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Our Belizean American community has lost a passionate footballer and sponsor, Charlie Hogan from Dangriga

SportsOur Belizean American community has lost a passionate footballer and sponsor, Charlie Hogan from Dangriga

Sat. May 15, 2021– When I was attending Sacred Heart Primary School in the 4th Grade, Charles Hogan was playing for the Methodist Primary School along with his colleagues like Danny Lopez, Ashley, Wayne Fourtnorth, Jeffry Petillo, Bucko Thompson, Chadwick Usher, Mimie Martinez, Arthur Roches, Shaky Leslie, Denver Grant, Blinks Lockwood, Tulian Dawson Pickart, Robert Pennel, Orin Orio, Bunz Sabal and other players who I cannot recall at this moment. They had the best primary school football in town. At that time they defeated Sacred Heart School but there was no official primary school competition.

When Carl Ramos started the first Dangriga Primary School Competition (DPSC) around 1966, they were prepared for it and won. It was only between the primary schools in the town which were: Methodist, Anglican and Sacred Heart School. Holy Ghost was a new Catholic primary school that was established on the southside of Dangriga town. Some of Sacred Heart Primary School football players left to attend the new school.

Charles Hogan graduated from Methodist School but was asked to assist in teaching and he agreed to stay on the staff. He played on the school’s team and they came back in the second year with an attempt to win the Primary School Competition. Some of their players were: Bucko Thompson and Merchant as defense, Koolie and Jaguar Bermudez as their midfielders, Orin Orio as their right wing, Calvin Roches left wing, Mimie Martinez as their goalkeeper, and Reverend Forbes as their coach.

We at Sacred Heart School were prepared and ready for them. The players that had left Methodist were more experienced and talented football players than the players who remained in the school. Sacred Heart School had new players added to their team, who were never given an opportunity to play in the previous competition because they were considered too young to play. Holy Angels and Saint Matthews from the Pomona Valley were added to the list of league teams. Sacred Heart Primary School won their first competition with this team, and Charlie Hogan left to go to high school after that season. He later left school to join the Belize Police Force in 1971 Squad-18. From there he migrated to the United States and went to live in Los Angeles, California where he resided permanently.

From the time Charles Hogan arrived in Los Angeles, California, he started playing football. He later founded his own football team, “Warriors,” which grew into a club. His team played several games in the state of California and throughout the Belizean community in the United States. I played against his team with “Juca” at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn in 1981. That was the first time I saw my friend Hogan since he left Belize in 1971. In 2017 Charles Hogan was inducted into the Belizean American Football Hall of Fame along with several other players, coaches, referees and sponsors, for all the major contributions he made towards football in the city of Los Angeles, California.

In 2019 when I went to Belize I met him at the Dangriga market and we were happy to meet each other as former football players and Police Officers. We started talking about football, and once you start that conversation with Charlie it will not end. Nobody, in my opinion, has contributed to the sustenance of Belize football in Los Angeles more than Charles Hogan. His life, like many other former football players’ lives, was always dedicated to his family and this beloved sport that is second to none. He will be forming a football team in heaven when he gets there.

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