The Ambergris Stadium hosted the 2024 Belize Rural Primary School Football Tournament for Zone 5, which featured five female teams and seven male teams. The participating primary schools included San Pedro Roman Catholic (RC) School, Caye Caulker RC School, The Island Academy, New Horizon Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) School, Holy Cross Anglican School, Ambergris Caye Elementary School, and Isla Bonita Elementary School.
The games took place on Friday, October 25th, and were supervised by the National Sports Council of Belize. The matches were organized into male and female divisions. In the first match of the male division, New Horizon SDA School defeated Isla Bonita Elementary with a score of 1-0, thanks to a goal from Adrian Cardoza. In the second male division match, Caye Caulker RC School triumphed over Ambergris Caye Elementary School with a score of 2-0, with goals scored by Antonio Maradiaga and Zevaughn Welch.
In the first match of the female division, Holy Cross Anglican School showcased their skills by defeating The Island Academy with a score of 2-0. Martha Reyes was the goal scorer for Holy Cross Anglican School. After a break, the fourth match of the day featured the male teams San Pedro RC and The Island Academy. San Pedro RC dominated the game, winning 6-0. Nigel Hulse scored four goals, while Zean Alamilla and Adain Caliz each contributed one goal to the victory.
Following that, a female match took place between Caye Caulker RC School and New Horizon SDA School. The winner was determined through a penalty shootout after the match ended goalless. Caye Caulker RC emerged victorious with a score of 3-1 in the shootout. The goal scorers for Caye Caulker RC included Lenielee Requena, Juliet Escalante, and Danna Lanza, while Breannie Umana was the only scorer for New Horizon SDA.
The next match in the male’s category featured an intense game between the New Horizon SDA team and Holy Cross Anglican School. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, and after a penalty shootout, New Horizon SDA secured a narrow victory with a score of 7-6. The scorers for New Horizon SDA were Adrain Cardoza, Darvin Palacio, Ashton Palacio, Miguel Bol, Carlos Chimilio Jr., Jorge Cardoza, and Wilbert Lopez. The players who scored for Holy Cross Anglican were Jaymar Sutherland, Dernel Brown Jr., Demroy Welch, Osmin Martinez, Byron Cortez, and Noel Jones.
The final match in the female category went to penalty shootouts after a 1-1 draw between Holy Cross Anglican School and San Pedro RC School. In the penalty shootouts, Holy Cross Anglican School triumphed over San Pedro RC with a score of 3-2. The kickers for Holy Cross Anglican included Octany Noralez, Cecilia Castillo, and Surieth Rios. The penalty kickers from San Pedro RC were Kimberly Leiva and Lesly Maldonado.
In the final match before the championship games in the male category, San Pedro RC School triumphed over Caye Caulker RC School with a convincing score of 4-1. The goals for San Pedro RC were scored by Adrian Cardoza, Josue Chable, Zean Alamilla, and Nigel Hulse. The only goal for Caye Caulker RC School was scored by Antonio Maradiaga.
Championship matches
In the female category, Holy Cross Anglican School faced a strong opponent in Caye Caulker RC School. The game was intense, with neither team willing to concede any scoring opportunities. Ultimately, Holy Cross Anglican found a gap and secured a narrow victory with a final score of 1-0. The only goal of the match was scored by Martha Reyes from Holy Cross Anglican.
On the other hand, the San Pedro RC School team had a challenging match in the male division as they aimed for the championship. They played against a tough New Horizon SDA squad, which put up a strong fight. However, this did not discourage San Pedro RC, who continued to apply pressure until they achieved a 1-0 victory. The match-winning goal was scored by Nigel Hulse, leading San Pedro RC to triumph in the championship.
The San Pedro Town Council Sports extends its gratitude to the National Sports Council of Belize for their collaboration. They also wish to congratulate all participating schools and the winning teams. The San Pedro Town Council Sports looks forward to continuing to bring more sporting activities to the island community and helping young footballers discover their talent while enjoying this popular sport.
