U-12 basketball team workout with Special Olympics athletes
The Under-Twelve National Basketball Team will be leaving tomorrow en route to the regional COCABA Competition which will be held in Guatemala City. And to test their mettle, the team has been competing with various schools throughout Belize City. Today, News Five caught up with the team at the Belize City Centre where they were practicing with some very talented athletes. A selection from the Special Olympics Belize basketball team was part of the workout and according to National Director of Special Olympics Belize, Akintade Atkens, the match-up between both teams is the first of its kind in Belize.
Akintade Atkens, National Director, Special Olympics Belize
“This is a very historic game hat is about to happen here today. It is humbling to say to an extent. It is actually a warm-up game for the Belize under twelve national team in preparation for games that they will be participating in starting from Thursday of this week in Guatemala. The basketball association, they felt it very important that their final game in Guatemala should be played against athletes with disabilities. This is something we see as quite significant and which indicates to an extent a Belizean society moving towards an environment that is inclusive of persons with disabilities.”
“Our athletes, they work to the best of their abilities and their coaches, they try their best to see that they are able to match up against any other athletes. So I think they might actually be right and hopefully at the end of the game, we would have given them a run for their money and I think it will be the best match to get them to play for the kind of countries they will be facing in Guatemala.”
Brads Neal, Coach, U-12 National Basketball Team
“We know for a fact that the Stella Maris team is a very talented team and they play very hard. As a matter of fact, I learnt that they will be entering the primary school competition coming up. So that in itself means that they are gonna be competitive.”
Duane Moody
“Is the U-12 team prepared for the COCABA?”
Brads Neal
“Most definitely. We’ve had six weeks of training and for majority of the kids, it’s the first time they’ve been introduced to organized basketball and it was challenging at first but I must say that I am satisfied with what we’ve accomplished so far and I expect them to compete well in the tournament.”
Neal says that in the future they would like to have athletes from the Special Olympics team become members of the Under-Twelve National Basketball Team.
