Basketball, Cycling and Football Takes Center Stage in Weekend Sports  

Good evening, my name is Paul Lopez, and this is your weekly installment of Sports Monday. The Cycling Federation of Belize traveled with a delegation of ten athletes to the 2026 Pan American Road Cycling Championships in Monteria, Colombia. The team comprised of six elite riders, one under twenty-three athlete and three junior riders. Their goal was to earn two slots for the upcoming Central and Caribbean Games, and a place to participate in the UCI Pre Worlds Training in Canada. After a week of intense competitions, team Belize did not podium, but they sure left a mark in every category. Elite Cyclist, Jyven Gonzalez finished in the eighth position overall. We heard from a few of the cyclists.

 

Cory Williams, Elite Cyclist

“The team did a very good ride. We just got to the front very early and got swarmed in the end. Sometimes it is like that. You have to stay with the plan, go late and you don’t have a lot of problems at the end.”

 

Justin Williams, Elite Cylist

“It was a great race. I was suppose to lead the team better than I did. I am proud of the way everybody raced. They gave us a good chance at a win or podium.”

 

And from Colombia, we bring it back to home soil for a weekend of high flying, high scoring, very physical basketball games in the National Elite Basketball League. Friday and Saturday night saw three matches unfold.

 

On Friday, the Belize City Defenders hosted the Corozal Spartans inside the Belize City Civic Center. The Defenders had a less than ideal start to the season, leaving fans with a bitter taste. But on Friday night, the Defenders came out of the gates with a vengeance. They defeated the Spartans in a match that ended with a score of one hundred to forty-eight points. That is fifty-two points blow out.

 

Inside the Victor Galvez Stadium in San Ignacio, the Western Ballaz hosted the Belmopan Trojans in an ongoing rivalry for the west. This one was close, but the Ballaz was able to edge out the Trojans in a game that ended eight-six to eighty-two points.

But the most controversial match of the weekend was between the San Pedro Tiger Sharks and the Griga Dream Ballers inside the Civic Center. The Sharks defeated the Ballers eighty-six to eighty-five. This one was a nail-biter, and the final results left fans questioning if the officiating was fair, following a contentious foul call.

 

And now for some first division football action inside the Marion Jones Sporting Complex. Fans in attendance witnessed a double-header. In the first match, Belize United and Graveyard faced off in a match that ended three goal to one in favor of Grave Yard.  That match saw Graveyard take charge early with a sixteenth-minute goal from Noe Flores followed closely by a Bryant Martinez goal five minutes later . It was not until the seventy-first minutes that Jaheem Flowers was able to put one in for Belize United, but Deon Meighan responded shortly afterwards with a third goal for his team.

 

The second match, this one between the Ceasar Ridge Football Club and Kelly Street was a scoring galore. CRFC won the match with five goals, while Kelly Street scored two goals.  Lawnie Leslie scored the first two goals for Ceasar Ridge at the sixteenth and twenty-fifth minute. Raheim Hubert topped off the first half for Ceasar Ridge with a third goal at the thirty-fourth minutes. Kelly Street’s Kieron Cacho and Winfield Fisher returned in the second half, both scoring goals at the forty-ninth and sixty-eight minutes respectively. But Ceasar Ridge’s Keron Sutherland and Ken Galvez were not finished. They scored one additional goal each, leading to the result.

 

And it’s not only the adults showing off their skills. This weekend also saw young athletes compete in the Future Football Little League. Leaders of Tomorrow faced off against Belize United in a match that ended two goals to one in favor of Belize United. In the second match Future Football Club took on MANU and man you had to be there to witness Future blow out their opponents in a match that ended five goal to zero.

 

And, finally for tonight, the Belize Table Tennis Association hosted its 2026 Brodies Primary and Secondary Schools Table Tennis Tournament over the weekend inside the Swift Hall. The tournament was structured into five categories of competition. And it began with a round robin followed by elimination. These young players brought their “A” game and ultimately the cream of the crop rose to the top. In the primary school female category, Belize Elementary’s Ellie Chang secured the top placement. Saint Martin De Porres Primary School Gustavo Dominquez won first in the under -eleven category, while George Espat of Belize Elementary finished first in the over-eleven primary school category. Saint Catherine’s Academy Sariah Martin secured gold in the secondary school female category, while Saint John’s Kaiden Acietuno did the same in the secondary school make category. We say congratulations to every athlete that podiumed and participated in the tournament. Well folks, that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.