Two weeks ago, Belize proudly sent one hundred and forty young athletes to compete in the Under-18 CODICADER Games in El Salvador. These talented students showcased their skills in athletics, basketball, football, and volleyball, representing high schools from across the country. Their performances were nothing short of impressive. To honor their achievements, Minister of Sports Rodwell Ferguson will host a celebratory dinner for the athletes at Old Belize on Friday night. He shared that despite not playing on home turf, the young athletes remained unfazed and gave it their all.
Rodwell Ferguson
Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Sports
“We are going to have a dinner tomorrow evening at the Old Belize for all the athletes who went to Salvador to participate in the CODICADER Games about two weeks ago. As a country, a small country in the region, we did extremely well. We came in third place in female football, third place in volleyball, male and female, and likewise, second place in basketball, and you know the young lady who got gold medal in track and field I think it was the hundred-meters, and she also got a silver in some other event. So far we’re doing good as a country.”
Belize’s National Senior Men’s Football Team is gearing up for the Gold Cup with a fresh face leading the charge. Charlie Slusher took over as head coach in July, and since then, Team Belize has been making waves on the field. Last week, they crushed Anguilla at the F.F.B. Stadium in Belmopan. Tonight, they’re set to take on Turks and Caicos at the same venue. On Friday, Head Coach Slusher shared his thoughts on what to expect from the team tonight and their exciting journey to the Gold Cup.
Charlie Slusher
Charlie Slusher, Head Coach, National Men’s Football Team
“On Tuesday night we play against Turks and Caicos Island and again our key thing is that we want to, when it comes to our standings, we want to try to rank the number one ranking team in the entire group C, although we already went to B, but it is still a ranking process. So, we need to score some goals against Turk because it is a ranking process. I love to see, as a coach, the direction we are heading in, especially with the time we have. I started in July, and we started camp later and when you are seeing so many positive things. We cannot be perfect overnight, but we are seeing a lot of positive things, and I like I said I am happy with the direction or the buy in from our players and trying to change the culture and the style of play, adapting to some of the things I believe that can help us. One of the things that can surely help us is that in the past we would lay back and wait to be slaughtered. We must take the game to them. It doesn’t matter who we are. We got to play pressure football. We got to pressure the opponents. If anybody watched the game, we didn’t give that team any chance to build up any opportunity to play. They had to force the ball and that is our playing style we want to adapt. We are very good at it.”
Seventeen-year-old Nyasha Harris secured Belize’s first gold medal at the 2024 CODICADER Games. Harris won gold in the female one-hundred-meter sprint finals. She was beaming with pride as she stood on the podium with the Belize flag around her shoulder. We spoke with her today about that moment.
Nyasha Harris
Nyasha Harris, CODICADER Gold Medalist
“For the one hundred we had two heats. That was the semi-finals. I ran the first heat, which I came in first and that automatically advanced me to the finals. I ran the finals, and I came in first as well with a time of twelve thirty-one. I was a bit nervous at first, but like I said the team was you know it made it less nervous for me then. It is not a personal best, but it is still better than the semi-finals, because the time I ran for the semi-finals is twelve fifty-eight. So, it was quite faster. I feel grateful, happy and really excited.”
Paul Lopez
“And what does it mean for you to win this gold for Belize and see the type of support you are receiving on social media?”
Nyasha Harris
“A lot of support from my fellow teammates, people back home and the peopleonline as well. I want to say thank you. The support has been great. It helped me a lot with my races and it makes me feel confident while running my race. I would say I got it from the genes, my mom did track, my dad and my aunt too. So, I would say I discovered it from preschool. I usually came in first for sports day, in primary school as well. I did competition for track in primary school. Mostly it started in high school when we had competitions like CSSSA or NSSSA, that is when it started.”
