Belize’s Men’s National Volleyball Team secured silver at the AFECAVOL Men’s Final Four Championship in El Salvador over the weekend. It was a close five-set match against gold medallists Guatemala.
The win represents Belize’s best showing yet at the regional tournament. Francis Hauze earned 1st Best Attacker, while Hakan Godoy was named 2nd Best Blocker.
President of the Belize Volleyball Association, Allan Sharp, said the team came just four points shy of gold. “It’s definitely a time that we want to celebrate… This is a step closer now. In fact, we were four points away from getting gold. So, we came so, so close, but it shows the growth of the programme, and it shows that the guys are putting in a lot more work.”
The team’s return home was delayed after getting stuck in a teacher-led blockade in Guatemala. Sharp confirmed that the roadblocks stemmed from a nationwide strike by the Guatemala Education Workers Union.
“We did our best to try and leave as early as possible. So, we missed a few of the roadblocks but unfortunately missed this one by just a few minutes,” Sharp said. “They told us to just get ready for a long wait; sometimes they let the traffic through in some stages… so we’re hoping for that. If that doesn’t happen, then we just have to wait it out, unfortunately.”
The team waited for a few hours before they were able to peacefully pass at around midday.