DAVID, Panama, Mon. Sept. 25, 2023
Belize opened play in the sixth edition of the AFECAVOL Men’s U23 Central American Championship at the Centro Deportivo La Basita in David, the capital of Chiriquí, Panama, yesterday, September 24, with a hard-fought victory, 3-1 (25-16, 25-18, 21-25, 25-19) over Costa Rica.
Belize got 28 points from Kaelen Ingram, (24 kills, 3 blocks and an ace), 19 points from Ernest Broaster, Jr., and 18 from Eleazar Mejía.
Belize outscored Costa Rica, 66-37, on attacks, had more blocks, 9-4, and had more aces on serve, 7-5, but made 32 errors against 14 for Costa Rica.
Albert Humes, Belize’s head coach, said after the game: “I feel very good; thanks to this victory, we feel more confident for the next games. I think we had some doubts at the beginning because not the whole team had trained together, but then they showed what the players had trained and everything went well.”
Belize plays El Salvador later today, Guatemala tomorrow, Tuesday, Panama on Wednesday, and Honduras on Thursday, before getting an off day next Friday. It finishes tournament play on Saturday, September 30, versus the defending champions, Nicaragua.
Yesterday, Panama beat Honduras, 3-1, while Nicaragua blanked El Salvador, 3-0.
Guatemala has dominated the event since its inception in 2012, having won four consecutive gold medals (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018). Guatemala lost the title to the current champion, Nicaragua, who won the gold medal in the last edition in 2022 in San Salvador. Guatemala finished in second place, and El Salvador in third.
In addition to a gold medal, Nicaragua has one silver medal. Costa Rica has a total of three medals, two silver and one bronze; El Salvador has two bronze medals, and Honduras has one bronze.
Kaelen Ingram in a post-game interview noted: “I feel very good about coming to the tournament. It is the first time I have met the whole team, but meeting each other and seeing what they have learned is totally different. Half of the team plays in the United States, and the other half plays in Belize; but when we play, we do very well.
“This would be like my first practice with the entire team, but we came with a very sharp mentality; we came for the victory.”