OFFICIAL SITE OF THE
DETROIT WAZA FLO
SOCCER TEAM
Detroit Waza Flo - Malta Classico - ISFA World Club - Malta Knights - Birkirkara AFC
From Past Roots
to Present Programs
to Future Foundations
Connecting Malta, Detroit and the world through generations of football.
From Detroit Motown to Mosta, Malta, our collaboration brings communities together for the United Nations International Day of Peace. Detroit Waza Flo, Soccer Waza and Pulaski School connect with the Malta collective and community play at Mosta Dome through Mosta’s Sister Cities International connection—linking schools, neighborhoods and football across borders.
From Malta to the World Cup
Birkirkara AFC won the Malta Clasicos championship in Malta, earning its place at the ISFA 3v3 Street Football World Cup in Utrecht, Netherlands.
Active in Malta: from the waterfront to schools and competition
The collective’s work is already underway in Malta: a 3v3 street football program at bognor on the waterfront in Buġibba, St Paul’s Bay, school outreach in Malta, ongoing Street Knights programming, and participation with Birkirkara AFC in the futsal league. Alongside Malta Clasicos’ ISFA World Cup competitions, these activities connect everyday community play and schools with league football and the international stage. Together with Detroit Waza Flo, they give the collective’s global sports diplomacy work a practical foundation in the communities it serves.
Our mission is to honor our Maltese and Detroit roots, strengthen the programs serving communities today, and build lasting foundations for future generations. Through football, education and international collaboration, we unite people, share experience and create opportunities for young people to play, develop and belong.
For Detroit Waza Flo, the connection between Malta and Detroit is both a family story and a community story. It stretches from immigrant soccer clubs and neighborhood fields to youth programs, professional teams and international competition. Today, that history continues through our collective with Malta Clasicos, Street Knights Malta and Birkirkara AFC.
Together we play, support and grow.
Together we play, support and grow: Street Knights Malta, Birkirkara AFC, Waza FC and Malta Clasicos.
The road-to-Utrecht lineup featured James Brincat Almeida, Jake Borg, Nigel Zammit Schembri, Chris Farrugia and Dominic “Waza” Scicluna. Together with Etienne Grech Sillato—“Grizz”—and the communities behind Birkirkara AFC, Street Knights Malta, Malta Clasicos and Waza Flo, this work reflects a collective approach to football across borders.
Birkirkara AFC’s road to Utrecht 2026. Top row: James Brincat Almeida, Jake Borg and Nigel Zammit Schembri. Bottom row: Chris Farrugia and Dominic “Waza” Scicluna. Winning the Malta Clasicos championship qualified the team for the ISFA World Cup. Graphic shared by Malta Clasicos.
The ISFA 3v3 Street Football World Cup in Utrecht brought together 28 nations around the game and its global community. For the Waza–Malta collective, it connected local championship achievement with international exchange. Utrecht provides momentum for what comes next. The opportunity is to bring international experience home: organize stronger local programs, reach more young people, support coaches and volunteers, and create meaningful relationships with schools, municipalities, sponsors and community partners.
For us, this is sports diplomacy in practice. People meet through the game, exchange knowledge, build trust and carry those relationships into their communities. A tournament can open a conversation; the work afterward can create lasting opportunities.
We welcome partners who share that purpose and want to help develop community football and worldwide projects. Our history gives us experience to draw on. Our programs give us ways to act today. What we build together will shape the opportunities available to the next generation.
From past roots to present programs to future foundations.
Together we play, support and grow.
Community collaboration: International Day of Peace
From Detroit Motown to Mosta, Malta, football brings communities together for peace. For the United Nations International Day of Peace, participants gathered to play at Mosta Dome, connecting Malta’s community celebration with Detroit Waza Flo, Soccer Waza and Pulaski School’s Tournament for Peace. Through the Sister Cities International connection and a shared commitment to the UN observance, local play becomes an opportunity for friendship, learning and cooperation across borders.
