Goodnight and welcome to another edition of Sports Monday, I am Paul Lopez. The Inter-office Basketball League is back. This season consists of a total of fourteen teams equally divided into two divisions. It is early in the season, but teams are already battling for the top two positions in each division that gives them an express ride to the playoffs. On Sunday, in the first game of the day, Bowen and Bowen, in the grey and blue jersey, took on K.H.M.H., in black and red. This is their second game of the season. They both lost their first match.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Luwani Cayetano with the two-point jumper to put Bowen and Bowen on the scoreboard. Max Nicholson creating some room to put up the jumper. He makes that one. Joshua Westby on the fast break, passes off the ball to Sheylon Matthews under the rim for the layup. Bowen has eleven points and K.H.M.H. is up by one, with twelve points in the middle of the first quarter. A corner three from Alexander Ellis gives Bowen the lead. They ended the quarter on top with twenty-five points. K.H.M.H. has seventeen points.
At the start of the second quarter Lopez gets the offensive rebound and uses his body to get the second chance points. K.H.M.H. with nineteen points. It is now a twenty-nine to twenty-seven points game in favor of Bowen. Elmer Hamilton is wide open for the corner three. He takes the shot and makes it count, stretching the lead to five. Kyle Pitts comes up on the turnover. Sends the ball off to Hamilton. Tarique Solis with the drive. Bounce pass to Darnell Galvez, then Westby who puts it up. A beautiful play all around sends the game into time out. Bowen now up by seven points. The second quarter ended with Bowen and Bowen maintaining their eight-point lead with forty-three points to K.H.M.H.’s thirty-five points.
At the end of the third quarter, Bowen and Bowen had a nine-point lead. Both teams struggled from the three-point line. K.H.M.H. put up a good fight in the fourth quarter. They outscored their opponents by three points. But ultimately it was not enough to give them the victory. The game ended eighty-two to seventy-six points in favor of Bowen and Bowen. The Belize City Council reigns supreme in this division, that is Division B, early in the season, while the Belize Coast Guard and the Belize Police Department are tied for the top spot in Division A.
On to some more basketball action in the William Dawson Sprite Basketball Tournament. In this match Boom Blazers, in the green jersey, are taking on Hattieville Underdogs, in the red and blue jersey. An early start to the scoring for the Boom Blazers. Number seven for the Underdogs, on the other end, with smooth jumper. The referee calls a travel against Boom on this play. An open two point shot in the first for Underdog’s number five. A fast break is converted into a two-point basket on the other end. Boom Blazers were held to four points in the first quarter, but the Underdogs were only able to score eleven points.
The low scoring continued and by the end of the third quarter, the Blazers had scored only ten points, while Hattieville underdogs had twenty-two points. Blazers scored sixteen points in the fourth quarter, more than all three prior quarters combined. But it was not enough to defeat the Underdogs. They finished the game with thirty-two points.
And finally, for tonight, we bring you highlights from the Belize District Volleyball Association’s Division One Female Competition 2024. SQ Ultra Stars took on SQ Junior Stars on Friday night inside the SCA Auditorium.
Junior Stars has control of this one in the first set. Up ten points to their opponents’ seven. Emma Solano for Ultra Stars over the net. Emaun Marin. Mira Bood sets and its Marin again. Lissany Castillo sets it up for Jada Espejo. That one goes over the heads of the Junior Stars and lands on the line. That’s a point for Ultra Stars. Kaliee Godfrey with the serve. The ball is picked up. Bood with the set and Marin with the strong send across the net. Kristi Mai picks it up. Godfrey gets a touch of it. Catillo sends it over. Easy touch for Chloe Bowman to Bood. A net violation is called against Ultra Stars. Kristi Mai up to serve. Her team, Ultra Stars has a one-point lead with seventeen points. Great effort by Bowman. Bood works to bring it back, but Jaycee Usher was alert on the other side and made light work of the play.
