Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/521559
22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 3 JUNE 2015 Sport SAILING YOUTH AMBASSADORS FOR EUROPE The Mapfre Middlesea J70 Med Cup The final countdown for the Mapfre Middlesea J70 Med Cup is on with only a few days to go before racing kicks off this Friday, 5 June in the afternoon. This event is the pinnacle of the local J70 circuit, the moment all the top sailing teams have been waiting for to prove their mettle THE regatta, which is hosted jointly by the J70 Association Malta and the Royal Malta Yacht Club, is set to be a spec- tacle both on and off the water. Races will be held off the Sliema front Friday afternoon, all day Saturday and Sunday morning. Weather permitting, the final series, where the podium posi- tions will be decided, will be raced inside Marsamxett har- bour in perfect view of the Roy- al Malta Yacht Club. Sunday afternoon will be the climax of the event with a Pimms bar set up on the Yacht Club's terrace in full view of the racing. Apart from the prestige of winning the first edition of the Mapfre Middlesea J70 Med Cup,competing teams have a lot to fight for with prizes includ- ing beautiful artworks from Ce- lia Borg Cardona as well as bot- tles of premium champagne by Veuve Clicquot. PHOTOGRAPHY BY RMYC / JONATHAN BORG EPC Youth Ambassadors for Europe Project IN August 2014, the European Para- lympic Committee (EPC) launched an innovative project en-titled Youth Ambassadors for Europe (YAMBA) which was to see 8 young people aged 18-23 from throughout the European region become Par- aSports promoters. Funded by the Agitos Foundation Grant Support Programme 2014, the project is focused on develop- ing EPC Youth Ambassadors for the Paralympic Movement in Europe who will have the skills to become leaders and to promote the Para- lympic movement amongst their peer group. The project is a result of the EPC's continued commitment to increas- ing participation in adapted sports across Europe with an emphasis on the involvement of young people in this process. The EPC has made it a clear objective to focus on youth sport development and sees the en- gagement of young people in this action as an essential communica- tion and engage- ment tool. EPC President John Petersson said "The YAMBA project will establish and develop a relation- ship between the EPC and young people from all European regions, not only engag- ing them in the Paralympic Move- ment but also giving them a voice in how it progresses, whilst equipping them with the skills and competen- cies required to become the leaders of tomorrow". After an extremely competitive recruitment and selection process the EPC is delighted to in- troduce the candidates for 2015, which will serve as Youth Ambassadors for the next three years. The Northern region of Europe will be represented by Guðmundur Hákon Hermannsson, a para-swim- mer from Iceland and Amanda Ko- taja, a Finish athlete, who competed in wheel- chair racing in London 2012. The Southern part of Europe has been entrusted to a Spanish wheel- chair tennis player and a Paralym- pian, Daniel Caverzaschi, as well as a Maltese para-swimmer and an ac- tivist for adapted sports, Vladyslava Kravchenko. Furthermore, the EPC appointed a paratriathlete from Hungary, Zsofia Eva Lengyel along with a three time Paralympian in Alpine Skiing, Gal Jakič to serve as Ambassadors in Eastern Euro- pean countries. Finally, the Western region will be represented by Colette Martin, a wheelchair racer from the United Kingdom and Jonas Kowalski, a member of the German National Paralympic Commit- tee's Junior team. Apart from being involved in the Paralympic movement, the Ambas- sadors together make a young, am- bitious and talented team, which is underpinned by knowledge and study in areas such as financial management and accounting, phi- losophy and economics, financial engineer- ing, kinesiology, sport studies, psychology, media and public relations. While most of the Am- bassadors are current univer- sity students or full time athletes, some have already gained working experience by serving as a General Secretary of their local National Paralympic Com- mittee or being part of the Big Four audit firms. After the training week, which was held between 23rd and 29th March 2015 at the EPC head- quarters in Vienna, Austria, the Ambassadors, under the auspices of the EPC, will complete promotional and aware- ness raising tasks with the objective of alerting more young people to the sporting opportunities avail- able to them, the work of the EPC in Europe and the possibili- ties of be- coming involved in the Paralympic Movement in Europe. All of the ambassadors have per- sonally experienced how the power of sport has enriched their lives and wish to share this positive experi- ence with the community. In addi- tion, one of the aims of the ambas- sadors is to bring a spotlight on the unconquerable spirit of Paralympic ath- letes, who overcome great ad- versities to inspire and excite the world! Amongst others, their objec- tives are to encourage youngsters to win over their challenges whether mental or physi- cal and to stress how effective sport is in helping to develop one's sense of purpose and gain confidence in one's abilities. The Maltese ambassador, Vladys- lava Kravchenko joined the Paral- ympic team Malta in January 2013 with the aim of competing at the next Paralympic Games in Rio 2016. In 2014, after fol- lowing a very challenging training schedule, which was combined with her full time employ- ment at Pricewater- houseCoopers and ACCA exami- nations, she achieved a Minimum Qualifying Standard time, which allowed her to participate in the Eu- ropean Swimming Championships in Eindhoven that were organised by the International Paralympic Committee in August 2014. In 2015 Vladyslava has been awarded a certificate of recogni- tion by Kunsill Malti Ghall-Isport (KMS) and selected for the Flexi training scheme programme, which will allow her to dedicate more strength and time to training for the upcoming swimming competi- tions. She swims with the national para-swimming team, which has been established under the aus- pices of the Aquatic Sports Asso- ciation (ASA) of Malta and lead by the national coach Isabelle Zarb, B.Ed (Hons), PGDEAM, M.Sc Sport Coaching (Lboro), Level 3 Swim Coach (ASA UK). All of these sports ventures would not have been possible for Vladys- lava, without the great support from entities such as the Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity, Mal- tese Par- liamentary Secretariat for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sport, KMS, Malta Paralympic Committee, ASA of Malta, Price- waterhouseCoopers, SwimAid foundation, YUE Malta - Healthi- er Living, Kinetika Fitness Centre and Arena Swim Shop Malta. In the meantime, the growing team is looking forward to welcoming new athletes and establishing new cor- porate partners and supporters of this project. Further information on the project and the upcoming activities will be available soon on the ASA web- site www.asaofmalta.org and EPC website:www.europaralympic.org