by Charles Gladden
ARGENTINA, Mon. Aug. 28, 2023
Belize has dominated the competition in their group and is advancing to the 16th round of the FIMBA World Maxibasketball Championship which is being held in Mar del Plata City, Argentina.
The World Maxibasketball Championship is an annual competition in which over 400 teams from 60 countries are participating this year, with both male and female categories. The ages of the participants range from 30 to 80 years old.
In this year’s competition, Belize took a team that carried only 6 players; however, they managed to win all three of their games so far, with a score margin of 36 points.
“Participating in the tournament gives you a good feeling and a good know-how because we get to see the guys before we play them and then we kind of realize what we need to do and not do. Even though we are here as a team, we have never played as a team, so we have a lot of faults and during the game, we correct it,” said Gregg Williams, who plays the guard and forward position for the over-55 Belize team.
While speaking with Amandala, Williams spoke about his experience of being in Argentina for the competition.
“The experience here, I didn’t do my homework as I should, but the temperature and the climate and everything, this place is very cold, at least for me. Some of the guys adjusted, but for me, it’s cold. We’re not used to that kind of weather in Belize,” he said.
“… I found that I can’t feel the grip of the ball that I usually get. The experience is different from Belize, all together. The climate, the altitude, everything; even the people. It’s a good feeling; the city is a beautiful city, a big city. I honestly enjoy being here, and even though it’s cold, for some reason I try to enjoy that cold. It’s not often I get this cold,” he added.
The Belize team was intended to be larger; however, a couple of the players were unable to obtain their Argentinean visas in time for the tournament.
Belize has won games against Australia, Mexico, and Paraguay and will continue to play in the tournament on Wednesday, August 30 in the single-elimination format playoffs.
The tournament will end on Sunday, September 3.