Ultra Stars won the first set twenty-five to eighteen points. In the second set Ultra Stars dominated, winning by thirteen points. SQ Junior Stars came back in the third set putting up a fight. A big starting serve for Bood proves too much for her opponents. Bood with another massive service. Ultra Stars’ Amayah Lino up to serve. Ultra Stars is down by three points. A big block for Ultra Stars, cutting into that lead. Mai looking to wrap this one up for Ultra Stars at game point and the service goes out of bounds. That is twenty-two for Young Stars. Young Stars trying to keep this one alive. The service goes over the net and the referee awards a point to Young Stars. They now have twenty-three and a timeout is called. But this one quickly came to an end with an out-of-bounds service.
Well folks, that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.
A group of young basketball enthusiasts are breaking basketball’s barriers. Today, just over a dozen young girls under the age of twelve participated in the International Basketball Federation’s “Her World, Her Rules” campaign launch in Belize. It is one of the most recognized initiatives in women’s basketball. Commonly branded as #H.W.H.R., the campaign is designed to unite women and girls through basketball and help to define grassroots projects. News Five’s Paul Lopez stopped in at the launch inside the Saint Catherine’s Auditorium in Belize City. He filed the following reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
In Belize, basketball is mostly considered a male sport. A handful of school and community teams exist to develop basketball skills among girls, but most of the major basketball competitions are played among boys and men. It is a fact that Jacob Leslie, the President of the Belize Basketball Federation, acknowledges.
Jacob Leslie
Jacob Leslie, President, Belize Basketball Federation
“I think it is one of the sport that has neglected our females for far too long. I think you can see female participation in volleyball and football, but it has been nonexistent in basketball for far too long. Like you said, as a parent, but as a former basketball player, basketball has really impacted my life significantly and the things that I have learnt through basketball have translated into my personal life.”
Today, a group of girls, between the ages of six and fifteen, gathered inside the Saint Cahterine’s Auditorium to change that narrative. Led by Yenny Pinilla, Coach of FIBA’s “Her World, Her Rules Campaign”, they engaged in a series of basketball drills.
Yenny Pinilla
Yenny Pinilla, Basketball Coach
“The name is Her World, Her Rules. So, when we say welcome to the playground. It is this is my place where I feel comfortable, strong, where I can do better things for me and this is the place where you can have dreams and improve your skills not just on the court but off the court as well. So I was a basketball player. I played all the time when I was six-years-old. So, I played in the national teams, I played all levels, South American Tournament, Pan American Tournaments, Pan American Tournament, I was the captain in my country.”
From the youngest to the oldest girl in the group, they ran across the basketball court practicing their dribble, taking close-range shots at the rim, practicing their passing, and most importantly playing and laughing through the process.
Yenny Pinilla
“It is not only here. In my country it is the same. The sports and basketball is only with boys. They support more boys than girls. The goal here is that the government and the ministers see that the girls can play basketball and can represent the country, and this is the way we can do that. So, if you are not going to start with young girls and babies like her, then nothing happens.”
Three years ago, nine-year-old Kenya Gillett, a resident of Crooked Tree Village, played a game of basketball with her cousin and immediately fell in love with the sport, as she tells it.
Kenya Gillett
Kenya Gillett, Basketball Athlete
“One day I just mih the play with my lee cousin and I start to like it and I asked teacher mek I join the team.”
Paul Lopez
“Tell me a bit about why you like playing basketball?”
Kenya Gillett
“Because it is fun, and you get to meet a lot of people. I learn a lot of things about a lot of people. I learnt a lot of new activities that we never did in Crooke Tree.”
Gillett’s dream is to one day play in the WNBA. She has already developed the view that basketball is more than just a sport for boys.
Kenya Gillett
“I don’t think that is true, anybody could play basketball.”
Gillett’s much younger peer, Presly Parchue, is just as enthused about the FIBA Her World, Her Rules event.
Presly Parchue
Presly Parchue, Participant
“I like basketball when you have to fun and then you can beat other people in games.”
Paul Lopez
“How did you get to know about basketball?”
Presly Parchue
“Because one time I was at my niece house and I was starting to play, because the older kid he teach me how to play. That is why I love basketball now.”
Today’s activities come as the launch of FIBA’s Her World, Her Rules initiative in Belize. Coach Pinilla says that she will return to Belize in short order. In her absence, Federation President, Jacob Leslie, has committed to keeping the initiative alive through weekly engagement. His long-term vision is to secure athletic scholarships for these young talents to study abroad and further develop their skills.
