So I had access to the final work out of the Belize Senior National Football Team before the Central American Cup in Panama which starts this Friday, January 14^th. I talked to Shane Orio, the Goal Keeper and Captain of the Senior National Team for the past 5 years; he also featured in this year’s CONCACAF Champions League and played against teams like Seattle Sounds and Mexico’s Monterray with his club team Marathon of Honduras. Also featuring in the Article is Elroy Smith, starting defender on the National team who also plays a prominent role for club Marathon in Honduras. Both key players gave a compelling interview about football in Belize and their chances in the upcoming tournament.

What would you guys say is the difference between the level of competition in Belize versus in Honduras?

S.O: Well it’s totally different because you’re comparing a professional league with a semi-professional league that we have here at home and that’s the big difference. Most of the guys here work during the day and train at night, while at all the teams in Honduras you’re a fulltime professional. The payment of clubs towards players is completely different; you can say the best paid player in Belize is making something like $600 to $700 bze dollars a week, while in Honduras you have players making $15,000 u.s. a month. So there is a big difference, but at the end of the day I think that what Myself, Smith, Elroy Kuylen and Harrison Richards have done in Central America proves that we do have talent and the big difference is that is that we don’t have infrastructure here in Belize , we don’t have any organization. When I say organization, I am referring to the primary school level, to high school, to University level and at the Semi-Professional level.

E.S: I mean everything Shane said is correct and plus yo the get pay for something yo love so you don’t mind sacrificing.

Do you feel like we are doing the best we can with what we have then?

S.O: I always believe that there is room for growth. The point is we don’t have the resources to make football better in Belize because the government is pulling one way and the federation is pulling the next, and then some people in the business sector are pulling in another direction. If one day the government and the federation come together to combine all the resources that we have and the business community join in, it will help sports in general.

S.O: Let me give you an example, Elroy Smith scored 9 goal last season in Honduras, for the past 50 years there has never been a defender to score as many goals as 9. He was recognized in Honduras for his achievements but no recognition from our own country. When you’re out there you get the motivation but when you come back home everything is just BASH, BASH, BASH and I think we need to change that because at the end of the day it’s not only harming our people but the younger generation. So I think that at some point in time we as a nation need to focus more on sports.

Are you guys hopeful that in the near future there will be a change in the sports culture of Belize?

E.S: I think eventually it will change as more and more Belizeans get the opportunity to go outside. I hope and pray that someday the government will try to step in and help instead of taking away what has already been laid down. If that would happen it would help a lot but for now it is still up to us the players to work hard and try to grab opportunities abroad.

 

Do you think we are heading in the right direction, stagnant or regressing?

S.O: I do think we are heading in the right direction but it seems like we are not willing to learn from the mistakes we’ve made in the past. I mean we can learn from Mexico, Guatemala and from Honduras that went to the last world cup and sooner or later as Smith said the people in power, in Government, will need to start to pull their weight for Sports in general to succeed, not only football.

S.O: For example, in track and field at the junior level Belize normally dominates Central America but never at the professional level because we don’t have the infrastructure, the nutrition programs and the financing is not provided for the Belizean Athlete but it is for the rest of Central America. So at a certain point in time we cannot rely on pure talent, we have to have some kind of structure to lead people the right way. I personally am hopeful that things will change and I would be proud to be a part of that change.

S.O: Belize has been in football for the past 50 years and doesn’t even have a National Stadium I think it is a shame and for me making it out there was all on individual talent and then when I got out there I started to receive the goal keeper coaching I needed. So we the people need to demand more in sports, I am not saying red or blue, I am saying the government needs to start playing their role, so that the young people can enjoy the benefits of sports.

What does it mean to you guys to represent the national team?

E.S: For me it really means something big; I mean you have a lot of players in Honduras that would want to become Belizean just to play on the National Team because they really respect people that have that distinction. And people in Belize look up to people like that for example my parents right de, when dey hear that I am on the national team they feel good; so I love representing my country.

S.O: For me it’s a dream, and honour to wear my national colors. And apart from that I have learned that we have great responsibility because we are not only representing ourselves as individuals, we’re representing our families, and we’re representing each and every Belizean. At the end of the day they won’t say a person lost, they will say the country; that’s each and every individual here, so at the end of the day I am proud, honoured and happy to be able to represent Belize.

So what is the feeling within the club? What is the chemistry like going into the tournament?

E.S : Well it’s a good feeling in the group right now, it is kind of a family atmosphere and so I think we will have a good chance of qualifying for the Gold Cup. We have the Belizean people on our side and the group is a nice group, so I have a good feeling going in.

S.O: I think that each of us as players and individuals have dreams and goals that we want to achieve and playing on the national team is one but it’s not only about just playing on the team, we want to go and win. Personally for me, winning is everything because the only thing that will stay in the mind of the people is if the Belize team wins a game, so for me that’s important. As for the team, we have a good group of guys and I see them as family, so hopefully we can all pull our weight and do what we have to do on Friday, Sunday and Tuesday of next week.

 

What do you feel you have to do to get a result and qualify?

E.S: Well for me we just have to stay together off and on the field as a family, we have to stay strong to play better and we always have to have each other’s back in the sense that if they score on us first we don’t get frustrated. Uniting is key because once a group is together it is hard to stop them.

S.O: The group will be difficult because our first game is against a Panama team that scores no less than 2 to 3 goals per game.  The following games are against El Salvador and Nicaragua, so we really need to stick together.  But for me the Salvador game (Jan, 16^th) and the Nicaragua game (Jan, 18^th) are important because by us winning both of those games we will automatically move on to the goal cup.

S.O: Difficult? Yes it will be difficult, every game is difficult, but impossible? It won’t be impossible. It’s a game of 90 minutes and sometimes it’s your off day and sometimes it’s your on day. One thing that I can be sure of is that during the game I won’t hold anything back, I will give my all. And at the end of the day, wherever the marbles will fall, if we stay focus then the best feeling as an athlete is that I can look in, for example, Ryan Simpson’s face and say Ryan I gave it my all and he can tell me the same.

  

Anyone you want to thank or shout out?

E.S: I just want to ask the public to support the team to give us that courage it will be a great feeling for the team to know that the Belizean people are behind them.

S.O: I would personally like to thank God for everything he has given us and me personally. Second, I would want to thank all the people that have been in football, people like Mr.Habet, Papa Brown, Mr. Zabanie down south, Mr.Faber, the owner of the glass shop. The reason for that is because all these people have invested a lot of money into football, so I’d just like to wish them all the best and wish them a Happy New Year. Apart from that I would want to thank Sports people in general, people like Mr.Smiling in Cycling, nuff respect to guys like that and these are names I am pulling from the top of my head because they are a lot of other people who have done a lot for sports in general in Belize; hence, helping our community and our society, so I have a lot of respect for those people and wish them all the best.