Inspiring Youth through Football in PG

The Football Federation of Belize is engaging young people all across the country. In the Toledo district, there is an emphasis on youth empowerment and youth activism through sports, particularly football.  Linford Avila is the new sports coordinator for FIFA activities in Punta Gorda and his ultimate goal for the camp is to inspire youth through football.

Linford Avila

Linford Avila, Technical Officer, Toledo Football Association

“We have launched our amateur tournament which carries on throughout Sundays. Our first season should carry us up to the end of March. The first game starts at ten a.m. on Sundays and the last game starts at four p.m. We have an elite youth competition going on at the moment. That includes male and female U-seventeen athletes and male and female U-twenty athletes. So for Toledo, we have representation in all the different categories. And in reference to the U tournaments, we actually have the athletes competing in their zone and out their zone. So for example, this weekend, Toledo is actually playing home, but in the previous weeks, they were travelling to Dangriga and to Belmopan to play those games. As you can see, we actually have sports going on for amateurs for the youths, and also for the grassroots as well. In reference to grassroots, we mostly deal with athletes from ages six to twelve. The whole idea is to teach them the basics of football and to have fun whilst doing that.”