Jacob Leslie
“I think we are sensitized. So, because our young men are committing all these crimes and different interaction, we try to find things to occupy them, and we forget our young ladies who are falling victim to teenage pregnancy and to different abuse and face the same challenges the young men face. These things are societal values. So, through sports we can impact the lives of these young ladies to engage in positive things, because they also need it and many times they are forgotten.”
The Belize Tennis Association hosted tennis players from across Central America this weekend for the Belize Open Men’s Singles Tennis Tournament. It all went down at the Pickwick Tennis Club’s home court. The tournament saw twenty athletes compete for the coveted cash prize and bragging rights. It is not one of the sporting disciplines we see often covered in the media, partially because tennis in Belize is not as popular as team sports like basketball and football. But tennis has a faithful following in Belize and young athletes who take it very seriously. News Five’s Paul Lopez tells us more.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Tennis has been played in Belize for more than seven decades. At the height of its popularity in the nineteen fifties, Edward “Billy” Musa Senior was involved.
Edward Musa Sr.
Edward Musa Sr., Tournament Sponsor
“In the fifties and sixties we had three tennis clubs vying against each other for the Martinez Shield. It was a prestigious shield that each club wanted to win. The Belize Club, where we are right now, were mainly expatriates under the colonial rule there were a lot of expatriates in Belize. At the New Town Club, where the old two tennis courts are, there was a big building there and they were involved in tennis too. They were civil servants working for the government. The Pickwick Club on North Front Street were mainly businessmen.”
In 2024, the discipline remains alive in Belize. Admittedly, it is not as popular as it once was back in the fifties.
Edward Musa Sr.
“A lot of people think that tennis is only for the well to do elites and this is not the case. What we find, the problem with tennis is that it is an individual sport and players, our population prefer team sports like basketball and volleyball.”
Even though the popularity of the discipline has somewhat dwindled over the years, Musa remains at the helm of the efforts to keep tennis alive in Belize. He sponsored a regional Open Men’s Singles Tennis Tournament over the weekend in Belize City. Samron Pott, the Tournament Director, says it has been running since 2017.
Samron Pott
Samron Pott, Tournament Director
“This year’s event has twenty players. Belize is represented, Guatemala is represented, Mexico is represented, and Nicaragua is represented. So, we have some talent out there at the pickwick club this year. Two, three gentlemen have already proceeded to the semi-finals, one Belizean, one Nicaraguan, one Mexican the last quarter finals are on display on the court over there nuh. And that one is between our top ranked Belizean, Stephan Sosa and the Guatemalan who represented Guatemala internationally.”
Stephan Sosa, a resident of Belmopan, plays for the Belmopan Tennis Club. We witnessed him win his match after competing against his Guatemalan opponent in a match that ran for approximately two hours under the sweltering heat of the day.
Stephan Sosa
Stephan Sosa, Tennis Player, Belmopan Tennis Club
“The majority of the toll comes from the heat. I find that to be the most difficult element for me to combat and just the fact that the format is so condensed, it being done over one weekend, it is a bit hard to recover, it is a bit hard to recover between matches considering that little resting time. Beforehand I prepare by buying supplements and ensuring I have the fuel my body needs to play optimally. I purchase a lot of electrolytes drinks like Gatorade. I also have energy gels among other various other supplements I wouldn’t like to disclose to be honest. They are not illegal supplements for the record. I am just making that clear.”
Pott was born into tennis and intends to utilize his youthfulness to keep the discipline alive in Belize.
Samron Pott, Tournament Director
“So I was born into tennis, so the passion existed from birth, and it is a beautiful game. I know what tennis can do for an individual in terms of values that you learn through tennis, but fitness as well, it is a great way to stay fit. So, it is something I intend to do for quite a while, keep this sport going.”
At the end of the weekend tournament, Mexico’s Braulio Bautista emerged as the champion for the third time. Nicaragua’s Orland Suarez won the silver medal, while Belize’s Stephan Sosa secured the bronze medal. A successful end to a tournament that sees tennis played at its highest level, raising the standard of the discipline in Belize. As for Edward Musa Senior, he shows no signs of slowing down.
