Young athletes and team leader say discipline and focus has lead to excellence
The athletes and coaches were all in a celebratory mood. Kate Jones, a striker for the national U-17 team and Cayshaun Meighan, who participated in the U-15 CODICADER games, spoke of their victories, while the Head of delegation to the CODICADER games Amilcar Umania says many of them don’t seem to be aware of what they have achieved.
Kate Jones, Striker, U17 Women’s National team striker
“Because we had a lot of time to prepare ourselves it was not like before, we had more time to prepare.”
Dalila Ical
“How was the competition for you?
Kate Jones
Kate Jones
“It was tough but we managed to be the best team.”
Dalila Ical
“How does that make you feel given so many years in football?”
Kate Jones
“It makes me feel so proud and happy at the same time”
Almilcar Umania
Almilcar Umania, Head of delegation, CODICADER
“The team was prepared for about one month. We went into the games a little bit nervous. I must say against Nicaragua but the boys were very focused from day one. The coach that was working with them has a good command, a good communication with them and he knows how to connect with the guys and they listen to him so that is very important because the guys were asked to rest, to stay focused and they did so and so going into the game they knew the game plan they needed to execute and they did it well. With the first, they were much more confident going into the second game and we believe the other games were tougher than the first. It has been a long process. I work with the football association in Belmopan and we have been running tournaments for ten years so this is kind of the result of all those years of work. I think the boys, if you looked at them during the ceremony today, they don’t really grasp the extent of what they have accomplished. They seem so laid back like it is not moving for them but for us the adults, it was such an extraordinary experience and I think eventually it will sink with them that they have actually made history but they don’t see it like that. I guess the experience, they are very young yet. They don’t see the extent of what they have done”
Dalila Ical
“And the work continues.”
Almilcar Umania
“The work continues, right. We are going right into our second tournaments next month. We do two tournaments per year in Belmopan and that is why our youth can be really active in Belmopan and those are the results we are seeing here.”
Cayshaun Meighan, U-15 team
Cayshaun Meigha
“The experience was an outstanding experience. We actually trained hard for this moment. In the first we really didn’t expect to reach this far but our mindset was very focused and we just wanted to make Belize Proud. We wanted to make our country known and that is what we wanted to accomplish and I guess we accomplished that.”
Dalila Ical
“You guys got the gold. How does that make you feel?”
Cayshaun Meighan
“It makes us feel very proud, very happy. We made history in Belize so that is something huge. When we are older we can always come back and say we won gold for our country and that is what makes me so proud.”
The Ministry of Education will also be providing school grants to all the athletes who took part in the games.
