How did this club start?
In 1990, the Rugby Association of Malta (RAM, hence the ram motif on the present MRFU logo), was formed. Consequently a regular league was formed with the playing teams being Overseas RFC, University RFC, and Phoenicians RCM.
In 1991/2, a group of water polo players from the Sirens WSC joined Overseas during the winter months, when no water polo was being played. This team was initially named as Overseas 'B', and thanks to Overseas RFC assistance they managed to gather enough players to form what is today the Kavallieri RFC.
Since its inception Kavallieri RFC has been a major protagonists in the local rugby scene, with winning many of the cups and leagues and also most importantly contributing mostly to the development of rugby in Malta. This very last season i.e 2007/2008, Kavallieri where crowned League and Cup Champions and swept all major local rugby awards.
Kavallieri RFC has had a number of landmarks since its inception, namely:
- the club contributing most players for the National Team
- the first club forming a ladies squad which also represented Malta in the 1st quarter of 2004 in Tunisia at the Tunisia World Sevens Ladies Tournament
- the first club to contribute most members within the set-up of the MRFU (main governing body)
As mentioned above, one major landmark for the Club was having the first official female squad. With the valuable assistance of Robert Bonavia (also a Kavallieri player and member), this team managed to retain composure and participate for their first ever competitive games in Tunisia, just after three months of preparation. The initial participants within this squad where the partners of the Kavallieri Senior squad who, attending every game got interested and decided to give it try. This trial has resulted in the Kavallieri Ladies Team being twice consecutive Ben Bennett's Cup winners.
The club strives on two main goals:
- Unity within its members, players and non
- Collective efforts towards the development of rugby within the club and in Malta.
The club aims to reach higher strides in the upcoming future, this it intends to do by providing its member (be they nursery, youths, women or men) the necessary space to develop their skills and effectiveness in the game. The main problem the administration of the club was facing on a weekly basis is that of having to find suitable (and available) pitches whereby the teams (men and women) can perform their training. For the coming seasons and for the first time ever, and first within the Rugby Community, the club has secured its own Rugby Club House and can plan the training sessions for all on a regular basis at the same pitch. These facilities are located within the Victor Tedesco Stadium in Hamrun, and training is being held on a first class synthetic pitch which is already helping in a considerable way to have the best preseason preparations. The Club House is being refurbished to modern standards and will cater for club/members/players meetings and necessary space for entertaining the members and guests. The main aim of this bold step is to have a “home” for our ever increasing membership after many years of struggling to hold appropriate meeting venues for team building and technical meetings. This venue will also host our stock of training material – once again, this is the first time that a local rugby club has ventured into procuring its own rugby training material, including the provision of full set of rugby posts to be used in rented venues for friendly/competitive fixtures. Ultimately the club is looking at enlarging its operation to a 400 - 500 playing member base within the club in all age groups.
Kavallieri RFC would like to thank the Hamrun Spartans Sports Complex Plc, in particular the Ground Manager Mr. Manuel Fenech for the way we were integrated in their environment. Thanks to all, the future is looking very bright.