Edward Musa Sr.
“We participate in regional tournaments, like Guatemala and Mexico invites us, but internationally we have to qualify, and we have not reached that standard yet.”
Paul Lopez
“How long do you plan to keep this up. You have been in it since the fifties?”
Goodnight and welcome to another edition of Sports Monday, I am Paul Lopez. After a ten-year hiatus, the Men’s National Softball Tournament is back. The games were played over the weekend in Sandhill Village. Spectators from across the country filled the stadium to cheer on their favorite teams. Tonight, we bring you highlights from the gold-medal matchup between Belize City’s Wolfpack and the Hattieville Cubs.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Here we are at the bottom of the second inning. Neither of the teams have been able to score a run up to this point in the game. Shareef Humes up to bat for Wolfpack with runners on first and second. He connects and sends the ball flying into right field. That hit brought Bryan Grant home for the first run of the game. Christian Hernandez came from behind with a massive hit into left field. Keron Tillett and Shareef Humes made it home on that play, bringing Wolfpack’s score to three runs.
Wolfpack made a fourth run at the bottom of the second inning, following an error by the catcher. Christian Hernandez with the slide to home base. This is the top of the third. The Hattieville Cubs are up to bat with their minds set on closing that gap. Bases are loaded. Brandon Rogers Junior hit a ground ball past the shortstop and into center field. Milton Flores makes it home. But watch as Brandon Rogers Senior slides into home plate. It is a very close one and the umpire calls it an out. One run for Hattieville.
Malique James swings at the high pitch. The pitcher is unable to stop the ball. A bad throw to first base sends number eight and Rogers Junior home. That’s now three runs for Hattieville Cubs. Malique James there on second base catching his breath. With James on third after stealing a base, Jayson Garcia sends a ground ball to the shortstop. James makes the run and ties that brings it to an even score at four apiece.
Both teams were unable to make any runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Brandon Rogers Junior for Hattieville Cubs got the closest to gaining a lead at the top of the fifth inning. Garcia is tagged on his way to first base. Rogers gets caught between two fielders on his way to home base. Unaware that the ball fell, he sprints back to home base, but Wolfpack still gets the out. Here at the top of the sixth inning, Flores did what needed to be done to give his team the lead and put this Men’s Softball National in the books. Yes folks, the match ended in favor of the Hattieville Cubs with five runs to the Wolfpack’s four runs.
Jason Garcia secured three individual awards, including Most Run Batted In, Best Earned Run Average, Best Pitcher and the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament award. So, the silver medal went to Wolfpack. Camalote’s men’s softball team secured the bronze medal in the tournament. This is a team that was put together last minute to compete. Quite exceptional performances there from the top three teams.
And, as Hattieville Cubs celebrate, the 2024 BEBL Champions, the Benny’s Belize Hurricanes held their victory parade on Saturday afternoon through the streets of Belize City. A player’s truck and a fan truck were featured in the parade, along with several other vehicles sounding victory horns. Paul Flowers, the General Manager of the Benny’s Belize Hurricanes, appeared to be extremely excited and pleased as he held that championship trophy, even waving it to onlookers. We spoke with Gilbert Gordon, the Chief Executive Officer of the organization, ahead of the parade.
“When you look at it and talk about playing in the BEBL, winning a championship is always challenging. The entire season was me with a lot of issues and challenges. So, whenever you win that championship, it makes the win so much sweeter. So, we did a lot of activities this week. We met with the ministers, we also had our awards ceremony and of course today we are having our fourth motorcade. This championship is for the Belize district. Hurricanes represent the entire district, over a hundred and add thousand people when you talk about professional basketball. So, the motorcade is going to go through the principal streets of Belize. We will be making a lot of noise. We have about five hundred, forty add cars.”
Paul Lopez
“Perhaps you are not thinking about it as yet, but how do we go back to the drawing board in the off season and try to retain some of these same players and go to a back-to-back-to-back championship?”
Gilbert Gordon
“The reason why Hurricanes win championships is because we are forward thinkers. We don’t wait for the appropriate times in regard to be able to try to get players. We are very proactive. So, we have signed some key players already. We have already spoken to our players we have right now to resign them. So, we are all the way up the road in rebuilding and ensuring we have another championship in 2025.”
