Sports Community Unites To Fundraise for Miriam Villamil
Belize’s football community is rallying behind one of its own after veteran player and coach Miriam Villamil lost her leg in a devastating crash weeks ago. Over the weekend, supporters packed Ontario Village for “Goals for Hope,” a spirited fundraiser to help with her recovery. Organizers say the turnout speaks volumes about Villamil’s lasting impact on the sport and the lives she’s shaped.
On The Phone: Iris Centeno, Organizer
“Our teammate and coworker had a terrible accident and for us it was really hurtful to find out what happened to her. A lot of us have been familiar and build a relationship with Miriam since we were teenagers because, as you know, I was a past national team player and Miriam was also a national team player so we both joined national team when we were seventeen. When we found out about what happened with Miriam all other players, all past players immediately created a chat group and said we need to do something to assist Villa. Mr. Kent who was also our coach back then when we were all part of the national team was the person who reached out as well and said we need to do get something down for our Villa. This is how we came up with this fundraiser whereby we decided to do a marathon and besides from that also my studio came into ply because we decided that we will be creating and design a T-shirt that will be placed on sale for us to also get some funds towards Villa. This was really possible because of all the support of the girls, the past and present players. We had a lot of present players out there also supporting. The fans, the people, also other people from the federation that came out. We were able to sell a lot of shirts. What we did whenever we were selling shirts, we asked the public that they deposit directly to Villa in her account, you send a screenshot then we send the shirt to you. We even ask the public that whenever they put a deposit there is a comment section where you can left a little message for her to read and encourage her and so forth because right now we need to uplift her spirits and let her understand that even though it is a life changing event or circumstances that she is going through that she is not alone.”
Centeno says they will continue organizing fundraising events in different disciplines as the entire sporting community has reached out to offer their support.
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