FIBA U17 Centrobasket Championship Belize 2023
For the first time in the history of the country, FIBA will be hosting a junior national team competition in Belize. The U-seventeen Centrobasket Championship is a qualifier for the World of Basketball and today, News Five caught up with the U-seventeen national basketball team during a practice session at the Belize City Civic Center. Duane Moody files this report.
Duane Moody, Reporting
They have been practicing for almost a year as the under-sixteen national male basketball team. Now the U-seventeen will represent Belize at a regional qualifier. Earlier today, young basketball athletes were training at the Belize City Civic Center for FIBA’s U-17 Centrobasket Championship to be held in Belize from July twenty-fourth to the thirtieth.
Jacob Leslie, President, Belize Basketball Federation
Jacob Leslie
“It’s the first time Belize is every hosting a junior national team competition so it is a great opportunity for these young men who have never – I don’t think any of these players have ever played on national team due to COVID and all these different restrictions. And so it is great time for these players to showcase their abilities to the country of Belize. They are mostly home grown players. They have all been here and I think it will be an exciting time for basketball in Belize. There will be teams coming in from Mexico, Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, Jamaica, El Salvador. I mean it is a huge tournament. It is one of the pre-qualifiers for the Olympics actually. So the top three teams for this competition advance to the U18 Championship of the Americas. The top four team from that advance to the U19 World Cup of Basketball. So it’s one of the largest competitions these young men have ever been able to participate in and Belize has been able to participate in. Right now, Belize is on rant in basketball so it is one of those things where you want to make a statement and reintroduced ourselves to the basketball world.”
Coach Darwin “Puppy” Leslie has been working with the team since last year and says that it is about getting back on the grind – one month ahead of the international competition.
Darwin “Puppy” Leslie
Darwin “Puppy” Leslie, Coach, U-17 Men’s National Team
“The work is a continuous work. We had a little break – not a too long break so we are back at it now in full effect. It’s a wonderful thing. I don’t know when is the last time we had a youth tournament here for basketball. That is something great so now the job is to get these guys back on track, where we were. The good thing is we were already at a very good pace psychologically and physically. So it is just to remind them of certain basketball principles and games and see where they are physically after that short break. So, today was a very good day in terms of testing out their physicality. It was okay, but we have time to get better because now the good thing is they are not in school. So we have a lot more time to put more time into them.”
Michael Caceres is among the thirty athletes who were selected for the team. At six feet, six inches tall, he plays center and power forward on the national team.
Michael Caceres, Center/Power Forward, U17 Men’s National Team
Michael Caceres
“Continue working out, working with my team every day. Running, communication and those things for our country to bring it home to Belize.”
Duane Moody
“What would you say is the strength that you are bringing as an athlete?”
Michael Caceres
“My height, my shooting, my rebounding.”
President of the Belize Basketball Federation, Jacob Leslie says that it will cost over quarter of a million dollars to host the tournament in Belize and the federation is in need of financial assistance.
Jacob Leslie
“It’s one of the most discouraging things I am experiencing right now. The host country is responsible for accommodation and food and transportation for all of these teams. It is a very enormous financial obligation. We had commitments that have reneged on us last minute, so we are at a place where we are trying to not pull out, we are trying to make sure that we make Belize proud. These young men have been preparing for over a year, but the federation is not funding by FIBA so FIBA lends no financial support. And so, everything that’s needed has to be raised by us. So it is my appeal to the government and to the private sector, to private individuals to support these young men. Everything that we do at the federation, we volunteer our services so we are not paid. We make no moneys off of this, FIBA gives us no financial assistance so it is just for us to sacrifice and to try to put these young men in a position where we can really make Belize proud.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
