Sport: It’s a Game of Two Halves

ASTERAS - our local Football team - is going through a rough period. The last game they won was on February 7th. Funnily enough, their lack of a winning streak has not affected their league position much – they are still in fifth place, but there are quite a few teams that are breathing down their neck. Hopefully the two week break for Easter will give them plenty of time to reflect and get that goal-scoring instinct back. Put that ball in the back of the net!

KRISSES: Unfortunately last month’s prediction became reality – our women’s football team has been relegated to the regional league. The team leaders will have to reflect on the mistakes made during the season and learn from them to take the team forward. And there is a serious question. How can one continue with a team when half of the players are living in other parts of Greece? This makes the concept of team practice very difficult.

AGOR –the Rethymnon basketball team are hardly an exciting act to support. They win their home games and lose their away games. Blah, blah, blah. With seven games left in the season, they’re not going to be promoted (but on the other hand, unless ‘Mistress seriously dodgy fate’ really strikes, they are unlikely to be relegated either).

OPER - our female volleyball team - manage to lift the sporting mood with their fantastic run. They have only one game left to play in the regular season and are sure of a place in the play-offs – anyone who would have said that at the beginning of the season would have been told to go and see a doctor of the head variety. And had it not been for an awful referee’s decision (Mister Vlachakis – THAT BALL WAS DEFINITELY IN!!!) they would be THIRD in the league, thus avoiding AEK in the play-offs. But no matter what happens, the women of OPER are having a really good season.

WAY TO GO! GIRL POWER!!!!

No Blue Icing on the Cake (No Icing no Cake!)

Much though we’d like to present it otherwise, this is unfortunately a ‘How dim can you get?’ tale. It looks as if Rethymnon will lose three of its ‘blue flag beach’ awards this year. The news is that these yearly awards will not be given to the beaches in Adelianos Kampos, Pigianos Kampos and Skaleta due to the building of pumping stations for the new sewerage system that is being constructed by the Municipality of Arkadi. It is worth noting that these pumping stations are being built without the appropriate permit of the ‘responsible’ government department. It follows that these constructions on the beaches are in direct violation of the mandatory criteria for the blue flag awards. This is another blow to an area of Rethymnon where the tourist industry, (already shaken by the international financial crisis), should be one of the main sources of local income.

Good News!

We like to finish this page on a high note so here is some good news for Rethymnon. The mayor has secured funding from the Ministry of the Environment, Energy, and Climate Change and the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks for the redevelopment of the beach front, from the Delfini building until Pearl Beach Hotel. The study for the redevelopment of the sidewalk and the construction of a dedicated cycle lane and an appropriate parking scheme is under way. This project is part of a pilot program in which the municipalities of Mytilini and Lefkada also take part. This is just one of the many study projects that are currently undertaken. The others include the redevelopment of Dimakopoulou and Gerakari street (parallel to Ig. Gavril and Kountouriotou Avs) and a completely new bypass.