Goodnight and welcome to another edition of Sports Monday, I am Paul Lopez. Many of our high school athletes have been in El Salvador for the past few days competing in the 2024 CODICADER Games. Here are some of the stats coming out of the games. Team Belize played against Panama in its first matchup of the basketball tournament. Sadly, they fell to Panama, finishing the game with eighty-three points to Panama’s ninety-eight points. Our female football team from Belmopan Comprehensive High School has been dominating their tournament. On Friday they defeated El Salvador with six goals to two.
They also won Saturday’s match against Honduras five goals to one. Today they defeated Guatemala three goals to one. The male football team from Muffles College has been having a less pleasant experience at the games. On Friday, they were demolished by El Salvador in a game that saw Belize finish with zero goals to El Salvador’s eight goals. They suffered another defeat on Saturday at the hands of Honduras in a match that finished with team Belize, once again, not realizing any goals. Honduras finished with four goals. In Volleyball, Saint Catherine Academy defeated Honduras on Saturday three sets to one. On the same day Saint John’s College male volleyball team defeated Nicaragua three sets to one. Both teams advanced to the semi-finals as a result. On Sunday, SCA faced off against Nicaragua for a spot in the finals. Unfortunately, they fell to their opponents in a hard-fought game that ended three sets to two. SJC also lost in similar fashion to Panama on Sunday, three sets to two. The games will continue over the course of the next few days with more matches ahead for Belize, including Judo and Track and Field.
From the CODICADER Games, we bring you back home to the Belize City Civic Center, this year’s home of the Inter-Office Basketball League. The season is well underway. Several play-in matchups were held late last week into the weekend. Team Police and team Customs led Friday night’s matchups. Team Police in the black and white jersey. Customs in grey and black jersey.
Number three for Customs, Solis with the lay up on the fast break to put his team on the scoreboard. This was the first basket, four minutes into the game. Here, Saunders from Team Belize gets the turnover. Was that a kick ball? In any event, he is alone on the other end and made the basket. Number six for Police, Lino, with the hot hands from three, puts his team at nine points, with Customs trailing. The first quarter ended with team Police on top, with eleven points. Customs had eight. Solis with an early two points in the second quarter for Customs.
Smooth play here from Trapp, Ramos and Jones to get the inside bucket for Police. On the other end, Saunders skillfully uses the screen to work his way to the rim and get past every defender to make the bucket. Top notch ball playing there. Customs could not afford to let team Police extend their lead in the second quarter. They were unable to close the gap, but they worked hard enough to keep Police at an eleven-point lead at the end of the half. Customs came out of the locker room after the halftime break with fire in their eyes and completely turned the game around in a decisive twenty-three-point third quarter. Olivera with a three-point basket brings his team to thirty points and cuts down Police’s lead to six. Saunders with an open three. He makes the most of that opportunity. That basket tied the game at thirty-six a piece. The third quarter ended with Customs in the lead, with forty-two points to Police’s forty points. Customs did not let up in the final quarter, they scored a total of nineteen points. Saunders, Lino and Olivera were key players in the comeback. These players made most of the baskets. Customs won the match, with sixty-one points. Team Police led through the entire first half, but ultimately lost with fifty-three points.
Staying on basketball, we have also been following the 2024 William Dawson Sprite Basketball Tournament. On Saturday we covered a match between Boulevard Ballers and defending champions, Hard Rock Boys at the Yabra Green Basketball Court. The defending champions are in their signature yellow and white jersey. Boulevard Ballers are in blue and red. Justin Wade for Hard Rock with the layup. Boulevard Ballers’ Jacob Westby maneuvers his way to the rim for the layup, putting his team on the scoreboard four minutes into this one. Raheem Thurton showing off his skills on the other end. Dale Smith is left wide open, and he makes them pay for that error.
