No Age Limit To Sporting Excellence!

Good evening sports lovers, thanks for joining us for another edition of Sports Monday. This week we take you inside a basketball league unlike any other in Belize. The Belize Basketball Over-45 League.

 

The Belize Civic Center came alive Sunday afternoon as perennial champions Hydro Yabra squared off against the Old Timers in a highly anticipated showdown for the Belize Basketball Over-45 League title.The jerseys may fit a little tighter and the pace may be a little slower, but the competitive fire burns just as brightly. This isn’t your ordinary recreational league. Sharing the court are some of Belize’s most recognizable faces. Minister of Sports Anthony Mahler, Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner, Veteran sports coordinators, current referees, businessmen…

 

And former basketball legends whose names helped build the sport in Belize. For many of them, it’s a chance to rekindle old rivalries and relive the matchups that once defined their glory days. For others, it’s an opportunity to show that age has done little to diminish their passion for basketball.

 

Voice of: Anthony Mahler, Player

“Well I’ve been playing ball against these guys for decades right. So it’s always fun. It’s good for our health. It’s good for our psyche. And so it’s good competition. Fun, Fun, Fun.”

 

 

 

Every week, these veterans demonstrate the value of lifelong fitness, camaraderie, and staying connected to the sport they help develop.

 

Keith “Superman” Acosta, Player

“From we used to play with Raiders we were thought the importance of being discipline so that it can carry you through to no matter what age you are. Im hoping to hopefully continue doing this till I like seventy, eighty so just being discipline and going out there and excersing, trying to stay in shape.”

 

 

 

The championship match was hyper competitive. Hydro Yabra had won all previous championships and entered this year with a five-year undefeated streak. Until today.

 

Bernard Wagner, Player/Coach

“Mein this is about having fun in our league, in our category. Many times people tend not to recognize that it is important have this sort of physical activity for men over forty, men over forty-five. This has been long coming mein. It’s been five years we’ve been hunting this team and we finally get them. Cause this team is a great team. They have been winning five-six years without defeated. Old Timers knock them off this year. Big up old timers.”

 

 

 

 

While championships are always nice, many of these players say the real victory is simply being able to lace up their sneakers and compete with longtime friends. The Over-45 League is proving that the love of the game doesn’t come with an expiration date.

 

 

 

 

Taking a look at scores from the final regular season week of the NEBL with playoff seeding on the line. Belize City Defenders were a nightmare for the Griga Dream Ballers, ninety to sixty-six. The Running Rebels stuffed the jaws of the Tiger Sharks seventy-four to fifty-eight and the Western Ballaz were very rude guests up North beating the Spartans by thirty-nine points.  With that the seeding is set. On Friday night number two Running Rebels host three-seeded Western Ballaz in the Sugar City and the top seeded Belize City Defenders host Tiger Sharks at a later date to be announced.

 

 

 

In the big Four-K match at the Marion Jones Stadium, the game needed penalty kicks to be decided after a one-one draw. It was the Tut Bay FC scoring four goals and sending the Wings Police back west cashless. No dancing from Gambis in the City. The elite softball leagues kicked off this weekend in Sandhill Village with defending champs Beacon defeating Wolfpack sixteen to ten and in the male game the Wolfpack defeated the Guardian Bombers seven to zero. There will be eight games this weekend at the Sandhill Community Field.

 

 

Well folks, 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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