Belize Officially Recognizes Robotics as a Sport

For almost ten years, Belize has been steadily making a name for itself locally and internationally in the field of robotics, and now, the country has officially made it a sport. Today, the Ministry of Youth Sports and Transport, held an official ceremony at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex, acknowledging robotics as a sport as well as acknowledging registration of the Robotics Federation of Belize. Minister of Sports, Rodwell Ferguson, handed over the certificate for the Robotics Federation to Jamie Usher, Principal of Belize High School (BHS) who is one of the driving forces behind the development of robotics in Belize. Usher told Love News that BHS started focusing seriously on robotics back in 2014. She explained that participating in the FIRST Global Robotics Championships was the catalyst the school needed to make a case for robotics to be acknowledged as a sport. She went on to say that while some states in the US recognize robotics as a sport, Belize is the only country that has done so. 

At the ceremony, Minister Ferguson said that robotics is not Belize’s only non-traditional sport and applauded BHS for its representation internationally. Ferguson said he also hopes that more schools will get involved and have the opportunity to represent Belize abroad.

In October 2022, BHS won the gold in the FIRST Robotics Competition held in Geneva, Switzerland. The team faced off against 180 countries to secure the gold at the competition.