Meet 12 Of Malta’s Most Inspiring Sports Stars
Determinati is a brand new TV show documenting the daily lives of some of Malta’s most inspiring sports stars. It premiers this week on ONE, chronicling the stories of personalities from all different corners of the sports scene in Malta.
Not a sports fan? You’re still going to want to check this out. The show focuses on the universal desire to reach a goal more than anything else – so, really anyone can relate to it. Aside from the stars – which include top water polo player Stevie Camilleri, footballer Andre Schembri, and weightlifter Yazmin Zammit Stevens – the show talks to their friends and family, digging into the context of how these young achievers got to where they are now.
Here’s a quick look at the hot, young athletes who will be featured on Determinati (the numbers listed here correspond to the show’s episode list – how smart are we?).
1. Fabio Spiteri – Triathlon
Fabio left his job at the Freeport to train full time and coach other aspiring athletes. He’s now training for the Double Ironman – a gruesomely challenging race.
2. Andrew Grech – Long distance running
Andrew was originally a footballer and his day job is as a policeman. He was scouted during a gym session and now runs for the Mellieħa Running Club. He was the first Maltese runner to cross the finish line at this year’s Malta Marathon.
3. Michael Naudi & Sophie Abela – Basketball
Michael Naudi is widely considered Malta’s best ever basketball player. He started out young and still still ranks in the top tiers at the age of 37.
Sophie plays basketball with Malta’s national team and was scouted during a game in Ragusa – where she eventually started training. She now studies in Italy and lives with other fellow players.
4. Stevie Camilleri – Water polo
Stevie has been playing water polo professionally abroad at the highest level for the last ten years and has been part of the National team since he was 18. He was top scorer at the European Championships held in Belgrade in 2016. He’s about to launch S7even Water Polo Academy which will focus development skills for strong and confident young water polo athletes.
5. Vladyslava Krevchenco & Amy Micallef – Swimming
Vlada began her sports life as a rhythmic gymnast and moved to Malta when she was nine. After a serious back injury in 2008, she took up swimming and joined Malta’s Paralympic team. In September 2016, she was the first female swimmer to represent Malta at the Rio Paralympic Games.
Amy has distinguished herself as Malta’s most prolific female National record breaker, setting no less than six new individual National records, as well as relay records with the Malta National Team.
6. Steve Martin – Boxing
Steve has competed abroad with his most memorable fight being against Graham Earl last year. Aside from his own rigorous training regime, he coaches a number of athletes – some of which are very young.
7. Gary Giordmaina – Lotta (Wrestling)
Over the past 8 years, Gary has established himself as the leading freestyle wrestler on the island. He holds he the Commonwealth Champion title after his performance at the Championships held in Canada in 2015, and he’s also the runner-up in the Mediterranean Championships held in Spain held last year after winning the gold medal in the previous edition held in 2015.
8. Yazmin Zammit Stevens – Weightlifting
Yazmin started her weightlifting career just a year ago – despite amazing progress she hasn’t achieved the results she wanted during competitions so she’s made a decision to start focusing solely on weightlifting. She’s now following her dream of being a full time athlete.
9. Andre Schembri – Football
Andre is captain of the Malta’s national team and he has played with various teams abroad like Ferenvaros, Olympiakos Volou amongst others. He is currently playing with Boa Vista in Portugal.
10. The Chouhal Family
Rach Chouhal is a Moroccan-born athlete representing Malta internationally in long jump and sprinting events. He came 4th in Heat 4 of the 100 metres preliminaries at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
His wife – Antonella Chouhal – is probably the finest female thrower in Maltese athletics. She continues to break national records and has qualified for next year’s GSSE. She also won a silver in the European Masters in Discus. They have two kids – Sarah and Kareem. Both are also aspiring athletes.
11. Dorianne and Roderick Attard – Crossfit
Roderick and Doranne have always been sportive and passionate about rugby. Roderick was a PE teacher and Dorianne is a full time nurse. The couple were passionate about fitness for years before they eventually started their own venture together when they opened The Pit in 2012.
12. Sana Grillo (Gymnastics)
Sana is still studying at sixth form – she won a gold medal at the 2016 Jeux des Isles in Mallorca and took the top spot in the beam category. Meaning she got a gold medal for beam – but she also took home a bronze for the overall category, and another bronze that she and her teammates won together for Malta.
If that’s not enough to make you put this show in your calendars we’re not sure what will.
The documentary will air on ONE on 11 April 2017 at 8.15pm. Visit the Determinate Facebook page for more info.