BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Feb. 29, 2024
Gustavo Perrera, a renowned Belizean basketball player from the 1970s who played for the SJC Piranhas and the senior basketball team Coke, passed away on February 26. Perrera’s outstanding basketball career began to shine while he was in high school, where he won the MVP award in the early 1970s and guided the Piranhas to a championship. Later that same decade, Perrera went on to play senior basketball at the Bird’s Isle with the Belizean basketball team Coke.
Nuri Akbar, a former Belizean bodybuilder who competed in the 1970s, said Perrera was known for his athleticism, and called him one of Belize’s greatest shooting forwards. Apart from his on-court excellence, Akbar said Perrera was a special human being, “one of the most genuine, authentic, kind, and thoughtful human beings I have ever known, a brilliant man whose insights, in-depth writings and visions were far ahead of his time.”
The family announced that a funeral service to celebrate his life will be held this Friday, March 1, 2024 at 1:00 p.m., at the Holy Redeemer Cathedral on North Front Street, Belize City.
Viewing begins at noon and the Eulogy will be delivered at 12:45 p.m. His body will then be laid to rest at Homeland Memorial Park, 8 miles on the George Price Highway. His family and friends are all invited to attend.
(Courtesy KREM Radio)
Amandala tribute to Gus Perrera
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Feb. 29, 2024
We received the sad news of the passing of a great Belizean sportsman, Gustavo “Gus” Perrera, earlier this week. Our sincere condolences to Gus’s family. He was a brother we sincerely appreciated.
Below we share the opening paragraphs of our Amandala editorial from February of this year in honor of Gus’s memory, as he once served on the inaugural executives of both the semipro basketball and semipro football leagues in Belize:
AMANDALA
Monday, February 20, 2023
The first commissioner of the inaugural semipro basketball league in Belize back in 1992 was a business executive, Gus Perrera, and he successfully presided over a sensational first semipro basketball competition, in which the rookie Kremandala Raiders team lost in the championship final to a Penta Lakers team that featured two young Belizean stars who were attending junior college on basketball scholarships in the United States. Fred Garcia, Jr. (6’83 ?) and Kirk “Shabba” Smith (6’73 ?) arrived in Belize after their college summer break in time to play big roles in Penta Lakers’ inaugural semipro basketball championship.
The commissioner or president of a new league has a big responsibility: to ensure the credibility of the league, while at the same time commanding the respect of the participating teams/clubs, and executing his office in such a way as to engender adherence to the rules and by-laws governing the league.
Gus was well prepared for his task as commissioner of semipro basketball, because he had previously gotten a good insight into possible pitfalls to avoid. A couple years prior to his appointment to the commissioner post to lead the new basketball league, Gus had been tasked with conducting an inquiry into a football controversy, where the then Coke Milpros football club had ended up being briefly banned from football by the BNFA shortly after the end of the 1989 season. Perrera’s findings were never made public, but the procedural and constitutional inadequacies unearthed were certainly enough to impress upon him the importance of maintaining strict allegiance to the by-laws and constitution of any sporting association to avoid the flare-up of nasty and quite avoidable controversies that could only tarnish the image of the sport and spoil the fun for legions of loyal fans.
Aside from the findings during his 1990 research into the Milpros protest/suspension controversy, Gus also had the opportunity to observe the conduct and demeanor of the first commissioner of the semipro football league, which was formed as a result of that same controversy, and which was launched in 1991 under the leadership of former championship footballer as well as decorated public service administrator, Telford Vernon. Gus was the general secretary of the new semipro football league for a year before moving on to lead semipro basketball.
The inaugural seasons of both the Belize Semipro Football League (BSFL) in 1991, and the Belize Semipro Basketball League (BSBL) in 1992, were stellar successes….
Rest In Peace, brother Gustavo “Gus” Perrera!