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Carmelo Rapa
is a highly respected figure well known for his
contribution in the educational sector, his involvement
in the development of Ghajnsielem F.C. and his
dedication as a bandsman with St Joseph Band.
Carmelo was
born in Ghajnsielem on the 18th of June 1919, son of Ġuzeppi Rapa and Ġuzeppa nee' Buttigieg. He took his
primary education in Ghajnsielem and continued his
studies at the Sacred Heart Seminary in Victoria. As the
World War 2 started to loom, Carmelo was forced to
enlist in the Army and he served as a sergeant until the
war ended. At the end of the second World War, Carmelo
joined the Education Department as a teacher. After a
short period, he was transferred to the Ghajnsielem
Primary School where he spent the rest of his career and
eventually retiring. |
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Carmelo was a staunch Feast enthusiast. In fact
he is one of the pioneers who created the external street
decorations for the Feast of Our Lady of Loreto. He joined the
St Joseph Band before the World War 2 and was again part the
Society
when it
resurrected
again in 1966. It is
also worth mentioning that before the World War 2, Carmelo was
also one of the first members of the Sea Scouts and
Ghajnsielem's Boys Scouts.
 Carmelo Rapa is also associated with the development of the
Ghajnsielem Football Club in the 50's and 60'.
Carmelo Rapa's involvement
with football and Għajnsielem goes back to the time when
there was no organized football in Gozo. He used to
watch and play football as a young kid at Fort Chambray.
Born June 18, 1919 Carmelo was too young to make the
team that played for the Zammit Cup on May 21, 1936.
Still short of his seventeenth birthday, however,
Carmelo nearly played in that match but one of the
senior players talked Carmelo Mallia out of fielding him
on account of young Carmelo's size and age compared to
that of the rest of the team and the opponents. Carmelo
stayed involved in a secretarial role with the Club
throughout the early years of its existence. Football
was organized intermittently in Gozo and Għajnsielem did
not always manage to participate in organized
competition. By the time the Club returned to
competition in 1952/53, Carmelo
Rapa had
become deeply involved in the affairs of the Club and it
is safe to say that among the many other matters he
handled, one could include that of team coach. This
probably was the case for the rest of the 50’s, when the
Club's senior team earned their famous moniker: the
Blacks.
In the early
sixties the Club was relegated and after solving some internal
problems returned to competition in 1963/64. Carmelo occupied
the role of Club secretary at the time and celebrated with coach
Mr. Michael Bugeja, fellow committee members and players a
brilliant campaign that led to the second division championship
and promotion.
At the end of the
1964/65 season, Ghajnsielem were relegated for the second time
in three years. Carmelo Rapa was back in charge and led the team
back to the First Division, to an Independence Cup triumph in
1965/66 and to a Galea’s Cup win in 1966/67.
Carmelo Rapa's
involvement with the Club continued until the early seventies.
He was Club secretary in the 1967/68 and 1968/69 seasons during
which the Club came close to winning the first championship in
its history. Rapa, and his colleagues president Mr. Francis
Grech, treasurer Mr. George Attard and coach Mr. Peter Caruana
did not lose their nerve. They stuck together, kept faith in the
young players that came so close to the championship, and
finally, in the spring of 1970 accomplished that which
Għajnsielem had been waiting for so long to achieve: the Blacks
became champions of Gozo for the first time in their history.
Mr. Rapa made sure that this historic event be properly
commemorated and issued a celebratory publication Għajnsielem
F.C. Champions - Semper Firmum. This was the precursor of the
Black & White magazine that played such a crucial part in
creating a winning culture within the Club. Mr. Rapa's long and
distinguished involvement in one official capacity or another
within the Club came to an end the following season, but the
discipline and organization which he brought into the Club's
administration remained after him, with the baton handed over to
his son Joe, who took over as secretary while he was still
active as the Blacks' right full-back and saw that the Blacks
stayed on course long enough to win a record five league
championships in a row.
Carmelo is also
remembered for his service in the army during the war, his
teaching at St. Anthony's College and at the Għajnsielem
Primary School (where he also coached numerous football teams,
several of them to league championships, and more importantly,
innumerable future Blacks), his association with the Għaqda
Mużikali San Ġużepp, his contributions to l-Festa tal-Madonna ta'
Loretu (which he fondly recalled with his son Silvio only a few
days ago) and much more. But it was his contribution to the
football club and his devotion to it that brings a lump to our
throat. Carmelo's love for Għajnsielem Football Club was
unconditional and of the enduring kind. It expired only today.
Carmelo Rapa passed away Tuesday 28th September 2010 at the age
of 91. He is survived by his wife Carmela, his sons Joe, Silvio,
Renato and Alfio, his daughters Maria, Yvonne, Lina, Monica,
Frances and Deborah, sister M'Assunta, nieces, nephews and
grandchildren.
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