Canoe Racing and Elite Basketball Are Back  

Good evening, I am Paul Lopez with this week’s installment of Sports Monday. It’s the start of a new year in the athletic calendar and canoe paddlers are back on the river, months ahead of the La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge. This weekend, two dozen teams participated in the Belize Canoe Association’s Boom to Manatee Lookout Canoe Race under overcast skies and rain.

 

Paddlers took off at exactly ten a.m. on Sunday morning from Burrell Boom Village. Within a minute one team found themselves in some trouble, after tipping over. But the race must go on. One hour later, one team emerged in the lead along the river in Lord’s Bank. That team was Pact on Track, a canoe manned by three seasoned paddlers. Two minutes later, two other canoes were spotted on the chase, pursuing the lead team. An hour and a half into the race, Pact on Track was seen maintain their lead as they made their way across the finish line. They were followed by Exos School Supplies in second place and Black Orchid in third place. We spoke with members of the winning team following their first victory for the 2026 canoe racing calendar.

 

Christian Lopez, First Place, PACT on Track

“Ih mih good because you start a lee fresh and you feel like you could go a little more. Dah mih wah nice lee weather.”

 

Enrique Cruz, First Place, PACT on Track

“Well it all comes down to the workout that we put in. we practice a lot on shallow waters and when we come out there to deep water we just hold a pace and maintain that.”

 

Amado Cruz, First Place, PACT on Track

“We want to say thanks to our sponsors PACT and Track Solutions. This year PACT approached us and wanted to have a  team. So they contacted us and say they want to have a team and that is how we got PACT as a team.”

 

And from the river’s rapids to courtside at the Belize City Civic Center, the National Elite Basketball League is back. After coming to an abrupt halt in 2020 during the COVID 19 pandemic, the league hosted an official launch ceremony to open a new season. Notably, Belize basketball has seen two semi-pro basketball leagues emerge since then. Today we heard from the organizers NEBL about what fans can expect. The highlight of the event was the announcement of a one hundred thousand dollar cash prize for the winning team.

 

Leeroy Banner, Commissioner, National Elite Basketball League

“As was mentioned previously the league will do most of the heavy lifting in terms of paying for venues, the cash prize of one hundred dollars, venue, securities, medics. The league will take care of all those expenses that use to hinder teams from making a profit. So for the first time in the history of basketball the team could make a profit. The teams will be in charge of the bars, the gates and we will pay most of the operational expenses. So, each team could make a profit.”

 

Devin Daly, Minister of State, Ministry of Youth and Sports

“It is a hundred thousand dollars, across seven teams, across the districts. I think it is every district represented except Punta Gorda. This is the first time. This is a pilot project and something we plan on expanding across disciplines. We are basically subsidizing everything except the registration cost for each team.”

 

And from basketball we take you to the football pitch inside the Berger Field where a couple back matches were held in the Belize District Regional Under-Fifteen Girls tournament. In the first back match, Royal Fusion took on Elite FC in  match that saw Fusion dominate. Maleah Bladen and Amina Burgess, both of Royal Fusion, scored goals within three minutes of each other. Elite FC’s Trenlee  Amaya responded with a goal of her own. But, in the end, Fusion declared victory, two goals to zero.

 

And in the second match of the day, Leaders of Tomorrow took on KP Strikers. Leaders of Tomorrow had the Strikers on the defense throughout most of the game, scoring a total of six goals in thirty-five minutes. KP Strikers responded with two shots on target during the match. In the end, Leaders of Tomorrow won the match six goals to two. Well folks, that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.