Patrick Jones has the weekend sports
Patrick Jones, Reporting
Bodies in Motion at the Princess Hotel…The Bulls got some football schooling in Calcutta…And, pain and excitement on the diamond out west as the 2004 Cayo softball competition resume play after the Easter break. Good evening, with the April twenty-sixth edition of Sports Monday, I am Patrick Jones.
The Belize Shotokan Karate Association is in the middle of preparations for participation in the upcoming Pan American Games, scheduled for Panama in August.
Let?s go to the Majestic Room of the Princess Hotel where we see over twenty karatakers from all over the country undergoing instructional training from visiting Third Dan black belt Chad Drachenberg. Drachenberg is in Belize at the invitation of the Toledo Shotokan Karate Club and we spoke with the visiting instructor and President of the Belize Shotokan Karate Association John Nunez.
Chad Drachenberg
“I’ll be teaching them different sparring techniques, tricks of competitive competition. Also, just instilling in them the basics is where really all of it comes from. It?s not just the tricky techniques, or the speedy techniques, it all comes from years and years of training and training, the basics. The stuff that’s not so flashy, the stuff that’s not fun, but the stuff that’s the basis, the foundation of karate.”
Patrick Jones
“Now what does it take to compete on the level of a Pan Am games?”
Chad Drachenberg
“I would say that it?s commitment. It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of training. It takes a lot of your energy. It needs to be one of the focuses of your life what you?re doing at that time, a very big goal for you because the amount of time it takes with your training to keep your speed up to get all of the timing down, it just takes time.”
John Nunez, President, Bz. Shotokan Karate Assn.
“There’s a synchronized kata where three persons do the same movements together. That’s one of the activities. They also participate as a team, team of five fighters against fighters from other countries. That’s what Belize is working on, also individual.”
Patrick Jones
“Which club or which country does Belize have to beat?”
John Nunez
“We don’t know, the judges decide that prior to the tournament.”
Patrick Jones
“Is there a country you are looking to meeting?”
John Nunez
(Laughs) “Well whichever country we get we’ll try our best.”
Drachenberg will be in the country for the next week and will spend most of the upcoming seven days conducting training at the Toledo Shotokan Karate Club in Punta Gorda.
And in related news, three of Belize’s marshal arts athletes recently gave gold medal performances at the second International Tai Kwando tournament held in the state of Tabasco, Villa Hermosa, Mexico. Adrian Ramirez who is an advanced green belt won gold medals in both the form competition and the heavyweight division. Jareth Arnold, who faced Ramirez in the finals, had to settle for silver. And in the lightweight division, seventeen year old Fernando Vasquez captured gold, and we say congratulations to all three marshal artists from Corozal.
Turning to Football, the withdrawal of Hankook Verdes from the Belize Premier Football League did not have any major effect on the field of play this weekend as round two of the 2004 Regent Insurance Cup tournament opened with three big matches.
The upset of the weekend came on Sunday afternoon at the Carl Ramos Stadium in Dangriga were Griga United upended the defending champions Kulture Yabra two to nil.
Out in Calcutta, the Bulls played host to Sagitun; and the visitors from Independence wasted no time in welcoming their northern rivals to the big leagues with not one, not two, not even three… but five big goals.
This dance was certainly not part of the welcoming act; but it came after Sagitun’s fourth goal scored in the seventy-fourth minute. Besides, it looks good on TV, so we just have to show it to you. The saving grace for the Calcutta team came on this misplay from the Sagitun goal keeper and at least on this Sunday, the Bulls escape a shutout.
Out in San Pedro, the Sea Hawks doubled up league leaders Juventus 2-1. The Bandits got the weekend off because of the withdrawal of Verdes from the competition.
Finally, let?s go out west to Ontario Village where the Cayo Softball Association resumed its 2004 competition with an impressive seven games covering three leagues.
Eden Gentle and the junior team from Esperanza got the shock of the young season as the ladies from Las Flores were as hot as the ninety degree afternoon sun on Saturday.
Gentle had difficulty finding the strike zone and ended up walking the first six hitters she faced.
Here we see a Gentle wild pitch getting away from the catcher. The Las Flores runner on third breaks for home but halfway down the line realizes she won’t make it and retreats.
But in doing so, takes off her helmet and crew chief Anthony Fuller wastes no time in calling her out for this rule violation.
This line drive down the third base line clears the bases for Las Flores and the newcomers to organized softball celebrate their first win in junior circuit defeating Esperanza 24-14.
Now take a look at this play from the third game of the weekend and you’ll understand why in softball we call third base the hot corner.
Third base player for Unitedville One Alva Gomez is looking forward to scoring on this play, but a split second line drive off the bat of her team mate catches her in no-man?s land. She?s off the base and in fair territory when they ball hits her and this is a very painful out.
The coach comes out to argue, but gets no sympathy from the umpire. Gomez is helped off the field but is able to continue the game as Unitedville One goes on to defeat the arch rival Unitedville SQ.
On Sunday in Roaring Creek, the A Division competition started with a nail biter as Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy dealt Kenisha Sutherland and the defending Cayo champions Camalote Duurly’s Cristal a heart breaking 6-5 defeat.
As you take a look at the results of all the games played on Saturday and Sunday, we want to wish Kenrene Gillette, Ruth Lamb, Martha Rhys and the entire B.T.L. team all the best as they head to Guatemala this week to represent Belize in the third Champion of Champions Club tournament.
The team to watch is the defending title holder Marte Lotin of El Salvador but B.T.L. is going in determined to dethrone the regional powerhouse.
And that’s the program for this week. We invite you back here in seven days time for another edition of Sports Monday. I am Patrick Jones.