The first quarter finished with Boulevard Ballers on top, with ten points. Hard Rock Boys had eight points. That two-point lead was cut down to one point at the end of the first half. Boulevard Boys had twenty-one points. The defending champs had twenty points. Hard Rock Boys were able to hold their opponents to eight points in the third quarter, while they managed to score twelve points and take a three-point lead. That third quarter run was led mainly by Raheem Thurton who scored eight of those twelve points. The fourth quarter was the Hard Rock Boys’ best quarter of the game. They scored fourteen points, led by Earl Johnson. A hard-fought game by Boulevard Ballers with some big-time minutes from Jacob Westby. Ultimately Hard Rock Boys won that game.
Well folks that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.
The Belize City Council held its fourth annual Belize City Half Marathon on Saturday. The event featured three categories: a half marathon (21K), a 10K, and a 5K.
In the half marathon/21K category, Chrystal Thomas from Splash Sarteneja took first place with a time of 1:41:49.8. Carmen Castilla from Splash Orange Walk finished second at 1:44:14.5, and Lizbeth De La Cruz from Club Vlady Maraton Playa del Carmen, Mexico, came in third at 1:51:05.8.
For the 10K race, Roxana Lemus from Westrack Slick Runners San Ignacio secured first place with a time of 0:52:29.9. Neydy Lopez from Splash Belmopan placed second at 0:57:26.9, followed closely by Ayako Suginak from JICA Orange Walk in third at 0:57:36.4.
In the 5K category, Irene Thiessen from Westrack Slick Runners Belmopan finished first with a time of 27:20.9. Elisha Rash from the UB 5K team in Belmopan came in second at 0:28:21.3, and Kristelle Young from Heart and Sole Lord’s Bank Village took third at 0:28:28.6.
Goodnight and welcome to another edition of Sports Monday, I am Paul Lopez. Belize continues to shine regionally in volleyball. The country’s Under-Seventeen National Women’s Volleyball Team put on a medal winning display in the Inaugural Under-Seventeen Women’s Central American Volleyball Championship.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
The tournament was held from the twenty-fourth to the twenty-eight of September in Managua, Nicaragua. Team Belize is returning home with a hard-earned bronze medal. The bronze medal match was against El Salvador on Saturday night. Team Belize defeated El Salvador in three sets. They held them to eight points in the second set. Over the course of the tournament team Belize also defeated Guatemala and Honduras. They lost to Costa Rica and Nicaragua, the top two teams in the tournament. Their medal winning run did not stop at the bronze medal. The Under-Seventeen National Women’s Volleyball Team also swept up six of the twelve total individual awards. Akili Jones received Best Server, Best Scorer and second-Best Attacker. Dasialynn Thurton received Best Libero and Best Defender. Emaun Marin received the Best Attacker Award. We say congratulations to the under-seventeen women’s volleyball team.
And, while most people were still sleeping at five-thirty on Saturday morning, a group of competitive long-distance runners were out in the pouring rain for the Belize City Council’s half marathon. This is the run’s fourth year, and it sees the participation of half marathon, 10 K and 5 k runners. A total of twenty-one runners competed in the half marathon category, five women and sixteen men. They stood at the starting line as the rain began pouring. Five minutes later, they were still standing there as the rain grew increasingly stronger. At the peak of the downpour, the horn went off and the runners got on their way. The 10 K run got going under less taxing conditions. A total of twenty-three runners competed in this category. That included twelve men and eleven women.
In the 5K category, twenty-three runners competed, nine women and fourteen men. Twenty minutes and thirty-nine seconds later Eyon Anderson crossed the finish line as the 5k champions. He was followed closely by Shanir Thompson in second place with twenty-one minutes and eight seconds. Jonathon Chiquin finished the 5K run in third place with twenty-one, fourteen. Here comes Christopher Broaster with a strong first place finish in the 10 K run. He finished in forty-three minutes and fifty seconds. Kliuvert Cal finished the10K in second place with a close forty-four minute and seven seconds. Right behind him, Kenroy Westby came sprinting and crossed the finish line two seconds after. Broaster laid out on the pavement in agony after the race, a testament to the toll a 10 K run takes on the body. One hour and twelve minutes after the start of the half marathon race, Leon O’Brien turned the curve into Marion Jone Sporting Complex solo and in first place.
