Valletta BC, a local basketball club now in its second season, has rebranded over the summer as part of significant upgrades and they made all of their changes official with a launch of their logo, kits and teams for the 2024-25 season on Wednesday in Valletta.

Speaking at the event, club president Harry Savaya referred to the launch as a big event because of the city’s identity, saying it is their ambition to live up to the name through the club.

“For us, it’s big because it’s Valletta,” Savaya told the audience, “(Valletta) has a big name, it has a history, and it has shown us a lot during the years. Hopefully, it will be a great image for us to emulate. We will be able to show them who we are, to show them real basketball, fair play, good attitude, and definitely at the end of this, the results.

“But our main target is not just to show what we have or show our level or show good sportsmanship. Our target is to put Valletta and Malta on the highest podiums, at the highest level.”

Speaking about the new branding, as Valletta Fighters became Valletta BC in the offseason, Citizens representative and assistant coach Daniel Bugeja said the process took on numerous phases and emphasised their pride in representing the capital city.

“The logo, which was designed by our club secretary, Carmel Spiteri, has passed through a lot of phases,” Bugeja said. 

“The lion on the logo holds a basketball, reflecting the club’s dedication to the sport. The intensity of the expression on the lion underscores the competitive spirit of the team. In the background, a basketball is incorporated with elements of the multi-spectrum, signifying the club’s deep roots in Malta. As we all know, no city or village in Malta represents the country more than here. And there was the idea to have the Maltese flag incorporated into our logo.

“The team’s name, Valletta Basketball Club, is displayed prominently. This showcases our pride in representing the country. We are proud to represent Valletta for its heritage, for its history, for its people.”

Summer upgrades

Over the summer, one highlight was the introduction of a new women’s team for the club. Together with this, Valletta BC have invested heavily into its men’s team which last season suffered throughout its debut campaign which saw them only win one game in all competitions. Unlike last season, Valletta have already matched their record with a Division One win earlier in October. 

Speaking to Malta Basketball, Savaya, who is also the head coach of the team’s men’s and women’s teams said their target was always to upgrade.

“Our main target is always to upgrade, always to improve year after year. Our main goal was definitely the Valletta men. Our secondary goal was to push for a women’s team, and improve the basketball women’s side, especially, because they kind of lack attention in a way like supporting-wise and the number of teams,” he explained. 

“Hopefully, hand-in-hand with the basketball association, we will be able to get to their targets and our targets, especially when you’ve seen lately in the past five small countries’ tournaments or championships, Malta has always been in the final, whether for the men or the women – great results.

“So (Malta) is a great place, it’s a hotspot to have teams and to upgrade and work together as one unit, try to improve. 

“As far as the men’s team is concerned, we upgraded the team by signing more experienced players. With all respect to last year’s players, last year we had a young team, this year we upgraded it because we have higher ambitions, we want to go further in the tournaments. 

“We’re not dreaming, but it should be like a primary target to be in the final four, hopefully.”

Valletta to debut in Sharjah Tournament in 2025

Valletta’s ambition was expressed during the event as Savaya announced the club will be taking part of the Sharjah International Tournament in Dubai in September. 

The competition, which features sides from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Lebanon will now also feature Valletta in 2025.

“Our target is to put Valetta and Malta onto the highest podiums, at the highest level. I would like to announce from this podium that Valetta Basketball Club, on September 5, will be in the sixth Sharjah International Tournament and we will be participating as the first Maltese club to play in such event.”

Asked about this by Malta Basketball, Savaya said it came as an invitation from Ahmed Suleiman, founder of Jam Sport Academy, and that their participation would be the start of a new collaboration.

“It’s kind of a cooperation, because to expand, you need to work with high-aiming people and clubs, so hand-in-hand, hopefully with many clubs that I have good connections with, this will help us build. 

“My ultimate aim is hopefully to participate in a European tournament like Starlites did, but Starlites played the qualifications. I respect that as it is a great job as a first step. But we’re aiming to play in the international tournament and to be in the standings, hopefully, and to add to what Starlites did because, in the end, we are together in this. 

“We compete against each other for a cup, but our ultimate goal, is for us as Valletta, Starlites, and the rest to get to the highest point and show the image of basketball, because people underestimate a lot the basketball in Malta, and they don’t know what’s happening. That’s why they downgrade us, but the stats are talking, even last year, many players played in Valletta or played in other clubs and went to Germany, went to Ecuador, went to Kazakhstan, and vice versa. So, hopefully, together, we will stand higher and stronger.”