What sports development programs?

6-0! That's what the latest headlines read in reference to Belize's mens under-20 football team latest whipping at the hands of Nicaragua's under-20 team. Disappointing! Frustrating! Sad! Shameful! There are many other words that can be used to describe this latest performance by Belizean footballers. Such performances on the international stage evoke myriad emotions and feelings among Belizeans. It is our national pride at stake. The Football Federation of Belize (FFB) argues that it is still work in progress and we have to accept that. Yet, it is my contention that this work will never be completed for the simple fact that, unlike what happens with a limited few other athletic and sporting disciplines (e.g., martial arts), there are no sustained youth development programs for football, or investment in better football facilities in Belize. Hear me out...

A few years ago I convened a meeting with representatives of the football association in Belize, or it might have been with representatives of football teams (am not too sure now), about the possibility of implementing an annual coaching and youth development program in Belize that would have involved partnering with a local club from north London (which has around 50 youth teams in the club between ages U-6 (i.e., 5 year olds) and U-17. We were exploring the possibility of establishing not just annual coaching development programs but also refereeing development among young players, an annual youth league, and annual kit (uniforms, boots, shin pads, balls, nets for the goals, etc.) exchanges (donations). During the meeting one of the representatives from Belize said they welcomed the idea as it would help get football started by getting the 12 and 13 year olds ready for competition. The head of the north London club was dumbfounded - he could not believe that training of the young people started that late. His response - you are already eight years behind in football development! Our boys and girls start at the age of 5 and even earlier ...

I recall this experience to point out not only the lack of any sustained youth football development programs in Belize, but the mentality that, perhaps, underpins this and the continued failure on the international level of our boys and mens football teams (and that of other athletic and sporting disciplines). If we are waiting until the 'tender age' of 13 to start developing our young footballers then Belize's national selections will continue to be the "whipping boys" (and girls) of Central America and the Caribbean (indeed the wider world). Admittedly, the women's football team has fared better in recent years than mens football has in regional and international tournaments, though the reason for that is unclear.

The situation in Belize is not unique to football. To be sure, there is widespread apathy and malaise with regard to youth athletic and sport development programs in the jewel as is evidenced by the lack of investments in necessary athletic and sporting infrastructure (this seems to be a thing only of campaign seasons ahead of national (not even municipal) elections and even then the focus seems to be on building basketball courts that never get programmed; lack of programming (what really does the National Sports Council do?); lack of sustained coaching and refereeing development programs; lack of district, municipal, and national competitions for young athletes; underwhelming levels of corporate sponsorships - the private sector does provide support to myriad individual requests from schools, NGOs and individuals for short, one week long activities for kids usually aimed at giving them something to do during the summer breaks from school (which is substantively different from being athletic and sporting development programs); and lack of athletic and sport scholarships for graduated levels of higher education.

If the above is true, we can expect continued poor performances from our athletes on the international arena. Yet, and in spite of all that is lacking, the smattering of young people gaining scholarships to attend university or higher education institutions abroad seems to be growing - especially for volleyball but also for basketball, some of this thanks to the efforts of the Codd brothers (BC Sports?), though I must admit I really don't understand what they do or what their business model is. Nonetheless, imagine the possibilities if Belize had properly developed and financed athletic and sporting development programs for our young people - not only in football, basketball and the likes, but in canoeing, swimming, track, etc. Personally, I find it egregious that for a nation with access to abundant, lakes, rivers and the Caribbean Sea we don't have young swimmers competing in national much less international swimming and aquatic events - it is THE biggest obstacle to developing Belizean triathletes. But then again, I am cognisant of the fact that the majority of our population are unable to swim (despite the persistent myth of people saying that they just got thrown into the water by some elder and that's how they learned to swim. Trust me I was a swimming instructor for years ...)

I believe that adequate investments in sports development and sporting infrastructure is an easy win for any self-respecting politician, indeed for the government of Belize as well. It is no longer acceptable that this area of development for Belize's young people continues to be ignored (which consecutive governments in Belize have managed to do since independence in 1981). It is not enough to simply build a new city centre and to host sporting events mainly for adult athletes at this facility. Why can't the National Sports Council host annual championships at the "Civic" that bring together district level champions of all age groups who have earned the right to represent their districts in different sporting disciplines through district level competitions? What about the Marion Jones Complex - is this now appropriate only for Sir Barry's annual Bashes (sorry B&B but it's not about you guys am just making a point)? Yes I know money (cost) is an issue, but athletic and sport development needs to be prioritised. It must, if Belize is to turn the tide on the economic and social decline that many of its communities are experiencing, and have been experiencing for more than four decades now.

I, like many other Belizeans, favour the opportunities for lamenting our young athletes, indeed any Belizean, that does well abroad in any type of event, not just athletics and sporting activities and meets. That is a sign of how hungry we are for national heroes and for showcasing everything Belize. It is a mark of our sense of nationalism, our very pride about being Belizean. I understand that it will take time for this to happen, but in the continued absence of clear strategies for getting our young people to those cherished moments on the sporting podiums, in the absence of the appropriate levels of investments in infrastructure and sporting development, our young Belizean footballers and athletes in other athletic and sports disciplines will continue to underperform. It's frustrating as I know that, despite our smallness, we have potential. And smallness should not be an excuse - our footballers consistently get beaten by countries in the region with even smaller populations than Belize's. I for one don't want to see officials at athletic events - I want to see athletes! Yet we continue to send more officials than athletes to the olympics ... check the stats (my friend Gio told me this is changing and I could see that he has tried to make a difference)!

I have watched with admiration and respect how Gee Mike Reid has invested his time and effort in building a 'very small' facility in his neighbourhood that provides a vent for the young people there. I am sure the impact of this are both immediate and longer term - the boys who play football or basketball there are (hopefully) less inclined to be coopted into gangs and the girls (hopefully) less likely to become teenage mothers. And then I look at all the un-programmed, ill-used, decrepit basketball courts around the country, the many empty fields and can help but wonder - why? Just why? Why can't Reid's efforts be duplicated at scale?

Belize can do better than this. It has to! The National Sports Council needs to be re-thought and re-imagined, given a new mandate, and made the centre of a dynamic and robust thrust at developing our young people through athletic and sports. This is, arguably, a sure-fire way of developing well-rounded individuals and citizens. Perhaps then our boys and mens football teams will stop being the whipping boys and men of Central America and the Caribbean (though this is not about football per se). It is high time Belize invested in its young people in a way that is more meaningful and that has the potential to produce winners and champions. It is high time Belize invested in national athletic and sports development programs over a range of disciplines. Our young people deserve this. Our national pride, our very sense of being Belizean, is at stake. If you doubt it, just read the stats on the Belize U-20 football whipping at the hands of the Nicaragua U-20 selection and let that sink in for a moment or two ... how did it make you feel?