Big time celebrations for Sagitun
It was the perfect end to an exciting season for a young football club. On Saturday night, virtually every resident of Independence Village and more than a few fans, even from as far away as Belize City, gathered in the Michael Ashcroft Stadium to watch their team, Sagitun, be crowned victors. Between the champagne and cake, the team managed to remember the hard work that took them to the top.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Under the banner, Big Bad Sagitun, the football team from Independence Village was awarded the Regent Millennium Cup after winning the national championship game.
Jacqueline Woods
“Tony you must be feeling proud tonight, seeing that your team is relatively new an you’ve won a championship game already.”
Tony Zabaneh, Manager, Sagitun Football Team
“Jackie I couldn’t be feeling much better…I’m on cloud nine right now. Being the champions of this nation right now has really brought up the spirits of this little village and I hope that the village appreciates it and keeps behind this football team the way they have done.”
Jacqueline Woods
“When it comes to sports, your name is synonymous more with softball, what made you go into football?”
Tony Zabaneh
“Softball was a very soft spot for me. I enjoy softball all the time because the girls were very cooperative, never ever game me the kind of trouble that football has done, but there comes a time…football was one of my best sports at school and decided that I’ll take it on from here. I was national champion for three consecutive years, Sir Andie trophy I won consecutively. The national champions, 2 back to back and then I lost it, went back and won it again. The village was very very proud and happy about being the national champions, but it wore off and then keeping a softball team, feminine wise, it’s hard to keep the girls 21, 22, 23, 24, you know what happens after that.”
The team says despite some glitches during the season, they never gave up the fight to win. On June 18th, Sagitun won the nationals after beating sub-champions, Grigamandala with a final score of three to zero. Sagitun’s Bent Burgess, who was awarded Best Forward says there are more than one reason why he wanted to be victorious.
Bent Burgess, Awarded, Best Forward
“Well, I am feeling good, I’m feeling very happy because this is my first championship in this semi-pro soccer, and I’m very pleased with it and I’m sure that if I continue my football career, I can go for more championships.”
Jacqueline Woods
“How hard did this team work for that championship?”
Bent Burgess
“Well we worked very hard, from the very beginning. We got frustrated at times, it went bad with us at times, but nevertheless, work stuck it out and from there, we became champions today.”
Sagitun’s Hilberto Muschamp, who was awarded for Best Defense, says because his team is relatively new in football competition, he did not expect such an early big win.
Hilberto Muschamp, Awarded, Best Defence
“Well on the onset, we didn’t think it would come this early, we’re only two years into this competition, but we know that we had a good pool of players. Players that dedicated all their time to practice and as the saying goes, “what you put in you get out” and fortunately for us, it came at an early stage.”
Jacqueline Woods
“How are you feeling tonight?”
Hilberto Muschamp
“For me, I feel very good, proud. As a citizen of this municipality, I feel good for a young village like this to come out in two years and win the BFL tournament…and as I said, this is a very young team and still there is better to come for this team, because this team is still growing and maturing in this league.”
Sagitun’s Raul Celiz was awarded Best Midfielder, while the team’s owner, Tony Zabaneh was awarded Best Manager. Other players who received awards included, Grigamandala’s Nelson Moss for the Most Valuable Player, Grigamandala’s Stanley Reneau for Best Goal keeper, Grigamandala’s Anthony Adderly for coach of the year, Culture Yabra’s Vallan Simms for Rookie of the year. Referee of the year went to Ruperto Vicente while the National Sports Council picked up an award for the People’s Stadium in Orange Walk Town. The venue was chosen as the best-kept field. A special media award was presented to Krem Radio. Both the Belize Football League and the National Sports Council said the season was great but challenging.
Meito Perdomo, Commissioner, BFL
“All in all, it was a wonderful splendid season with many ups and downs. As the tournament came down to the finals, every week for us was a learning experience. An experience that will now be used to better the game as time goes by.”
Clara Cuellar, Executive Director, National Sports Council
“We have learnt a lot in the leadership of football. Let us now step forward and take the next bold step. So I challenge BFL and all its colleagues, let us stamp out violence in football at all levels next year.”
As for the sponsor of the championship game? According to Johnny Valdez, if the games continue being as thrilling as what they witnessed, Regent Insurance will continue to support football.
Johnny Valdez, Regent Insurance
“Indeed the season has been very exciting and with this, if we can get another exciting season like the one we just had, we are more than glad to sponsor the next one and probably the one after that.”
The award ceremony was held at the Michael Ashcroft Stadium in Independence village.
