Robotics Officially Declared a Sport in Belize
Robotics has officially been declared a sport in Belize. Hearing that, you may be wondering how it is that robotics can be classified as a sport. Well for one, it teaches important life and team building values. And, while it may require more mental output and critical thinking than a physical display of strength and speed, skills and strategy are required in a robotics competition. Today, the Minister of Sports, Rodwell Ferguson handed over official documents to the principal at the Belize High School for the launch of a National Robotics Federation. News Five’s Paul Lopez was there. He filed the following report.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Belize is perhaps the first country in the world to formally declare robotics a sport. Today, Rodwell Ferguson, the Minister of Sports, made the announcement.
Rodwell Ferguson
Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Sports
“Belize has been taking the lead in many aspects. Number one the prime Minister was successful to restructure the super bond into a blue bond and many other countries are following suit. Now, we are taking the lead into making robotics a sport. Ever since the team came back from Switzerland last year Mrs. Usher was talking to me about how we can make it a sport. I also applaud the idea and I will talk to the National Sports Council board and director to figure out how it could become formal. So, they all met last week and agreed that we should make it a sport. So, Belize has taken the lead and I believe other countries will follow suit.”
Jamie Usher, the principal of Belize High School and a partner of FIRST Robotics, received official documentation from the minister to launch the nation’s first robotics federation. Usher, Godfrey Sosa and the team at BHS have been leading the charge in expanding the reach of the sport across the country.
Jamie Usher
Jamie Usher, Principal, Belize High School
“Part of our FIRST experience started in 2018 when we did the FIRST global competition in Mexico City. Since then, experience with FIRST has been a highly organized, very competitive, socially responsible experiment in science, technology, engineering, arts and math and why not bring that to as many Belizean students as possible. Part of our initiative has involved a national competition every year, but we are intent on having that grow. So what we want to do is be inclusive while appreciating diversity. So a big push was endorsing sport, while at the same time launching a federation.”
Robotics requires hard work and commitment like any other sporting discipline. It also requires a great deal of skills and strategy. Competitors are not physically playing the game, like hitting a ball or running a race, they are, however, engaged in constructing these robots and controlling them. They must be able to build competition worthy robots that can complete tasks required in the game. In November, Usher and her team will officially launch the Belize Robotics Federation.
Jamie Usher
“Under the federation you could be an adult robotics enthusiast and you could serve in different robotics capacities like volunteering and helping event coordination in different districts. You could be a community group, like we have the Fort George Robo Blazers, they area group of robotics students that started with us in our summer camp but they are from a bunch of different schools. So if the school doesn’t have a team, there is a way to form a community team. Then if we have teams like St. John’s or Pallotti, elementary schools like St Joseph, Holy Redeemer, all of those are welcomed under the federation umbrella that they could register and become a legitimate robotics engineer.”
For these Belize High School students, the declaration comes as a huge achievement. They have represented Belize in robotics across the country, as well as the world stage, in promoting the discipline. And as they have been doing, they will continue to invite interested schools and community to become a part of robotics, only this time under a sports federation.
Rodwell Ferguson
“I sure others can replicate because it is a mind thing so they will want to test their minds to see if they can first invent the robot and then be able to maneuver the robot. So I believe it will be duplicated across the country and there will be major completion where eventually this team might have so many competition where they may be able to be the team to go abroad to represent, because there will be a federation and they have to work with the federation.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