This collaboration recognizes Pulaski Principal Tyra Smith-Bell, teachers, staff, families and Soccer Waza coaches, including Del Carr; Cherie Barnett’s role representing Sister Cities International; and the Malta collective of Birkirkara AFC, Street Knights Malta and Malta Clasicos, alongside Waza Flo. Together, their work connects street football and neighborhood participation with schools, professional football, the ISFA World Cup and the wider goals of international organizations.
Community collaboration in Malta
Birkirkara AFC shared this moment of community play at Mosta Dome: a local expression of the same respect, inclusion and connection carried forward through the Detroit–Malta collaboration.
UN International Day of Peace -- Play at Mosta Dome. | Mosta — Member of Sister Cities International. |
Connect with the collective
Dominic Scicluna: dominic@wazafc.com
Etienne Grech Sillato (“Grizz”): egsillato@gmail.com
Nigel Zammit Schembri: nigelzammit92@gmail.com
James Brincat Almeida: maltastreetfootball@gmail.com
Follow Detroit Waza Flo, Waza Flo Club, Malta Clasicos and Malta street football.
World Cup photography
Adina’s complete gallery · Alex’s Day 1 gallery · Alex’s Day 2 gallery
Credit @adina.hmdvc for Adina’s photographs and @alex.puskins for Alex’s photographs. Social posts may invite @isfastreet as a collaborator.
Our history: Malta, Detroit and the Scicluna legacy
The roots of that connection run deep in Corktown. Maltese families established themselves in Detroit from the early twentieth century, with later generations continuing to build the community. The Maltese American Benevolent Society became a gathering place for preserving heritage, welcoming families and maintaining connections across the Atlantic.
Football was part of that community life. The Society’s archive preserves the Maltese American Soccer Club’s 1948–49 championship team and a Maltese team photographed before a match at Patton Park in 1956. The Maltese Falcons and the Scicluna family’s own team photographs belong to this wider story of people bringing their love of the game into Detroit’s neighborhoods.
Detroit Maltese Falcons, 196? Named in the family photograph: Tino, Eddy, Joe, Paul, Manuel and Ron Scicluna. Photo supplied by the family.
Paul R. Scicluna helped carry that tradition into the institutions that supported soccer’s growth across Michigan. He founded the Michigan Wolves-Hawks Soccer Club, partnered with former Detroit Express players to establish Total Soccer, and helped Dan Duggan establish the Michigan Bucks. His work also extended into professional indoor soccer with the Detroit Rockers and collegiate coaching as Eastern Michigan University’s first women’s soccer head coach.
The family’s contributions continued across generations and different forms of the game. Valentino Scicluna founded Nationals Soccer Club. Philip Scicluna organized a major beach soccer tournament in Santa Cruz, California. Dominic and Mario Scicluna carried their experience into Soccer Waza, Waza FC and Detroit Waza Flo, connecting youth development with professional competition and international relationships.
Paul, Dominic and Mario were each inducted into the Michigan Soccer Association Hall of Fame. Paul was also inducted into Eastern Michigan University’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.
The family’s relationship with Malta remained active. Dominic played for Ħamrun Spartans, while Mario represented the Maltese national wrestling team and attended the University of Malta. These experiences brought sporting and educational connections back into the family’s work in Michigan.
Waza FC’s youth club dates to 1999, and Detroit Waza became a charter member of PASL-Pro in 2008. The professional team reached consecutive league finals in 2011–12 and 2012–13 and won the 2012–13 U.S. Open Arena Soccer Championship. Alongside competition, Waza’s work has grown through school programs, camps, coaching, freestyle performances and international ambassador activities.
That experience spans street football, futsal, arena soccer, beach soccer, footvolley and the outdoor game. Each offers another way for people to participate, express themselves and develop.
Explore the Maltese American Benevolent Society’s community photo archive.