There is a Bocci club in almost every village in Malta and Gozo. These clubs are regulated by Federazzjoni Klabbs Tal-Bocci based in Tarxien. As well as watching or playing Bocci, these clubs are a hive of activity in the bar area, and some Bocci clubs serve snacks and even full meals.

Bocci is played on a sand-covered smooth surface, and each team has three players. The jack ball is around the size of a marble and the look like snooker-balls. One team plays with red balls, the other one with blue. The object of the game is to get your team’s balls as close to the jack as possible. Rules do change and vary from club to club, so it’s worth watching a few games before trying your luck.

A particularly popular Bocci club – especially in summer – is Bugibba Bocci Club. Located right on the seafront, this popular venue attracts locals, summer residents and tourists alike. The bar serves a range of very reasonably priced beers, wines and spirits, and there’s seating available on a patio overlooking the sea. The club also dishes up some great bar snacks, sandwiches and hot meals and does a decent Sunday Roast.

Based right in the middle of Malta, at Ta’ Qali, the MFA looks after the National Stadium, the Centenary Stadium and the centre’s swimming pool, gym, training and physiotherapy facilities.

Due to Malta’s Mediterranean climate and therefore, having mild winters, many northern European clubs and teams make us of the facilities during colder months. The football season in Malta is similar to the rest of Europe playing from August until May.

Currently, the MFA comprises a total of 51 clubs, which compete in four leagues or divisions. The Premier League, which is sponsored by BOV (Bank of Valletta), has 10 teams and this league is also known locally as Il-Lig, Il-Kampjonat, or Il-Premjer. When the league started out in 1909, it was known as the First Division, but changed its name in the 1980s. Teams currently in the Premier League are Hibernians F.C., Marsaxlokk F.C., Birkirkara F.C., Dingli Swallows, Floriana F.C., Valletta F.C., Vittoriosa Stars F.C., Sliema Wanderers, Qormi F.C. and Tarxien Rainbows F.C.

The League plays two rounds: in the first round the 10 teams play two fixtures against each other. Once each has played all their games, the league is divided into two and total points are then halved. The teams placing in the top 6 then play in The Championship Pool; the bottom four clubs play in The Relegation Pool – with the teams placing bottom and second-from-bottom being relegated to The First Division. Last year’s Champions were Hibernians. Many foreign players, such as Jordi Cruyff, Sunday Eboh and Sylvano Comvalius play in the Maltese Football League; England’s Sir Stanley Matthews coached Hibernians and played his final competitive game with them in 1970 at the age of 55.

In 1959, football in Malta was launched onto the international stage when the MFA joined FIFA in that year and UEFA in 1960. As Malta is so small, it has never progressed to the finals of any major international competition. If you want to read more about the latest soccer news, visit soccerleaguenews.com.

For more information about football in Malta, contact the MFA on (+356) 2338600.

In the past, village roads were mainly traffic free and children used to play games outside instead of playing indoors on Wii and Playstation.

Like elsewhere in the world, children devised a number of games to play, and in less prosperous times, materials such as stones, balls and pebbles were put to good use.

Il-Passju was such a game and here’s how it’s played. A chalk grid is drawn on the road, with boxes for the numbers 1 to 9. Each child picks a stone or pebble and then has to throw their stone onto each numbered square, starting at number one. Once the stone lands on the correct number, the player then has to hop onto the corresponding square. Once that has been achieved, then the player moves onto the next number. If the player fails to aim the stone into the correct box, then that player is “out” and the game moves onto the next player. The winner is the player who successfully gets to number 9 before anyone else.

Traditional games are undergoing a bit of a renaissance at the moment, with cultural events regularly being organised by some local councils inviting today’s children to play the games that their grandparents would have played. These events are advertised in the media and are popular with both tourists and Maltese alike.

Monopoly Malta

Monopoly is a board game created by Parker Brothers back in 1935. It’s estimated that over seven hundred and fifty million people have played this most popular game.

Following its success worldwide, Gamebox Ltd decided to create Monopoly Malta.

The Malta Monopoly Game is in Maltese language and includes localities that were chosen by a panel of judges, some of which were residents of Malta. Maltese people had also the opportunity to choose which photo will be featured on the cover of Monopoly Malta. The shortlist consisted of the Valletta Waterfront, L-Imnajdra Temples and the Maltese flag showcasing the George Cross. An impressive 80% of the voting members choose L-Imnajdra Temples and therefore such photo will be the Malta Monopoly Game box cover for the coming 25 years.

Although Monopoly is not one of the most common traditional Maltese games, it will most definitely be the family board game to play this Christmas 2008. In fact Monopoly Malta will be available to buy online or even from most of the local toy shops before the end of the year. This year from same company we saw the launch of Monopoly “Here and Now”, which is the first world edition of this most popular board game, including 22 of the most popular cities worldwide.

Although it was disappointing that none of the Maltese cities where included in the worldwide edition of Monopoly, it’s a great achievement that the Maltese have their own localized board game. The community chest and chance cards are customized to reflect the traditional Maltese lifestyle too. One thing to note is that although it’s in Maltese, it does include translations to the English language.

I will be posting here a list of all local shops from where to buy Malta Monopoly game and am encouraging you to buy, play and leave your reviews here too.