Eight Teams to Compete for National Women’s Softball Champions  

Softball fans who are used to attending the national tournament in Belize City, will have to travel to Sand Hill this weekend to cheer on their favourite team. The Rogers Stadium field is undergoing major resurfacing and retrofitting, following incessant rains that left it unsafe for use. The first games begin at six-thirty this evening and the tournament resumes at nine-thirty on Saturday and Sunday with fifteen teams taking part. It promises to be an exciting competition, with all teams said to have a degree of strength. Entrance to the Sand Hill Softball Field is five dollars and there’ll be fifteen games played altogether. News Five’s Marion Ali spoke with the Tournament Organizer, Shane Williams about the shift from Belize City to Rural Belize for the event. Here’s that report.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

For the first time, at least in recent memory, the National Softball tournaments are being played outside of Belize City. It is a necessary move to allow for resurfacing and repairs to be done at the historic Roger’s Stadium. This weekend, the National Women’s Softball Tournament will be held in Sand Hill Village. Tournament Organizer, Shane Williams told News Five that the field at Roger’s Stadium had become unsafe for the players.

 

Shane Williams, Tournament Director, National Women’s Softball Tournament

“We had to make that decision because the Rogers Stadium is not fit for a national tournament at the moment. We had a really bad year in terms of rain and the field condition was already in subpar state due to damages from previous storms and hurricanes. The playing field is very unlevel. We had some serious injuries in the Belize City Tournament this year that we cannot allow to happen at the national level. So, we had about two weeks to prepare the field for nationals because the Belize City Tournament was playing and it played late due to weather conditions. So we only had about two weeks to prepare the field…”

 

Williams says the Sand Hill softball field is one of the best to hold the event and it was tested only recently when the men’s tournament was held there.

 

Shane Williams

“Sand Hill Village has a very good field. It hosted the male nationals two weeks ago, and it was a very good host. The village itself was a very good host for the players, so we believe that this will be one of the more memorable tournaments.”

 

Marion Ali

“And when do you foresee the Rogers stadium field will be ready again for more games?”

 

Shane Williams

“Well, that’s the good thing. Even though we have moved the tournament to Sand Hill, we have not stopped working on Rogers Stadium. We have over fifteen loads of material that have already been brought into the stadium. They are being spread out at the moment. We have 10 additional lights that will be put up over the next couple of weeks that have already been purchased. And we have some donors, B.T.B. And other donors that will be investing in the fence and we are looking at specific private company for the installation of a scoreboard that we have been looking for several years. So I would say by the time tournament is ready, which is January, the calendar opens, Rogers Stadium definitely will be ready.”

 

Altogether there are eight teams competing for bragging rights of National Women Softball champs and the trophy this year. They are the Esperanza Wolverines and Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy, Orange Walk’s Palmar and Elites, Belize City’s Beacon Softball Club and Wolfpack Softball Club and from Belize Rural we have Doublehead Cabbage and Belize Bank Bulldogs. Williams says it will be no walk in the park for any of them.

 

Shane Williams

“The defending champs are the Beacon Softball Club from Belize City and you know, they have us very solid team. They have even international players as well on that team. We have the rural who believe that this will be their year to unseat them, especially since they are hosting for the first time. So the home field advantage will definitely be with Belize, but the Bulldogs and the Double Head Cabbage Unity team. The Orange Walk teams are fairly new and from what I’ve seen in their practice, they expect to come and make some real upset in the tournament. Cayo has won the nationals multiple times before, and the same for Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy team, it’s coming back with some very young talent and Esperanza Wolverines are always contenders. So there’s no set favorites, I would say. But this will be an exciting tournament.”

 

Marion Ali for News Five.