Belize football looks to the future

Marlon Kuylen

It has not been a good year on or off the field for Belize in football. In January, the national team was shut out of qualification for the Gold Cup, while a few weeks ago the national club champion Belmopan Bandits failed to make it past the first round of the CONCACAF League. There is a concern that the generation that gave Belize its first Gold Cup appearance and delivered some of our best results in regional tournaments and qualification for the World Cup is starting to run out of steam. According to the Football Federation of Belize, it is time to start looking for the new stars that will build on those successes.

Marlon Kuylen, Acting President, F.F.B.

“The only way we can prepare as a country to compete in our region and internationally is to have a robust and sustainable youth program. In our contract of agreed objectives, what can be termed as our four-year strategic plan, we are targeting our youths and our females, and with the access to extra funding from FIFA, we are now preparing to access those funds so that we can get all our programs in place. What we are doing, we are preparing the under-sixteen for a tournament in Salvador in November and then we have a U-20 that will participate in Nicaragua in December. And so again I must confirm that we are targeting our youths and this is where we will be putting most of our efforts and our finances.”