Just over four minutes later, Francisco Lima Caal finished the half marathon in second place. Defending Champion, Albert Davis finished in third place, three minutes slower than his 2023 performance. Special mention goes out to Jesus Contreras, who secured fourth place in the half marathon. Even though he did not make it into the top three, he won the hearts of everyone at the event after he got down on one knew during the award ceremony and proposed to his now fiancé. What an incredible moment to witness.
Now, let’s get into some basketball action. The Inter-office basketball league has officially concluded its regular season and is now moving into the 2024 playoffs. The Belize Coast Guard and the BACC Airport teams are advancing into the playoffs as the Division A number one and number two seeds respectively. Tuff E Nuff and BCC are advancing into the playoffs as the Division B number one and number two seeds respectively. IBL ended its regular season with an All-Star night on Friday inside the Belize City Civic Center. The Nando’s Slam Dunk Champion went to Lindsay Young of Transparent BPO. Douglas Valley from Tuff E Nuff was declared the 2024 Cellular World Three-Point Champion. Xylon Belgrove won the 2024 Recinos Imports Skills Challenge. From the all-star match, Keon Rowland was declared the All-Star MVP. The IBL play-in round begins on Thursday night with two matches.
And finally, for tonight, one of our faithful viewers sent us a very old newspaper clipping of what could very well be Belize’s first individual gold medalist. It says it right there in the headline. This is an image of five Belizean athletes from 1965 who went to compete in the 1965 Central American Weightlifting Tournament. Depicted in the image are Lincoln McKesey who won a gold medal in the middleweight category, Frank Hoare who won a gold medal in the heavyweight category, Cameron Pollard who won a silver medal in the welterweight category and Anthony Samuels who won a bronze medal in the bantamweight category. The fifth individual is Robert Mitchell, their manager. That’s a little piece of history for you. Well folks that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.
The official jerseys for Belize’s high school athletes participating in the XXI CODICADER Games were unveiled during a brief press conference at the Marion Jones Sports Complex.
The upcoming XXI CODICADER Games will take place from October 2nd to 11th, 2024, in El Salvador. It will bring together student athletes from Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. One of the aims is to promote friendship and competition under the Central American Integration System (SICA).
Sports Minister Rodwell Ferguson says the importance of youth development through sports and expressed confidence in the Belizean athletes, wishing them success on the international stage. He also noted how sports foster unity, resilience, and camaraderie among young competitors across Central America.
We are eight days away from the start of the 2024 CODICADER Games in El Salvador. Belize is sending athletes to compete in five sporting disciplines. These are high school aged athletes that are expected to go up against their counterparts from five Central American countries. Today, the Ministry of Sports and the National Sports Council held a ceremony at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex to hand over jerseys to the athletes. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Belize is preparing to send a total of one hundred and sixty-five high school athletes, coaches and chaperones to the 2024 CODICADER Games in El Salvador. The games officially begin on October second. Today, the Ministry of Sports through National Sports Council handed over Belize jerseys to the athletes that will be competing.
Gilroy Usher
Gilroy Usher, Minister of State, Ministry of Sports
“First I will begin by saying congratulations to the members of the 2024 CODICADER team who will be receiving their official jersey this morning. Many thanks to the Ministry of Sports through the National Sports Council for its assistance in making the jersey possible as well as all others whose contributions have been this a reality this morning.”
Belize will be competing in five disciplines, football, basketball, volleyball, judo and track and field.
Iris Centeno
Iris Centeno, Director, National Sports Council
“I can recall when he had that meeting with NSSSA, they talked about how demanding the challenges or how challenges come along for them when they have to represent the different sports. They let the deputy and myself know how much they need the assistance. We know, we are athletes, so we know the demands and wanted to give that support. So, this morning we just want to present these jerseys.”
