Football season postponed a week
James Adderley Reporting
Good evening, I?m James Adderley with this fresh dish of Sports Monday and indeed people, yesterday January sixteenth 2005 would certainly go down as one of the truly lean days for the Belizean Sporting landscape. As a matter of fact, only Cat?s Tire Shop presented a mounting bike special through the Burrell Boom Circuit and we couldn?t get into it having being committed to the B.P.F.L. (Belize Premier Football League). Unfortunately, for us, the B.P.F.L. Season was pushed back a week. They were kicking off the season with four matches nationwide so we asked Deputy Commissioner, Reynaldo Malic to explain.
Reynaldo Malic, Deputy Commissioner, B.P.F.L.
?As you know for the past three seasons we?ve been out of the F.F.B. and so a lot of the administrative responsibilities were being handled within the B.P.F.L. staff in itself; such as the registration of players, the vetting of their contract and all other related material. Being back with the F.F.B., being a provision member of the F.F.B. that is, basically the office only acts as a go between in these issues now. The registration of players and request for transfer of players and vetting a contract and all these things are done by the F.F.B. So when we theses stuffs are passed into the office by our individual franchise we have to collate all this information and send it on to the F.F.B. unfortunately, we ourselves did not allot sufficient enough time frame to get in all of this administrative work done. So what we found was on last Friday, we still had franchises coming in or club representatives coming into the B.P.F.L.?s office, still handing in some of these paper works. And we felt at four o?clock on the Friday afternoon that some teams would not have been able to feel a strong enough team of a formidable enough team based on the players that their registration have been approved so far and we thought at that time the only prudent thing to do was to postpone it for a week and put a viable product on the filed next week rather than to put a diluted version of the B.P.F.L. this week that has just passed.?
James Adderley
?How secure are we football fanatics who are dying for some kind of action that there will be action come Sunday??
Reynaldo Malic
?Oh, one hundred percent security. There is no question about that. As a matter of fact, the only change that we perceive for this weekend was the Juventus Home Game because due to the fact that they were going to be on the road this weekend, the People?s Stadium I believe was scheduled for a horse racing activity and so we perceived that that game will now be played on Saturday night instead of previously being scheduled for Sunday. But that?s the only change that we see for this coming weekend.?
In the meantime, this week?s B.P.F.L. opening schedule looks like this. On Saturday at Independence, defending champion Sagitun plays host to Kremandala Lake. On Sunday, Kulture Yabra travels to Cayo Avengers. Print Belize Griga will be at home against Marathon Champion, San Pedro Seahawks and Juventus faces the Calcutta Bulls at the People?s Stadium in Orange Walk.
Turning to the cycling scene, for the first time in its history, the Belize Cycling Association cancelled a race in motion. On Saturday afternoon, some fifty riders competing on the Western Highway refused to comply with the B.C.A. rules to keep on the right hand side of the road. Race official, John Swift, after issuing several warnings, called off the race around mile twenty-three. It certainly was a historic move. We ask Cycling President Gerald Garbutt what transpired.
Gerald Garbutt, President, Belize Cycling Association
?With the race on Saturday, we had a little disturbance with the riders crossing the yellow line more than one time and the traffic was very heavy. I was concerned about the safety of the riders. So we had to stop the race two times. We first stopped it when approaching Hattieville to talk to the cyclists about their behaviour on the road; about them taking up the whole road while traffic is flowing. SO my concern first is the safety of the cyclists. Outside of Rockville around mile twenty-five and a half, we stopped it and informed them that we had to cancel the race because of that condition.?
James Adderley
?Well, was there any reaction or have we’ve gotten pass that particular point??
Gerald Garbutt, President, Belize Cycling Association
?I think we got pass that. They understand that we are thinking in their own safety. It was very dangerous out there this Saturday. It is the first time that I find out that the traffic in the afternoon about two o?clock was so heavy.?
Turning to the Softball scene, Saturday?s schedule in the Central Division Secondary School Softball Tournament saw Sharon Vernon and Edward P. York blank Excelsior High fifteen-zip and Kemani Smith led ACC to a fourteen-one route of Saidie Vernon High School. In the only male match in that triple header schedule Justin Goff and Gwen Liz outlasted Excelsior boys nine to three.
Hey folks, that?s our show for today. We certainly invite you back same time, same place next week. Jah over all, I?m James Adderley.
