Athletes Share Academic Dreams, Football and Softball Crown Champions  

Welcome to a special edition of Sports Monday, where we go beyond scores and highlights to spotlight the people and programs changing lives through sport. Tonight we begin with volleyball athletes trying to make the Belize City team for Super Nationals.

 

Inside the Belize Elementary School gym on Sunday, the energy was intense. Dozens of young volleyball players battled through drills, diving for loose balls and fighting for a chance to represent Belize City at the upcoming Super Nationals. But for many of these athletes, making the team is about far more than winning games. It is about creating opportunities that could one day change their lives. The National Sports Council says the goal is clear, Super Nationals gives top student-athletes a national stage to perform in front of university scouts. And if there is one sport Belize can already point to as proof that the model works, it is volleyball.

 

Allan Sharp, President, Belize Volleyball Association

“We had one or two players who did it on their own. They went, they applied, they sent their videos. And then BK came along, and BK they put an emphasis on that Bryton and Kareem, who were top of the top players in our country, tall players over six foot five, and they had… they saw an opportunity, so they decided that they wanted to pass that on. So that’s where it actually started, and it’s starting to snowball. Now you see more and more coaches just contacting Belize on a whole for players because they see Belize players  excelling.”

 

Now, the hope is that Super Nationals can create a structured pipeline for other sports in Belize to draw international scouts.

 

Allan Sharp

 “I support this initiative fully. I think this is great for sport. And it… and we need it To continue. What I’m hoping for next year is that if you really wanna bring coaches to see the best of the best, because, for various reasons I mentioned before, they’ll see most of the best, but not always the best of the best, and not in the best form. Because we need to train for a longer time. We need to have more matches over a longer time so that the players are in a elite state of when they’re playing.”

 

For the young athletes on the court like fifteen-year-old Mira Bood, the opportunity to perform in front of scouts brings their dreams a little closer to reality.

 

Mira Bood, Volleyball Player

“I mostly plan to play college volleyball because I’m graduating high school next year that’s my goal. Like, when I graduate I would want to go to America and get a scholarship. It would make me feel proud about myself and mostly about my country.”

 

Sixteen-year-old Adrian Courtenay is a setter with extremely soft and accurate touch already standing at six-two.

 

Adrian Courtenay, Volleyball Player

“I would like to go abroad, like national play for college and just become one of the best that I could be.”

 

Shane Williams

“What would that mean for you if you get the opportunity to get a scholarship?”

 

Adrian Courtenay

“It would mean a lot. I would be proud of myself. I know my family would be proud of me.”

 

District tryouts are now taking place across the country in multiple sporting disciplines as organizers prepare for the Super Nationals competition. And while medals and championships will be on the line, the bigger victory could come years later, when more Belizean athletes step onto university campuses with scholarships in hand.

 

Before we close lets take a look at major victories this weekend.  In football Tut Bay FC is your Belize District Champion after a two to one victory of Caesar Ridge FC. Congratulations to the champions.  Speaking of champions, the BEL Power Sockets are back on the throne for the Belize District interoffice softball tournament after easily defeating the Police-Teachers Enforcer squad.

 

 

And in the Elite Co-ed League it is the group of misfits and upstarts from One-Two-Three OutKast taking the trophy for a second year in a row. In the basketball, the NEBL is heating up because of some major upsets this weekend. On Friday the Belmopan Trojans defeated the San Pedro Tiger Sharks. On Saturday the Dangriga Dream Ballers upset the Orange Walk Running Rebels and the Belize City Defenders survived against the Cayo Western Ballaz.  Heading into the last two weeks of the season, two teams have already punched their tickets to the playoffs, Defenders and Running Rebels, while Griga, San Pedro and Cayo are fighting for two spots. Seedings are still up in the air and the ball can bounce anywhere.

 

That’s all we have for you this week, I’m Shane Williams reminding you that friendly competition unites and balling is life so keep balling Belize!

 

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.

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