Belize U-15 National Boys Team Training in Colombia for Concacaf Championship

The Concacaf Boys’ U-15 Championship is coming up in August and Belize’s Under 15 national Boys team is in Colombia getting ready. Eighteen players and six technical staff from the FFB left the country last Friday, to begin intense conditioning training for the tournament. Technical Development Director for the FFB, Phillip Marin, told Love News about the gains the Federation hopes players will make due to the international training.

Phillip Martin, Technical Development Director, FFB: “In Bogota, Colombia, at this moment training. We are here for 20 days. Our main purpose is for us to prepare for the 2023 CONCACAF U15 Boys Championship in Curacao which is scheduled from the 6th of August to the 12th of August. We have a total of 18 boys and six technical staff along with a chef. We are supported by four professional coaches from Columbia that are assisting us in our training camp and also assisting us in the logistic here in Columbia. It’s been probably over four months of preparation. We started first at the UNCAF tournament where we participated in the UNCAF U-15 Boys Championship, you know, we played against Salvador, Honduras and two other countries in Central America. It was a good experience for the boys and now we are in Colombia. We are hoping that we can advance or we can reach the semifinals in Curacao. Our goal for this team is for us to qualify for the 2027 U-20 CONCACAF Men’s Championship. So that is our goal.”

We also spoke with Head Coach Dale Pelayo Sr. and a member of the team on the team to find out more about the training and the impact it has on the players.

The FFB added that the boys are training in a location perched over sixteen hundred feet above sea level, and noted that Belmopan, in contrast, is only 76 meters above sea level. The Concacaf Boys’ U-15 Championship is scheduled to run from August 6 to August 13. Team Belize is set to compete in the B League which has a total of 16 teams.