Alcohol consumption has been a part of Belizean culture from the beginning of the settlement by pirates/buccaneers-turned-logwood-cutters sometime back in the seventeenth century; and like the world over, the excesses of a few are not likely any time soon to diminish the flow of alcoholic beverages at parties and celebratory events of all types across the country. It’s as Belizean as rice and beans, or all the culinary delicacies that Belizeans of various ethnicities enjoy, and that add to the vigor and resilience of our people. But while we are all generally able to satisfy our hunger when there is food on the table, the abundance of, or easy access to, alcoholic beverages poses a problem for some of us whose personality wiring makes us prone to overdo. While everyone is entitled to his own method and habit of social drinking, there is a real danger for some; and there have been many tragedies, some fatal, too many, in fact, as a consequence of excessive drinking. Drunk driving is an established killer, and too often we hear of social drinking turning violent and even lethal. And in a number of cases, an excessive drinking habit leads to alcoholism and an early death due to cirrhosis of the liver or some related illness. Most regrettably, the latter condition has often been the long-term result in instances where young people, male athletes in particular, were first introduced to, and encouraged on the path to consumption of alcoholic beverages, through sports. It may be a macho thing in our culture, being able to consume and “handle” alcohol; and while there are responsible team owners and managers who try to dissuade their charges from alcohol use, there are others who, unfortunately, think they are doing well by showering their star players with alcohol treats, especially in cases where such team owners or managers are connected to the marketing of an alcohol product.
Perhaps it had something to do with self-government in 1964, but it does not appear that this was the case in “old time” Belize. At football games in Belize City in the mid-1960s and earlier, the most popular vendors were selling peanuts, “pepitos” and snow cones (previously called “fresco” in re-used milk cans). No doubt, sports were encouraged by the British colonial rulers as a method to help keep the population under control; but there was certainly no sale of alcoholic beverages at those games. And the team sponsors? If the names give a clue, the list of Belize City football champion teams in a souvenir booklet going back to the 1920s displays names like Preston, Surrey, Rovers, Crimson, Excelsior, Arsenal, Battalion (likely British Army), All Star, Police, M.Y.A., Landivar, Diamond A, Dunlop, Landivar and BEC (1961-62). The earlier team names were likely influenced by the British presence. We could add to that list the 1963 champions, Brodies. None of those names indicate anything to do with alcohol.
Red Stripe beer is the first, mild “gateway” alcohol beverage we can recall becoming prominent on the MCC through a so-named football team in the late 1960s, while there may have also been a Colt-45-named softball team in competition at Rogers Stadium. With the advent of the first local beer factory, Belikin in 1971, and a few years later with Charger, the presence of the beers in our sports sponsorships soon was evident with the Charger football team on the MCC and the Belikin Wheels basketball team on the Island. And the hard liquor group soon followed as a prominent fixture in amateur sports in Belize. In Belize City basketball, there emerged an Old Parr (whiskey) team; while on the Barracks in football there was White Label (whiskey), and later Haig Dimple (whiskey), and through the ‘80s there was Duurly’s (rum), all champion teams. This was all in the amateur era, when the sponsors dictated the names of their teams.
We’re not calling any names or pointing any fingers. But the fans know the players from Belize City, as well as from other districts, who fell victim to substance abuse with the assistance of their team owners/sponsors/managers, some moving on from alcohol to crack cocaine that shortened their playing career, and passed well before their threescore-and-ten due to health issues aggravated by their excessive alcohol or drug use.
Ironically also, while the major amateur sports in Belize were all infected with the prominence of alcohol products being promoted by some team owners/sponsors, and such products being used as incentives and rewards for the top performing players, such was apparently not the case in the sport of cycling, which, though officially amateur, traditionally rewarded race winners with cash prizes, and similarly in so-called “amateur” boxing, where bout winners would receive gifts with marketable value, but never alcohol products.
There is a contradiction in Belizean sports and culture. We want our young male athletes particularly to be strong and competitive, but we also embrace and promote a macho behavior that encourages alcohol consumption from a young age.
When the Coke Milpros team travelled to Panama in June of 1989 and lost, 4-1, to Plaza Amador in the second leg of their Concacaf series, the local Panama newspaper the following morning displayed and commented on a picture of a Belizean player, still in uniform, drinking a cold beer. Just a beer, we might say; but it was remarkable to their readers. In Belize, that would be “no big ting”. But in a culture where sports are taken seriously, alcohol and sports do not mix. As an aside, a few years ago we witnessed a championship cricket game in Bermudian Landing where, following the game the champion team was presented with a special prize from a generous donor (not the association); and it was a case of rum. National cricket champions, and they were rewarded with 12 bottles of rum!
The Football Federation of Belize (FFB), if it is serious about taking Belizean football to another level where our teams can compete with dignity against regional opponents, must begin by sending the message to all, players and managements, what image they want to project, and what will not be accepted as team names from the amateur ranks onward. Too many young talents get wasted by early introduction to alcohol; and it is the star players who tend to get the most treats – “the thin edge of the wedge”, our old folks say.
It has been said that the sale of alcohol is the most profitable business in Belize, next to gas stations, we suppose. Perhaps the Government needs to take a second look at tax write-offs for sports sponsorship, so that more business people, aside from alcohol or tobacco sellers, can be encouraged to get involved in sponsoring sports teams. It may be a good way to change the culture of sports in Belize, and move the trajectory of many of our youths away from the negative effects of alcohol on their athletic achievements. Let the fans have their fun however they want. Young athletes with ambition in the sport must be guided and groomed to think differently.