BELMOPAN, Sun. Dec. 19, 2021– A few observations
In the early years of women football in Belize about a decade or more ago, two major pioneers were managers Kennedy Gentle of the Gentle Touch team out of Esperanza, and Anthony Phillips of the Millenium Girls out of Belize City. In Belize City, Phillips was ably assisted by his friend and veteran player/coach Adelma Broaster; while Kennedy was supported by a number of his Gentle family members, led by the outstanding Peaches Gentle.

Their regular exchange visits eventually blossomed into an invitational tournament where teams from other districts began participating in the competition along with Gentle Touch and Millenium Girls. The groundwork was therefore already laid when a FIFA sponsored initiative saw the Football Federation of Belize begin organizing the National Amateur Women League (NAWL) a few years ago.

Belmopan being the hub, and with then national women team coach Kent Gabourel Gray also assisting the Belmopan entrant, Triple B’s, it wasn’t long before Triple B’s dethroned both Gentle Touch and Millenium Girls who had previously been dominant in inter-district women football in Belize. Neither Anthony Phillips nor Kennedy Gentle were ever offered employment by the FFB, and their time could not be fully allocated to the year round coaching or managing of their teams. Some of the best players from different districts were soon attracted to the well-organized Belmopan based Triple B’s, who after a couple championships, changed their name to Jewel Fury, and continued their winning streak.

Top goal scorer Jayda Brown is definitely home grown in Belmopan; but quite a few other Jewel Fury stars were recruited from elsewhere. We don’t have all the details here, but it is well known that one of the most outstanding female players from Belize City, Kursha Pollard, and also the most accomplished player out of Orange Walk (before the advent of Kaite Jones), Gisel Baeza, were both soon members of Jewel Fury. Other very good players were also recruited from other districts, as they became familiar with the Belmopan situation through their participation on the national teams that trained at the FFB Stadium. So, there we have it; Triple B’s and now 4-peat Jewel Fury, national female champions out of Belmopan.

The idea of Belmopan being the home base of our national teams, and thus attracting the best players from clubs across the country, may have been a good thing for the development of a strong national team and club representative for Belize.

Kent is no longer national women team coach; that mantle has since passed to a woman, semi-retired former star player Iris Centeno, who reportedly has some ties with Rumberas when the national team is not active. And Rumberas has also been doing some recruiting lately, notably securing the services of teenage sensation Kaite Jones out of Orange Walk a couple years ago.

Women football has certainly picked up some traction in Belize, and the future looks bright, once the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted and fans can witness the level of play our women are currently producing. Encouraging parity among teams will inevitably be a challenge for the NAWL, because in any open top league the level of financing plays a big part in movement of players. If the objective is to foster competitive games that attract fans to women football countrywide, then efforts must be made to ensure that the individual district environments are attractive enough, both in regards to sponsorship and training expertise, so that the talent drain of players towards “powerhouse” teams doesn’t leave some districts with weak, non-competitive teams.

NAWL finale in Belmopan
The National Amateur Women League (NAWL) knockout semifinals a week ago had been quite competitive, with #2 South, Rumberas from Independence getting the 2-0 win over #1 North, Rebel Girls from San Ignacio; and #1 South, defending champ Jewel Fury of Belmopan squeezing a 1-0 victory over #2 North, San Pedro Pirates. But the finale was a bit of a let-down, as Jewel Fury jumped to an early 1-nil lead through Gisel Baeza (2’) and cruised to a 4-nil win with 3 more goals coming from their league leading scorer Jayda Brown (44’, 73’ & 80’).

Most disappointingly, this national female football championship match was not shown live on T.V. like all the FFB Top League male games have been over the past couple months. Hopefully, a video was done of the NAWL final game that can be shown to fans who were not allowed inside the stadium due to the Covid-19 protocols.

Awards
Below is from the NAWL secretariat:
The awardees for the 2021 Opening Season are: Golden Boot (Most Goals S

cored) – Jayda Brown (Jewel Fury); Golden Ball (MVP) – Roshanny Narvaez (Rumberas); Golden Glove (Goalkeeper) – Idania Ramirez (Jewel Fury); Best Defender – Stephanie Barrientos (Rumberas); Best Midfielder – Ashley Rodriguez (Rumberas); Best Forward – Jayda Brown (Jewel Fury); Best Young Player – Shendra Casimiro (Rumberas); Best Coach – Joseph Waight (Jewel Fury); Best Manager – Jessica Quintero (Rebel Girls); Fair Play Team – Juventus Sugar Girls.

Congratulations to the Champions of the NAWL 2021 – 2022 Opening Season, Jewel Fury, and to the Sub-Champions, Rumberas!