Belize hosted the games in 2023 at a cost of two hundred thousand dollars. This time around, fifty thousand dollars is being invested in the Belize delegation to compete in El Salvador. Minister of Sports, Rodwell Ferguson will be travelling with the delegation as a special invited guest to the games.
Rodwell Ferguson
Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Sports
“Because we have to make sure we provide for the athletes. Like what Marvin said, we have to make sure that everybody is register and to register one athlete it is sixty dollars U.S. and if you multiply that by one sixty-seven it is over ten thousand U.S. dollars just for registration. We have to buy uniforms and gears for the young people as they travel. It is under-eighteen sports starting the second of October, 2024.”
Paul Lopez
“For you, what do you hope to get from your attendance at these games?”
Rodwell Ferguson
“Well, it is only symbolic, they request that the minister of the different countries attend at least the opening ceremony. So, I will be there at least for the opening ceremony and then I will return back to go to another activity. But, it is symbolic thing for the country of Belize that the minister of sports is there.”
The jerseys were handed over to the coaches and chaperones as the athletes were at school during this time of the day. But assurances were given that they are prepared to compete and represent Belize well. They are scheduled to begin their travels on Monday.
Marvin Ottley
Marvin Ottley, Deputy Director, National Sports Council
“Gwen Lizzaraga High School, Saint Catherine Academy, Kings College, I don’t see anyone from SJC but these are the representing schools from the immediate Belize District. Then we also have the schools outside of Belize district. This one was a bit fast but we believe that from the National Sports Council that it was important to do a presentation from Minister Ferguson, minister Usher, the Director of Sports, the chairman of the board, the board of directors of the NSC. We believe we could have invested a bit more in the athletes by providing the jersey, the alternate jersey for all the team sports and also the polo shirts which is called the walk arounds and also the sweat suits, the travelling sweats.”
Earlier this week, we told you about Belizean basketball phenom Douglas Langford Junior and his scholarship to play basketball at Harvard University. Following the news of his accomplishment, the Ministry of Sports issued a release congratulating Langford and sending him well wishes. Today, the minister reiterated that message issued in the release. We also asked him if Belizeansathletes must leave the country to enjoy that kind of success.
Rodwell Ferguson
Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Sports
“We did something in black and white about two or three days ago. Douglas, I saw him grow up as a child. He is now seventeen years old. That is a major accomplishment for the country of Belize. So, on behalf of the country of Belize I want to congratulate Douglas Langford and his family in particular, his mom and his dad for pushing him to where he is today. I am hoping that he will become a member of the NBA in the next three or four years.”
Paul Lopez
“Do athletes have to leave the country to become as successful as him?”
Rodwell Ferguson
“Well, to a certain extent because we are very small country, less than four hundred thousand people. Douglas left when he was fourteen years old. His parents are still here, and they pushed him to go there. So, I guess I don’t think so, but that is the protocol I see established for the last couple of years.”
In June, the Ministry of Sports launched an app called Support Sports. The app must now be redone. Support Sports was launched to give everyone at home and abroad a chance to contribute towards that effort for Belize’s athletes. But, according to Minister of Sports Rodwell Ferguson, the app was overtaken by glitches and not accomplishing what the ministry set out to do. With Prime Minister John Briceño’s announcement that businesses contributing to sports will receive business tax credits, Minister Ferguson is hopeful that support will increase with the relaunch of the app.
Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Sports
“Because, it was not, I don’t know what to say. There were some glitches. So, when we tried to attempt to use it, it did not accomplish what we want. So, we asked somebody to do an app over for us and hopefully by Friday of this week it is going to be completed. So we are going to test it , try it and see how it works.”
Reporter
“What was the feedback to the previous launch?”
Rodwell Ferguson
“The feedback was excellent, especially from the business community. If you notice when the prime minister made his presentation at the last House meeting that there will be a special arrangement for business to contribute and they will get back a return of their contributions. So, we are not going after the business. We are now going after all Belizeans after the app is finished.”
