James Adderley rounds up Sports for 2010
james adderley
Good Evening, I’m James Adderley and we welcome you to this our final edition of Sports Monday for the year 2010.
As we look back over the year that was, we’ve singled out 5 events that have left an indelible mark on the Belizean psyche for one reason or the other. We begin with Dr. Bertie Chimilio, who despite the coming together of his legions of detractors was able to remain president of the Football Federation of Belize for an unprecedented 4th consecutive term.
bertie chimilio
In 2010, Dr. Chimilio had his easy win yet after the only challenger, Sergio Chuc of the Belize Football League was found ineligible to stand for election after not having his nomination for the post of president of the FFB seconded by another football association. Thus, Dr. Chimilio was ratified to repeat by a 2 to 1 vote some 2 weeks ago. While he will not be remembered fondly by the majority of the football community, he has proven that he is able to survive even under direct fire. Of course we must remind you that the saga continues.
greg lovell
Meanwhile, Greg Lovell finished 5th in the 2010 Cross Country Cycle Classic which was won by a foreigner and in fact, Greg didn’t do so well this year on the racing calendar with only one win. However, Gregory Lovell has written his name into the history books by becoming the 1st Belizean cyclist to complete the oad race in a commonwealth becomes setting when he finished 2nd among the riders from this hemisphere. Lovell’s only win this year came in the Alpheus Williams Cycle Classic to make it 3 wins in a row.
giovanni choto
We turn now to Giovanni Choto who won the 2010 Lionman Triathlon ending the domination of the Guatemalan athletes who had captured the previous three. Fortunately or unfortunately, Choto just happened to be at the right place at the right time. The Guatemalans couldn’t attend the 2010 meet because of a scheduling problem and Choto made the most of their absence with a marvellous performance that gave him the Lionman title.
As we head back to the football scene, we feel secure in the knowledge that we have moved into positive territory. A football team coming from the Southside of Belize City amazed the world in 2010 by winning the Super League National Football Title from among the 10 teams that started. Yes, the city might, at this time, appear gang infested and crime ridden, however Raymond Gentle and the City Boys rose above their environment to become champions and this is a story that must be told. There are serious lessons to be learned from this outstanding achievement.
Finally a man stepped out of shadows to engineer the return of amateur boxing to the Belizean landscape. Leopold Smart never did give up hope in his quest to bring back this sport. In 2010, he made the right moves and involved the right people to stage a successful fight card against a Mexican contingent even when the chips were down. Smart did not close down his gym and in many instances had to use money out of his meagre resources to keep going. A humble and dedicated Belizean, Leopold Smart is one to emulate. Smart Gym will be back in action on February 15th, 2010 inside the Belize Biltmore Plaza and Hotel.
Jah Overall, I’m James Adderley.
Under Chilimio, football is a joke in belize. This man doe not have the know how to “run” a league. i’m longing for the glory days to come back when i was playing and chimilio for that matter when there were good people running the league. I think Ray Davis is a good person that can make football be what it was in the glory days. for now i just think that we are the laughing stock of the region. We dont even have a stadium.
Sammy, maybe it is time for the next generation to take over with the help of some of you old guys. Bertie is one of the few who remained in the country & it is possible that he leads the league by default because no one has figured out or has the desire to play politics & outmaneuver him. That’s what it looks like from my vantage point. Sorry, couldn’t resist referring to you as one of the old guys.
the only way to remove chimilio is for the players to come together and make a stand by not playing any game until he goes; even if that means for years. This man thinks he is good for football and all he is, is a failure. To the fools who take his money to vote for him just remember that you are taking the very same money that should be used for football. You are as bad as chimilio. I can’t stand you guys better yet why the !*****% out and do Belizeans a favor and just get the hell out of football. GET THE SENSE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those of us well meaning football enthusiasts need to come together, establish District based football academies at the U-4 level and set out a ten year plan, adding a cadre of one-hundred players every two years. year 0-U-4 ( 100 players co-ed); year 2-U-6( 200 co-ed players); year 4-U-8( 300 co-ed players); year 6-U-10( 400 players in separate male and female leagues); year 8-U-12( 500 male and female players; year 10-U-14( 600 male and female players. In the academies, focus will be on both academics and football techniques and tactics as well as character building. In ten years, we will have marginalized the current crop of players who dont care about nothing else but playing football by introducing a new crop of players who are both capable and willing to take charge of footballing affairs at the club level. When this happens, the-hamster-in-a-treadmill-syndrome that people like Chimilio exhibit while dealing with Belizeans in general should translate to a more productive paradigm in their capacity as FFB executive committee officials. It wont happen overnight folks….Chimilio has too much money to throw at District Chairmen in the form of perks to block any nomination for post of FFB president. The focus should not be on getting rid of the head of FFB when it is the body that is diseased. Deconstruction is needed and i have suggested one way to do that.