BELMOPAN, Tues. June 16, 2015–Senior Football Federation of Belize (FFB) executive member, Marlon Kuylen, as well as Woodrow West, the well-known goalkeeper for the Belize national team, confirmed to local media today that both West and his Belize Jaguars teammate, star striker Deon McCaulay, are being courted by a professional club from Honduras.
Media reports from that country suggest that officials from a team known as El Honduras Progreso, which partakes in the Liga Nacional de Honduras, were en route to Belize today to formally make contract offers to the two players.
West told us today that he was initially contacted by a representative of the team two weeks ago, and that currently, no deal has been struck as yet with the agents who have come to negotiate with them; but if the conditions are favorable, he might end up playing with the team for its upcoming season which starts on June 29 in Honduras.
Both Belizean players recently participated in the second round of the World Cup 2018 Qualifiers, where Belize defeated the Dominican Republic in both games of a home-and-away series.
The Belize Jaguars are currently preparing to contest the 3rd round of the World Cup Qualifying tournament for the first time in history, and while the enrollment of West and McCaulay would mean that the two instrumental players would have to break camp at some point, Kuylen mentioned that the FFB encourages the initiative since it is every player’s dream to play internationally and/or professionally.
McCaulay has had previous experiences on the regional and international scene as he played for Deportes Savio – a professional Honduran football club based in Santa Rosa de Copán – in 2010, as well as the North American Soccer League (NASL)’s Atlanta Silverbacks from the United States in 2014. He is among six other international players who hold records for the most goals scored at this stage of the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers.
West, on the other hand, gained popularity after stellar showings at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup competition in which Belize participated in 2013.