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| In 1986 Robert Aquilina, who at the time was playing for Sliema Hotsticks, decided to set up a hockey club in his hometown Rabat. Encouraged by his mentor and Sliema Hs coach, Tony Caruana Smith, he decided to take the plunge and set up Rabat Depiro Hockey Club. Sliema Hs provided him with some basic equipment and the Depiro Youth Centre provided the premises. The founder members of the Club were a group of nine youngsters that eventually formed the first competitive team in 1986/87, taking part in the U/14 National League organised by the Hockey Association Malta (HAM). Chris Bugeja, Kevin Micallef, and Jeffrey Aquilina are founder members that are still active to this day. In its 19 year history the club went through various stages of development. The first seven years saw the club competing in the various junior leagues and tournaments organised by HAM. The success at junior level was regular and abundant and in season 1993/94 the junior players came of age and Rabat Depiro began their participation in HAM�s senior competitions. Their first two years were a learning experience both on the field of play and administration wise. In season 1995/96 they combined their first senior honour, the KO competition, with runner-up spot in the League. The following year they retained the runner-up spot and picked up the Super Cup. Rabat started to build on these successes. With Silvio Abela as President, Shawn Falzon as Secretary and Stephen Sciberras the first team coach, the club moved to strengthen their administrative set and first team squad. With the arrival of Jonathan Seychell from Qormi, Ramon Caruana Smith from Sliema Hs and Robert Bezzina from Young Stars the club secured their first League title at the end of season 1997/98. Jason Vella, Sliema Hs�s prolific scorer, joined them the following year and League title number two was in the bag together with the Super Cup. Reaching such heights in a short time was not without problems and the two years that followed saw Rabat Depiro Hockey Club face its biggest test as it lurched from one crisis to another. The honours suddenly dried up (baring one �mere� Super Cup) and it had to face up to financial and administrative problems. For the youngsters running the club, this was a do or die period as the realization sunk in that, despite having some of the best players on the island, success did not fall out of the sky and the club had to work hard to reach its goals. An Extraordinary General Meeting in June 2001 was the catalyst for a new way forward. The club reorganised itself internally and have not looked back since then. Season 2001/02 saw them take the first of four consecutive League Championships. They also won a KO competition, the Challenge Cup for the first time in their history and the Super Cup for three times. The hosting of the European Club Challenge (a first for Malta) last year was another remarkable achievement for the club and Rabat became the first club side in Malta to participate in a competition at European level. The decision was taken to take the plunge for a second time this year, and here we are! - Henry Cachia |