And finally, for tonight, the National Futsal League of Belize hosted an international futsal tournament over the weekend in Orange Walk. The tournament saw teams from across the region, including Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador and two teams from Belize. At the end of the weekend-long tournament, Honduras secured the gold medal. El Salvador won silver, while the Belmopan Futsal Club won the bronze medal.
Well folks, that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.
The Belize Athletics Association is going through an internal dispute. The differences are between the membership of the B.A.A. and Executive Member, Gregory Meyers and President, Cojac Smith. Smith was just elected in April, but already there is a move afoot to trigger a vote of no-confidence against his presidency. He told us today that while the matter is really an internal one, he is not fazed by the plan to oust him. It all stemmed from an incident in which some athletes felt they were disrespected by Meyers and when they tried to have him sanctioned, they didn’t believe they got a favourable outcome. Along with that is the allegation that Smith is attempting to have an athlete who medaled in a recent competition abroad to be stripped of her medals and late this evening, this letter bearing today’s date, was addressed to the B.A.A. executives about the matter. It explains the alleged details and concerns that the author has over the issue, as well as a request for a resolution. It is an allegation that Smith has denied, saying that he is trying to get the exact opposite to happen. The president opined that the person who wrote the letter did so out of emotion for her relative. Whether he is right or not, this is one of the matters that will be dealt with at a Special General Assembly planned for September first. Today Smith told News Five that with respect to the dispute, he was simply following protocol.
Cojac Smith
Cojac Smith, President, Belize Athletics Association
“There were some allegations brought about In reference to one particular person executive and the matter was being dealt with in occurrence of the constitution and the general populace, I guess, are not happy with how the proceeding and how the matters have been dealt with so far. However, we do have a constitution that is binding and we’re following the constitution and in any matter, I mean, we all know legal terms are legal matters that there is due process for any situation that’s brought about to anyone. Thank you very much. And in that regards, the accusers must present themselves as well, and that is something that we do know of, as well as the matter has to be followed through whatever process it needs to be followed through, and whatever wrongs that were committed would be addressed then, based on that procedure that we’re following they have their opinion. Put it that way. And what their opinion is, is necessarily not the truth or not in occurrence with the facts that are actually there. And if it is that it’s a situation where I must present my case, I have all the facts to justify everything that I’ve done so far, Marion. Um, it’s not a situation whereby I am afraid of any situation or afraid of whatever motion they’re bringing forth. But to be, to simply put it, Marianne, it’s just a matter of change. It’s always difficult implementing change.”
Smith said despite the accusations against him, since his election only four months ago, he has been focusing on trying to make positive changes that would improve the standards of sports. One of those efforts is to see how the B.A.A. can get the track at the Marion Jones Stadium replaced or redone. The accusations, he said, are just an attempt to undermine his plans because he is doing things differently.
Cojac Smith, President, Belize Athletics Association
“It’s derailing from what we’re actually trying to do. We’re trying to print a positive picture to the public at large and using the media from a positive perspective. However, we’ve not been able to do that with these constant little battles being fought and getting that done. For instance, Marion, we have in negotiations right now where we have an engineer looking at the track right now to make an assessment of the track, which is in deplorable condition. And we’re trying to see how best we can – the track at the Marion Jones. I don’t know if you went there recently, but the track is in bad shape. So we’re trying to fix those things and getting real work done.”
This weekend, the 2024 Paris Olympics came to an end and the athletes hailing from all over world returned to their home countries. Hundred-meter sprinter, Shaun Gill carried the title of Belize’s sole Olympian this year, garnering international support. The next summer Olympics games are to be held in Los Angeles, California in 2028 and with four years to prepare many are wondering if Belize will be able to send a larger team to the event. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the answers.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
From swimming to golfing, from canoeing to tennis, whatever your favorite sport may be, there is a chance that it is one of the forty events held at the Olympics. Every four years, athletes from across the globe gather to compete while viewers at home eagerly watch to see who will take home the gold medals and make their country proud. This year, hundred-meter sprinter Shaun Gill was the only athlete from Belize. We spoke with Giovanni Alamilla, Vice President of the Belize Olympic Commonwealth Games Association, to get the answers to the one question on the minds of many Belizeans, why just one?
