Ministry of Sports faces funding challenges for regional activities in Belize.

The Ministry of Sports has several regional activities on its calendar this year, and finding funding for them all has been a challenge. Belize is currently hosting the Under-19 Female Central American Volleyball Championships, and there are two other regional events coming up in close succession. Minister of Sports, Rodwell Ferguson, says that he has been hard at work sourcing the funding to ensure that these events go as planned. He explained how he managed to make it work. 

Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Youth, Sports and Transportation: “This week we are hosting volleyball in regional. Then starting Monday, we are going to host basketball under 17. Then the following week, we are going to have CODICADER for juvenile sports. So we are very small and the budget that we have is very small but when I was told that we need to find funding for all these activities, it was a difficult task but I had to figure the way forward. And I can say, fortunately, we were able to find the funds to support under 17 basketball and likewise, CODICADER. So those events are going to happen in Belize. We are making history because many times we say we can’t afford to sponsor and accommodate teams coming in from Central America and the region.”

He noted that Cabinet contributed just under two hundred thousand dollars to the Under 17 Basketball Championship, and the entire budget for CODICADER. Ferguson said that he spoke with the utility companies who have contributed a hundred and fifty thousand dollars each.