A tough day for Team Belize in the C.A Beach Volleyball Championship!

For the fourth time Belize is hosting the Central American Beach Volleyball Championship. The nineteenth staging of the regional competition kicked off this morning and continues through to Sunday. All Central American countries are participating with the exception of Panama. Belize has two males and one female team competing. The last time Belize medaled in the Central American Championships for Beach Volleyball was in 1997. That year, they took home a bronze medal. This morning, we went out to Kukumba Beach at Old Belize to check out the matches where Belize played for the entire day. Andrea Polanco spoke with four of the athletes after their morning matches. Here’s more.

Andrea Polanco, Reporting

Belize’s Male Beach Volleyball Team One faced off with Honduras’ Team 2 in the opening match of the Central American Beach Volleyball Championship this morning at the Kukumba Beach at Old Belize. Bryton Codd and Francis Hauze of Team Belize fought their opponents in three sets, winning one – but in the end Honduras won. It’s the first time that Codd and Hauze have played this team.

Bryton Codd, Belize Beach Volleyball Team 1

Bryton Codd

“On our part we made a lot of errors in our match because we know that we could have won those guys. We started off with five point lead and they closed in and won that set. We came back in the second set after being down and we closed that set and in the third set just maintaining our play we faltered a little bit. We look forward to playing Nicaragua this afternoon and tomorrow we have Nicaragua and El Salvador. We know that we could compete with those guys and it is just about rebounding and coming back stronger.”

Andrea Polanco

“What do you guys think you need to do to win your other matches?”

Bryton Codd

“I think we played a little bit passive in our match just now. We know that we could play much more aggressive than that. We are very athletic and just to trust our game.”

Andrea Polanco

“Were you guys surprised by the level of play that Honduras brought; or is this one of the teams that you guys knew would could out hard today?”

Bryton Codd

“This is the first time we are playing against Honduras so we didn’t know what to expect from them. But we saw that one of the guys had height but we know that we could compete with them. We went punch for punch but in the third set we just faltered a little bit.”

Francis Hauze, Belize Beach Volleyball Team 1

Francis Hauze

“For me, it is just to stay mentally focused and keep pressuring with them because they will serve me more than him because I am the smaller one. But I just have to keep focused and everything will go good.”

Nicaragua’s Female Team 2 defeated Belize’s girls in two sets. Clara Sabal and Emma Hoare say that Nicaragua is a top contender for Beach Volleyball and they expected the tactical plays, but they are looking ahead for better results this weekend.

Clara “Nandie” Sabal, Belize Beach Volleyball Team

“I feel really good about how we played earlier. I think in the first set we were just getting a feel of how the weather was moving and the sun and also in the second set we really got our reception going and so it was a good end to the match.”

Andrea Polanco

“What did you think of your opponents?”

Clara “Nandie” Sabal

Clara “Nandie” Sabal

“They were very relaxed. They played very well and they had us in more of the offensive plays and so we really had to work on our defending.”

Emma Hoare, Belize Beach Volleyball Team

Emma Hoare

“In the very beginning we started a bit slow. We wanted to see what they were all capable of. In the second set we just stick to what we practice and we came up well. We played our best and we feel that we are very comfortable with each other. So, the communication has been great and we just need to stick to what we know.”

The games continue on Saturday and Sunday. Belize’s athletes hope more Belizeans will attend the games to cheer them on to some wins.

Bryton Codd

“The fans are the extra motivation that we need. Also, cheering against the other team also helps because it gets them out of their game mentally and it gives us that extra boost to get over the hump.”

Clara “Nandie” Sabal

“We feel like if more people come out then it is just gonna bring bigger energy and it will also intimidate the other players which will also help us in our game as well.”

Andrea Polanco reporting for News Five.

Belize’s Male Team One played Nicaragua in the afternoon but they also lost that match.