Giovanni Alamilla
Giovanni Alamilla, VP, Olympics Association
“It’s it’s a long process. So, it’s not something that just happens overnight besides him being recommended by the National Federation here. He also needs to be approved by the International Federation World Athletics and by the organizing committee of Paris and the IOC. So it’s not just submit a name and you go online in Shaun’s case, he didn’t qualify, so we had a we had an invitational slot that was awarded to him in the one hundred. So we did have opportunity to maybe send people in other athletes in the one hundred or the eight hundred, male or female But the results for the eight hundred and the kayaking and the sailing didn’t meet the minimum standards that the, as mentioned, committees needed. So they weren’t, we weren’t awarded slots for them.”
The lack of representation at the Olympics does not reflect a lack of talent in Belize. In recent months, athletes such as Amorette Banman and Gareth Bruce inspired hope in Belizeans for their prowess in their respective disciplines. According to Alamilla, the gap is in the policies.
Giovanni Alamilla
“So when it comes to the ones that just won the medals, there’s a difference between weightlifting and powerlifting, right? So one is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the other isn’t, right? So they don’t have a recognized national federation or an international federation that’s recognized by the IOC So we weren’t able to submit to them Their names for that. So again, there’s a lot of little things that that the general public needs to understand. It’s not just, oh, send someone. There are procedures and policies in place that it goes down. It’s from the International Olympic Committee to the International Federation and then to the Belize Olympic Committee.”
It is no secret that sports are severely underfunded in Belize. From a lack of resources to the degradation of training facilities. Returning Olympian, Shaun Gill says that more effort needs to be invested in assisting athletes if Belize is to have better representation at the games.
Shaun Gill
Shaun Gill, Belizean Olympian
“It takes a lot. It’s going to take heavy investment from the sporting bodies here in Belize. Obviously, heavy investment from the government. We do need the fan support from our Belizeans. And aside from that, especially with track and field, we don’t necessarily have the facilities. So most people, not even just the Caribbean countries, but most people leave their country to find better environments for training. I mean, even some of the great world class athletes, they leave their country and go to Jamaica because they know that Jamaica is the Mecca for sprinting. So we kind of have to look at it and start doing the same, but it takes a lot. I mentioned in one, one interview and it kind of went viral, but all I said was the resources here are not as great. That’s literally what I said. And it’s the truth, you know? So I don’t know who’s responsible for it, but we need to start working on it because sports is a big deal and sports Unite all athletes.”
There is much work to be done before the 2028 Olympics, but Belizeans remain hopeful for the future of sports in the country.
Giovanni Alamilla
“It’s a matter of getting the national federations recognized. And it’s not just recognized. Start the Inter National Federation and do it. Again, there’s so many policies and procedures in place. And it’s, it is a lot of little things that come into play. For instance, I received a message yesterday that, Oh cricket will be in L.A. 2028. We’re going to send a team. Yes, we can, if they qualify. A lot of things need to be done in the next four years, or three years, to be able to get to L.A. 2028.”
Olympic runner Shaun Gill was the only Belizean athlete in Paris this year. He didn’t qualify to compete in the track and field events; nonetheless, we caught up with him upon his return from the 2024 Summer Games on Tuesday morning. Gill, who recently completed his studies in engineering, has announced his retirement from the sport, as he shifts focus to finding a job in his field of study. Despite being unable to participate in the Olympics activities, Gill told reporters earlier today that the experience was quite memorable.
Shaun Gill
Shaun Gill, Belizean Olympian
“The experience was good. Part of the reason the performance was kind of low also was because of the adjustment. It was extremely, extremely hard to adjust. I mean, even before the race, I was already in France probably, maybe a week and a half, closer to two weeks and still could not adjust, the sleep cycle was completely off. The performance, it is what it is, I’ve ran many big races before and it’s sports, you know, not every single time you touch the track you wahn get the performance weh yoh think yoh capable of, you know.”
