Dear Editor,
I have previously nominated Errol “Cat” Cattouse to the Orange Walk Hall of Fame now I would like to nominate Enrique “Wico” “Scoring Machine” Carballo to be a member.
“Wico” as he is known in O.W. was a football star from schooldays at La Inmaculada. I remember being in Standard 1 or 2 and he was in 4 or 5 and games were held at the schoolyard field, smaller than a standard field, but good enough for our enjoyment. I think he was the youngest player but very much a star because of his speed and “bang” as we called it back then.
Our star goalkeeper was Hilario “ILL” Escalante (R.I.P.) “Wico’s” brother “Juni” was also a member of the squad. The games were usually against St. Peter’s School or other village schools.
As years went by and we went on to Muffles High School “Wico” was nearly always a member of the football selection when we would play the now defunct Xavier or Fletcher’s from Corozal or other High Schools.
I specifically remember one game we went to play against Xavier in Corozal in ’68 or ’69 where his prowess was appreciated, I can’t remember if he scored but we lost a very tight game. Other members of that team were Dardo Gonzalez, Francisco Palma (Goalkeeper), Francisco Patt, Eloy Escalante Jr., Juni Carballo, Juni & Eli Burgos. Can’t remember all the guys.
After that “Wico” went to Lynam to do his last year of high school and we lost track of him for a while. Then we found out he was at Zamorano in Honduras furthering his education.
When he returned from Zamorano, in my opinion, he revolutionized football in Belize. He brought a whole new bag of tricks. Remember back then there was no TV.
I remember him playing with “Riverside” in Orange Walk at the B.S.I. field along with another up and coming superstar Gregsy Jones, Luis Thompson was goalkeeper. Man, that little team was magnificent. It was here that he first displayed the qualities which would bring him fame as the “Scoring Machine”.
With the O.W. district selection he would play along with the great “Stud” Hendricks, father to the stars of today’s “Orange Walk United”, Christopher and Oliver Hendricks.
After that he went on to play with Bailar’s “Chito’s Rangers”, along with Gregsy Jones, Ramos, Fabian, Oilman, Chepe “High Priest” Contreras.
Who can forget the “Champion of Champions” match against “The Mighty Avengers” from Cayo? This stint brought him national stardom. So sad we didn’t have “know-how” to record those games. Those were great games when our stadiums would be filled with passionate fans.
Methinks we should try to fill our stadiums again. How? Security is the number one concern, inside and outside the stadiums. That is our government’s responsibility.
A couple of days ago I heard on the radio a Mexican station inviting the fans to come out with their families for the FIBA U-16 games which was played in Cancun, eight countries participated. Entrance was free. Security was definitely tight.
Belize needs this type of encouragement from government in all games, small or big. Sport fans are passionate and tend to lose control so the security forces must be firm.
On another note, if our roads were well marked with lines a lot of our cyclists would still be alive today.
Regards,
Romel Cuello