BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Aug. 4, 2022 First reports were bright, where Belize U15 Girls were among the opening day winners at the Concacaf Girls’ U15 Championship being held at the Hillsborough County Tournament Sportsplex in Tampa, Florida; but it was a rough ride thereafter. With 4 teams each in Groups C, D and E of League B, Belize played in a round-robin with our other Group C members–small islands Anguilla, Martinique and Bermuda. Group D included Aruba, Honduras, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Bahamas; and Group E– Nicaragua, Cayman Islands, Guyana, and Turks & Caicos Islands.
League A is comprised of the top ranked teams in Concacaf U15 Girls, and they were in two groups, Group A–Mexico, Dominican Republic, Wales (an invitee), and Costa Rica; and Group B–United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica.
Belize defeated Anguilla, 3-1, in our first match on July 31, on the strength of a brace from Asia Flores, but the celebration ended there for our girls. The next two Group C matches for Belize included a 3-0 loss to Martinique on Monday, August 1, and a 1-0 loss to Bermuda on Wednesday August 3.
With only the group winners and best second place finishers moving on to the semifinals, Belize, in third place with 3 points behind Martinique with 7 pts and Bermuda with 6 pts, was left only to contest a League B ranking match against U.S. Virgin Islands today, August 4, which Belize again lost, 2-0.
Concacaf has arranged its tournaments to afford more matches of a competitive nature for all teams to get a chance to develop their game. Twelve (12) teams from Groups C, D and E participated in the League B section of the competition; while the eight (8) top ranked teams squared off in Groups A and B of League A. Top performing teams from League B can look forward to moving up to League A, where they can vie for the championship.
While our Belize U15 Girls team exited the Concacaf U15 Girls’ Championship without making it to the semifinals of League B, they at least enjoyed the sweet taste of victory once in the tournament opener, and will surely be focusing their efforts in the coming weeks and months to make a greater impact in their next opportunity.
Heads up, and thanks for a great effort, Belizean girls!