Isani Cayetano
“You are the only Belizean to represent the Jewel in this year’s Olympics. Describe for us that feeling, perhaps you would have wanted to see more athletes from our country representing as well. What was that like for you?”
Shaun Gill
“You know, as weh ah seh eena one a mi post dehn on Instagram, you know, I had a feeling of a lot of joy, passion. I really felt like I had Belize on my back. You know, I gave this story a couple days ago to one of my friends, when we were doing the opening ceremony and we were going on the boats, you know, I felt normal, like… getting on the boat, it’s a procession, you have to go through protocols and everything. But as soon as, we had a guide and the guide tells you when it’s your turn to be on TV, as soon as the guide said, “Belize, your turn.” It was just an overwhelming feeling of, you know, passion, joy, and that’s why I started waving the flag. It takes a lot. I mentioned in one interview and it kind of went viral, but all I said was the resources here are not as great. That’s literally what I said and it’s the truth, you know. I don’t know who’s responsible for it but we need to start working on it because sports is a big deal and sports unites all athletes.”
Isani Cayetano
“Now Shaun, you’ve essentially announced your retirement from track and field. What next should we expect from you, either in your academic pursuits or any other form of sports?”
Shaun Gill
“Well, this is part of the farewell tour for me. As I mentioned to Sports Max, I probably have maybe one more, I’m not even sure when it is, but it is something that I already told the federation here that I am committed to which is being a part of a relay team.”
The Benny’s Belize Hurricanes are your 2024 B.E.B.L. Champions. The organization secured its fourth chip on Friday night inside the Belize City Civic Center. They are now the organization with the most championships in Belize. The Hurricanes defeated the Belize City Defenders in a controversial five-game series that saw six games being played. Depending on who you ask, the series ended in a tie with both teams winning three games. But technically, the third game was replayed and even though the Belize City Defenders won that game it was their second and last win in the final’s series. Hurricanes fans showed out in numbers for a win or go home match that resulted in the Defenders’ season-ending defeat with a score of six-nine points to the Hurricanes’ eighty-nine points. We spoke with members of the championship team immediately after the victory. Here is a clip of that story.
A team of Belizean powerlifters is in the U.S. competing in the North American Regional Powerlifting Competitions. The competition began on Monday, and late into the week, team Belize racked up numerous medals. Today we spoke with three of those medalists, including Amorette Banman, who competed in the sixty-three-kilo sub junior female category; Leo Matura, who competed in the seventy-four kilo open division; and Shakira Oxley Tsai, who competed in the master two category. In total, these three athletes have racked up eleven medals.
Amorette Banman
Amorette Banman, Belizean Powerlifter
“So I got three gold medals and one silver. I got gold in the squat event. I got silver in the bench press. I got gold in the deadlift, and I got gold overall.”
Paul Lopez
“How does it feel for you after all the preparation and hard work?”
Amorette Banman
“It feels really good. Last year I had a pretty bad competition. It didn’t go as planned. I failed. So I promised myself I would work harder throughout the year and then I came back and got my redemption. It feels really good.”
Leo Matura
Leo Matura, Belizean Powerlifter
“Bittersweet to be honest. I am very happy about what we achieved at this meeting here. We medal and hit placement in certain categories out of the three disciplines. Personally, I wanted to have a greater total that would have put me in contention for the bronze in the overall. But, we take it one day at a time. This sport is not a sprint, it is a marathon. It is something that you can’t be fixated on in just a moment. It is just a consistent thing, and your primary goal is always improving. The totals for those for the bench press was three hundred and forty pounds and deadlift was five eighty-five. We could have got six hundred and five but I lost grip, and it was not a strength issue, my hand literally had ripped there.”
Shakira Oxley Tsai
Shakira Oxley Tsai, Belizean Powerlifter
“I was able out of all the athletes that competed in my division, I had the third highest overall total. I also got medal bronze medal for squat, bronze medal for bench and a bronze medal for deadlift.”
Paul Lopez
“How do you feel about that?”
Shakira Oxley Tsai
“Pretty good. I am entering into my fifth decade of life, so being able to compete in the sport that I truly enjoy, really gives me another sense of accomplishment and I am happy to be able to do that under the Belize flag banner too.”
