BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 4, 2019– The Football Federation of Belize (FFB) held its first ever Football Awards Ceremony on Saturday, February 2, at the Marion Jones Sports Complex, where 18 youths and 3 coaches from the recently completed U-15 Male, U-17 Male, and U-17 Female national football tournaments were awarded at this ceremony.

According to FFB, the reason they organized the awards is because in 2018, they managed to get 123 clubs, which meant that 2,396 youths were actively involved in their tournaments.

At the ceremony, guest speaker Karina LeBlanc, head of CONCAF Women’s Football, told the crowd about the importance football played in her life, considering she was once very shy and also bullied in school for her skin color. She emphasized to the young athletes, the importance of practicing and determination. She also told them that playing for their country is the biggest honor that they could have, and that they should be proud to represent their country.

After her speech, the athletes were given their awards by FFB President, Sergio Chuc, and 2nd Vice President, Cruz Gamez. Not all of the awardees were present at the ceremony, because some of them had the Northern High School Regionals to attend.

Below is the list of awardees in the different categories.

U-15 Male awards:  Best Defender – Victor Carrillo; Best Midfielder – Omar Flores; Best Forward – Antwone Baptist; Best Goalkeeper – Mark Hall; MVP – Clifford Sanker; Most Goals – Andres Miranda (10); Best Coach – Eric Dunn.

U-17 Female awards:  Best Defender – Keonda Kayaba; Best Midfielder – Florine Vasquez; Best Forward – Kelly Dawson; Best Goalkeeper – Denisa Moriera; MVP – Florine Vasquez; Most Goals – Katie Jones (8); Best Coach – Bartolo Tuyub.

U-17 Male awards:  Best Defender – Miguel Uh; Best Midfielder – Alexis Chan; Best Forward – Jaheim Augustine; Best Goalkeeper – Izhar Carrillo; MVP – Jesse August; Most Goals – Alwin Zelaya (10); Best Coach – Orlando Trejo.