who train twice a week; the other groups have more frequent training.

Participation in International Tournaments

During the 90's, the nursery adventured for the first time the international scene by taking part - with considerable success - in tournaments abroad. The Under 14 and Under 16 participated in various Tournaments in Italy, Sardegna, Austria, Northern Ireland, Spain and Tunisia playing against top teams like AC. Milan, Sampdoria , U.S. Genova , Savona A.C., Bayer Luverkunsen , Kremnica , U.S. Innsbruck, Real Zaragoza, Werder Bremen, Germinal Ekeren , Dukla Praha and Viktor Zizkov.

The younger sections competed with equally promising results in various International Tournaments: Fiumicino Italy (2nd place), Monteconparti Italy (winners), Villa Nova Italy (8th place), Sinnai Sardegna (2nd place), Villaseca Spain (2nd place), Loret de Mar Spain (4th place), Calella Spain (2nd and 3rd place), Bradford on Avon England (Winners) and Prague Czech Republic (2nd Place). Again very good results were registered against teams hailing from Italy, Germany, Spain, Russia, Albania, England and Czech Republic among others.In April 2002 the under 11 and under 18 participated in San Jiame Tournament in Lloret de Mar and it was a great success as both categories won the tournaments.

Every season, the nursery takes part in various tournaments around the island, and organizes various activities like penalty shoot-outs, family outings, Training Camps, Summer Football Camp, 'Alfred Borg Tournament', Bar-B-Ques and special nights for all members and their parents.

Christmas International Football Tournament

One of the great achievements is the Annual Christmas International Tournament, first organised in 1990. That this tournament has been organised without fail ever since and continues to attract the best teams from Malta along with a number of foreign sides bears witness to the level of organisation and excellent administration of the Youth Nursery. With the continuous introduction of several nursery products in the senior team, the future for Birkirkara F.C. Youth Nursery is a bright one.